Collège de Maisonneuve suspends Adil Charkaoui courses

Montreal’s Collège de Maisonneuve CEGEP has abruptly broken a contract to rent classroom space to Adil Charkaoui.

Sources tell CBC that one of the people who took his courses is linked to a group of six students suspected of joining jihadists in Syria.

On Thursday the school said it was suspending the contract after it found out a video was circulated among members of the school that was described as “promoting values that are different from ours.”

Collège de Maisonneuve had agreed to rent four classrooms to teach Arabic and Qu’ran studies, as well as two sports courts, to Charkaoui’s Ecole des compagnons.

Collège de Rosement also suspended its contract on Thursday with the school, which is associated with the Centre communautaire islamique de l'est de Montréal.

The break between Charkaoui and Collège de Maisonneuve happened the same day it was learned that six young Quebecers are believed to have joined the ranks of the Islamic State in Syria.

• Syrian jihadists believed to have recruited 6 young Quebecers

Four of the six people were enrolled in the Collège de Maisonneuve last fall.

Three of the people left the country January 15, while the others left mid-February.

Four members of the group are men, while the other two are women.

“[Collège de Rosemont] cares about the current global context and the phenomenon of radicalization. To this end, measures have already been initiated by the college to minimize this social phenomenon which has negative impacts and is dangerous for our youth,” wrote Collège de Rosemont executive director Stéphane Godbout.

Charkaoui was arrested in 2003 on a security certificate under suspicion of terrorism-related activities. He won his challenge of the certificate several years later.

He now lives in Montreal and is an outspoken advocate against Islamophobia. He became a Canadian citizen last summer.

Charkaoui has declined to comment on the suspension, however, he says he will hold a news conference Friday morning.