Citizenship revoked for Toronto 18 ringleader

TORONTO — The government used its new power to revoke the citizenship of convicted terrorists for the first time on Friday against the imprisoned ringleader of the 2006 al-Qaidainspired plot to detonate truck bombs in downtown Toronto.

Zakaria Amara was notified in a letter sent to the Quebec penitentiary where is he serving a life sentence that he is no longer a Canadian. He still holds citizenship in Jordan and could be deported there following his release from prison.

“He’s Toronto 18,” a source said, using the name by which Amara’s terrorist group was known. “They plotted terrorist attacks against downtown Toronto, they were convicted. They should not be citizens.” The decision was made by a senior official at Citizenship and Immigration Canada.

Legislation that came into force in May, over the opposition of the NDP and Liberals, allows the government to revoke the citizenship of Canadians who have been convicted of terrorism offences — provided they hold citizenship in a second country.

The law also applies to dual citizens convicted of treason and spying for foreign governments, as well as members of armed groups at war against Canada. A little more than half a dozen Canadians have been notified so far that the government was considering revoking their citizenship.

Although the revocation process began in June, well before the federal election was called, the decision to strip Amara of his citizenship comes during a close campaign in which the Conservatives have tried to distinguish themselves from the NDP and Liberals with a platform that emphasizes national security.

NDP leader Tom Mulcair has said he would scrap the citizenship revocation law, and on Friday Liberal leader Justin Trudeau repeated his pledge to repeal it.

“The bill creates second-class citizens,” he said. “No elected official should ever have the exclusive power to revoke Canadian citizenship. Under a Liberal government there will be no twotiered citizenship. A Canadian is a Canadian is a Canadian.”

The British Columbia Civil Liberties Association, together with former Toronto 18 member Asad Ansari, are challenging the citizenship revocation law in Federal Court, arguing it is unconstitutional and creates “two-tiered” citizenship by treating naturalized Canadians differently than those born here.