Violent Islamist Extremism in Canada - A Plot of the West

"I believed at that time [invasion of Parliament by armed jihadist attacker] I could have met my maker."
"You could feel, I would say, the hatred those individuals [jihadists] had for normal Canadians, for citizens of this country, in that they were willing to attack the real core of our nation, the real fabric, the tissue of who we are."
"We lost our innocence. Canadians were targeted by terrorists, and the threat is still real, more than ever."
"Words that lead to radicalization and violence have to be identified, so we can prevent terrorist attacks from happening. We have invested massively into research -- to understand how terrorists are operating, how radicalizers are luring vulnerable individuals."
Public Safety Minister Steven Blaney

Michael Zehaf-Bibeau, pictured in this image tweeted from an ISIS social media account, has been identified as the shooter of a soldier standing guard at the National War Memorial in Ottawa, Oct. 22, 2014. (Twitter/Handout/QMI Agency)

"Canada's officially become one of our enemies by fighting and bombing us and creating a lot of terror in our countries."
"So, [I'm] just aiming to hit some soldiers just to show that you're not even safe in your own land."
Canadian jihadi Michael Zehaf-Bibeau, October 2014

"The Islamic State has a lot going for it. It's got territory, it's got quasi-religious authority."
"There's a sense of purpose, there's a sense of addressing historical grievances That's why people are flocking to it -- that's why it's got 20,000 foreign fighters."
Phil Gurski, former Canadian Security Intelligence Service agent

"It's not like I was some social outcast. [It] wasn't like I was some anarchist or somebody who just wants to destroy the world and kill everybody."
"No, I was a regular person."
Andre Poulin, Canadian ISIL fighter, deceased

"Regular persons", who are "vulnerable" to the allure of Islamic State recruiting, transforming themselves from normalcy in society to a mindset of belief in Western interests engaging in full-blown Islamophobia, threatening the presence of Islam, its tenets, its values, its sanctity. Any time that a challenge, a question, a censure is raised against Islamist jihad with its violence and its intimidation and its implacable drive toward conquest is raised, this represents a symptom of Islamophobia.

Islamists have discovered how simple it is to put Westerners, particularly those of a Liberal-leaning mould on the defensive. Accusations of discrimination make them recoil in horror that anyone might consider them to be on the wrong side of political correctness. Challenges of Islamophobia are the swiftest and most certain way to make questioners withdraw and reconsider assumptions that extreme Islamism represents a threat to civilization.

The Government of Canada introduced sweeping anti-terrorism legislation in Bill C-51 through Parliament, reflecting huge popular support by the Canadian electorate at 82 percent. Civil liberties groups and the official government opposition parties, however, are certain that this is a step too far. Even though homegrown terrorism is real, not imagined, and as an issue it has become front and centre in public discussion. Resulting in increased funding and tools for Canada's intelligence agencies to conduct investigations to apprehend future attacks.

One tactic being employed is to enlist the aid of families, friends and religious groups in identifying the signs of radicalization in impressionable young Muslims. The fact is that even though Canadian Muslims are concerned that groups like Islamic State, the Nusra Front and al-Shabaab and others send recruiting messages to young Muslims, families of those at risk insist they have no idea how to identify the radicalization process.

The very fact of police being presented as intermediaries alarms many Muslim groups, believing that the tactics police use creates suspicion in those communities, resulting in alienation, not cooperation.
"We Canadians", says Hussein Hamdani who has embarked on his own interventions, "have been scared into believing that there are locust-like masses" of terrorists. "All this rhetoric, and there seems to be no corresponding investment in prevention", he claims.

Canadian Muslims recognized as being at risk of succumbing to radicalization are not given counselling or mentorship, he states. They are ignored, they are left to their own devices, feeding on videos that glorify the courageous exploits of Islamist jihadis defying the West. The so-called 'vulnerable youth' choose to believe and have trust in what appeals to them. The evidence is there and it is clear enough that the jihadists prey on their own co-religionists in sectarian violence having nothing to do with the West.

Just after the RCMP identified 80 Canadians that had returned to Canada after their engagement abroad with Islamic State, Warrant Officer Patrice Vincent was killed by a convert to Islam engaged in jihad, and a day later Cpl. Nathan Cirillo was shot to death while standing ceremonial guard before the National Cenotaph, his killer racing to Parliament Hill to invade the House of Commons with the intention of wreaking havoc there, placing the city central on lockdown for hours.

Montreal police later informed a Senate committee that their officers had one hundred terror-related investigations last year. In the Toronto suburbs of Brampton and Mississauga police there reported a tenfold rise in terror-related tips last autumn. According to CSIS, it takes ten to a dozen personnel to place a listening device, and up to 28 agents tasked to follow and monitor a single suspect. "We don't have a tenth of the resources we need", testified Edmonton police Chief Rod Knecht.

"The terrorist threat to Canada's national security interests has never been as direct or immediate", the Senate was informed by CSIS head Michel Coulombe, adding the number of Canadians fighting in Iraq and Syria rose 50 percent in the first four months of 2014. Under Bill C-51, any Canadians who post terrorist propaganda can face five years in prison.

"The narrative that the West is at war with Islam continues to exert a very powerful influence in radicalizing individuals and spreads quickly through social media", an internal CSIS memo dated October of 2014 warned.