OTTAWA -- Canada is working to prevent homegrown terrorism by revoking known extremists鈥� passports and citizenship, and developing 鈥渆xit control鈥� tools, Public Safety Minister Steven Blaney said Sunday.
In an interview on CTV鈥檚 Question Period, the minister said violent jihadists are not welcome as Canadian citizens and the government is working on further measures to deter would-be terrorists.
鈥淲e are removing the passports of those individuals, and if these are dual citizenships, we will remove their citizenship,鈥� Blaney said. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 want to live in a country with someone who disagrees with me and wants to cut my head.鈥�
Blaney also said the government is not ruling out 鈥渆xit controls鈥� such as recording data on people who leave the country.
Under the , Canada and the United States have exchanged information since 2012 on third-party nationals and permanent residents crossing the Canada-U.S. border. However, the initiative does not extend to recording information on Canadian and American citizens.
On Sunday, Blaney hinted that those limits may soon change. 鈥淲e are actually working on tools,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t is important to make sure that we keep track of [people leaving the country], just to know when they leave, where they are going.鈥�
Blaney also said the government is looking to work with other countries, including Turkey, to limit the movement of people traveling to Islamic State territory.
The family of Mohamuh Mohamed Mohamud, a Hamilton, Ont. man who reportedly died fighting for ISIS, said he entered Syria through Turkey.
鈥淚f they leave the country, they don鈥檛 go directly to Syria,鈥� Blaney said. 鈥淪o we need to work with all the other countries to keep track of them, to be able to know where they are and, eventually, to intercept them.鈥�
Canadian mission in Iraq
Canada currently has 69 Canadian special ops forces in Iraq, providing training to Kurdish forces fighting ISIS. However, the mission is set to end Oct. 5, at which time the government must decide whether it will extend and possibly expand Canada鈥檚 military presence.
Liberal foreign affairs critic Marc Garneau said his party is concerned about how the mission may evolve after the Oct. 5 deadline.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a brand new ballgame because we don鈥檛 know what the role will be. We鈥檝e clearly been given indication from the Prime Minister that it will be expanded,鈥� Garneau said Sunday.
On Friday, Prime Minister Stephen Harper reaffirmed his support for American airstrikes in Iraq and Syria. 鈥淭here is no reluctance here,鈥� Harper said. 鈥淲e do not stand on the sidelines and watch. We do our part.鈥�
If the Canadian government proposes its own airstrikes, the Conservatives say they will allow a vote in the House of Commons on the possible elevation to a 鈥渃ombat mission.鈥�
Both Garneau and NDP defence critic Jack Harris said their parties do not support Canadian airstrikes.
But retired major-general David Fraser, who once led the mission Afghanistan, said firm action is needed against ISIS. He describes the organization as more dangerous than the Taliban and Al Qaeda.
鈥淲e鈥檙e fighting a philosophy. You can鈥檛 just go out and destroy an individual and finish this off. You鈥檝e got to go and get at the root of where it achieves its financial ability to prosecute it ideas,鈥� Fraser said.
鈥淭hey are just the most brutal threat that we鈥檝e ever seen,鈥� he said.
Based on interviews by CTV Ottawa Bureau Chief Robert Fife
