There are about 90 radical extremists living in Canada that the Canadian Secret Intelligence Service (CSIS) and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) are tracking. In the past three days, two of these terrorists decided to begin a campaign against the Canadian Military and the Canadian Government for supporting a coalition against the Islamic State (aka ISIS/ISIL). (Written in October 2014.)
The First Strike
According to the Quebec Provincial Police, Martin Couture-Rouleau ran down two soldiers with his car in Saint-Jean-sur-Richeleu at about 11:30 am Monday, October 20th.
He was later shot and killed by the police after rolling his car into a ditch and threatening them with a knife.
Here’s a link to the Mail Online story.
This happened after CSIS raised the risk level of terror attack from low to medium.
Precedence?
Of course, being Canadians, we all wondered if this was an aberration of some kind; after all lone wolves had carried out other strange actions, without them being classified as a ‘terror attacks’. One such incident happened in New Brunswick earlier in the year, when a young man by the name of Justin Bourque opened fire on five police officers in Moncton, killing three and wounding two.
Here’s a link to the CBC story dated June 6th:
This person gave up rather than risk being shot to death. But a seed must have been planted in someone’s mind.
The Second Strike
At 9:51 am on Wednesday, Oct 22nd, a man named as Michael Zehaf-Bibeau, shot an unarmed reservist standing guard in front of the National War Memorial in the nation’s capital, Ottawa.
He then drove the short distance to the Houses of Parliament and was subsequently shot and killed by the Sergeant-at-Arms, after a horrific gun battle.
Here’s a link to The Star story
Ottawa was put into lock-down until later that night.
Reason?
It would seem that in both cases, the individuals had attempted to leave the country to go to Syria to join the Islamic State side. But, as a way to keep them from becoming jihadists, their passports were revoked.
What we are learning now is that this is the last resort, but the only way that the security services can stop them. But they remained at large, because the police cannot arrest someone for thinking about being an extremist. Even when their intentions are reported on social media, an act has to occur before anything can be done.
Just watch the news for a change in that scenario: it is my prediction that the law will change to allow the police to arrest and charge people who have signalled a wish to cause a terror attack.
Why? So the rest of us can sleep safely in our beds.
