Search: “far right”

There is an interesting debate in Canada over what are called ‘mandatory minimums’, i.e. a government/court-imposed set of rules on how crimes are to be treated.  This is an attempt to establish minimum sentences for certain offences, supposedly tied to how society views certain criminal acts.  In jurisdictions that have such strictures judges are bound […]

Quick, what is the first thing that comes to mind when I say the word ‘Buddhist”?  The Dalaï Lama?  Saffron robes?  One hand clapping?  I would wager though that the last thing that comes to you is violent extremism.  Maybe it should. I cannot claim to know a lot about Buddhism (a gap I intend […]

We spend a lot of time worrying about terrorism in this country – disproportionately to the actual threat level in my honest opinion – and the flavour of terrorism that occupies most of our attention is Islamist extremism. This is of course for very good reasons since the vast, vast majority of plots, successful or […]

If you had to come up with a recipe for a terrorist attack or an extremist movement what would you include? To my mind there are a number of ingredients that must be there in order for the finished product to succeed.  These are, among other things, a sense of grievance/anger, an identified target (meaning […]

I, and many others, have often been criticised for using the term Islamist terrorism or Islamist violent extremism.  My critics have accused me of conflating Islam and terrorism and giving fodder to all the bigots and idiots out there that really do believe there is an intrinsic link between the faith of a billion and […]

I am afraid of heights.  Even climbing a ladder scares me.  I also don’t like amusement park rides.  You could say that both of these things terrify me.  I am not ashamed of that. So, if I read a few columns lately by Doug Saunders and Allison Hanes correctly, I should call high places and […]

In the immediate aftermath of the incident in Edmonton Saturday evening I quickly found myself caught up in a battle of words on social media (Twitter, FaceBook, LinkedIn) over my use of the word ‘terrorism’ to discuss what had happened.  The truth be told I was in one way merely following the lead of Edmonton […]

Remember the ‘refugee crisis’ of  a few summers ago?  We all were riveted by the pictures of hundreds of thousands of desperate Syrians, Iraqis and many others, risking their lives in overland journeys or even more perilous sea voyages, fleeing danger and violence in their homelands to start a new life in Europe.  Some countries […]

And so the debate continues on which terrorist movement(s) poses a bigger threat in the West.  Is it really Islamic State and IS-inspired extremists or is this belief a symptom of Islamophobia?  Or is it the collection of hate-filled racists and white supremacists as everyone seems to be saying?  And what about the rise of […]

Now that Islamic State has claimed responsibility for the horror in Barcelona many people are asking ‘Why Spain?’  France, the UK and Belgium they understand since there has been a spate of attacks in recent years.  Perhaps even Sweden and Germany are on some peoples’ list even if these nations have suffered comparatively less. In […]