Once again, the recent horrific bombings during the Boston marathon and the latest arrests of two suspected terrorists in Canada have raised the spectre of terrorism in North America. To be certain, since 9/11, both the American and Canadian authorities have performed reasonably well in containing possible terrorist attacks – whether home grown or internationally driven. However, there has also been an unfortunate side-effect. A culture of fear surfaced and was deliberately or inadvertently promoted by both governments post 9/11. Remember the constant yellow, orange and red alerts!!! Entire communities were subjected to greater public scrutiny and prejudicial activities based solely on their ethnicity or religious beliefs. No one can condone what any terrorists have done or will do, but we must not let the politicians make hay at the expense of our civil liberties. Let’s not be too hasty at throwing people into jails simply on the basis of suspicion.
Bill S-7, referred to as the Combatting Terrorism Act, is currently before the Canadian Parliament. While similar legislation was around since 9/11, this bill if enacted allows the authorities to throw someone in jail for up to 12 months without the usual benefits of due process of law, simply on the basis of “suspicious” activity. Yes, the Government claims that there are supposedly checks and balances in place, but are they sufficient? Will the authorities respect them during a perceived crisis? Surely, panic in the moment must not be the governing factor. Clearly, without undue political interference, normal evidence building and case development procedures must be first followed to avoid wrongful accusations and imprisonment. This means ensuring that the authorities have the necessary resources to carry out adequate investigations and in turn can effectively and impartially prosecute to the full extent of the law.
However, both American and Canadian agencies responsible for such scrutiny and investigations are currently suffering from budgetary and resource restraints as part and parcel of government cutbacks. On the one hand, while it appears that one has adequate legislation and policies to deal with terrorist threats, it is less certain that sufficient resources are available to realistically tackle the problem in a timely and fair fashion. On the other hand, recent events have demonstrated that the general public is still very resilient and important in the face of such threats. Indeed, wide-spread and continuing citizen vigilance may be our best weapon to prevent and respond to terrorism. Furthermore, as citizens, we must go about our daily business in our usual way, without creating an environment of constant fear and helplessness. As in the aftermath of 9/11, we cannot and must not allow the terrorists to win by halting all normal activity, be it travelling, parenting, working, entertaining, socializing, etc., etc. At the same time, I want to be able to go about my normal business without the fear of unwarranted breaches of my privacy and rights to independent political thought and free speech. Failure to do so also means that the terrorists have won.
FROLITICKS 