Toronto-area teen arrested over alleged plan to travel to join ISIS
Police recently applied for terrorism peace bond to restrict movements of 18-year-old from Newmarket
A Toronto-area teen has been arrested on suspicion he was planning to travel abroad to join ISIS, CBC News has learned.
Court records show the RCMP applied last month for a terrorism peace bond in the case, which would restrict the movements of the 18-year-old from Newmarket, Ont. The accused can't be named due to his age.
"Although the defendant is an adult now, much of the allegations occurred while he was a young person," said Nathalie Houle, a spokesperson for the Public Prosecution Service of Canada.
The RCMP announced on Dec. 19 that it had received the attorney general's consent for proceedings related to terrorism-related offences, but investigators declined to provide any specifics on the allegations, or the accused.
The court records obtained Thursday show the Mounties sought a peace bond against the teen on Dec. 18, alleging he may be planning to leave Canada "to participate in the activities" of the listed terrorist group, ISIS.
The teen was released on bail last month and is scheduled to return to court on Jan. 15. The RCMP said he faces "strict court conditions," pending the outcome of the Mounties' peace bond application.
Since 2015, the federal prosecution service said 26 people have entered into a terrorism peace bond. The RCMP said Canada's spy agency CSIS was also involved in the most recent case.
The self-styled Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) has come under renewed focus this week following the deadly truck attack in New Orleans, which authorities said was carried out by a U.S.-born ISIS supporter.
RCMP carried out two high-profile operations in 2024 targeting Ontario-based men accused of planning ISIS-inspired mass murders.
Father and son Ahmed and Mostafa Eldidi were arrested near Toronto in July and charged in connection with an alleged violent plot involving an axe and a machete. The elder Eldidi now also faces war crimes charges, after he was allegedly seen dismembering a man in a 2015 ISIS propaganda video recorded in Iraq.
Separately, the RCMP arrested Muhammad Shahzeb Khan in September. The Pakistani citizen living in Mississauga, Ont., was arrested in Quebec, near the U.S. border. U.S. investigators alleged Khan was en route to New York City, to carry out an ISIS-inspired mass shooting at a Jewish centre.
Mental health worker says radicalization growing problem
Radicalization is a growing problem among Toronto youth struggling with mental health, according to David O'Brien, director of mental health services at Yorktown Family Services (YFS).
O'Brien says he is planning a campaign to educate health-care workers about online radicalization — be it through ISIS, Nazism or incel groups — saying it's an issue health care has to address before law enforcement.
"What we found is when you move away from the ideology, you're left with someone that has a lot of mental health, social health struggles," O'Brien told CBC Radio's Metro Morning Friday.
Since 2020, YFS has had a program in place specifically for radicalized youth, most of whom O'Brien says are dealing with mental health issues. He says the program has had 250 clients in the last four years, and almost all have been deradicalized with the support of mental health and social workers.
Signs of radicalization for parents to watch for, O'Brien says, include increasing time online, isolation, an extreme change in political views and the purchase of weapons like knives and airguns.
"Often parents do see this stuff, but really don't know where to go," he said, adding that about 70 per cent of referrals for YFS's deradicalization program are from law enforcement, not families. "Our health-care system has not done a good job engaging this population."
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With files from Furkan Khan, Caroline Barghout and Metro Morning