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Perspectives

Right wing or jihadis: which poses the greater threat to Canada?

We really need to stop debating whether the far right or Islamist extremists are more dangerous: both need to be monitored.

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Perspectives

How do we determine when a terrorist act has taken place?

We are thankfully not inundated with terrorism in Canada. It would be nice, however, to call it what it is when it occurs.

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Perspectives

Today in Terrorism: 10 November 2011 Ernesto Menendez Salinas assassination

Was an ‘ecoterrorist’ attack in Mexico eight years ago a harbinger of things to come?

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Perspectives

When all everyone wants to talk about is far right extremism can we forget about the jihadis?

Why Islamist terrorism must remain an investigative priority.

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Perspectives

We learned a little more about the April 2017 van attack – but questions remain

There is something about me you need to know because it helps you to understand why I do what I do. As I have often made clear, I spent 32 years in the Canadian intelligence community as an analyst working on information ranging from intercepted communications to human sources. I was paid to understand what […]

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Perspectives

Far right vs Islamist terrorists: who is more dangerous? This is the wrong question

Sigh. Another day another mass shooting in the US. Except that this time there were two mass shootings, back to back. On August 3 in El Paso, Texas a man opened fire in a Walmart, killing 20 and wounding 26 and a day later in Dayton, Ohio a gunman killed nine people. More needless deaths […]

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Perspectives

Canadian terrorists have killed many more abroad than here – let’s not forget that

When it comes to terrorism I suppose the mantra that most people hold to is somewhat akin to that found in the real estate industry: location, location, location. Attacks that happen in countries most cannot find on a map, or have no intention of ever visiting, or frankly don’t really care about (as harsh as […]

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Perspectives

The terrorist attack in Canada that wasn’t – or was it?

I know I have written about this before but some things just bear repeating, even if that repetition is repetitive. An act of terrorism is an act of serious violence carried out for political, religious or ideological reasons. The first part of that is usually fairly easy to distinguish. After all, serious violence is an […]

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Perspectives

Assigning responsibility for terrorism

In the wake of the horror that unfolded in two Christchurch mosques yesterday the Internet is abuzz with analysis of what happened and why. Op-ed pieces are pointing fingers in multiple directions, accusing multiple people of having had a role, however indirect, in the slaughter of 49 Muslims by an apparent white supremacist seeking to […]

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Canadian Intelligence Eh! Podcast

What now? Road terrorists?

Episode 1 – In this inaugural broadcast, former Canadian intelligence analyst Phil Gurski looks at what we mean by terrorism and sets the stage for future podcasts.