Former foreign affairs minister Lawrence Cannon says that while he received conflicting advice about whether to issue an emergency passport to a Canadian citizen living in exile in Sudan, he was swayed by the Canadian Security Intelligence Service’s claim that Abousfian Abdelrazik was a national security threat.
Abdelrazik is now suing the federal government and Cannon for millions of dollars, arguing they were complicit in his detention and alleged torture in Sudan.
He claims the Canadian government abandoned him in Sudan for six years before the Federal Court ruled in June of 2009 that Ottawa had breached his constitutional rights and ordered him sent home.
Cannon, testifying in the Ottawa courtroom where Abdelrazik’s claim is being heard, was questioned for hours Tuesday afternoon about his decision to deny Abdelrazik an emergency travel document just a few months before the Federal Court ruling.
“I was informed on the rationale as to why Mr. Abdelrazik should return to Canada,” said Cannon, responding to questions posed by government lawyer David Aaron.
“And on the other hand, I was informed by CSIS … as to why we should not, because he did pose a threat to national security.”
Abdelrazik, who was born in Sudan and became a Canadian citizen in 1995, was arrested in Sudan during a 2003 trip and interrogated while in custody by CSIS officials about suspected extremist links. The Montreal-based father has denied any involvement with terrorism and has never been charged.
According to the case’s agreed statement of facts, Canadian officials stated on several occasions that the federal government would issue Abdelrazik an emergency passport in the event he was able to secure a flight to Canada.
Abousfian Abdelrazik speaks on the phone as he leaves the a building where his case is being heard in Federal court in Ottawa, Wednesday, Oct. 30, 2024. (Adrian Wyld/Canadian Press)
That proved to be difficult because Abdelrazik had been placed on a UN list of individuals associated with al-Qaeda. That listing prevented member states from providing him transit or entry. He was also on the U.S. no-fly list, which meant commercial airlines would not fly him to Canada.
In March 2009, Abdelrazik was able to secure a seat on a flight returning to Canada the following month and applied for an emergency travel document to get home.
His hopes were dashed when Cannon denied him an emergency passport on April 3, 2009, according to the agreed statement of facts.
Cannon says CSIS intelligence ‘central’ to his decisionÂ
According to emails already shown in court, a Foreign Affairs official felt the minister had “ignored” the department’s advice.
Cannon said it was common to receive conflicting advice as a minister.
“I saw as much information as was possible,” he said.
Cannon said CSIS was concerned about Abdelrazik’s previous travel abroad and his acquaintances, who included Ahmed Ressam, known as the “millennium bomber” for a thwarted attack on Los Angeles International Airport.
He said that concern was “central” to his decision-making.
“Those were issues that were most prevalent to me,” Cannon testified.
“I did not want to put any Canadians in jeopardy or have Mr. Abdelrazik come back to Canada and pose a threat to the security and livelihood of a number of Canadians.”
The court proceeding, which is in its eighth week, has heard multiple witnesses say that CSIS’s objective was to keep Abdelrazik detained in Sudan.
Federal lawyers have argued the government did not urge Sudan to keep him in detention or mistreat him, or create a risk that these things might happen.
The RCMP cleared Abdelrazik in 2007, confirming publicly that it had no “substantive information” indicating Abdelrazik was involved in criminal activity.
Abdelrazik first filed his claim against Ottawa and Cannon in 2009. It’s only now being heard in Federal Court after a lengthy delay over the use of sensitive documents.