Mohammed Abdullah Warsame, who told people at the Old Brewery Mission last month about his intention to set off explosives on Montreal public transit, was formally accused of terrorism Monday by federal prosecutors, who used a criminal code provision that’s never been used before in Quebec to heighten the seriousness of the consequences.
Warsame is a Canadian citizen originally from Somalia, and has done time in the U.S. over his support of Al‑Qaida.
CityNews makes the legal position a little clearer: the Attorney General granted federal prosecutors permission to pursue the case as a terrorism-related offence.
Ephraim 08:02 on 2025-07-08 Permalink
Citizenship can be revoked in Canada for hiding support of a terrorist group. Citizenship Act (RSC, 1985, c. C-29) under Fraud or Misrepresentation and National Security Threats and Serious Criminality. It’s what is supposed to allow us to remove anyone who is a supporter of the Islamic state, Hezbollah, al-Qaida, Hamas, the Houthis, Nazis or others. Two cases come to mind Helmut Oberlander and Branko Rogan. There is also the case of Zakaria Amara, who the Liberals changed the law and his citizenship was reinstated even though he was convicted of terrorist acts in Canada, who is now on parole and back in the public. Not sure how I feel about that case… 17 years in jail, parole and then watching him for the rest of his life as an expense, when we could have deported him back to Jordan.
bob 11:58 on 2025-07-08 Permalink
This case smells of bullshit. The contention that a homeless guy (who seems more than a little detached from reality) has the wherewithal to construct an IED is goofy. I tend to think his name popped up on US law enforcement radar, some calls were made, and the RCMP chimed in at their behest.
The case against him in the US had its own barnyard aroma. He pled guilty to a lesser charge after being held in prison for five and a half years, four of them in solitary confinement. The prosecution never had to actually prove a case, and what was alleged was practically de minimis.
More info: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohammed_Warsame
Kate 12:50 on 2025-07-08 Permalink
Warsame’s homeless and doesn’t seem to have a posse, but the fact that he would be technically incapable of sparking the kind of havoc he described presumably doesn’t invalidate his intention to do terrorism.