Secretary of state links synagogue shootings to foreign entity hiring

Ruby Sahota, secretary of state for combatting crime, told the House of Commons this week that people who fired shots recently at synagogues were hired and paid by a "foreign entity."

Sahota suggested the shooters were recruited online and said that if authorities had found them sooner, there would have been fewer victims. She made the comments Wednesday in response to a question about the government's proposed "lawful access" bill, designed to help police and intelligence agencies navigate the online world more effectively.

Victims and police chiefs have been pressing for faster progress on the bill through the legislative process, Sahota said.

Sahota's office did not immediately respond to requests for detail about her remarks.

Police are investigating several shootings across the Greater Toronto Area that authorities say are linked to criminal-for-hire networks.