Godly figures willing to die for beliefs aren’t terrorists
Re: “Call religious extremism what it is: terrorism,” (The Hill Times, April 22, p. 12). Examples of saints and prophets taking the practice of faith to existential lengths belie Phil Gurski’s assertion. Godly persons, like Moses, Jesus Christ, Siddhartha Gautama, Mohammed, Joan of Arc, Guru Nanak, Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King, and Mother Teresa, willing […]
Call religious extremism what it is: terrorism
OTTAWA—Pop quiz! How can you tell an election is coming up in Canada? (A) the government puts out a report that some identifiable part of our society takes offence to; (b) that part happens to be concentrated in several ridings which the ruling party currently holds and which hanging on to may decide whether it […]
Senate committee blows holes in Liberal gun bill
Conservative Senators followed through on their promise to “gut” the Liberals’ gun bill, successfully getting a number of changes passed in committee that strip away key features of the legislation. On April 8, the Senate’s National Security and Defence Committee finished its review of Bill C-71, which according to the government, would improve public safety […]
Bill 21: a return to Quebec’s dark past
In the 1930s, the start of a time referred to in Quebec as “la grande noirceur” (the great darkness), the government of premier Maurice Duplessis passed the Padlock Law, otherwise known as An Act to Protect the Province Against Communistic Propaganda. Under the law, authorities could shut meeting places of anyone suspected of being a […]
Feds reject House committee advice to review no-ransom rule for kidnappings abroad
The government’s response to calls for consular-service reform is being panned by critics as a “middle of the road,” “status quo” approach that skirts two fundamental problems in the current system. Critics say the current rules leave Canadians open to discrimination in terms of the support they get from their government abroad, and keep families […]
The terrorist attack that wasn’t, and one that may have been
OTTAWA—If you’re like me—and I really hope you’re not for many, many reasons—you probably read the news with a certain slant and through a certain filter. In my case, I read almost everything via a terrorism lens—except maybe the comics—since I write about terrorism every day. When I read news from around the world, I […]
Rural Liberal chair says he’s putting his faith in Blair as gun ban decision looms
The chair of the Liberal rural caucus says he trusts Border and Organized Crime Minister Bill Blair to take the “right approach” as he prepares to announce whether the government will ban handguns and assault-style weapons following a lengthy consultation. Liberal MP Francis Drouin (Glengarry-Prescott-Russell, Ont.), who now chairs the Liberal rural caucus, said […]
The scourge of white racism
OTTAWA—The death toll from the white supremacist terrorist attack on Muslims in New Zealand had only just risen on the weekend when United States President Donald Trump was tweeting his full-throated support for a Fox News host who had been suspended for on-air Islamophobic comments. “Bring back [Judge Jeanine] Pirro,” the president tweeted from the […]
Why Canada’s counter-proliferation framework needs an update
Over the past 70 years, few concepts have had as big a role in safeguarding humanity against the use of weapons of mass destruction than counter-proliferation. It is a national and international priority, arguably on par with climate change. Counter-proliferation is best understood as preventing the global spread of chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear weapons—collectively […]
Reading, writing, and radicalism: schools and the links to terrorism
OTTAWA—One of the many beauties of living in a liberal, secular democratic society is the freedom to disagree and debate. There are always many sides to an issue and we have the liberty to express our opinions without the fear of being arrested. Many citizens in many countries do not have this right. But what […]
