Its not poverty or alienation...they just hate us..they hate people of other religions and western customs. They even hate their own because they do things in a different way, and they're Muslim.
There's a myth that needs to be shattered when Canadians imagine the standard template of a radicalized terrorist, according to Canadian terrorism expert Phil Gurski.
Many people believe the usual profile of a terrorist is a disenfranchised and alienated young man who came from a bad home environment, is poorly educated, has poor job prospects and may have some mental health issues.
"It couldn't be any further from the truth," said Gurski, who spent 15 years at CSIS, specializing in al-Qaida-inspired extremism and radicalization.
The typical terrorist in Canada, he said, has a post-secondary education, good employment, came from a stable home environment, is in a relationship, has no criminal record and no history of mental illness.
Gurski provided an insider's perspective on the terrorist threat to Canada Thursday night at LIUNA Station as part of a forum organized by the Hamilton Community Justice Fund.
"I've heard people say solve poverty and you'll solve terrorism," Gurski said. "Now, solving poverty is certainly a worthwhile objective, but solving poverty won't solve terrorism because terrorists aren't poor."
Gurski's talk tried to balance the importance of being prepared for terrorism in Canada, which he called a "very real threat," with some needed perspective.
Since the 9/11 attacks in the U.S. in 2001, he estimated that about 50 people in Canada have been arrested on terrorism-related charges — "about three a year on average," he said.
"We can't allow the very real threat of terrorism to own us."
Gurski didn't shy away from pointing to Islamic extremism as Canada's most serious terrorist threat.
"You have to acknowledge that religion plays a role," Gurski said.
"I don't say this to be Islamophobic; I don't say it to be racist," he added. "It's simply a reflection of the facts."
But there are new and emerging terrorist threats, such as the rise of right-wing extremism, particularly in Europe.
Gurski believes we could even see the beginnings of left-wing violent environmental extremism by those frustrated at the lack of action on issues such as climate change.
"At what point do you start thinking 'I better start blowing things up, or I better start targeting politicians,'" he said.
There's a need for earlier interventions, to recognize when people might be heading down a path toward radicalization.
"The first people who notice something is going wrong are not CSIS or the RCMP," Gurski said. "It's mom and dad and sister and uncle and teacher and volleyball coach."
He used the example of Calgary, which has seen about a dozen of its citizens in recent years travel to Syria and Iraq to fight for the Islamic State.
Calgary police took a program called Redirect, originally intended as an anti-gang measure, and remodelled it to discourage the radicalization of young men.
"In many ways, we can serve as a model for other countries that are much worse, such as France, for instance," Gurski said.
The event concluded with a panel discussion that included Hamilton Police chief Eric Girt.
http://www.thespec.com/news-story/7...rism-ex-csis-specialist-tells-hamilton-forum/
There's a myth that needs to be shattered when Canadians imagine the standard template of a radicalized terrorist, according to Canadian terrorism expert Phil Gurski.
Many people believe the usual profile of a terrorist is a disenfranchised and alienated young man who came from a bad home environment, is poorly educated, has poor job prospects and may have some mental health issues.
"It couldn't be any further from the truth," said Gurski, who spent 15 years at CSIS, specializing in al-Qaida-inspired extremism and radicalization.
The typical terrorist in Canada, he said, has a post-secondary education, good employment, came from a stable home environment, is in a relationship, has no criminal record and no history of mental illness.
Gurski provided an insider's perspective on the terrorist threat to Canada Thursday night at LIUNA Station as part of a forum organized by the Hamilton Community Justice Fund.
"I've heard people say solve poverty and you'll solve terrorism," Gurski said. "Now, solving poverty is certainly a worthwhile objective, but solving poverty won't solve terrorism because terrorists aren't poor."
Gurski's talk tried to balance the importance of being prepared for terrorism in Canada, which he called a "very real threat," with some needed perspective.
Since the 9/11 attacks in the U.S. in 2001, he estimated that about 50 people in Canada have been arrested on terrorism-related charges — "about three a year on average," he said.
"We can't allow the very real threat of terrorism to own us."
Gurski didn't shy away from pointing to Islamic extremism as Canada's most serious terrorist threat.
"You have to acknowledge that religion plays a role," Gurski said.
"I don't say this to be Islamophobic; I don't say it to be racist," he added. "It's simply a reflection of the facts."
But there are new and emerging terrorist threats, such as the rise of right-wing extremism, particularly in Europe.
Gurski believes we could even see the beginnings of left-wing violent environmental extremism by those frustrated at the lack of action on issues such as climate change.
"At what point do you start thinking 'I better start blowing things up, or I better start targeting politicians,'" he said.
There's a need for earlier interventions, to recognize when people might be heading down a path toward radicalization.
"The first people who notice something is going wrong are not CSIS or the RCMP," Gurski said. "It's mom and dad and sister and uncle and teacher and volleyball coach."
He used the example of Calgary, which has seen about a dozen of its citizens in recent years travel to Syria and Iraq to fight for the Islamic State.
Calgary police took a program called Redirect, originally intended as an anti-gang measure, and remodelled it to discourage the radicalization of young men.
"In many ways, we can serve as a model for other countries that are much worse, such as France, for instance," Gurski said.
The event concluded with a panel discussion that included Hamilton Police chief Eric Girt.
http://www.thespec.com/news-story/7...rism-ex-csis-specialist-tells-hamilton-forum/
