Canada Should Respond Firmly to Growing Terrorist Threat: Think Tank

MOSCOW, December 9 (Sputnik) — Canada should take urgent measures in order to tackle the threat of terrorism in the country, experts from the International Centre for Political Violence and Terrorism Research (ICPVTR) told Sputnik news agency Tuesday.

On Sunday, a video with a Canadian Islamic State (IS) fighter John Maguire (Abu Anwar al-Canadi) urging Canadian Muslims to carry out so-called lone-wolf attacks appeared on Twitter and Jihadi forums.

According to Rohan Gunaratna, an international terrorism expert and head of ICPVTR, the terrorism threat should be taken seriously with Canada paying more attention to the de-radicalization of its citizens.

"Canada should mount surveillance on radicalized and militarized Canadians who are likely to mount attacks. Canada should pass legislation that criminalize advocacy, support and participation of its nationals in foreign conflicts. Canada should take firm action against Canadians who spread terrorist and extremist propaganda and raise funds," Gunaratna told Sputnik.

According to Abdul Basit, a senior analyst at S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS) and a security analyst associated with ICPVTR, the Canadian counter-radicalization strategy should primarily focus on working with Muslim communities across Canada and engaging them in the dialogue.

"What Canada needs to do is to introduce a counter-radicalization and de-radicalization strategy, which involves community engagement… So, they should work with the Muslim society and engage them in the dialogue. They have to know about the community problems, they have to know how the community is thinking, what their grievances are and how to accommodate those grievances within the Canadian laws," Basit told Sputnik.

Among other measures that the Canadian government should consider Basit identified "re-evaluating the entire threat landscape within Canada" and paying more attention to the threat from radicalized Muslim individuals within the country.

Nur Aziemah Binte Azman, a senior analyst at ICPVTR, emphasized that individual attacks are particularly dangerous and difficult to cope with, as "lone wolves are not that easy to track, especially if they do not show signs of being radicalized prior to the attack".

On Sunday, following the release of the video, Canada's Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness Steven Blaney said in a statement that "terrorism remains a real and serious threat to Canadians" and reassured that Canada is "working very determinedly to strengthen the tools available" to address the threat.

Canada is part of the US-led coalition, which is currently carrying out airstrikes against Islamic State positions in Syria and Iraq. According to a National Household Survey, there are more than one million Muslims in Canada, and Islam is the second most followed religion in the country after Christianity.

There has been a rise of terrorist activities in Canada recently. On October 20, radicalized Canadian Martin Rouleau hit two soldiers with his car killing one and injuring the other in Quebec. Two days later, a lone gunman Michael Zehaf-Bibeau shot dead a soldier who was guarding the National War Memorial in Ottawa.

Following the attacks, the Canadian government proposed legislation that would enable its intelligence service to investigate threats outside the country.