Borealis Threat & Risk ConsultingPhil Gurski is the President and CEO of Borealis Threat and Risk Consulting Ltd. Phil is a 32-year veteran of CSE and CSIS and the author of six books on terrorism.
Episode 260 – In the teeth of a crisis it is time for Canada to step up It is only six weeks since the new administration in the US and already Canada has been threatened with annexation (as the ’51st state’), expulsion from the 5 eyes intelligence alliance, and a ‘redrawing’ of the international border […]
Episode 261 – If you want to understand a violent ideology what better source than those who practice it? Over the past quarter century a lot has been written about terrorism and why people embrace violent ideologies. Much of this literature is academic in nature but some is very practical in nature. Borealis talks to […]
Season 2 Episode 25 The guys are joined by former colleague and ex-senior CSIS official Andy Ellis to talk about why the Canadian government has let intelligence slide and what it needs to do to get back to where it needs to be (and once was). And, importantly, the Hardy Boys give good advice on […]
Episode 260 – Election observers as protectors of democracy Elections are the bedrock of democracy. Having free, fair, unfettered opportunities to choose one’s leaders is a privilege that not enough people on earth enjoy. There are, however, countries which claim to hold elections which are neither free nor fair. To try to monitor these occasions, […]
Spies Like Us Season 2 Episode 24 The guys devote this episode to the case of Chiheb Esseghaier who with a partner planned to derail a train in Canada back in 2013 and is seeking to stay in Canada. Al plays the bagpipes – kinda – and we all have new nicknames! Tunisian terrorist wins […]
This piece first appeared in The Epoch Times Canada on February 20, 2025. In the aftermath of a violent attack, there are inevitably a number of things that happen. First and foremost, we collectively struggle to understand what exactly has happened, who was behind it, and what it means. Then we seek to assign immediate […]
Episode 259 – Has terrorism as a concept run its course? Of all the UK counter-terrorism initiatives, the ‘early detection’ efforts (known as PREVENT and Channel) have been quite controversial. One of the problems lies with how we define terrorism and thus what the public should do to help authorities stop terrorist acts from occurring. […]
Spies Like Us – Season 2 Episode 23 The guys talk about what to do with ISIS returnees, the challenges of recruiting human sources with, shall we say, sketchy backgrounds, and show how Nancy Drew steals a page from Monty Python’s “trying hard not to be seen”. Terrorism charges for B.C. woman who left to […]
This piece appeared first in The Epoch Times Canada on January 8, 2025. Well, the inevitable has happened. After months of speculation, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau emulated his father, took a walk in the snow (it may not have been actually snowing in Ottawa on Jan. 6 but it was extremely cold!), and announced his […]
Episode 258 – Canada needs to step up its far north game We in the Great White North proudly describe ourselves as an “Arctic” nation. In truth, we have a large portion of that part of the globe, which is lightly inhabited, but is increasingly becoming strategic in the face of global warming. Most Canadians, […]