Ottawa to close ‘loophole’ that allowed Via terror suspect to be granted criminal pardons

The Conservative government is taking yet another run at the rules governing pardons for criminal offences after a review turned up a "loophole" that allowed one of the suspects in the alleged VIA Rail terror plot to be pardoned, despite facing deportation, and become a landed immigrant.

The Conservatives last year toughened the rules for pardons, now known officially as criminal record suspensions, in the wake of publicity over the pardon granted to pedophile hockey coach Graham James in 2007.

New legislation doubled length of time a serious offender had to be crime-free to 10 years, barred child-sex offenders from applying and disqualified anyone who had more than three convictions for indictable offences, The Canadian Press reported earlier this year.

[ Related: Parole Board dealing with massive pardon backlog after Ottawa tightens rules ]

But a review of the immigration files of two men charged in what police say was an al-Qaeda-linked plot to attack a New York-bound Via train, turned up the fact one of them, Raed Jaser, was pardoned for a string of offences and later accepted as a landed immigrant, the National Post reported.

“It seems to me that if you’re inadmissible as a foreign national, that should preclude you from applying for a pardon," Citizenship and Immigration Minister Jason Kenney told the Post.

"And I’ve discussed this with Vic Toews [the Minister of Public Safety]. We intend to pursue legislative remedies to plug that loophole"

Kenny said the review looked at why Raed and Chiheb Esseghaier, who was also charged, were accepted as landed immigrants last year even though they had been allegedly plotting since April 1, 2012.

Kenny told the Post there was no evidence of a lack of communication among different agencies that resulted in the men getting permanent-resident status. The investigation into their activities began after that, he said.

But Kenny said the review raised questions about how Jaser, whose refugee claim was rejected as far back as 1994, was able to avoid deportation and have his criminal record wiped clean.

The government tried to deport Jaser, a Palestinian born in the United Arab Emirates, several times. But neither the UAE, nor Jordan, where he lived for a time, nor Germany, his last country of residence, would accept him, the Post said.

[ Related: Canada tried to deport terror suspect Raed Jaser ]

He was granted pardons in 2009 for several fraud-related offences and for uttering death threats, then granted permanent-resident status last year.

“If a foreign national is inadmissible, they basically don’t have legal status in Canada and they shouldn’t be able to apply for a pardon. I think that’s the way to come at it,” Kenny told the Post. “They shouldn’t be able to benefit from an extraordinary privilege like the pardon system.”

Kenny's concerns were echoed by Toews' press secretary.

“It is unacceptable that inadmissible foreign nationals are able to get criminal record suspensions," Andrew McGrath told the Globe and Mail. "We are taking steps to ensure that they are not able to use this loophole to further abuse Canada’s fair and generous immigration system."