A 16-year-old boy accused alongside another teen of plotting to attack Jewish people in Ottawa last fall — possibly by detonating an explosive device at a pro-Israel rally on Parliament Hill — has been denied bail.
The decision came this week after a lengthy five-day hearing in Ottawa’s Superior Court.
Neither the evidence heard nor Justice Anne London-Weinstein’s reasons for denying bail can be published due to a routine publication ban.
A large group of stakeholders in the prosecution — including RCMP, Ottawa police and Public Prosecution Service of Canada employees — came to court to listen to London-Weinstein make her decision and give her reasons for nearly an hour.
The boy’s mother and father attended every day of the hearing but weren’t there in person for the decision.
The boy appeared virtually via video link from his juvenile detention centre in a black sweatshirt and sweatpants because he wasn’t feeling well.
Trial set for 2026
He was 15 when he was arrested last December by INSET, an RCMP-led team of law enforcement and intelligence partners that handles threats to national security.
Two months later, as the investigation progressed, INSET arrested and charged another 15-year-old Ottawa boy alleged to have been a co-conspirator.
The second teen has not sought release on bail.
The teens are jointly accused of conspiring to commit murder for a terrorist group and facilitating terrorist activity by distributing and exchanging instructional material and propaganda last fall.
The first boy who was arrested is also charged with:
- Facilitating terrorist activity by communicating instructional material about an explosive substance.
- Instructing someone to carry out a terrorist activity against Jewish people.
- Facilitating terrorist activity by possessing explosive substances (acetone and an oxidizer) and metal ball bearings (which were allegedly found in his house when police executed a search warrant the night he was arrested).
- Possessing explosive substances with the intent to endanger life.
- Possessing explosive substances.
All the incidents are alleged to have taken place last fall.
The other charge the second boy faces is facilitating terrorist activity by trying to acquire a firearm. Like his alleged co-conspirator, he is also now 16.
Neither teen can be named due to a routine publication ban protecting the identities of minors facing criminal charges in Canada. They’ve been held in custody at a secure juvenile detention facility in Ottawa since their arrests nearly a year ago, and their trial is scheduled to sit for 10 weeks in the spring of 2026.
The allegations against them have not been proven.
Possible target outlined in Federal Court doc
The target of the alleged anti-Jewish terror plot wasn’t outlined in the criminal charges against the boys.
It came to light earlier this month, when Department of Justice lawyers filed a notice in Federal Court in their bid to withhold some information in the criminal case that could damage international relations, national defence or national security, and which the government wants to protect.
As just one example, the identities and contact information of federal intelligence staff are typically sought to be withheld.
The application — made under Section 38 of the Canada Evidence Act — states that the boys are “alleged to have formed a plan last fall to violently attack Jewish persons in Ottawa, possibly through the detonation of an explosive device at a pro-Israel rally at Parliament Hill.”
Global News was the first to report the new detail.
So far, potentially injurious and sensitive information contained in 66 documents in the criminal case against the teens is at issue under Section 38, according to the Justice Department’s application, but that figure is likely to balloon.
