The government tabled a report in Parliament on Tuesday outlining the difficulties involved in collecting enough evidence to prosecute Canadians who have taken part in terrorism abroad.

In its response to an Opposition motion that called for a plan to bring ISIS members to justice, the government said that while putting them on trial was a priority, it was also challenging.

“Investigating, arresting, charging and prosecuting any Canadian involved in terrorism or violent extremism is the government’s main objective and priority,” the six-page report said.

“However, there are often challenges associated with the collection of evidence and the use of intelligence and sensitive information as courtroom evidence, particularly when alleged criminal offences took place on a battlefield abroad.”

“This is an issue that we face in common with all our democratic allies.”

Both the Liberals and NDP supported a Conservative motion on Oct. 23 that gave the government 45 days to table “a plan to immediately bring to justice anyone who has fought as an ISIS terrorist or participated in any terrorist activity.”

The motion was a response to Global News reports that a number of Canadians who had been part of ISIS had been captured by U.S.-backed forces in Syria and wanted to return to Canada — although none faced charges here.

On Monday, Global News reported that a Toronto-area man who told reporters he was part of the ISIS police in Syria, and described himself on Facebook as a jihadist fighter, had not been arrested. “No kafir [nonbeliever] can touch me,” he told a former friend.

But rather than proposing a plan of action, the government response described what it was already doing.

Conservative immigration critic Michelle Rempel, who introduced the motion, said she was disappointed with the report, which she said was rife with “platitudes and excuses” for non-action.

She said almost a full page of the report was devoted to explaining why terrorists could not be prosecuted for their crimes.

“And that’s unacceptable,” she said.

Rempel and public safety critic Pierre Paul-Hus said in a statement Monday the focus must be on bringing perpetrators of genocide and terrorism to justice, “high levels of monitoring and surveillance” of suspects and greater use of terrorism peace bonds.

“We expect justice to be served to anyone who left our country to join this horrific terrorist group.”

Roughly half the estimated 190 Canadians who have left to join terrorist groups went to the Syria-Iraq-Turkey region. The report acknowledged that only four of those who returned have been charged.

Two were convicted. Two others, Pamir Hakimzadah and Rehab Dughmosh, are awaiting trial.

While Canadian terrorism law allows for the prosecution of crimes committed outside the country’s borders, “this exceptional extra-territorial jurisdiction does not change the fact that any prosecution undertaken in a Canadian courtroom must meet Canadian constitutional and legal standards,” said the report, tabled by Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale.

“In cases where evidence is still being collected or assessed or where charges cannot ultimately be laid, all other options are pursued,” the report added.

That includes surveillance, interviews, investigations, gathering and sharing intelligence, threat assessments, no-fly lists, refusal and revocation of passports, threat reduction measures and peace bonds, it said.

“The suite of measures to be used in respect of any particular individual or situation is determined in a professional manner by Canada’s expert police, security and intelligence agencies.”

The report also repeated Goodale’s view that, because it did not participate in their detention, Canada is under no legal obligation to facilitate the return of the Canadians captured in Syria.

But a 2017 Briefing Note for Goodale took the opposite view, saying that Canadians had the constitutional “right to enter” the country. “Therefore, even if a Canadian engaged in terrorist activity abroad, the government of Canada must facilitate their return to Canada,” it said.

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