An End to the War on Terrorism

Why are we still at ‘war’ with terror 16 years after 9/11? This book looks at a variety of approaches and responses to international Islamist extremism, ranging from military and security/law enforcement action to government policies, community measures and religious efforts, with a goal to determining what has worked and what has not. The examples […]

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3D printable guns and terrorism

I was reminded this week how old I am.  I was engaging clients on the issue of 3-D printable guns and whether or not they needed to worry about them for their business line.  In the throes of our back and forth I brought up that famous line from The Graduate, where Dustin Hoffman’s character, […]

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The challenge of ‘rehabilitating’ the women and children of IS

We need to take a realistic approach to all this. No, not all returning women and children pose a danger to our societies and not all are inhuman monsters.

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An unhelpful ruling in Canada on intelligence gathering

If you were to ask most Canadians about our intelligence services the first response would very likely be “Wait!  We have intelligence services??” I am being only slightly facetious.  I imagine everyone knows about CSIS – the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (where I worked for 15 years) – and maybe a few recognise CSE – […]

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Do we use the T word too often or not often enough?

One of the reasons why I continue to talk and write about terrorism is that I find the field fascinating, and not just because I have worked in countering it for nigh on twenty years.  I never cease to learn more about terrorism and terrorists and what makes the whole thing tick and as someone […]

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Why wasn’t the Air India terrorist attack prevented?

This article was posted in The Hill Times on July 9, 2018. A week ago a relatively small crowd in Vancouver’s Stanley Park commemorated the single greatest terrorist attack in history (as determined by deaths) prior to 9/11. And Canada featured prominently in it.  I refer of course to the downing of Air India flight 182 […]

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Terrorism is less prevalent than you think

Quick!  Name the top ten causes of death in Canada!  Can you?  Here is one list I found in the wondrous playground and source of all wisdom we call the Internet (the data is from 2012: the rightmost column is percentage of yearly deaths:   1. Malignant neoplasms (cancer) 30.2 2 Diseases of heart (heart […]

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The fine line between the right to protest and public safety

This piece appeared in The Hill Times on May 21, 2018 It would be hard to forget the G8/G20 riots in Toronto in 2010. Or similar mass violence at the WTO meetings in Seattle in 1999.  Commercial properties smashed and vandalised.  Police cars destroyed.  The arrests of hundreds.  People kept in cages by the authorities.  […]

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When the Junos become a terrorist target

Former Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau said it best in referring to the Canadian-US relationship: “Living next to you is in some ways like sleeping with an elephant. No matter how friendly and even-tempered is the beast, if I can call it that, one is affected by every twitch and grunt”.  We Canadians do spend a […]

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Why it is important to reserve judgment on the Toronto ‘attack’

It is a little past 7 PM on Monday, April 23 as I pen this op-ed in Ottawa.  A little more than 5 hours ago a rented van appeared to jump a curb and run down pedestrians near the corner of Finch and Yonge streets in North Toronto.  A man is in custody following an […]