There was a post a few days back on Facebook that said that
Canadians were far more likely to be killed by a moose than by a terrorist. The implication was that it would be - in
terms of making the world safer for Canadians, a far better use of our tax
dollars to focus on the problem of moose wandering on our highways than to
increase police powers to search out terrorist. Perhaps a bit of a silly
comparison but there may be other, better examples of how to more effectively ensure
public safety.
Daniel Gallant, who is a reformed Canadian neo-Nazi suggested on
the CBC
website that Canada's focus on de-radicalizing certain groups is far too
narrow. He argues that there are other groups in Canada that are perhaps more
dangerous and certainly more active than any "Islamic terrorist" cell.
Gallant was an active member of a neo-Nazi group and according to his testimony
he assaulted visible minorities and people of the Jewish faith every single day
for a year. He did it in a fashion that not only was abusive but also was also
in some cases life threatening. One of
the questions that was raised in the article was why the Canadian Government
does not label this type of organized racist attacks as terrorism? Why do so-called
Christian, paramilitary, right wing groups get a free pass on their activities
or at least get away as being seen as small time criminals or misguided youth? Why
aren't the full powers of the police being used to stop these types of
organizations?
There are numerous main stream media reports as to the extent
of right wing groups in Canada (Montreal
Gazette,
CBC, Winnipeg
Free Press, Yahoo/CBC
etc.). There have been numerous examples for years. The racism has been
destructive and it has been blatant. And yet our government (I am becoming less
and less comfortable using those two words "our government" as it
bears little or no resemblance to any of my values) refuses to see any sort of
organized right wing groups as being
responsible. For example there are numerous reports from the underground press (Mediacoop) and to
a lesser extent from the mainstream press that the individuals arrested as part
of the disrupted St Valentine's Day plot to attack a Halifax Mall had links to a
Neo-Nazi movement. Mr. Justice Minister Peter MacKay however said that the
folks were just "murderous misfits" and that " the attack does
not appear to have been culturally motivated, therefore not linked to
terrorism," (CBC).
Really? If the individuals had had
ethnic roots in the Middle east - Harper and MacKay would have been screaming
"terrorist" and using the plot as proof that we needed more intrusive
police surveillance. The government needs to expand its definition of
terrorist.
We, by focusing on one very small group who have a somewhat
distorted vision of the world and what their religion requires of them, are
ignoring the exact problem that is in fact encouraging the radicalization of
our Canadian youth. Picking on, and allowing other groups to pick on a minority
will only re-enforce the oppressed group's opinions as to how accepting
Canadians can be. For example when a leader of a country questions someone's
clothing in terms of whether they deserve to be a Canadian - it re- confirms
the fact that freedom of religion is only a right if you believe what he
believes. When isolated youth are
allowed to join a paramilitary group that has a stated goal of re-claiming a
homeland for "white" people, and when the government does not argue
that their behaviour is in fact interfering on an ongoing basis with the lives
of Canadians, a logical conclusion is that some people are not really welcome
here.
If we were really serious about getting rid of terrorism, we
would start with our own home grown terrorists.
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