While investigators try to determine who was responsible for a shooting at the U.S. Consulate in Toronto early Tuesday morning — and what their motive was — Ontario Premier Doug Ford suggested, without evidence, that terror sleeper cells may have been involved.
When asked at Queen’s Park if police have indicated to him that a rash of recent shootings at Toronto-area synagogues may be connected to the U.S. Consulate shooting, Ford said authorities have not provided any proof of a link.
But the Premier offered his own personal opinion on the matter.
“This is just me speaking,” Ford stressed. “I believe there are sleeper cells all over the world, as we know, they are in the U.S., they are in Canada, and we have to weed these people out and hold them accountable.”
“They need to be caught, and they need to be thrown in jail for life.”
“This is my personal opinion,” he reiterated about the sleeper cell claims. “And I don’t think I’m too far off with saying that. It’s a different world now that we are facing, and we are seeing it around the world with turmoil happening everywhere, and we are going to make sure it doesn’t land on our shores …”
During a subsequent update about the U.S. Consulate shooting, RCMP Chief Supt. for Criminal Operations in Ontario, Chris Leather, was asked about the premier’s sleeper cell claims.
“I don’t have any information to provide at this time on any sleeper cells that may or may not exist in Canada,” Leather said. “Suffice to say that our CSIS counterparts and INSETs (Integrated National Security Enforcement Teams) across the country are actively investigating matters such as this, and we will continue to do so.”
In the meantime, Leather says there will be heightened security at embassies and consulate buildings in the Toronto and Ottawa regions.
RCMP thwarted suspected plans for Toronto terror attack in 2024
While authorities have so far stopped short of linking Tuesday’s consulate shooting to terror, back in 2024, the RCMP laid terror-related charges against a Greater Toronto Area (GTA) father and son who were allegedly planning an attack in Toronto on behalf of ISIS.
Ahmed Fouad Mostafa Eldidi, 62, and his 26-year-old son, Mostafa Eldidi, were both charged with participation in the activities of a terrorist group identified as the Islamic State.
Ahmed Eldidi and Mostafa Eldidi were also charged with facilitating terrorist activity and conspiracy to commit murder.
The father and son were arrested at a hotel in Richmond Hill, Ont., with authorities alleging they were in the “advanced stages of planning a serious, violent attack in Toronto.”
The intended targets of the attack are under a publication ban.
With files from Lucas Casaletto
