Apprehending Terror

"The government will continue to be seized with the broader terrorist threats against Canada. We have strengthened laws in this country to deal with the issue of so-called Canadian foreign fighters. We will soon bring forward additional measures to strengthen the ability of our security services to monitor aspiring terrorists to, where possible, prevent their return to Canada or to, where that is not possible, give greater tools to be able to charge and prosecute."
Prime Minister Stephen Harper, House of Commons

Canadian Momin Khawaja is serving a life sentence in prison for his role in terrorism-related activities. -- National Post

"Legislation is being prepared to adjust to the reality of the terrorist threat we are facing in this country. In the situation where we see a direct threat to Canada through terrorist organizations -- and specifically the Islamic State -- we need to be able to table legislation that clearly defines the mandate and also enables the agencies to appropriately protect Canadians."
Public Safety Minister Steven Blaney

Court handoutElectronics and registered guns seized at the Khawaja home and entered into evidence in Momin Khawaja's terrorism trial. -- National Post

What the prime minister spoke of two weeks earlier has now been announced; the introduction of new legislation to enable federal security agents with additional power to track suspected terrorists. Canada has not been exempt from the presence of citizens whose view of fanatical Islamism aligns them with Hezbollah and Hamas; the flags of both terrorist groups have been seen held proudly at rallies in Canadian cities. It is well enough known that some Muslim groups in Canada are approving of their activities.

And nor is support for the Islamic State absent within Canada, with the infiltration of their influence through promulgating the vision of violent jihad as an honourable response to the damning influence of the West on Islamist values. The bill to be tabled next week would permit CSIS to obtain information on Canadians fighting abroad with jihadist groups like ISIS, or in North Africa, with al-Qaeda affiliates, through the "Five-Eyes" spy network.

Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand between them had recognized the functionality of joining their security systems to enable the presence of a wider eye, an interoperability in detecting activity that would impinge on their countries' welfare. Clearly, with friendly nations having much in common looking out for one another, the capacity for security and defence is enhanced.

In Canada, security agencies have succeeded in detecting the activities of home-grown jihadists who have planned violence within Canada. There have been occasions when our allies have provided useful background information for some of these occurrences, which have been caught before they could be carried out and the would-be perpetrators apprehended. The usefulness of the "Five-Eyes" network is self-evident.

RCMP Commissioner Bob Paulson stated last week that his agency was involved in actively investigating 63 national security risks involving 90 people. While CSIS Director Michel Coulombe reiterated that over 130 Canadians had gone abroad with the purpose of engaging in terror-related activities, 80 of whom had since returned to Canada, all of whom require intensive follow-up scrutiny and ongoing tracking.