Search: “CSIS”

We live in a win-lose world.  Whether we are referring to sports, politics, game shows or whatever, there is usually a winner and one or more losers.   We may simply be wired for dividing things into two categories, at least after initial analysis: good-bad, black-white, winner-loser.  As I know I have read somewhere, way back […]

It is somewhat – no very – disconcerting that we are still dealing with the myth that is the connection between immigration and terrorism. In several Western countries there are movements that are in part or in whole anti-immigrant and one of the primary reasons for their opposition to newcomers is the belief that immigrants […]

This piece appeared in The Hill Times on December 17, 2018. There has been an awful lot of news lately on privacy in the digital space.  Facebook in particular has been in the hot seat over what it does with our data – data that we willingly provide every time we post a photo or […]

Spain has been the target of two significant jihadi attacks in the post 9/11 period. In what has become known as 4-11, four bombs went off on the Madrid transit system in 2004, killing 191 and injuring more than 1,800. Al Qaeda (AQ) was responsible for that act, despite initial the Spanish government’s initial awkward […]

Tis the season, as they say, and at the Walsh-Gurski household Christmas movies are a tradition, no matter how many times they have been viewed. Me, I like A Christmas Carol, the 1951 British version with Alistair Sim as Scrooge: I have viewed it every Christmas Eve for I don’t know how long. My wife […]

In so many ways Canada and the US are very similar.  We are both largely Anglophone, former British colonies, and Western liberal democracies.  On the other hand we are also very different.  Whether we are talking about gun laws, the role of religion in society or baseball vs. hockey there are distinctions that apply at […]

In recent days I have been slammed on social media (LinkedIn and Twitter) for blogs I have written on terrorism.  The one had to do with whether CSIS has a right to investigate terrorism on university and college campuses (answer: YES!) and the other was on the threat from Sikh extremism in Canada. The criticism […]

This piece appeared in The Hill Times on December 19, 2018. July 1 is, of course, our national day.  Whether you celebrate it like we do here in Ottawa with a series of events centred on Parliament Hill capped by the awesome fireworks display or in your own local way (at the cottage, in your […]

I guess it is that time of year.  No, not the holiday season – the appearance of the annual Public Safety Canada terrorist threat overview!  As the Minister of Public Safety himself – Ralph Goodale – wrote, this is “part of our commitment to being open and transparent through a balanced and frank assessment of […]

So the Trudeau government has responded to a Parliamentary “Supply Day Motion” (NB I have NO idea what that means) dated October 23 that called on the Government of Canada to “immediately bring to justice anyone who has fought as an ISIS terrorist or participated in any terrorist activity, including those who are in Canada […]