By Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Wednesday, May 15, 2013
Canada deports ‘convicted terrorist’ after 26 years
Citizenship and Immigration Minister Jason Kenney announced today that Mahmoud Mohammad Issa Mohammad, convicted in a deadly attack on an Israeli plane in the 1960s, has been deported to Lebanon a quarter-century after he was first ordered to leave Canada.
Kenney said the man, who is of Palestinian origin and has legal status in Lebanon, was flown out of the country on Saturday on a plane chartered by the Canada Border Services Agency.
“After a 26-year stay in Canada, we finally succeeded in deporting this convicted terrorist killer,” Kenney said at a news conference. “Mr. Mahmoud Mohammad Issa Mohammad represents just how broken Canada’s immigration and refugee determination systems had become under previous governments.”
Mohammad was ordered to leave Canada but filed a refugee claim. The application was denied but the legal wrangling continued for years. Mohammad was living in Burlington, Ont. His wife is a Lebanese national which is why he has travel documents for that country, Kenney said. His relatives were not deported.
Kenney said the legal proceedings have likely cost millions of dollars. The Conservative government has introduced a number of reforms to the immigration and refugee systems over the last few years, including cutting down the number of appeals that are allowed, and Kenney said this case proves why changes were needed.
“This is a cautionary tale. We should never allow a situation like this to happen again. Mr. Mohammad flagrantly violated Canada’s fair immigration laws and this country’s generosity,” he said. “He made a mockery of our legal system.” (Source: CBC News)