Tories Demand Answers After Pakistani Man on UK Sex-Offender List Allowed Into Canada

Conservative MP Michelle Rempel Garner holds a news conference in Ottawa on Feb. 21, 2025. The Canadian Press/Adrian Wyld

Conservatives are criticizing federal immigration procedures after a Pakistani man was granted a Canadian visitor’s visa in 2023 despite being registered as a sex offender in the UK for sexually abusing his underage niece.

Tory MP Michelle Rempel Garner criticized Justice Minister Sean Fraser for allowing “a publicly-listed incestuous child sex abuser into Canada” during Fraser’s tenure as immigration minister under former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

Court documents show Canada is currently in the process of trying to deport Pakistani national Gullfam Hussain for “serious criminality and misrepresentation” for lying on his visitor’s visa. Rempel Garner told the House of Commons on Oct. 2 that he should never have been admitted in the first place.

She also accused Ottawa of allowing Hussain to “gum up” Canada’s court system rather than deporting him outright.

Hussain applied for protected person status under Canadian law last year, saying he would be at risk of “honour crimes from his family members in Pakistan” if he were to be deported. Rempel Garner said a “simple Google search” by immigration officials could have saved the department from its current deportation battle rather than relying on applicants to divulge their criminal history.

“This is truly disgusting and is antithetical to what it means to be Canadian. The person who allowed this incestuous child sex abuser into Canada should be fired,” she said during question period. “Why did the prime minister promote the then immigration minister, who allowed an incestuous child sex abuser into Canada, to the minister of justice?”

Fraser did not appear to be in the House of Commons to answer Rempel Garner. Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree said the government is currently working with law enforcement and the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) to ensure “those who are undesirable” will not be permitted entry.

“Canada has a robust system of determining who is admissible and who is not admissible to Canada,” he said. “I would like to confirm that the Canada Border Services Agency is working to remove the largest number of people in Canadian history. Over 20,000 people are targeted to be removed and are inadmissible to Canada. We are doing it as we speak.”

Rempel Garner said Hussain was placed on the UK’s sex offender registry for having “incestuous sex” with his teenage niece. Court documents identify the girl as being between the ages of 13 and 17, and say Hussain is 10 years her senior.

He was found guilty by a UK court for adult sexual activity with a minor, and was sentenced to six years’ imprisonment in 2017.

He was placed on the United Kingdom’s sex offender registry and was released from prison in 2020 on conditions, court documents say. He moved to Spain in 2020 without serving the remainder of his sentence, and his niece joined him the following September shortly before her 21st birthday. They had a child in May of 2022, and then relocated to Canada on visitor visas in 2023.

“He did not disclose his criminal history on his Canadian visa application or upon his entry to Canada,” the court documents say.

Ongoing Case

The immigration ministry has been attempting to deport Hussain since his criminal past came to light. Hussain’s case was before the Federal Court last month after the immigration department denied his request for protected status.

His protection application said a “fatwa” had been sworn against him by family members because of his intimate relationship with his niece and his life could be in danger if he was deported. An immigration officer determined he did not submit enough evidence to prove his claim.

An investigation into his claim found insufficient evidence that his relatives were conspiring to harm him. On the contrary, police reports filed by his family members included complaints from his family alleging that he had threatened them. The investigation also found that the fatwa issued against him called for the end of his relationship, not violence.

The court sided with the immigration department and dismissed Hussain’s request for further judicial review in its Sept. 25 ruling.

The Epoch Times contacted Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada for comment on the case but did not receive a response prior to publication.

Immigration Minister Lena Metlege Diab told the House on Oct. 2 that “Canadians’ trust in their immigration system is paramount.”

“We are constantly working to improve immigration security screening processes, particularly in response to new challenges and pressures,” she said. “We have the border bill, Bill C-2. I invite my colleagues to help us pass that bill, which will further strengthen our immigration system.”

Also known as The Strong Borders Act, the legislation will reinforce border security, tighten immigration, and give more powers to security agencies to obtain currently protected private subscriber data if it becomes law.

First reading of the bill in the House of Commons was completed in June and second reading remains in progress. It must pass third reading in parliament and pass three readings in the Senate before it can be given royal assent by the governor general.

The Tories have criticized certain aspects of the bill, including authorities’ enhanced powers to search private mail, and a provision that banks, credit unions, charities, and other federally registered businesses cannot “accept a cash payment, donation or deposit of $10,000 or more in a single transaction or in a prescribed series of related transactions that total $10,000 or more.”