Terrorism in Canada

This weekend Toronto police arrested some 17 people for plotting a bombing in Toronto. Here is an article that talks about it.

Not surprisingly, there was a lot of talk about it on the Monday morning news. Apparently Canada is the last of the "five christian nations" - designated by Osama bin Laden - to be targeted.

I thought the reaction to this event here in Canada was interesting, especially considering the reaction in the States to Sep. 11. Now, let me just point out the obvious here: I am aware that the events of September 11th, 2001 are far more drastic than what happened in Toronto this weekend, so a comparison is inherently flawed, but I think certain comparisons can still be made.

Anyway, what I found interesting is that there is a lot of talk about how these people "used the internet" to immerse themselves in extremist Islamic movements and ideology. On Global Quebec a journalist was being interviewed and I was so expecting him to react the same way the United States did after Sep. 11th and say "We need to make sure that people can't view these anti-western views on the internet". Fortunately, he didn't say that. Instead, he basically said that we (Canadians) need to communicate better with people about what Canada is doing in the middle east and try to do our best to counter those extremist messages.

So, I was basically impressed that the first reaction isn't a Chinese-style "keep all the bad stuff out, that way it doesn't exist!" and went with a far more enlightened "We realize that there is bad stuff out there on the internet, and we need to make sure that people realize that it is propaganda".

At least, that's the way it is so far. Based on Stephen Harper's (short) track record as a mini-Bush, it wouldn't shock me at all if he started putting in a Police State just like Bush Jr.