Author: Phil Gurski

Every year many Canadians flock to Trinidad and Tobago to escape the harsh winter climate.  In addition, there are some 70,000 Canadians of Trinidadian stock, including one of the hosts of CBC’s The National, Ian Hanomansing, and pop singer Amanda Marshall.  The ties between the two nations run deep. Alas, these ties also extend to […]

There is not a lot left to say about what happened in a Florida school yesterday on Valentines’s Day of all days. Another mass shooting, this time with at least 17 dead, in a country where mass shootings are all too common (one of my colleagues tweeted that this is the 18th school shooting in […]

This piece appeared in The Hill Times on February 12, 2017 http://www.hilltimes.com/2018/02/05/fine-line-hate-terrorism-murder-murder/132949   We in Canada have, thankfully, few dates that will ‘live in infamy’ to cite former US President Roosevelt in the wake of the attack on Pearl Harbor (9/11 would fit into this category as well).  When it comes to Canada I suppose many […]

I have, thankfully, never been on trial.  My appearances in Canadian courts have been limited to a brief stint as a court interpreter many, many years ago and my role as an expert witness in several national security certificate cases. I have never been charged with an offence for which I would find myself before […]

I am a parent (and now even a grandparent – how the hell did I get THIS old?).  As a parent I helped to raise three children, all of whom are now young adults. As all parents know, our kids do (or did) things we had a problem with and there were times when we […]

If there is one thing I learned over three decades in the intelligence business it is that decisions on how to do intelligence are best left to intelligence professionals.  Agencies responsible for intelligence are of course subject to the democratic governments we elect and they cannot (and should not) ‘go rogue’, engaging in activity that […]

This article appeared in The Hill Times on January 29, 2018 http://www.hilltimes.com/2018/01/29/link-immigration-terrorism/132069 Canada is a nation of immigrants, of that there is no question.  Our historical openness to those around the world has made us the country we are, warts and all.  And while immigration waves have varied over the centuries – my own family was […]

Finding fault with security intelligence and law enforcement agencies and personnel is a bit of a sport, I find.  Second guessing and armchair quarterbacking seem to appeal to many who latch on to any mistake, real or perceived, to case aspersion on the efforts of those who are supposedly there to keep us safe.  “What […]

In January 1842 the British army suffered one of the most humiliating defeats in its history, a defeat memorialised in a painting entitled Remnants of an Army (shown above).  The British were massacred in retreating from Kabul in what is now known as the First Anglo-Afghan War, part of the ‘Great Game’ between Imperial Russia […]

This piece appeared in The Hill Times on January 15, 2018 There are many reasons why citizens dislike City Hall.  You might have a beef over the taxes you pay. Perhaps you are not happy with snow removal or garbage collection.  You may even have a bone to pick with a parking ticket you received.  […]