Doug Ford is doing the one thing Justin Trudeau isn’t doing when it comes to terrorists and returning ISIS fighters, trying to make their life harder.
Ford’s government will back a new private member’s bill when it is introduced this week. Called the Terrorist Activity Sanctions Act, the bill aims to strip terrorist and returning ISIS fighters of provincial services.
Fought for ISIS and then want to renew your driver’s licence or health card?
Too bad. No card for you!
Province acts where the feds won’t.
“Since the Federal Government doesn’t seem to take this seriously, I felt obligated to take action and send a message that there are consequences for leaving Ontario to commit indefensible crimes,” PC MPP Dave Smith told the Toronto Sun.
The provincial government has no power to charge these people with criminal offences, that falls to the federal government, but at least this is something.
Compare that to Trudeau last week dodging and weaving when asked about Canadian officials pro-actively reaching out to British born and raised “Jihadi Jack.”
Why not charge them?
Canadian officials have been saying for some time that they don’t think they can charge people like Jack Letts or ISIS sniper Muhammed Ali.
The laws are there but officials worry about losing a case.
Meanwhile Trudeau sounds weak on these answers and more. He’s spoken of returning ISIS fighters being a strong voice in the community against radicalization with no evidence to back that up.
Critics of Trudeau say he is not doing enough. Critics of Ford say he is trying to do too much here.
Perhaps the law, if ever passed, will be struck down as unconstitutional. Perhaps it is, as my friend Phil Gurski describes it, naked populism.
So what?
At least it is an attempt to deal with something that outrages Canadians.
Canadians want action.
The feds could be doing a whole pile of positive and constructive things on this file but the public doesn’t see them. The public sees and hears from a prime minister that seems to say nothing can be done about terrorists that committed horrific acts coming back to Canada.
Other than give them cheques for $10.5 million.
Canadians deserve better.
We deserve leaders that will use the tools at their disposal to deal with these people.
Doug Ford’s PCs are showing they are willing to do that. Justin Trudeau’s Liberals are not.