Borealis Threat & Risk ConsultingYou find provocative pieces related to terrorism just about anywhere these days. Remember the Rolling Stone cover piece on Dhzokhar Tsarnaev (one of the Boston Marathon bombers) that got all that attention last year? I recently read an essay on the “Hydra paradox” in the UK magazine New Scientist (full disclosure: I have been reading […]
As more and more Canadians are identified trying to leave the country to link up with terrorist groups such as ISIS, more and more programs are being put forward to deal with the underlying radicalization problem. Quebec is the latest jurisdiction to announce such an initiative (see link here). What are the elements to consider […]
When I worked as an intelligence analyst I always wanted more information. More and better data always trumps less, as it may assist in more in depth and accurate analysis. So what should we make of the Canadian government’s decision to expand its collection of fingerprints and digital photos, in part to catch “terrorists…and jihadis […]
The RCMP in Winnipeg detained a 23-year old Manitoban and seized a number of hard drives they said he used to express support for the Islamic State (see story here). The youth arrested is a convert to Islam and the son of a member of the Canadian Armed Forces. He as apparently been on CSIS’ watchlist […]
A Vancouver jury found John Nuttall and Amanda Korody guilty of terrorism yesterday after three days of deliberation (see Globe story here). This is good news from several perspectives a) it shows that terrorism cases can successfully be prosecuted through the court system b) our security and law enforcement agencies (CSIS was the first to […]
I have already talked a bit about the Sunni-Shia split in an earlier piece (Brothers at Arms). Today’s thoughts are along a different pathway. When I worked in the intelligence world and looked at violent radicalization, the focus was entirely on Sunnis, not Shia. Of course, there were other kinds of violence to worry about […]
The Canadian government has been in the counter terrorism (or countering violent extremism – CVE – as it is now known) for a long time. In addition to the hard response (CSIS, RCMP…) there is the softer approach. The latter involves engaging with Canadians and communities to talk about difficult issues like terrorism and radicalization. […]
What should Canadians make of Adil Charkaoui? I’d be surprised if you haven’t heard of him.
I read an irritating op-ed piece in Al Jazeera the other day. The author, Antonia Zerbiasis, claims that the Canadian government is now verging on totalitarianism for arresting people for “thinking of doing things” (see article here). The piece was written in response to the arrest of 10 young Montrealers suspected of seeking to join […]
Our prime minister is quoted as saying that “jihadi terrorism is one of the most dangerous enemies our world has ever faced” (see article here). Really? Bigger than the threat of MAD during the Cold War? Bigger than the Nazi onslaught of the 1930s and 1940s? More dangerous than climate change or run-of-the-mill violence? (homework […]