Terrorism is something any democracy has to live with.
Terrorism cannot be eradicated.
Since 1960, acts of terrorism have resulted in 450 Canadians losing their lives in 1,170 incidents.
Prior to Sept. 11, 2001, the bombing of Air India flight 182 was the most deadly international terrorist attack in history: 279 Canadian citizens were among the 329 killed on June 23, 1985.
As such, it is imperative to reject all terrorism regardless of the political, ideological, religious or economic justifications of its perpetrators and supporters.
Following the attacks on Canada in 2014 and revelations of individuals traveling abroad to support terrorist groups, new legislation has come into force. Barely has the ink dried on Bill C-51 before new laws, powers, and responsibilities are being recommended. The recently released Senate of Canada report on Countering the Terrorist Threat in Canada is an example of this.
As it stands, the 25 recommendations in this report are likely to remain on the shelf for some time.
First, the report is an interim one, so it will be updated by the end of the year. Second, the report is not a consensus document of the senate committee: Three Liberal senators dissented from the report, so it represents only the six Conservative members of the committee. When one-third of a committee in the sober second chamber of Parliament refuses to endorse its own report something is awry. And, third, Canada will have an election in the fall putting the senate and its business firmly on the back-burner of priorities.
In some respects, this is a good thing. Some of the recommendations are vague and employ very slippery terms that can mean different things to different people.
Some are not very practical. And others might create new problems instead of resolving them. Parts of the report read as if drafted by a fictional Committee of Un-Canadian Activities.
Moreover, when counterterrorism discussions in Parliament become politicized — as they have in 2015 — sensible policy loses out to the platitudes of politicians focused on the short term.
But, ignoring the report could be a wasted opportunity: Some of the recommendations within the report are worth more detailed consideration.
And the underlying thrust of the report attempts to address a real issue, namely the constant evolution of terrorism, which requires a similar adaptation in counterterrorism that does sometimes require new practices, powers and legislation.
However, any calls and recommendations for new powers should always be greeted with skepticism and hard questions. This is particularly true in an election year, but necessary any time because countering terrorism is far from easy. Indeed, it is a highly complex task made more difficult by the range of terrorist threats from violent right wing and left wing extremists, from ethno-nationalist groups, from religious terrorists, through to single issue groups and the domestic, transnational and international aspects of terrorism.
And terrorism is not simply the “bang” of the bomb or the gun: Propaganda, recruitment, financing, and other forms of support also have to be countered.
Because there are multiple dimensions to counterterrorism the efforts take on a deeper and wider scope, often for good public safety reasons, in order to reduce the spaces — real and virtual, in Canada and abroad — where terrorists and their supporters can operate, plan, and act freely.
Counterterrorism involves sustained pressure across multiple fronts that intersect with our everyday lives: Our bank accounts, information about us, our privacy, travel, rights, freedoms, and ability within the law to speak freely, hold dissenting views, and have radical ideas.
New powers have only just come into effect, so while it is positive that Senators are thinking about how to counter terrorist threats to Canada, the recommendations in this report should be put on the shelf and given more sober consideration when the election is over.
Jez Littlewood is an assistant professor in the Norman Paterson School of International Affairs at Carleton University