The Ben Mulroney Show - A convicted Canadian ISIS soldier... living in a townhouse north of Calgary

Episode Date: August 20, 2025

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your needs. It's flexible, too. You can schedule a session with just a click, and you're free to change therapists whenever you need to until you find the right fit. Talk it out with BetterHelp. Visit BetterHelp.com slash Mulruni today to get 10% off your first month. That's BetterHelp, H-E-L-P-com slash Mulroney. Welcome back to the Ben-Rul-Rul-Roney show on this Wednesday, August 20th. Time for a very big conversation, Canada. We want to talk about someone named Hussein Borhot. Hussein Borhot, a Canadian citizen,

who one day decided that he wanted to pick up arms against Canada and the best way to do so was to fly to Syria and align himself with ISIS. He trained with them as a sniper. At one point he thought, maybe I want to be a suicide bomber. Instead, he chose the path of becoming a sniper, becoming the second best sniper in his class,

eventually coming home to Canada. how he got home, I don't know. But he came home and found himself entangled in an RCMP sting, which got him arrested. And that takes us to April 2022. Hussein Borhot was supposed to be on trial in November, but today he took responsibility. Borat admitted he considered becoming a suicide bomber

before joining the terrorist group as a fighter. Now, this is video of the 36-year-old leaving the courthouse today, Borod pleaded guilty to one count of participating in terrorism group activity and another of committing a kidnapping for a terrorist group while in Syria between 2013 and 2014. R-CMP charged Borod in the summer of 2020 after a seven-year investigation which also included an undercover sting. According to an agree statement of facts, Borod admitted he trained with a militant group Islamic State and was given weapons. At one point, members of the group went to a village and kidnapped opposition fighters.

The Crown says he hopes the conviction will deter others. The defense says his client is taking responsibility. He's here to take responsibility for his actions. He was quite a young man when this occurred. He's grown a lot since then. What he did was terrible. He acknowledges it. He acknowledges that he did some heinous and terrible things.

And he's here to be punished for him. This guy's not a good dude. It's not a good dude. And let's not forget, we fought a war against ISIS. Canadians fought and died on the battlefield, defending the values of this country against a fighting force that wanted to destroy us. Canadians died and were felled on the battlefield fighting ISIS.

So that's where we are today, right? He's been Hussein Borod, convicted of his crimes. But where is he today? Well, let's bring in our next guest, Frank Caputo. He's a conservative MP for Kamloops, Thompson, Caribou, as well as a former prosecutor. Frank, welcome to the Ben Mulroney show. Oh, thanks for having me, Ben. It's a pleasure to be here.

Okay, so answer the question. Where is convicted terrorist Hussein Borhot today? Well, I have reasoned Ben to believe he's in minimum security. Now, the correctional service of Canada hasn't confirmed this. but I'm the public safety critic for the Conservative Party, and one of the things I do is to visit penitentiaries to see how things are going. I visited a minimum security penitentiary in the prairies recently.

I saw the name Borhot. I saw somebody who came out. They had a T-shirt that said Borhot, comma, H on their shirt. This person looked to be about 40, and I concluded that that was Hussein Borchard. and now just for those just what when you say I need to paint a picture here so you say that you met a man by the name of Hussein Borhot or Borhot comma H because it was on his shirt uh in a minimum security facility he's a convicted terrorist what does that mean you met him

how did you meet him and give me the lay of the land describe this minimum security facility okay well there i've been to the facility twice and and i'll be candid i'd i'd been advised of the situation a whistleblowers reach out to me quite frequently on these issues for those who don't know federal penitentiaries that are minimum security in canada are are quite free um no pun intended uh on a security scale it's about two out of ten there are no fences uh when you walk on you think you were at a university i've got sorry i'm i'm going to be interrupting a little bit because I need, I need certain things to be repeated because I think they, they require a little bit of underlining. There are no fences. No, no fences. As far as I could see, I could not

see any fences. Generally, minimum security has no fences. Sure. Okay. So there's no fences keeping anyone out, which means there's no fences keeping anyone in. So how did you come into contact with this person? Well, I had been tipped that this person was present. So I wanted to see for myself. I went and they have townhouse style

living and we found where this person's bedroom was because it's not really a cell. You don't, it's basically just a bedroom. And again, I'm going to have to stop you, Frank. He's living in a townhouse. He's living in a townhouse

with no fence. So I'm thinking townhouse, I'm thinking there's a front door. So you just walk in. So you just walked in the front door of a house where? Yeah, I had to appropriate security personnel with me. Yeah, well, okay, it is a prison. But you walked in the door and is this where you came face to face with him? Nope, he was in his room.

Okay. And we just, I just saw that there was there. There's a small kind of slit in the window. I walked outside, and then within a minute or two, there were, I was with another member of parliament as well. Tamara Janssen was with me, and there were two correctional officers as well that were with us. And then within a couple of minutes, that's when he came outside, and that's where I saw the name on his shirt. There's a little spot where you write your names. And that's where he said, well, were you looking for me?

And I didn't actually speak with him at all at this point. So during this visit, didn't have any discussion. Someone else had a very brief exchange with him, and then that was it. And that was it. And so, and you left through the same door you walked in? Yeah, well, at this point, we were outside. So I guess I just left through the non-fence. The non-fence.

So when you went there, you went there with the knowledge of the crimes that this man committed and the crimes for which he is being held to account? Yes, I was aware of that. You're aware of that. And as somebody who is steeped in the criminal justice system, when you see someone who trained as a terrorist with an organization hell-bent on destroying our country, an organization that we went to war with,

an organization that killed a great many Canadian soldiers, and you see this person serving out his sentence in a townhouse with no fences, with the most lax security possible, what goes off in your head as somebody with experience in this world? Well, a lot of people don't know this, Ben, but I was a parole officer before I actually went to law school and became a prosecutor. So I know the correctional system very well. One of the first things that went off is I'm not surprised because nothing surprises me in

the correctional system anymore. We have had 10 years of liberal laws that really have led to this. There was a bill passed. I think it was C-28 in around 2018. As conservatives, we believe that people should be held in an environment that's just and appropriate. Paul Bernardo should be held in maximum security, even if he is a medium security inmate. The liberals change that to the least restrictive environment. So by law, people have to be held in the least restrictive environment. So this person could be as rehabilitated as anybody. We really don't know. So on one hand, Ben, I wasn't surprised, but on the other hand, it's, it's outrageous. And it's really a slap in the face to our allies, a slap in the face to our soldiers. This guy would

have been Guantanamo, if he'd been American. He would have been, like, this is, he was been prime candidate for rendition to a black site. Not that I endorse that, but that's one side of the spectrum. And on the other, you've got, you've got the Canadian equivalent of a correctional romper room. It's, you know, minimum security, medium security, maximum security. They all have their place. The question is, is should somebody in this position be there? And one question I have been, a lot of people don't know this, but a lot of people get to minimum

security through what's called an override, as in somebody says, this person's a medium security inmate, but they're classified that way based on what the computer tells us. But maybe they're actually a minimum security inmate in the eyes of some. So a manager will actually override that. Frank, Frank, we're going to stick a pin in it. We've got another segment coming up with you. Don't go anywhere. That's all right. More on this incredible national security story when we come back on the Ben Mulroney show. Summer is Tim's ice latte season. It's also hike season, pool season, picnic season,

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Oh, I'm really into lion tamers. You know, with the chair and everything. Ask your doctor for Wagofi by name. Visit Wagovi.combe.com for savings. Exclusions may apply. Welcome back to the Ben Mulroney Show. We are continuing our conversation with Frank Caputo, the criminal justice critic for the conservative party

and the curious case of Hussein Borhot, a Canadian who swore allegiance to ISIS, only to find himself arrested on Canadian soil. And now he finds himself apparently in the most minimum security facility that we could possibly imagine no fences living in a townhouse, about 100 kilometers north of Calgary.

Frank, I've got to ask, well, I've got to say, rather, that we have a, you said we have a problem in this country. I agree, but it's not just isolated cases like this. Last week on this show, we had a long conversation about the fact that this country has not honored a single soldier who has fought under the Canadian flag with our highest military honor, the Victoria Cross, since the Second World War. And we highlighted the case of Jess Larichelle, who defended a position where many of his brothers had fallen to ISIS and defended that position that, in fact, because he was able to defend that position, saved a group of soldiers from being flanked by the enemy and saving possibly dozens, if not more lives. This man was the definition of honor and valor on the battlefield and found himself. receiving Canada's second highest honor. In other words, there's really nothing you can do on the battlefield that will earn you Canada's highest military order.

Meanwhile, somebody who fought for the other side is being housed in what appears to be a townhouse that most Canadians would envy. This is, we are living in the upside down. I don't know how to make sense of this. Perhaps you can. Well, it feels like the twilight zone, and I echo your sentiment, Ben,

that Private La Rochelle, you know, he should be honored with the Victoria Cross. So this is something when I was shadow minister for Veterans Affairs that I advocated for, and I'll continue to advocate for it. At the end of the day, Ben, our justice system, our correctional system, it is just so upside down, things I never thought I would see. You know, in the past, these types of things would be remedied. The government would be embarrassed, and they'd remedy it. Now they just stand by their decisions.

I can't tell you how many times. they have stood by their decisions, whether it be not sending Paul Bernardo back to maximum. And you're the one who blew the whistle on that? Yes, I did. And, you know, the government came out. They told 40% of the truth, presented it as 100% of the truth because they were embarrassed. You know, Tory Stafford's killer, Terry Lynn McClintick, she is a child killer sex offender. I walked into her jail. She lives next door to the mother child program, Ben. somebody who killed a kid lives next door

what a slap in the face what a messed up system look and right now we're currently living in a world in the city of Toronto where an eight year old boy was killed by bullets that sprayed into his home

he died while he slept and and and we are we are worried because we've seen this script before that if if they catch whoever did this they'll get bail and maybe they'll do it again

and at some point we need to course correct as a society and we have to start putting the emphasis back and the priority back on the families of the victims of the people. I don't care if Terry Lee McClintick is not a risk anymore. I don't care. You did something bad. It's so bad in fact that it should follow you for the rest of your life

and the punishment should you should never forget what you did. But we're putting these people in a position to live normal lives where they can forget. And it's incumbent upon us as a society to say certain things must be true forever. Murder is forever. And therefore the punishment has to have some sort of permanence to it.

Oh, I could go on. You know, first off, my condolences to the family of Javei Roy. I actually posted on this on my social media saying, where is the outrage? You know, Jane Creba, I believe, was killed in, what, 2008? And somebody who was charged in her murder, I believe he's charged again after being released on parole. I have that parole decision, and I'm hoping to dissect it soon.

At the end of the day, we need to prioritize the safety of Canadians. As conservatives, we said that if you have three life sentences, you should be serving back to back to back parole ineligibility. The Supreme Court of Canada struck that down. What did the liberals do? They shrugged. They didn't even try to re-legislate on that. They just let it be.

And frankly, I'm tired of this let it be attitude, because for a victim, for Rodney Stafford, for the Roy family, they don't just get to let it be. They are themselves serving psychologically a life sentence. They're gutted forever. Just like so many victims do. Let's go back to this Borat case. Tell me what you believe.

Do you believe that this person still represents a danger to the public? Well, I really don't know that because I don't know what he's done. But, I mean, the best predictor of future behavior, is past behavior. One thing that people don't realize, Ben, is that you need to be rated as a low public safety risk to go to minimum security.

I'm not sure that you could say anybody who has previously participated in terrorist activity, whether it be 10 years ago, 20 years ago, or 30 years ago, how they're not at least a moderate public safety risk is beyond me. That's why I would like to know

whether he was there on an override, right? What I'd like to know as well is we know he was radicalized. We know it because of his actions. You do not leave Canada to go to Syria, to pledge allegiance to a terrorist organization sworn to destroy the West unless you've been radicalized. And I don't know, I mean, I know that he said he was sorry and he was young, but where's the proof that he was de-radicalized? Where's the actual proof that any of that ever happened? Where was the re-education that he had to go through?

I know that people get re-educated if they use the wrong pronouns in this country. where's the re-education for somebody who picked up arms against Canada? Just because he said he was sorry after he got caught, to me, that is not enough. No, I would agree with you. Even if there is re-education, what message are we sending? I mean, you know, when we say these things, the minister, now Gary and Nanda Sangary, and I know he's busy with other things, he's got other things on his mind, but they need to be acting on these things.

They sat on their hands with McClintic, they sat on their hands with Bernardo, and I fear that they're going to sit on their hands with this. It is the wrong thing to do. The government needs to stop sitting and to start acting. I think Canadians have had enough. They've had enough when it comes to bail. They've had enough when it comes to sentencing. And they've had enough when it comes to our correctional system

that is no longer really correcting. And it's not denouncing the behavior. We are sending the wrong message here. Even if he's completely rehabilitated, what message do we send? You know, I lost someone I went to high school with. I'll let you continue. I'm sorry to have interrupted in that moment because I definitely want to give you a moment to talk about your friend. But this idea, I keep going back to it, this issue of is he or is he not a threat to public safety? You know, there's an argument that like I said, we've been given no proof that he is de-radicalized with the exception of him saying he was sorry for what he did. But he was sorry after he got caught. He was sorry after the wheels of justice were moving. And I'm sure his lawyer probably told him if you tell him, everybody, you're sorry, that's going to go a long way. While he was in this country prior to being arrested and he literally confessed to a

police officer who was undercover, this is where he talked about what he really felt. You know, he prayed to kill non-believers so that he could reach paradise. He described loving, shooting, and jihad even mimicking firing movements. So to me, it's a bit convenient that he expressed remorse after he got caught. But while he was back in Canada still living here, clearly still radical. there was no remorse. I don't know that anybody has shown the public that this person is not a security risk. And the correctional service of Canada, they live in a spirit of what I would call, you know, this opaque world where they don't want to tell us anything. You know, they deny

or they deflect or they divert. I'm not sure how the liberals allow this to happen. If I was a public safety minister, I would be cleaning house immediately in that department. and all they do is just let it go on. You know, like you say, we don't have answers to this. I fear we're never going to get answers to this. I don't even know if they're going to confirm that, you know, the person I saw who bore hot age is even in minimum security. I don't even know if they'll even confirm that.

Well, I want to thank you so much for joining us today, Frank. You know, anytime you've got a story that you want to share with the public, you know that you can come here on the Ben Mulroney show. This should be an affront to every law abiding Canadian. This should be an affront to anybody. who's ever, this should be an affront to our military. This should be an affront to that this is common decency and common sense. So thank you so much for highlighting the insanity of the country that we're currently living in as it relates to this. I appreciate it.

Thank you, Ben. It's my pleasure and I'm sure you'll see me again soon because I'm working on a few more of these types of stories. All right. Big Brother is back. Let's break it, go! This summer, the game gets hotter, the alliances get trickier, and the blindsides? Brutal. Just a roller coaster of backstabbing and craziness. New house guests, new twists, same epic drama.

Bro, I'm gunning for you. You're my number one target. Who can you trust when everyone's watching? Game on, baby. Big Brother, all new Wednesdays, Thursdays and Sundays on Global. Stream on Stack TV.