Mohamed
Harkat wipes away tears on Friday. A Federal Court ruled this week there
are reasonable grounds to believe the Algerian-born Ottawa resident
remains a threat to national security. (CBC)
Thursday's ruling by Justice Simon Noel opens the door for
the deportation of Harkat, who was arrested after Canada's spy agency,
CSIS, alleged he was a sleeper agent for al-Qaeda.
On Friday, Immigration Minister Jason Kenney said he was frustrated by the court process, suggesting it needs streamlining. He said he would like to remove terrorists as quickly as possible from Canada.
During a news conference earlier Friday with supporters and his wife Sophie, Harkat insisted his life is in danger if he is returned to his native country of Algeria now that the court has "put a stamp on my face [that] says 'terror.'"
Harkat, who has been living in Ottawa under virtual house arrest since 2002 due to a security certificate, again declared his innocence and said he feels "sick inside" after the ruling.
His wife, Sophie, called Thursday's ruling a "punch in the guts that will leave marks for a very long time."
"This document, in my opinion, is a load of bull," she said through tears, brandishing Noel's ruling. "We will never, ever accept this judgment; we asked for the truth and this is not the truth."
The 42-year-old former pizza delivery man and gas station attendant has said he fled his native Algeria and worked as an aid worker in Pakistan before coming to Canada in 1995 as a refugee using a fake Saudi passport.
Harkat said he used a fraudulent document only because he was in danger and his own Algerian passport "would get me nowhere."
In his ruling, Noel said Harkat's links to the Ibn Khattab terror group — for whom he operated a guesthouse while in Pakistan — and his association with Islamic extremists provided reasonable grounds to believe he engaged in terrorism activities. Noel also said Harkat was "not truthful, honest or transparent."
"The court concludes that, while in Canada, Mohamed Harkat maintained contacts and assisted Islamist extremists, and used some methodologies typical of a 'sleeper agent,'" Noel wrote.
But Harkat's lawyer Norm Boxhall said the evidence presented to the court was done so in a "hearsay fashion."
"I remain in the dark as all of you," he said.
Held without trial
Harkat was first released on bail in 2006 after being held without trial under a national security certificate. A second certificate was issued against him in 2008.
He won a partial victory last year when Noel loosened the restrictions on his house arrest, though he still had to wear a GPS monitor, report weekly to authorities and travel unsupervised only in the Ottawa area. His passport also remained in trust with federal agents.
A separate decision also upholds the constitutionality of the national security certificate system the government is using to remove Harkat from Canada.
Security certificates allow the Canadian government to detain and deport permanent residents or foreign nationals considered to be a security threat without revealing all the evidence to the accused.