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| Great White North | |
| Terror probe focuses on colleges | |
| 2003-08-28 | |
| EFL Ontario Public Security Minister Bob Runciman has ordered a sweeping investigation of the province’s 500 career colleges to ensure they’re not aiding illegal immigration. Mr. Runciman, who said he’s "lost confidence in federal authorities to do the job properly," announced the investigation yesterday following revelations that 19 men linked to a suspected terrorist sleeper cell in Toronto entered Canada on fraudulent student visas.
Computers are good, they never completely erase files. Most of the 19 Pakistani and Indian men who are being held obtained visas by enrolling in the defunct Ottawa Business College, based in the Toronto suburb of Scarborough. Court documents show the school operated as little more than shell, charging $400 to $500 for acceptance letters that could be used by foreign students. We have the same problem here in the states. "How many others have been issued student visas who could pose a threat to the security of the province?" Runciman asked, accusing the federal government of failing to properly check the backgrounds of foreign students, including those who attend publicly run colleges and universities. "We have to do followup that if indeed they’re legitimate students, that they’re attending classes and doing what they said. "If they’re not attending classes, their visas should be cancelled ... and they should be very quickly removed from the country." When did Ashcroft take over Canada? Investigators, who launched a probe in February called Project Thread, said the men displayed a suspicious pattern of behaviour that has raised the possibility they were members of an al-Qaeda terrorist cell. Members of the group were caught at the Pickering Nuclear Power plant at night, while another overflew the reactor while training at a flight school in Durham, Ont. Other members were linked to the theft of radioactive material and one had ties to a fundraising front for al-Qaeda. Nah, nothing suspicious here. But lawyers accused the government of hyping a simple immigration matter into a national security scare, conceding that while their clients might be guilty of immigration fraud, they were not terrorists. Tarik Shah, who represents Mohammad Akhtar, one of the men arrested, said there was nothing to tie his client to terrorism and called the allegations "too vague, too general ... What has Ottawa Business College to do with security of Canada?" How about providing a cover for your client? A Canadian Muslim organization demanded the government immediately release the men, whom it said were the victims of racial profiling reminiscent of Nazi Germany. Jackbooted Canadians??? Mr. Dickenson, however, said the government was simply being prudent and that it would be irresponsible not to act on the concerns raised by the intelligence information. He said Mr. Ahmed had been granted a visa in 1999 to study at Seneca College, but that he had dropped out. Instead of going home he then sent the immigration department letters claiming he had switched to Ottawa Business College. In December 2002, he sent the government a letter from the college that said he had been attending class and was getting good grades. But, he never attended a single class and the school had shut down in June 2001. Ooops! | |
| Posted by:Steve |
| #1 Rather than deporting them. Shackle them together and enroll them in a 4 year Women's Studies program. Mandatory attendence. |
| Posted by: Super Hose 2003-8-28 9:34:47 PM |