Jumping the gun to label an act as ‘terrorism’ serves no useful purpose
I feel for politicians and public leaders—sometimes. True, they do come out with some stupid things on occasion, but I want to give them credit for assuming the role they do. It cannot be an easy job. When it comes to terrorism, and more specifically talking about whether a specific act is one of ‘terrorism’ […]
‘This shouldn’t happen here’: MP for Quebec riding where mosque attack took place
Joël Lightbound, the Liberal MP who represents the riding of Louis-Hébert, Que.—which is home to the mosque where Sunday night’s mass shooting took place—is calling on his colleagues and Canadians to be more conscious of the growing fear and division that is taking place across the country and North America. Late Sunday evening, the news broke that a gunman had entered […]
Irredeemable terrorists create difficult dilemma
OTTAWA—The debate over what to do with terrorists is never-ending. Positions range from one extreme to another, from “kill them all” to “maybe it’s our fault they are the way they are.” I would hope that by now we have learned beyond any doubt that there is no one cause, one driver, one explanation for […]
Liberals have a long way to go to fix RCMP, criminal justice system
OTTAWA—When the Liberals were elected on Oct. 19, 2015, I like most Canadians believed that somehow things would be better. Justin Trudeau reached out to the public by offering a different vision of Canada. He promised to establish a government that would be more caring, sensitive, and compassionate. In short, he offered Canadians an olive […]
What terrorist threats will 2017 bring us?
OTTAWA—I am a glass half-full kind of guy, someone who seeks to find the positive in life. I am an optimist tinged with realism. Three decades in intelligence and 15 years in counter terrorism do tend to give one a good look at the less savoury aspects of life on this planet and as a […]
Canada a ‘huge laggard’ in cyber security at a time when threats growing: expert
Cyber security needs to be a greater priority for the federal government in a time when state actors are increasingly taking clear risks to meddle in other countries’ affairs, say several analysts. The federal government conducted consultations on concerns and possible solutions for cyber threats and espionage from Aug. 16 to Oct. 15, 2016. A […]
The Canadian government must do more to combat hate crimes in Canada
When it comes to the health of a society, there are few symptoms of concern as telling as hate crimes. The frequency of such incidents and the response of government and civil society are a litmus test for a country’s commitment to the values of liberal democracy. As individuals from three diverse minority groups—the Jewish, […]
How do you solve a problem like IS defectors?
Years ago when I first joined the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, there was a veteran counter-terrorism guy, whom I’ll call ‘Mike’ in this article. Mike had been around a fair bit and I had a great deal of respect both for his experience and his insight into Islamist extremism. In all his time in the […]
Terrorism, honour, and modelling
On June 30, 2009, the bodies of three young women and a middle-aged woman were found in a car that had been submerged in a lock along the Rideau Canal system just north of Kingston, Ontario. Scarcely a month later, three people from the Shafia family, Afghan immigrants to Canada, were arrested and charged with […]
Dyer writes misguided rant on democracy: Egyptian ambassador
Re: “Democracy is dead in Egypt,” (The Hill Times, Nov. 30, p. 13). Gwynne Dyer’s bungled article on Egypt is at best a piece fraught with confusion, and at worst a concoction of half-truths. It is unclear where he drew his statistics from on the allegedly imprisoned and murdered Egyptians. But it was refreshing to […]
