Officials tout robust refugee checks
Interviews, database searches are part of screening ‘layers’ developed with CSIS help
OTTAWA— Top federal public safety and national security officials tried to allay public fears they might not properly screen 25,000 Syrian refugees expected by year’s end, and downplayed any threat to Canada in the wake of the Paris attacks.
At a news conference flanked by his senior advisers, Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale said Wednesday the government will not change the timeline of its campaign promise of fast-tracking refugees, nor is it cutting or reducing any of the necessary checks to meet that timeline.
The Liberal plan, yet to be outlined by the immigration minister, will use “layers” of security checks on new arrivals to verify documents and identity, including checks of domestic and international databases, “biometrics” verifications such as fingerprints and personal interviews by officials “to make sure at the end of the day we achieve the humanitarian objective and do so in a way that respects the security and health imperatives that Canadians expect,” said Goodale.
Michel Coulombe, head of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS), said the agency was an “integral part” of developing the screening procedures. “I want Canadians to know that, as director of CSIS, I am confident the measures in place are robust and again I have full confidence in terms of being appropriate.” Yet Coulombe and RCMP Commissioner Bob Paulson acknowledged the Paris attacks revealed a potentially more deadly enemy in the Islamic State, “if it can be confirmed” that the co-ordinated explosions were organized centrally in Raqqa, Syria, and exported to Europe. Coulombe said it doesn’t change the “operational posture” of CSIS, which he said operates under a “worst-case scenario all the time.
“Our operational posture has always been — what if ISIL has that intent and capacity?” he said, so “it would be a confirmation but it wouldn’t be a surprise for us.”
Paulson dismissed as “speculative” reports that a Canadian voice is on an audio recording that claimed ISIS responsibility for the co-ordinated assaults last Friday, but admitted it was “concerning” and the force is trying to confirm if it’s true.
Paulson and Coulombe also acknowledged the possibility that Canadians who have gone abroad to fight or work for terrorist organizations could slip back into Canada undetected by using false documents.
“As in all things in life, a 100-percent guarantee — that doesn’t exist,” said Coulombe.