What the new federal report on Terrorism in Canada reveals about our public safety, and about the government’s obsession with political correctness when talking about terrorism.
The Trudeau government has released the 2018 Public Report on the Terrorism Threat to Canada. This document is typically helpful in understanding the various threats and various brands of terrorism around the world.
The report highlights major terrorist groups like ISIS and al Qaeda, as well as other groups, like Khalistani extremists and Iranian-backed Shi’ite groups like Hezbollah. These groups are all known to use Canada as a fundraising base and manipulate Canadian banks to finance terrorist activities at home and abroad.
According to the report, the major threat we face today is from ISIS — both Canadian citizens who left to fight alongside the terrorist group and have since returned, as well as Canadians who have embraced ISIS’s radical ideology while remaining in Canada.
The report states there are “approximately 190” Canadians fighting with jihadi terrorist groups abroad and “about 60” who are back in Canada.
As has been pointed out several times by myself and my colleague Anthony Furey, the government uses the terms “approximately” and “about” because they are unsure about the exact number.
From time to time, the feds admit the number of jihadists returning to Canada has increased with the collapse of ISIS, but they stubbornly maintain that the number has stayed at “about 60” for the past several years.
While the report is helpful overall, there’s ample evidence it has been perverted and politicized. As a result, this report is one part hard-nose policing, and one part politically correct white-washing.
For instance, it lists the various deadly terror attacks this year — including the Danforth shooting and the Yonge Street terrorist van attack — but then insists there were no terrorist attacks in Canada in 2018.
“In 2018, no terrorist attacks have been committed by terrorist groups or their followers in Canada.”
“Reflective of the fact there were no terrorist attacks in Canada in 2018.”
How can this be the case?
The report outlines the various recent lSIS-linked terror attacks in Canada, including: the woman who attacked customers and employees at a Canadian Tire in Toronto and has repeatedly stated she is part of ISIS, the Somali attacker in Edmonton who had an ISIS flag in his car, and the deadly Danforth shooting that ISIS claimed responsibility for and said was one of their greatest accomplishments of 2018.
The report lists each attack, but fails to acknowledge the known and reported links to ISIS. Any links to ISIS have been scrubbed out of the report.
For the Danforth shooter, the report flat out claims ISIS was lying by taking responsibility for the attack.
“While law enforcement officials confirmed that there was no terrorism nexus, Daesh falsely claimed responsibility for the attack soon after it occurred.”
The report uses the term “falsely” to discredit claims from ISIS, but doesn’t provide any evidence to back up that claim.
Following the July attack that killed two girls and injured a dozen more, Toronto law enforcement officials quickly ruled out an ISIS connection before they had done any kind of investigation.
After ISIS repeatedly claimed responsibility, police repeatedly denied the claim but failed to provide any counter evidence or reveal a different motive.
Meanwhile, news reports following the attack revealed that the shooter’s online history was being investigated. Reports from authorities confirmed that the shooter had visited pro-ISIS propaganda websites prior to his massacre.
We also know that the shooter travelled to Afghanistan, that his parents provided contradictory statements about his past, and that he was an experienced and talented gunman.
Even now, six months later, these facts have never been acknowledged or clarified by Toronto police or the feds.
If a more comprehensive report about the shooter’s background was completed by Toronto police, it was never released to the public. Instead, police and the feds simply state as fact that contrary to ample evidence, the shooter had no connection to ISIS.
This is odd, and disappointing.
The Western world is engaged in an ongoing battle against a global jihadist insurgency. While some on the Left and in the media try to downplay the threats we face from jihadist terrorism and deny the menace of radical Islam, this report spells out the exact dangers of terrorism in its various forms.
But at the same time, the 2018 report also rings of Orwellian rhetoric, makes numerous contradictory claims, and refuses to acknowledge obvious facts about ISIS in Canada.
Worse, it uses pernicious made-up concepts like “Islamophobia.”
When compiling these sorts of reports, Canada’s security officials should focus on the facts, be transparent with Canadians and leave the political rhetoric to the politicians.
Candice Malcolm is the Founder of the True North.
