Ottawa, ON – Raquel Dancho, Conservative Shadow Minister for Public Safety, released the following statement after media reports revealed a dangerous ISIS child trafficker could be walking the streets freely in Canada:

“According to a Globe and Mail report, Mohammed al-Rashed, a Syrian human smuggler for the Islamic State recruited to spy for the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS), was recently freed from prison and promised asylum and relocation to Canada.

“The Minister of Public Safety Marco Mendicino however is refusing to confirm whether the former ISIS child trafficker was granted asylum or any details regarding his whereabouts.

“Mr. al-Rashed was convicted of smuggling three school-aged girls as young as 15 years old to ISIS terrorists, this after being recruited by CSIS. Canadians deserve to know that they and their children can walk the streets safely without being confronted with such a dangerous criminal.

“Canadians were promised a feminist government. A transparent government. What they are getting is the exact opposite. They have a government that would put the safety of our young women in peril and will go to enormous lengths to hide that fact.

“We are calling on Minister Mendicino to tell Canadians the truth, and if the Trudeau Liberal government put a dangerous criminal on our streets they must explain themselves to Canadians.

“Conservatives will continue to push for answers and hold this tired government to account. Most importantly, we will use all the means at our disposal to make sure Canadians are safe from dangerous criminals. Anything less is unacceptable.”