Two Canadian women have been arrested after arriving in Canada following their repatriation from an ISIS detention camp in Syria.
The RCMP said Wednesday that it arrested Oumaima Chouay, 27, at the airport in Montreal. Police said she had been “the subject of an investigation by the Integrated National Security Enforcement Team (INSET) since November 2014,” and they have filed terrorism charges against her. The charges against Chouay, which have not been proven in court, include participation in activity of a terrorist group and leaving Canada to do so.
Canadian Kimberly Polman was also arrested after arriving in Montreal following her repatriation from the detention camp in Syria, according to her lawyer. Lawrence Greenspon told CTV News in an email that his client was arrested under Section 810 of the Criminal Code, a peace bond, and was en route to Abbotsford, B.C., while in police custody.
In a statement, Global Affairs Canada confirmed that four Canadians – two children and two women – were repatriated from northeast Syria.
“Canada thanks the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria for its co-operation and recognizes its efforts in providing care for the detained individuals under an extremely difficult security situation and adverse circumstances,” the statement said. “The safety and security of Canadians, both at home and abroad, is a top priority of the Government of Canada. Canada conducted the operation on that basis and ensured the health and well-being of the 4 Canadians.”
Global Affairs also thanked the United States for its assistance and said it cannot provide any details of the repatriation due to privacy and security concerns.
Polman was arrested by Kurdish fighters in Syria for her alleged association to ISIS in 2019, and had been detained there until her release. The camp is currently home to more than 2,600 internally displaced persons (IDPs) which allegedly include the wives, widows and families of ISIS members.
Polman has insisted she was lured to Syria in 2015 by her husband, an ISIS member whom she met online. In a 2020 report, Human Rights Watch described Polman as a U.S.-Canadian dual citizen who converted to Islam as an adult and mostly lived in Canada before travelling to Syria to be an ISIS nurse.
Until her release, Polman was one of nearly 50 Canadians believed to be held in Kurdish-run camps in northeastern Syria. According to Human Rights Watch, more than half of those Canadians are children, many under the age of seven.
“Mentally, I’ve gone downhill, especially the last year,” Polman told CTV National News at the time. “I attempted to take my life several times and I can see serious signs of depression in some of the other Canadian women as well.”
Speaking to reporters on Parliament Hill Wednesday morning, both Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Sean Fraser maintained that repatriated Canadians who supported terrorist groups abroad should face criminal charges, regardless of their circumstances around their actions, detainment or repatriation.
“Fundamentally, travelling for the purpose of supporting terrorism is a crime in Canada, and anyone who travelled for the purpose of supporting terrorism should face criminal charges,” Trudeau said. “I’m not going to speak directly to any given situation because it’s in the hands of the police and perhaps eventually the courts, but it is important that we make sure that people know, you can not get away with supporting terrorism in this country, regardless of the circumstances.”
Fraser added that the federal government is monitoring the wellbeing of Canadians in foreign detention camps and is aware children are “involved in these kinds of circumstances,” as well.
“I think what people need to understand is that we rely on our law enforcement partners to ensure that anybody who’s been travelling to take part in terrorist behaviour, to be part of a group, has committed a crime, whether they’re abroad or in Canada, and they’ll be treated as such,” Fraser said.
While European countries such as Germany, Denmark and France have repatriated their citizens in ISIS detention camps with the help of local Kurdish officials, Canada previously appeared hesitant to organize releases for adult citizens.
Global Affairs Canada did adopt a policy framework in January 2021 that may have allowed Polman – who a Doctors Without Borders examination found was suffering from conditions such as hepatitis – to qualify for “extraordinary assistance” and repatriation due to an “imminent, life-threatening medical condition, with no prospect of receiving medical treatment” in Syria. However, Human Rights Watch has accused the federal government of blocking subsequent attempts to bring Polman back to Canada.
In September 2021, Greenspon sued the federal government on behalf of 11 families in an effort to bring 26 Canadians home from Syria: 14 children, four men and eight women, including Polman.
“They are living in terrible, terrible conditions and we are going to federal court to try and require Global Affairs Canada to make an official request for their repatriation,” Greenspon told CTV National News on Tuesday. “All that [Kurdish officials in Syria] require is an official request by Canada in order to make that happen.”
EDMONTON – RCMP say a second suspect has been arrested in the killing of an Alberta county worker.
Mounties say 28-year-old Elijah Strawberry was taken into custody Friday at a house on O’Chiese First Nation.
Colin Hough, a worker with Rocky View County, was shot and killed while on the job on a rural road east of Calgary on Aug. 6.
Another man who worked for Fortis Alberta was shot and wounded, and RCMP said the suspects fled in a Rocky View County work truck.
Police later arrested Arthur Wayne Penner, 35, and charged him with first-degree murder and attempted murder, and a warrant was issued for Strawberry’s arrest.
RCMP also said there was a $10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of Strawberry, describing him as armed and dangerous.
Chief Supt. Roberta McKale, told a news conference in Edmonton that officers had received tips and information over the last few weeks.
“I don’t know of many members that when were stopped, fuelling up our vehicles, we weren’t keeping an eye out, looking for him,” she said.
But officers had been investigating other cases when they found Strawberry.
“Our investigators were in O’Chiese First Nation at a residence on another matter and the major crimes unit was there working another file and ended up locating him hiding in the residence,” McKale said.
While an investigation is still underway, RCMP say they’re confident both suspects in the case are in police custody.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
RICHMOND, B.C. – The Integrated Homicide Investigation Team says the 26-year-old son of a man found dead on British Columbia’s Sunshine Coast has been charged with his murder.
Police say 58-year-old Henry Doyle was found badly injured on a forest service road in Egmont last September and died of his injuries.
The homicide team took over when the BC Coroners Service said the man’s death was suspicious.
It says in a statement that the BC Prosecution Service has approved one count of first-degree murder against the man’s son, Jackson Doyle.
Police say the accused will remain in custody until at least his next court appearance.
The homicide team says investigators remained committed to solving the case with the help of the community of Egmont, the RCMP on the Sunshine Coast and in Richmond, and the Vancouver Police Department.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
VANCOUVER – Mediated talks between the union representing HandyDART workers in Metro Vancouver and its employer, Transdev, have broken off without an agreement following 15 hours of talks.
Joe McCann, president of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1724, says they stayed at the bargaining table with help from a mediator until 2 a.m. Friday and made “some progress.”
However, he says the union negotiators didn’t get an offer that they could recommend to the membership.
McCann says that in some ways they are close to an agreement, but in other areas they are “miles apart.”
About 600 employees of the door-to-door transit service for people who can’t navigate the conventional transit system have been on strike since last week, pausing service for all but essential medical trips.
McCann asks HandyDART users to be “patient,” since they are trying to get not only a fair contract for workers but also a better service for customers.
He says it’s unclear when the talks will resume, but he hopes next week at the latest.
The employer, Transdev, didn’t reply to an interview request before publication.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
