My latest: Canada warned of terror attack – and does little

Canada could experience a lone-wolf terror attack soon, intelligence authorities have advised the federal government – and antisemitism is overwhelmingly the motivating factor.

“Amid [rising] anti-Semitic hate, an undetected lone actor could commit an act of serious violence in Canada at any time,” one June 2024 secret assessment reads. Multiple other secret assessments in 2024 similarly warned Ottawa about likely terrorist violence inspired by Jew hatred. 

The documents do not indicate what, if anything, the Trudeau government did to prevent such attacks from taking place, however.

The unsettling warnings are contained in a number of recently-declassified security reviews conducted by the Ottawa-based Integrated Terrorism Assessment Centre (ITAC), the federal organization tasked with assessing threats of terrorism in Canada. The documents were obtained under freedom of information laws by the University of Ottawa’s Samuelson-Glushko Canadian Internet Policy and Public Interest Clinic.

Among ITAC’s disturbing findings:

• “ITAC continues to monitor the rising tide of antisemitism and violent rhetoric associated with the conflict in Gaza in Canada with concern…Online actors continue to share violent rhetoric and antisemitic content related to the conflict.”
• “There has been a significant increase in the number of demonstrations in Canada. The number of events from May 1to 17 was approximately triple the volume during each of the preceding months.”
• “Demonstration tactics have become more targeted and disruptive…Pro-Palestinian protestors have grown frustrated due to perceived government inaction on their demands…groups that are listed [terrorist] entities in Canada, namely al-Qaeda, Hamas, Hezbollah have voiced their support for the demonstrations…”
• “Violent extremists have been known to target large demonstrations for recruitment, networking and radicalization opportunities and will likely try to do so again in Canada.”
• “Criminal activities and intimidation tactics on campus and online are likely to continue.”

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