Woman suspects she was disqualified from Montreal police due to estranged uncle's alleged terrorist ties
Miriam Ikhlef has always wanted to be a police officer.
"I've always been passionate about law, about justice, about helping people," she told CTV News on Thursday. "I believe I'm good at it, so I just wanted to do it."
That's why she applied to be a 911 dispatcher back in 2020.
"I got the job, I passed all the requirements -- which included a security clearance -- which I passed without any problems," said the 26-year-old.
So when a job opened up to become a police officer she applied to that, too, but was turned down because she didn't pass the security check.
Then, just a few days later, she lost her job as a dispatcher.
"I was dismissed because of the revocation of my security clearance, which I had passed."
Ikhlef believes it's possible police linked her to Ahmed Ressam, an Algerian-born man who once lived in Montreal and was arrested in 1999 for plotting to bomb an L.A. airport.
She says her uncle, Mourad Ikhlef, knew Rassam. Mourad Ikhlef was deported in 2003 because of alleged terrorist ties. He was later acquitted by an Algerian court.
But Miriam Ikhlef says she barely knows her uncle.
"I was maybe three or four years old, and I don't know anything about that. It's not my story."
Her legal team alleges that, in Superior Court last year, Montreal police (SPVM) management said they didn't know why Ikhlef failed the security check, claiming that sort of information wasn't shared with their officers.
Superior Court Justice Michel A. Pinsonnault condemned police, writing, "With respect, one wonders if the right hand knows what the left hand is doing at the SPVM."
Guylaine Dionne, president of the union representing 911 dispatchers and other white-collar workers in Montreal, told The Canadian Press her goal is to have Miriam Ikhlef reinstated with financial compensation.
"This case raises serious human rights issues that we monitor closely, including when employers fire employees without giving clear reasons under the guise of secrecy related to security investigations," she said.
Retired SPVM officer Andre Durocher says it's not always obvious why someone fails a security check.
"There is a certain onus on the police department to at least justify, but the reason may not be as transparent as we expect sometimes," he said.
Regardless, Ikhlef hopes to find out and says she still wants to be an officer one day.
Ikhlef's story is now the basis of a union grievance, and she's pursuing a lawsuit against the City of Montreal and the SPVM.
CTV News reached out to both to confirm and respond to her story but did not receive a response Thursday.
With files from The Canadian Press.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Grandparent scam: London, Ont., senior beats fraudsters not once, but twice
It was a typical Tuesday for Mabel Beharrell, 84, until she got the call that would turn her world upside down. Her teenaged grandson was in trouble and needed her help.
Deaths of 4 people on Sask. farm confirmed as murder-suicide
The deaths of four people on a farm near the Saskatchewan village of Neudorf have been confirmed a murder-suicide.
CRA no longer requiring 'bare trust' reporting in 2023 tax return
The Canada Revenue Agency announced Thursday it will not require 'bare trust' reporting from Canadians that it introduced for the 2024 tax season, just four days before the April 2 deadline.
Full parole granted to man convicted in notorious 'McDonald's murders' in Cape Breton
The Parole Board of Canada has granted full parole to one of three men convicted in the brutal murders of three McDonald's restaurant workers in Cape Breton more than 30 years ago.
Incident on Calgary's Reconciliation Bridge comes to safe resolution
Nearly 20 hours after a man climbed and remained perched on top of the Reconciliation Bridge in downtown Calgary, the situation came to a peaceful resolution.
Sunshine list: These were the Ontario public sector's highest earners in 2023
Ontario released its annual sunshine list Thursday afternoon, noting that the largest year-over-year increases were in hospitals, municipalities, and post-secondary sectors.
George Washington family secrets revealed by DNA from unmarked 19th century graves
Genetic analysis has shed light on a long-standing mystery surrounding the fates of U.S. President George Washington's younger brother Samuel and his kin.
'We won't forget': How some Muslims view Poilievre's stance on Israel-Hamas war
A spokesman for a regional Muslim advocacy group says Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre's stance on the Israel-Hamas war could complicate his party's relationship with Muslim Canadians.
Why some Christians are angry about Trump's 'God Bless the USA' Bible
Former U.S. President Donald Trump is officially selling a copy of the Bible themed to Lee Greenwood’s famous song, 'God Bless the USA.' But the concept of a Bible covered in the American flag has raised concern among religious circles.