Immigration officials were considering True North founder Candice Malcolm’s criticism of Canada’s screening system according to emails uncovered by Rebel News’ Sheila Gunn Reid.
ISIS supporter Abdulahi Sharif attempted to kill several pedestrians and a police officer in 2017 in a vehicular attack. Over several months Malcolm wrote a number of columns criticizing the government’s failure to properly screen Sharif and to allow him into the country.
In 2012, Sharif fled the U.S. after being ordered to be deported out of the country. He then illegally entered Canada where he was granted refugee status.
“This case shows a major failure in the way that both countries deal with illegal migrants who arrive from terrorist hotspots. It particularly reveals our inability to properly screen and vet migrants who show up at our border, even with our sophisticated new system,” wrote Malcolm in one column.
According to internal emails obtained by Gunn Reid from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, immigration officials referenced Malcolm’s works while discussing media coverage critical of the screening system.
One email mentions a redacted columnist in the Toronto Sun who was critical of the fact that Sharif was allowed into the country.
“The one story that comes to mind is [redacted] of the Toronto Sun who has said in more than one column that Canada should not have allowed him in. CBSA was their main target. Overall I think it’s fair to say that the media have questioned the screening system since the Edmonton system and some stories have been critical,” claims one email.
Malcolm has written extensively on the topic of immigration. In another column, she pointed out the fact that Canada knowingly let Sharif into the country despite his deportation order in the U.S.
“In this case, federal officials knowingly let a suspicious young man with a questionable past into the country, where he’s now alleged to have done tremendous harm,” wrote Malcolm. Sharif has since been found guilty of 11 charges in the vehicular attack.
