Thursday, March 5, 2015

Moose, Skinheads, Terrorists, and Racists




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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