Borealis Threat & Risk ConsultingIn some ways Canada is a post-religious nation. This is not to say that religion is not important or that it is not present, but it is certainly not as front and centre as it used to be. The Canadian landscape has also shifted as believers of other faiths (Islam, Hinduism, Sikhism, etc.) multiply. As […]
It must appear to most people in Canada that terrorism is a daily scourge. If you take a global snapshot that is undeniably true. Over the last few weeks we have seen attacks in France, Tunisia, Kuwait, Yemen and the inevitable – and sadly too frequent – violence in Syria, Iraq, Pakistan and Afghanistan. And […]
Remember the good old days when terrorism was a rare thing? Yes, sometimes people got hurt or even killed, but the more frequent incident was an airplane hijacking or a nuisance bomb. And then the inevitable claim of responsibility would come from the PLO or the ALF or the FLQ in the form of a […]
It is not uncommon for inaccurate information to be held as accepted wisdom where no amount of data will convince people otherwise. Examples of this would include the conviction that crime rates are soaring (they have actually been plummeting for years) or that e-cigarettes are ok (there is no data yet suggesting that they are […]
The multiple attacks today (June 26) have led to a burst of condemnation and outrage – as they should. The vast majority of people – Muslim and non-Muslim – have rightly protested against this barbarity. And we will surely see more demonstrations in the days to come as more and more people are inspired to […]
This has been a very, very disturbing day. An attack – including a decapitation – in France. Tourists slaughtered in Tunisia. Shia Muslims killed by a suicide bomber at their mosque. After prayers. This evokes the senselessness of the massacre last week in Charleston, South Carolina. I’ve always advocated keeping things in perspective and […]
Intelligence agencies can get quite creative when developing ways to collect information. But sometimes they get too creative that lead to more problems. Not to mention endangering thousands of lives – innocent lives. Take the case of Shakil Afridi, a Pakistani doctor in jail for his involvement in the terrorist group Laskhar-e-Islam. What is far […]
On one level, it amazes me how open people are with their hateful ideology. Part of me thinks that supporters or fans of extremism would be a little more careful in displaying their beliefs given society’s opprobrium and the fact that, at least in today’s Canada, their activities could cross the criminal threshold. Take the […]
Today marks the 30th anniversary of the terrorist attack against Air India flight 182 which fell into the sea off the coast of Ireland, taking with it 329 lives, the vast majority of them Canadians. Many fail to recognise that the bombing was the largest single terrorist attack prior to 9/11. So as we remember […]
Sometimes you come across a quote that really strikes you as profound. Here’s one that remains relevant after all these years. It comes from a 2002 issue of Foreign Affairs and was penned by Paris-based researcher Grenville Buford: “Wars have typically been fought against proper nouns (Germany, say) for the good reason that proper nouns […]