Today, I wake up to this batch of arrests being made in Ontario. The investigation - and arrests - at this point appear to largely be the result of due process, and underscore my fundamental point in Monday's posting - namely that we have processes in Canada for handling such cases, and we should be using them.
CBC's coverage includes some comments from this morning's new conference that bother me a bit:
"For various reasons, they appear to have become adherents of a violent ideology inspired by al-Qaeda," said Luc Portelance, Assistant Director of Operations for the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS).
What bugs me about this is twofold - first is the immediate attempt to associate the business with al Qaeda in the public mind. What we have right now is a group of people who are arrested on allegations of plotting an act of violence. No trials have happened yet, no convictions have been obtained - this is no more than innuendo.
Over here, we have Prime Minister Harper's statement on the matter. Largely a bunch of politicized froth from what I can see.
Now, let's actually put these people on trial and see if due legal process confirms the allegations against them - unlike what was done to these two young men who were caught playing paintball in a Virginia forest, and have been sentenced to life in prison as a result of what I can only politely call a show trial. (which would never have happened if they hadn't been of middle eastern descent I suspect)
I'm not going to speculate on whether there are other groups rattling around in the woodwork - such speculation is pointless and only generates an atmosphere of fear and paranoia that is unnecessary.
Cynically, I fully expect the Harper government to play this up as an excuse to further march in lock-step (goose step?) with BushCo.
1 comment:
Harper is already using this as a fear mongering tool just like what the US does.
...Prime Minister Stephen Harper said Canada had been targeted because of its way of life and "was not sheltered from the terrorist threat"....
Of particular note is the quote _was not sheltered from the terrorist threat_, this seems to be a preliminary move towards justifying setting up a US style Patriot Act in order to assure Canadians that the government will keep them safe.
SB
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