Canada revokes residency of Tunisian ruling family, source says

Canada has revoked the residency of members of the Tunisian ruling clan, a government source said Thursday as anti-government unrest in North Africa and the Middle East spawned protests in Canada.

Belhassen Trabelsi, a billionaire Tunisian businessman and brother-in-law to the ousted president, is believed to have fled to Canada last week.

The family can appeal the decision to revoke their residency status as well as apply for refugee status, a source told The Canadian Press.

“So it’s not like they’re going to be on a plane tomorrow,” the source said.

A spokesman for Citizenship and Immigration Canada refused to confirm the revocation, citing privacy laws.

Media reports say Tunisia has formally requested that Canada arrest Trabelsi and freeze the assets of relatives of former Tunisian President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali.

Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff said Canada must help Tunisia make a peaceful transition from the uprising that unseated Ben Ali.

“I think all Canadians are looking at what’s happening, not only in Tunisia, but now in Yemen and Egypt with a sense of optimism and hope,” Ignatieff said Thursday in Montreal.

Several dozen protesters staged an overnight demonstration outside the Montreal-area hotel where Trabelsi and his family were reportedly staying.

Meanwhile, supporters of the uprising in Egypt plan to rally in Montreal, Ottawa and Toronto on Friday and Saturday, according to an organizer of one of the events.

undreds are expected to demonstrate peacefully Friday afternoon outside the Egyptian consulate in Montreal and the Egyptian embassy in Ottawa.

“The people of Egypt are (taking action) and we have to do the same thing,” Ahmed Khalifa, 43, said Thursday.

“We don’t necessarily have to go and face police brutality, but we have to act as citizens, we have to do something.”

A family-friendly rally will be held at Toronto’s Dundas Square on Saturday afternoon.

Khalifa said he’s “amazed” that so many people are coming together to show their support. Though he’d originally hoped to draw about 50 people, Khalifa now estimates some 600 will come to the Toronto rally alone.

Khalifa, who immigrated to Canada from Egypt in 1997, said the growing grassroots movements in Tunisia, Egypt and now Yemen have energized Canada’s Arab communities.

In Montreal, about 60 people converged on Chateau Vaudreuil, an elegant country-style complex with a waterfront view and spa where Trabelsi is believed to be staying.

Police officers kept watch on the crowd, which dispersed early Thursday morning.

Haroun Bouazzi, who is organizing a separate rally planned for Parliament Hill next Wednesday, said there is anger in the country’s Tunisian community.

There are accusations that Ottawa has offered nothing but spin while other countries, even those with friendly ties to the old regime, have adopted clear policies.

“We understand the anger of the Tunisian people who are living here,” Bouazzi said in an interview.

“They’re starving for justice for the Tunisian people, in Tunisia.”

He said there is popular demand for Ottawa to take two actions _ freeze all the family’s assets, and fully co-operate with the Tunisian justice system, “so that these persons that are here in Canada don’t fly away to somewhere in the world where we cannot find them.”

Activists in Egypt took to the streets for the third straight day in the country’s largest anti-government demonstrations in years. Mass protests are expected in Cairo after Friday prayers.

Social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter had helped drive the protests, but those sites have been disrupted, along with cellphone text messaging and Blackberry Messenger services.

The popular revolt that began in Tunisia has also spread to Yemen, where tens of thousands rallied against President Abdullah Saleh.