Mr. Speaker, recently CSIS director Ward Elcock sounded a distressing alarm. Appearing before a Senate committee, director Elcock stated that Canada was home to more terrorist organizations than any country in the world except the United States. Our reputation as a peaceful, constructive world player is at stake.
Just today we hear of a trained Iranian assassin who has been living in our country as a refugee since 1991. There is also a report that two Canadians are being tried for the murder of the founder of Bangladesh. One wonders how they became Canadians in the first place.
CSIS reports that there are currently over 50 organizations and 350 individuals under investigation for suspected terrorist links.
The most effective counter-terrorism measure we can take is to keep terrorists out of the country and to remove those who are already in Canada.
I call upon the government to give CSIS all the tools it needs to ensure we do not become a haven for terrorists.