Even after terrorist attacks in Bali, Madrid, and last weeks bombing of London’s transportation system, many Canadians still do not believe that terrorist attacks will ever happen in this country. Seemingly forgotten are the statements of terrorist ahmed Ressam who was caught trying to enter the U.S. from Canada in December 1999 to bomb Los angeles International airport. Ressam had subsequently told authorities that his cell had considered blowing up Jewish neighbourhoods in his adopted city of Montreal.
Last September a survey was released on the third anniversary of 9/11. Commissioned by the Centre for Research and Information Canada (CRIC), Environics Research conducted a telephone poll of 1500 Canadians. The results of the poll showed that 56 per cent of respondents thought that terrorist attacks on Canadian soil in the next two years were unlikely. The highest numbers of those who thought such an attack unlikely were found in Quebec (67 per cent) while the Prairie provinces were the lowest with an almost equal split on the likelihood of Canada becoming a terrorist target.
as reported by Canadian Press on the day that London came under attack, a poll conducted by the Department of Public Safety showed that the majority of Canadians seem more concerned about power failures, ice storms, flu pandemics and hazardous material spills and think that those events are more likely to happen that an attack by terrorists.
There are several reasons why many Canadians are in denial about the reality of terrorism. Many people buy into the myth that because Canada is such a tolerant and diverse country, we couldn’t possibly be a target of Islamic terrorism. This notion flies in the face of reality; the fact that approximately 10 per cent of London’s population is Muslim, did not prevent last Thursday’s attack. This theory also ignores the statement of Osama bin Laden who specifically named Canada as a possible target because we sent troops into afghanistan after 9/11.
Then there are those, like TTC Chair and Toronto City Councillor, Howard Moscoe, who foolishly said that Toronto will not be attacked because we never had troops in Iraq, ignoring both bin Laden’s statement and the fact that Canada did participate in afghanistan. Canada’s absence in Iraq seems to be a popular reason that some Canadians use to delude themselves that our country is immune.
The day after the attacks in London, newspapers were filled with letters to the editors concerning what had taken place the day before. While most letter writers had been angered by the bombings, some repeated the "Moscoe Doctrine" that these attacks have nothing to do with Canada because we did not take part in the Iraq war. and there were the usual attempts by some Canadians to blame terrorism on poverty and the fact that troops invaded afghanistan and Iraq, ignoring completely the fact that Islamic terrorism predated the first of those invasions in late 2001.
While there is no doubt that our security services and those employed in emergency preparedness are doing what they can to ensure the safety of Canadians, there is a lack of political will amongst our leaders when it comes to fighting terrorism. Paul Martin’s explosive temper is legendary. It can be seem quite often during Question Period when Martin chooses to answer a question that is asked by the opposition Conservatives. although Martin mouthed the right words at the G8 summit in the wake of the London attacks, he showed little of the emotion or passion over the horrific acts as did George Bush and Tony Blair. Taking a strong stand against terrorism would make us too much like americans and anger the anti-american base of the Liberal Party. Canadians that want to believe that we in this country are not under any threat can look to their political leaders to bolster their views that Canada is not a target. Regarding any real desire to take steps to combat Islamic terrorism, Paul Martin is not much better than his predecessor who never really understood the significance of the events of 9/11.
No matter what happens in other parts of the world and no matter what terrorists like Osama bin Laden say with respect to Canada, many Canadians, for various reasons, are still trapped in the world as it existed on September 10, 2001.