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Perspectives

Thankfully second time’s the charm in terrorism cases in Canada

With all the talk lately about bringing terrorists who fought for Islamic State (IS) and other groups abroad back to Canada to face charges here one glaring omission is often made: just how hard it is to prosecute people under sections 83.01ff of the Canadian Criminal Code (the sections that deal with terrorist activity). Cases are tough to […]

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Perspectives

China’s repressive actions against the Uyghurs are undermining national security

This piece appeared in The Hill Times on October 22, 2018. Imagine if you will the following scenario. In the wake of two successful terrorist attacks in October 2014, in which two innocent Canadians were killed, the Harper government initiated a system of concentration camps for Muslims living in our country. Anyone caught in possession […]

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Phil in the media Video

War On Terrorism: Is The Military The Best Way To Fight Extremism?

Former senior strategic analyst for CSIS and author of “An End to the War on Terrorism”, Phil Gurski says over seventeen years after 9/11 and the west still regards the war on terrorism through the lense of the military which constrains and shapes our response.

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Phil in the media Video

Global News – Extended Interview With Phil Gurski

In this extended interview with Phil Gurski, the security analyst and former senior strategic analyst at CSIS talks about who is responsible for notifying the appropriate officials when politicians are targeted for blackmail.

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Perspectives

China’s repressive actions against the Uyghurs are undermining national security

This piece appeared in The Hill Times on October 22, 2018. Imagine if you will the following scenario. In the wake of two successful terrorist attacks in October 2014, in which two innocent Canadians were killed, the Harper government initiated a system of concentration camps for Muslims living in our country.  Anyone caught in possession […]

Categories
Perspectives

Thankfully second time’s the charm in terrorism cases in Canada

With all the talk lately about bringing terrorists who fought for Islamic State (IS) and other groups abroad back to Canada to face charges here one glaring omission is often made: just how hard it is to prosecute people under sections 83.01ff of the Canadian Criminal Code (the sections that deal with terrorist activity).  Cases […]

Categories
Perspectives

Apples and oranges in the counter terrorism world

As the entire world continues to follow the media frenzy over a bunch of probably ineffective pipe bombs sent to a couple of high-profile people – former President Obama, philanthropist George Soros, actor Robert DeNiro and a few more – this may be the perfect time to talk about the nature and frequency of terrorism […]

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Perspectives

Condemn the terrorist but pity the mother and father

It is pretty tough, and rightfully so, to feel sorry for those who think becoming a terrorist is a good idea.  These are choices made and bad choices sometimes have bad consequences.  Those who recognise this realise that there is a price to pay for making a stupid decision. Then again there are those who […]

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Perspectives

Why joining a terrorist group should be enough to convict

I am pretty sure I have mentioned this before but here it is again.  When I worked for CSIS and my colleagues and I had occasion to talk to Canadians who had traveled to Afghanistan to join Al Qaeda we would often hear some lame excuse from the returnees as to what they did while […]

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Perspectives

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 […]