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Perspectives

Is it time to drop terrorism from the Canadian Criminal Code?

When terrorism is applied to all kinds of criminal offences perhaps it is time to remove it from the criminal code: charges can be laid in other ways.

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March 3, 1975: Attempted kidnapping of the Dutch queen

On this day in March 1975 Moluccan terrorists attempted to kidnap the Queen of the Netherlands, Juliana

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Just how serious was the October (1970) Crisis in Canada?

If we fail to look at what was clearly terrorism fifty years ago and call it what it really and truly was, what good is hindsight?

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April 13, 2010 | Kidnapping attempt in the Philippines

On this day in 2010, a kidnapping by the AQ-linked Abu Sayyaf Group in the Philippines went awry as the terrorist group killed 10 people.

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February 24, 1978 | Bombing in the Canary Islands

On this day in 1978, police explosives expert tried to disarm a bomb placed outside a bank in San Cristobal de la Laguna in Tenerife: he died from wounds sustained in the detonation.

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CSIS is damned when it does and damned when it doesn’t

This piece appeared in The Hill Times on June 24, 2019. Cast a sympathetic eye on Canada’s spy agency, CSIS (when is the last time someone asked that of you?). It is subject to incredibly intense scrutiny from all sides and also to oversight from multiple angles. This is, of course, as it should be […]

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Will increasing political polarisation in Canada lead to an assassination?

This piece appeared in The Hill Times on March 4, 2019. There is a small plaque on Queen Street in Ottawa, two blocks south of Parliament Hill. It is not that prominent and easy to miss. It commemorates the assassination of Thomas D’Arcy McGee, “considered one of the eloquent of the Fathers of Confederation” (that […]

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When separatists use violence they become terrorists

When you look at what is happening around the world these days – riots in France, Brexit, anti-immigrant feelings, a general feeling of being pissed off at the status quo – it should come as a surprise to no one that there are groups of people who want to get away from it all.  The […]

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Is the far right extremist threat really that big in Canada?

This piece appeared in The Hill Times on October 15, 2018. There is no question that when the topic around the water cooler turns to terrorism – not that I hope or think that it often does – as far as the average citizen is concerned the particular brand of terrorism that garners the most attention […]