Informant was paid by RCMP — and by CSIS

An Ottawa man who had been talking about joining ISIL signed a terrorism peace bond Thursday that requires him to wear a GPS ankle bracelet and not view online terrorist propaganda.

Tevis Gonyou-McLean, 25, became the latest Canadian subject to a terrorism peace bond, which police have been using against those they believe have become supporters of ISIL or groups with a similar ideology.

The son of a military family who has struggled with drug use and mental health issues, he must abide by 18 conditions, including a ban on applying for a passport. The peace bond will last 12 months.

At a hearing, Crown lawyer Celine Harrington said Gonyou-McLean’s mother reported her son to police in 2014 after he told her he planned to join ISIL. He later converted to Islam and continued to talk about joining ISIL, she said.

“He said that he hates our society because there’s no Shariah law,” Harrington told the court, adding he spoke approvingly of terrorist attacks and said he couldn’t wait to see the ISIL flag flying from local churches.

The pizza shop worker was arrested Aug. 12 for what police said was a threat to avenge the killing of ISIL supporter Aaron Driver, shot dead Aug. 10 as he was preparing to commit a suicide bombing.

Police charged Gonyou-McLean with threatening and sought a peace bond against him on the grounds he might commit an offence for a terrorist group or leave Canada to participate in a terrorist group.

The threatening charge was later dropped, but he agreed to sign the peace bond and pleaded guilty to two counts of breaching release conditions imposed on him following his arrest, and two counts of mischief for damaging the GPS ankle bracelet he was required to wear.

Defence lawyer Biagio Del Greco said Gonyou-McLean was not admitting to the Crown’s allegations. He said he hoped to return to court in six months to show the restrictions were no longer necessary.

“This is an incredibly restrictive set of conditions,” Justice Matthew Webber said.

But he said Gonyou-McLean repeatedly made extremist and threatening statements and caution was necessary given events around the world.

Gonyou-McLean’s mother and father attended the hearing. His mother was later allowed to meet him in a private room. Among his conditions are that he attend abuse treatment “as required by the John Howard Society.”

Police have sought 19 terrorism peace bonds in the past two years. But their effectiveness has been questioned since Driver, despite living in Ontario under peace bond restrictions, built a bomb, recorded a video saying he was committing an attack for ISIL and was killed by police.