Ex-minister cites ‘threat to security’ for denying emergency passport to Abdelrazik

By Jim Bronskill, The Canadian Press on December 10, 2024.

Abousfian Abdelrazik makes his way to Federal court in Ottawa on Oct. 30, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld

OTTAWA – Former foreign minister Lawrence Cannon says he denied an emergency passport to Abousfian Abdelrazik in 2009 because he considered the Montreal man a possible threat to national security.

Cannon told a Federal Court hearing today he did not want Abdelrazik to return to Canada from Sudan and “put any Canadians in jeopardy.”

The Sudanese-born Abdelrazik settled in Montreal as a refugee and became a Canadian citizen in 1995.

During a 2003 visit to his native country to see his ailing mother, he was arrested, imprisoned and questioned about suspected extremist connections.

Abdelrazik, who denies involvement in terrorism, says he was tortured by Sudanese authorities during two periods of detention.

He is suing the Canadian government, claiming officials arranged for his arbitrary imprisonment, encouraged his detention by Sudanese authorities and obstructed his repatriation to Canada for several years.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 10, 2024.