SERGIO R. KARAS QUOTED IN TODAY'S NATIONAL POST ARTICLE ON IMMIGRATION AND CRIMINAL CONVICTIONS

I am quoted extensively in today's National Post

https://nationalpost.com/news/canada/judge-gave-excessively-light-sentence-to-avert-deportation-of-refugee-who-threatened-to-kill-police-appeal-court#

Judge gave excessively light sentence to avert deportation of refugee who threatened to kill police: appeal court

The case shows how judges weigh the severity of crimes by non-citizens against the consequences of jail time for those who could be deported

The Manitoba Court of Appeal found a lower court judge "imposed an artificial sentence" to prevent Mustaf Ahmed Yare from being deported.

Maura Forrest
Maura Forrest
November 19, 2018
8:22 PM EST


OTTAWA — The Manitoba Court of Appeal has ruled a judge gave an excessively light sentence to a 23-year-old Somalian refugee to prevent him from being deported, after the man rammed his car into a police vehicle and threatened to kill the officers who arrested him.

The court ruling Oct. 31 increased Mustaf Ahmed Yare’s sentence to more than 13 months, from five months and 25 days. In their decision, the judges found the longer sentence “may result in his deportation,” but was necessary because the sentencing judge “failed to impose a sentence that was proportionate to the gravity of the offences.”

The case sheds light on how judges weigh the severity of crimes committed by non-citizens against the consequences of jail time for those who could be deported, after Harper-era changes to immigration rules attempted to make it easier to remove criminals.

Yare’s family is Somali, and he was born and raised in a refugee camp, his lawyer said. He and his family moved to Canada in 2009 and he lived with his parents, according to the appeal court ruling. In September 2017, he was arrested after he refused to pull over during a traffic stop, instead accelerating, ramming into the police car and causing it to stall. He then drove off at high speed with other police cars chasing him, crashed into a metal sign post and fled on foot.

I'm a real gangster and you will die
 
After he was arrested, according to the court decision, he told police officers: “I’m going to get my gang and I’m going to find you and kill you. I’m a real gangster and you will die. Trust me, you fucking goofs.” Less than two weeks after he was released on bail, he was arrested again while in breach of his curfew. According to the ruling, he was already on probation at the time of his arrest, and has a “lengthy and related criminal record.”

Yare pleaded guilty to charges including fleeing from police and uttering threats. During his sentencing hearing, the judge found he “ought to be jailed for about a year for these charges,” but ultimately decided on a much shorter sentence — five months and 25 days.

Permanent residents can lose their status and be deported from Canada if they’re convicted of a crime with a possible jail sentence of 10 years or more, or sentenced to more than six months in prison. A sentence of six months or longer also strips them of their right to appeal deportation.

Knowing this, the sentencing judge decided to go easy on Yare. “I am not inclined to subject you to deportation hearings, but you need to know how lucky you are,” he told him.

The appeal court, however, found the lower court judge “imposed an artificial sentence” to prevent Yare from being deported, and raised his total sentence to 13 months and 10 days, acknowledging the punishment “will affect his right of appeal … and may result in his deportation.” Yare had already served the jail time prior to the appeal hearing.

Yare’s Winnipeg-based lawyer, Edmond Murphy, said it’s hard to say whether his client will be deported imminently or not, as Yare has since been arrested again and is back in custody on charges of assault with a weapon and uttering threats.

I am not inclined to subject you to deportation hearings, but you need to know how lucky you are

 
The Supreme Court of Canada has ruled that judges should consider immigration consequences in sentencing, said Sergio Karas, an immigration lawyer and analyst, but the punishment must still fit the crime.

It’s unfair, he said, for a non-citizen to get a much lower sentence than a citizen for the same crime, simply to avoid deportation. “You can’t have that, because otherwise it’s like playing favourites.”

But Toronto immigration lawyer Lorne Waldman said the right to appeal deportation orders has been unfairly restricted over the years. It used to be that anyone could appeal a removal order, he said, but in the early 2000s, that right of appeal was denied to those sentenced to more than two years. Under the Harper government, that was expanded to anyone sentenced to more than six months.

“I think there should always be the right to a review,” he said, arguing that individual circumstances like how long someone has been in the country and whether they have children need to be considered.

“I don’t think it’s unreasonable for Canada to consider taking action against a non-citizen who has violated the criminal law, but I think the changes that were brought in by the former Conservative government were very extreme,” Waldman said. “That’s why you’re seeing judges imposing sentences of less than six months.”

However, Karas said the Harper government changed the rules because some judges previously sentenced non-citizens to two years less a day to avoid deportation, and there was public outrage that people with lengthy criminal records weren’t being removed from the country. “Let’s face it,” he said. “For somebody to be sentenced to six months of incarceration, it’s got to be a pretty heavy-duty offence.”

Like Waldman, Murphy believes anyone should have the right to appeal a deportation order, regardless of the length of their sentence. He said Yare’s parents support him and want him to be able to stay in the country.

But beyond that, Murphy said, cases like these prove “that when people immigrate to Canada, they should take steps to become Canadian citizens.” He said it’s not uncommon to see people who came to Canada as children lose their status after being convicted of a crime because they never gained citizenship. “And (they) end up getting deported to a country where they’re now detached from both the language and the culture.”

SERGIO R. KARAS QUOTED IN TODAY'S NATIONAL POST

http://news.nationalpost.com/news/former-live-in-caregiver-jailed-for-exploiting-migrants-who-wanted-to-follow-in-her-footsteps

December 4, 2016

Former live-in caregiver jailed for exploiting migrants who wanted to follow in her footsteps to Canada

By Adrian Humphreys 

Eliza Lazaro forged paperwork to create make-believe employers for upfront fees that allowed the women and one man to obtain visas to Canada

A woman who came to Canada from the Philippines as a live-in caregiver has been jailed for exploiting would-be immigrants in a stiff sentence designed to thwart a wave of bogus immigration consulting.

"She lied to them, cheated them, and, in some cases, even threatened them. By doing so, not only did she harm the very vulnerable people who she promised to help, she also repeatedly subverted the integrity of Canada's immigration system," said Justice James Stribopoulos when sentencing Eliza Lazaro to 11 months in custody. She was also ordered to pay $23,500 in restitution to her victims.

Lazaro posed as an immigration consultant who could find employment and handle paperwork for would-be immigrants. Instead, she forged paperwork to create make-believe employers for upfront fees that allowed the women and one man to obtain visas to Canada.

Judge Stribopoulos noted that Lazaro was in a special position to sympathize with the migrants and their desire to start a new life in Canada because their circumstances so closely mirrored her own.

Instead she preyed on them and victimized them.

She arrived in Canada in 1990 at the age of 24 as a live-in caregiver from the Philippines. After three years at that job she moved on to other employment, including selling insurance.

In 2008 she began offering services as an immigration consultant but was never licensed to do this work with the Immigration Consultants of Canada Regulatory Council.

Those who come to Canada through the Live-In Caregiver Program are an especially vulnerable group of newcomers

Several of her clients arrived in Canada only to find their promised job was a lie and their paperwork forged or falsified.

One woman from the Philippines paid her $5,000 to come to Canada on the government's Live-In Caregiver Program. When she arrived, the woman who was supposedly hiring her had no need of a caregiver. The fake employer later told investigators she was paid $500 by Lazaro to pose as an employer for the application.

A man arrived in Canada after paying Lazaro $4,500 but when he went to the address of his so-called employer to start work he learned it was all a ruse.

Another migrant paid $5,000 and was given fake employer information. She was stopped at the border and deported.

Lazaro told a woman from Hong Kong that her purported employer was away on vacation when she arrived; several months later she had still not been able to make contact. The worker eventually found another job and remained in Canada but, two years later, Lazaro sent her a text saying she would "send her back" if she didn't pay her more money.

The worker ignored the demand.

One woman gave Lazaro $10,000 to bring her two nieces to Canada as worm pickers but Lazaro did nothing to help them. Because the woman who hired her lived in Canada she was able to sue her to recover her money, but her nieces were out of luck.

A woman from Saudi Arabia paid Lazaro $4,500 but when she arrived she found no job waiting. Instead, she learned, her purported employer was actually Lazaro's husband posing as an employer.

Another woman from Saudi Arabia sought original copies of immigration documents Lazaro emailed her but was refused. She demanded a refund of her $2,500 but Lazaro threatened to have her banned from Canada if she pressed the matter.

The woman never made it to Canada.

After five-year span of duplicity she was arrested last year and recently pleaded guilty to seven counts of violating the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act.

Lazaro had no criminal record and paid $20,000 in her lawyer's trust account to make restitution before her sentencing last month.

Her lawyer asked that she serve her sentence in the community. The government asked for 21 months in jail and a $50,000 fine. (The judge noted with dismay that the government sought a fine and not restitution for Lazaro's vicitms.)

The judge also noted that her victims were legitimate migrants, not willing schemers like in several cases of bogus immigration.

"Those who come to Canada through the Live-In Caregiver Program are an especially vulnerable group of newcomers," Stribopoulos said in his ruling.

Lazaro's sentencing hearing highlighted a rash of recent cases of bogus immigration consultants.

Sergio Karas, a Toronto immigration lawyer and past chairman of the Ontario Bar Association's Citizenship and Immigration Section, said the cases are piling up.
"This problem appears to be widespread in many communities, where unscrupulous individuals use their connections to dupe others," said Karas.
"It is appalling how a person who came to Canada as a caregiver and was probably familiar with the mental anguish that her co-nationals must have felt, chose to take full advantage of them through threats and intimidation," said Karas.

ahumphreys@nationalpost.com

Twitter.com/AD_Humphreys

SERGIO R. KARAS QUOTED IN TODAY'S NATIONAL POST CITIZENSHIP STORY

I was quoted in today's National Post story on a very strange case concerning the erroneous grant of citizenship to a person who failed the test twice.

http://news.nationalpost.com/2014/11/20/comedy-of-errors-let-woman-become-canadian-citizen-despite-abysmal-results-on-citizenship-tests/

November 20, 2014

'Comedy of errors' lets woman become Canadian citizen despite abysmal results on citizenship tests

By Adrian Humphreys 

The judge noted in writing that Ms. Afzal failed the tests and did not qualify but mistakenly checked the 'Granted' box on the decision form, court...

TORONTO - A would-be Canadian who received a grade of zero out of six on her citizenship language test and four out of 20 on the test's knowledge component was nonetheless granted a Canadian citizenship certificate.

A "series of administrative errors" put Haheen Afzal - despite her abysmal results on the tests - before a citizenship judge in Hamilton, Ont., swearing an oath to the Queen and being issued a citizenship certificate.

When the mistake was discovered, Ms. Afzal did not want to surrender her citizenship and fought to keep it.

The errant ceremony took place on Sept. 26, 2013, but the legal dispute - leading to its cancellation - was only recently resolved in the Federal Court of Canada.

Ms. Afzal failed the citizenship test twice before being awarded a citizenship certificate: the first time she scored 2/6 on language and 8/20 on knowledge. When she appeared before a citizenship judge and tried again, she scored even worse.

The citizenship judge noted in writing that Ms. Afzal failed the tests and did not qualify but mistakenly checked the "Granted" box on the decision form, court heard.

The next day, an official at the Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) office acknowledged that the judge's decision had been "seen" and checked "Citizenship Granted" before sending the form along for processing.

A few days later, Ms. Afzal was asked to appear for a citizenship ceremony and she took the Oath of Citizenship.

After the ceremony a citizenship clerk finally noticed the mistake. He twice phoned Ms. Afzal and left messages.

The calls were not returned.

Two months later, CIC cancelled the certificate.

In court, her lawyer argued CIC bureaucrats did not have authority to cancel citizenship, only the Governor-in-Council, which acts on behalf of the Crown, has such power.

'It is unclear how often these mistakes happen. This situation merits a thorough investigation'

To accept that, Federal Court Justice Donald Rennie said in his ruling, would rise to the level of "absurdity."

Before someone can become a Canadian citizen, they are required to demonstrate linguistic competence in either of Canada's official languages and show an adequate knowledge of Canada's social, civic and political norms.

"These competencies must be established before citizenship can be granted," Judge Rennie ruled.

Based on those criteria, even though a citizenship certificate was issued, the pre-conditions to citizenship had never been met, he said. Therefore, citizenship was not so much being revoked as a certificate that had not been legally issued was being cancelled. And that was within the power of CIC bureaucrats.

"This interpretation also ensures that the privilege of Canadian citizenship is granted only as intended by Parliament," said Judge Rennie.

Neither Ms. Afzal nor her lawyer could be reached for comment Wednesday.

The case reveals troubling problems with CIC officials, said Sergio Karas, an immigration lawyer and analyst who is a former chair of the Ontario Bar Association's immigration section.
"One would expect that citizenship applicants would be vetted extensively for compliance with residency, security and knowledge testing," Mr. Karas said.
"It is amazing that such a vetting process appears to have been a comedy of errors in this case.
"One is left to wonder about the level of competence and care that some Citizenship and Immigration Canada employees may be demonstrating. ... It is unclear how often these mistakes happen. This situation merits a thorough investigation of internal policies and practices."

Sonia Lesage, a spokeswoman for CIC, defended the department. "These safeguards worked in this instance as we found the error and fixed it. The certificate was cancelled in November 2013 and the Federal Court upheld our process."

National Post

FORMER CBSA DIRECTOR SOUNDS ALARM ON MISMANAGEMENT

See National Post article below. I have known Reg Williams well for many years, as I used to appear to argue cases against him when he represented CIC in hearings and adjudications, and later when he used to be part of panels at the Ontario Bar Association representing CBSA and providing information. I am not surprised at the allegations, although I think that the problem is much more complex than described, and that the lower deportation rates may have to do with the cumbersome and repetitive nature of the process that is poorly set up and inefficiently designed.

http://license.icopyright.net/user/viewFreeUse.act?fuid=MTgyNjEwMjk%3D&one_button_service_group=reprints

July 10, 2014

Canada's immigration enforcement system suffers from 'orchestrated mismanagement,' whistleblower claims

By Adrian Humphreys

The 23-page letter claims CBSA's immigration enforcement is 'unraveling' just as CBSA bosses are being considered for substantial bonus payments

A former Canada Border Services Agency manager is blowing the whistle on the alleged "orchestrated mismanagement" of Canada's immigration enforcement system, revealing a precipitous drop in the number of illegal immigrants deported at the same time as agency overspending and escalating detention costs.
"Simply put, more money was spent to produce less," Reg Williams, the former director of CBSA's Toronto enforcement office, says in a whistleblowing letter to the Privy Council that was obtained by the National Post.
The 23-page letter claims CBSA's immigration enforcement is "unraveling" just as CBSA bosses are being considered for substantial bonus payments for their performance.
"As a retired public servant, taxpayer and citizen, I am deeply concerned ... that the downward trend in productivity, if not addressed, will threaten community safety and security," he writes in the letter, dated June 26.
"Taxpayers deserve to know why the immigration enforcement program has produced significantly less while spending significantly more."
The CBSA president, Luc Portelance, who has an annual salary of between $257,700 and $323,100, stands to add $85,000 to $125,000 in performance pay under the federal public service's executive pay system, the letter says. CBSA's vice-president of operations, Martin Bolduc, whose annual salary is between $178,800 and $200,300, is in line for a bonus of between $46,500 to $52,000, it says.

Meanwhile, the removal of illegal immigrants from Canada has dropped about 26% nationally in the fiscal year ending March 31, compared to last year, and dropped about 34% in the Toronto region, an office previously boasting double-digit increases in removals each year since 2008, the letter says.
The letter also blasts overspending in the Toronto office budget, saying there was an almost 30% increase in the cost of detaining people who are inadmissible to Canada.
Such "orchestrated mismanagement" should not be rewarded, Mr. Williams says in the letter, addressed to Wayne Wouters, Clerk of the Privy Council. (The PCO oversees management of appointments and human resources for senior positions in the federal public service.)
"It is not a practice of the Canada Border Services Agency to comment on allegations made by a third party," said Vanessa Barrasa, spokeswoman for the CBSA, when asked about Mr. Williams' analysis.
"What the CBSA can say is that we have deported more than 100,000 illegal immigrants since 2006."
Mr. Williams was the director of the agency's Greater Toronto Enforcement Centre (GTEC), the country's largest immigration enforcement office, from 1998 until he was pushed out of the post in 2012 after an attempted removal of a high-profile illegal immigrant - a man known as The Man With No Name because he has no identification - went poorly.
Removed from his position at GTEC, Mr. Williams then asked to take early retirement. He was notified of his reassignment, effective the next day, on April 4, 2012. There was much mystery and shock after his removal.
Mr. Williams has an outstanding grievance against CBSA before the Public Service Labour Relations Board.
"While it may be easy to dismiss my concerns as those coming possibly from a disgruntled former executive, I can assure you that is not the case," he says in his letter.
"My concern and dismay is based on objective facts which I urge you to verify. I see it as my responsibility to alert Canadians on the adverse direction the enforcement program has taken."
Mr. Williams says he believes his abrupt removal without a transition period or plan undermined GTEC's performance after his departure.
He asks the Privy Council to evaluate the performance of CBSA senior managers and the effectiveness of CBSA's operations given the poor results before deciding on the performance bonus payments.
The removal of immigrants who came to Canada but are ineligible to remain here is one of the most important measures of CBSA's success, Mr. Williams says.
And yet, in the Toronto region, about 3,000 fewer deportations took place in the last fiscal year over the previous year, a drop of about 34%, he says. Nationally, there were about 5,000 fewer deportations, down about 26%. That follows year-after-year increases in deportations since the 2008-09 fiscal year, he says.
CBSA had projected removing 17,075 people nationally in the last fiscal year but only managed to remove 13,900 and is the first time in perhaps a decade CBSA's target was missed, the letter says.

A request for CBSA to confirm these numbers was not responded to by deadline.
The reduced removals are not because of a lower caseload, Mr. Williams says in his letter.
"There are enough cases in the GTA inventory such that the organization can be fully engaged for two to three years without accepting a single new case," he says.
"The numbers don't lie and there is no escaping the reality that the safety and security of Canada has been compromised and this is a severe blow to the integrity of Canada's removals program.
"For every person not removed or delayed in removal, there is a real cost to the Canadian taxpayer in the form of an increased burden on social and medical services. This is over and above potential unknown threats these individual may pose in the community," he says.
At the same time as completing fewer removals, CBSA has been overspending, Mr. Williams claims.
CBSA in the Toronto region has overspent its detention budget by $2-million and $7-million in the two most recent fiscal years, he says. Also, the number of jail days - total number of days all immigration detainees spend behind bars in a year - is at "the highest levels in immigration history."
Spending in the Toronto region on immigration detention jumped from $25.46-million to $30.5-million this year from last. He says much of it, but nowhere near all, can be attributed to by an increase in the amount charged by the province for housing detainees in provincial jails and pay increases in security guard contracts.
The letter says the data Mr. Williams uses in his analysis is from his experience and memory and recent information received from "concerned parties." He cautions Mr. Wouters to be alert to CBSA bosses being more aggressive trying to stem information leaks than addressing these issues.
"When faced with criticism the usual reaction is to go on the offensive to launch a campaign to find the source of 'leaks' in information, all of which creates a chilling effect ... and further destroys staff morale," the letter says.
"Immediate action is required to reassure Canadians that community safety and security will not be compromised."
National Post

SERGIO R. KARAS QUOTED IN TODAY'S NATIONAL POST FRONT PAGE STORY ON TERROR SUSPECT

http://news.nationalpost.com/2014/03/11/terror-suspects-pardoned-past-alleged-via-plotter-raed-jaser-arrested-for-fraud-binge/

March 11, 2014

Terror suspect's pardoned past: Alleged VIA plotter Raed Jaser arrested for fraud binge

By Stewart Bell

In 2008, through a non-profit group called Pardons Canada, he applied to the National Parole Board for a pardon. It cost him $50

See the full documents¹

TORONTO - Four years after arriving in Canada, Raed Jaser was arrested by Toronto police for what could only be described as a fraud binge. In the space of a few months in 1996, he allegedly defrauded nine businesses.

The list of goods that police said he obtained through frauds was eclectic: leather; an espresso machine and grinder; Brazilian coffee; tires; a gas-fired oven; tables; a high-efficiency furnace; and sound-system equipment.

According to the charges, he wrote $15,000 worth of forged cheques, but the total value of his alleged frauds was many times higher.

The following year, Jaser was convicted of four fraud offences in connection to the charges, and twice for failure to comply with a recognizance. Then, in 2001, he was sentenced for uttering threats, bringing his tally of convictions to seven.

As a failed refugee claimant, his criminal record was problematic. It could get him deported. But in 2008, through a non-profit group called Pardons Canada, he applied to the National Parole Board for a pardon. It cost him $50.

"The National Parole Board is pleased to inform you that a pardon has been awarded," read the letter that came a few months later, explaining that his criminal history could no longer "reflect adversely" on his character.

After Mr. Jaser was once again arrested last April, this time over his alleged role in an Al-Qaeda-linked plot to derail a Toronto-bound passenger train, the National Post revealed that he had somehow been granted a pardon.

But the details of his crimes and how he managed to have his record erased - which then allowed him to become a landed immigrant as if he had a clean rap sheet - are only now emerging in court documents.

Shown the documents, Toronto immigration lawyer Sergio Karas said the law had changed since Mr. Jaser's file was processed and that obtaining what is now called a record suspension is more difficult today, "especially in cases where there are multiple convictions."
But he called the case "quite amazing" because Mr. Jaser was a failed refugee claimant, and there is typically little leniency shown to someone in those circumstances. He said the case highlighted Canada's inability to deal with those who arrive in the country and commit serious crimes.

Following an internal review into the case by Citizenship and Immigration Canada, the government said last June it would close the "loophole" that had allowed Mr. Jaser's pardon - but that has not yet happened.

Asked about the case on Tuesday, Jean-Christophe de Le Rue, spokesman for Public Safety Minister Steven Blaney, responded: "Upon learning of this situation, Minister Blaney has asked his officials t look at all options to ensure fast removal of foreign criminals, including legislation."Before using a fake passport to fly to Canada in 1993, Mr. Jaser, 36, had lived in the United Arab Emirates, Jordan and Germany. The son of a father born in what is now Israel, and a Saudi-born mother, he made a refugee claim that was rejected in 1994.

The following year, he allegedly defrauded a vitamin supplement company, Body Wise International Canada Inc., court documents show. York Regional Police charged him with fraud under $5,000 but the case was stayed.

By the fall of 1996, however, he was passing bad cheques worth thousands of dollars and defrauding companies such as Timothy's World Coffee, The Leather Warehouse and the Brazilian Canadian Coffee Company, according to police.

While some of the charges were later withdrawn, he received an 18-month conditional sentence for the fraud offences. Filling out his record are convictions for failing to comply with a recognizance and threatening "death/bodily harm."

In 2004, federal immigration authorities decided Mr. Jaser had overstayed his welcome. He was arrested for deportation, but a problem soon arose: where would they send him? Although he was born in the Emirates, the country did not recognize him as a citizen. Neither would the Jordanians or Germans allow his return.

Stymied, immigration officers deemed him "stateless" and let him go. But deportation was always going to be a possibility because he had no Canadian immigration status, and never would because of his record. In 2008, however, he asked to be pardoned for his crimes.

On the application forms, he wrote that he was represented by Pardons Canada, a Toronto non-profit that "assists individuals in removing a past criminal offence from public record," according to its website, pardons.org.

"We promote positive behavior by giving people hope," it explained. The website said it was "a good idea" for those facing deportation to apply for a pardon. "By doing this you can show Immigration Canada that you are no longer involved in any criminal activities, and that you qualify to have your criminal record removed."

It took the parole board less than nine months to approve Mr. Jaser's pardon. The board also helpfully wrote to the RCMP, telling them not to disclose the existence of his convictions. Letters with similar instructions were sent to the Ontario Court, Provincial Court and Correctional Service of Canada.

Without a record, Mr. Jaser was cleared for immigration. He became a permanent resident in 2012, but in April of that year, the Canadian Security Intelligence Service began taking an interest in him.

By September 2012, CSIS had tipped off the RCMP, which launched Project Smooth to investigate allegations Mr. Jaser and a Tunisian named Chiheb Esseghaier were planning a terrorist attack in Canada.

Police spent seven months tracking the pair as they allegedly scouted locations to derail a passenger train. They were arrested on April 22, 2013. The details of why Mr. Jaser allegedly wanted to commit acts of terrorism, and exactly what he is alleged to have planned, cannot be reported due to a publication ban.

But in an interview, Mr. Esseghaier accused Canada of "colonizing" Afghanistan. The RCMP says the plot was directed by Al-Qaeda elements based in Iran. Mr. Jaser has denied the charges. The case is expected to go to trial early next year.

Six weeks after the two were arrested, the parole board wrote to Mr. Jaser at the Toronto jail to tell him his pardon might be revoked over the terror allegations, which it said reflected "a fundamental disregard for Canadian law and the safety of the public."

Six weeks after the two were arrested, the parole board wrote to Mr. Jaser at the Toronto jail to tell him his pardon might be revoked over the terror allegations, which it said reflected ‘a fundamental disregard for Canadian law and the safety of the public'

John Norris, Mr. Jaser's lawyer, responded that it was unfair to revoke his pardon on the basis of unproven allegations. But the parole board was unconvinced. It sent its decision to Mr. Jaser last July 29. The letter said the RCMP had provided "reliable and persuasive" information about his role in a terrorist plot. "Consequently, the board hereby revokes your pardon."

Mr. Jaser has appealed the decision to the Federal Court. "We are proceeding with the judicial review of the pardon revocation. No date has been set yet. Otherwise, I cannot comment at this time," Mr. Norris said.

National Post with files from Adrian Humphreys