OTTAWA - The court case against accused terrorist Mohamed Harkat is going ahead, even though the government has yet to hand over material it's been ordered to provide to the defence.
Justice Simon Noel of Federal Court rejected an effort by Harkat's lawyers Monday to put off further hearings until the Canadian Security Intelligence Service makes the previously secret information available.
Noel said it would be better to get things started, even if it means a full airing of some issues has to wait until later.
The Algerian-born Harkat, a former pizza delivery man, is accused by CSIS of being an al-Qaida agent who should be deported as a security risk. He denies any terrorist ties.
The allegations against him were upheld by a Federal Court judge in 2005, but the Supreme Court of Canada threw out the findings because the excessive secrecy of the process infringed the Charter of Rights.
Noel issued an order in September for CSIS to hand over documents, recordings and other information for use by Harkat's defence team, but the spy agency has warned it could take six months to sift through the files and vet them for public release.
In the meantime, federal lawyers will start calling witnesses and presenting their case. Harkat's lawyers won't have to offer a full rebuttal until all the material they're entitled to has been disclosed.
