Canada's Crackdown on Terror
By Stephen Brown
FrontPageMagazine.com | May 16, 2006
What a difference an election can make. Canada’s new Conservative government under Prime Minister Stephen Harper has injected a much-needed dose of common sense into the war against terrorism that was sadly lacking during the previous twelve years of Liberal Party rule.
Just last week, in a long overdue measure, the Conservatives announced their plan to install biometric screening technology at several entry points to Canada as part of a pilot project to keep out undesirable immigrants and refugees. Upon arrival, visa applicants and refugee claimants, some of the latter arriving with false or no documentation at all, will now be required to undergo inkless fingerprinting and be photographed. In the long run, according to one Canadian newspaper report, the Conservative government wants to subject all immigrants to the new security process. Beyond increasing Canadian security, this would help meet America’s requests for improved security at Canadian borders.
This is not the only evidence of Canada's tough-minded new stance on terror. The Harper government, which celebrated only its one hundredth day in office this month, was also one of the first Western governments to cut off aid to Hamas after the election of the terrorist organization to power in the Palestinian territories.
As well, only last month, the Conservative government banned the Tamil Tigers, the terrorist group involved in an ongoing civil war in Sri Lanka in order to establish an independent Tamil state. Tamil groups have been raising money unhindered for years in Canada, a major source of their funds, to bankroll both the war and Tamil Tiger terrorist attacks, which include suicide bombings. Tamil Tiger adherents had made headlines in Canadian papers earlier this year when it was discovered they were going door to door in Toronto’s Tamil community collecting “donations,” some apparently unwillingly made, for an upcoming military offensive in Sri Lanka. These Tamil tax collectors were also receiving “war taxes” in the form of automatic payroll deductions from Tamil-Canadian workers. The new Conservative government measure now makes it illegal to collect money on the Tigers’ behalf.
It also stands as a stark counterpoint to the fecklessness of the ousted Liberal government. In all their years in power, the Liberals never moved to stop the flow of Canadian money that was helping finance the brutal war in Sri Lanka. As the party of multiculturalism, they feared losing the tens of thousands of urban votes that Tamil groups and associations delivered to them every election. Tragically for the people in Sri Lanka, many of whom have been killed by bombs and bullets bought with Canadian-raised money, they were unknowing victims of the Liberal Party’s insistence on acquiring and maintaining power at all costs.
The Conservatives adhere to different principles. They have recently proven more dedicated to ensuring the security of their country than their Liberal predecessors when they presented their first budget in Parliament. In it, Prime Minister Harper stipulated substantial increases in funds for both the Canadian military and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, which is involved in airport security. During their 12 years in office, the Liberals had allowed Canada’s military to decline, both in numbers and in equipment, to the point where it was recommended that Canadian troops be withdrawn from their duties around the world and returned home.
Harper, on the other hand, made a point of visiting Canadian troops in Afghanistan soon after taking office to show his support for them, their mission and the fight against Islamist extremism. Harper has said that he eventually wants to restore the Canadian military to its pre-1993 levels when the Liberals took power under Jean Chretien.
In contrast to Harper, one of Chretien’s first acts once in office was to cancel the contract that would have replaced the military’s aging helicopter fleet, a move that cost the Canadian taxpayer $500 million dollars in cancellation fees. The Liberal neglect of the armed forces was actually a continuation of the anti-military trend started in 1968 by Canada’s pacifist, Marxist-leaning Liberal prime minister, Pierre Trudeau, who wanted to pull Canada out of NATO.
But America may yet have to wait for Canada’s help in developing a ballistic missile defense system for North America. In 2005, the former Liberal government refused to join the United States in setting up a continental, anti-missile shield, which is an unpopular issue in Canada. Prime Minister Harper, on the other hand, has promised to hold a free vote in Parliament on the measure. Harper will probably wait until the Conservatives are in the majority to hold the vote, since his minority government would otherwise risk defeat and have to resign.
Equally as important for the security of North America is the fact that the anti-American bias, which was so common within the Liberal government, has disappeared under the Harper government. President Bush meanwhile has spoken highly of his meetings with Stephen Harper. After years of mutual antagonism under successive Liberal governments, a new era of respect and cooperation between Canada and the United States has begun.
FrontPageMagazine.com | May 16, 2006
What a difference an election can make. Canada’s new Conservative government under Prime Minister Stephen Harper has injected a much-needed dose of common sense into the war against terrorism that was sadly lacking during the previous twelve years of Liberal Party rule.
Just last week, in a long overdue measure, the Conservatives announced their plan to install biometric screening technology at several entry points to Canada as part of a pilot project to keep out undesirable immigrants and refugees. Upon arrival, visa applicants and refugee claimants, some of the latter arriving with false or no documentation at all, will now be required to undergo inkless fingerprinting and be photographed. In the long run, according to one Canadian newspaper report, the Conservative government wants to subject all immigrants to the new security process. Beyond increasing Canadian security, this would help meet America’s requests for improved security at Canadian borders.
This is not the only evidence of Canada's tough-minded new stance on terror. The Harper government, which celebrated only its one hundredth day in office this month, was also one of the first Western governments to cut off aid to Hamas after the election of the terrorist organization to power in the Palestinian territories.
As well, only last month, the Conservative government banned the Tamil Tigers, the terrorist group involved in an ongoing civil war in Sri Lanka in order to establish an independent Tamil state. Tamil groups have been raising money unhindered for years in Canada, a major source of their funds, to bankroll both the war and Tamil Tiger terrorist attacks, which include suicide bombings. Tamil Tiger adherents had made headlines in Canadian papers earlier this year when it was discovered they were going door to door in Toronto’s Tamil community collecting “donations,” some apparently unwillingly made, for an upcoming military offensive in Sri Lanka. These Tamil tax collectors were also receiving “war taxes” in the form of automatic payroll deductions from Tamil-Canadian workers. The new Conservative government measure now makes it illegal to collect money on the Tigers’ behalf.
It also stands as a stark counterpoint to the fecklessness of the ousted Liberal government. In all their years in power, the Liberals never moved to stop the flow of Canadian money that was helping finance the brutal war in Sri Lanka. As the party of multiculturalism, they feared losing the tens of thousands of urban votes that Tamil groups and associations delivered to them every election. Tragically for the people in Sri Lanka, many of whom have been killed by bombs and bullets bought with Canadian-raised money, they were unknowing victims of the Liberal Party’s insistence on acquiring and maintaining power at all costs.
The Conservatives adhere to different principles. They have recently proven more dedicated to ensuring the security of their country than their Liberal predecessors when they presented their first budget in Parliament. In it, Prime Minister Harper stipulated substantial increases in funds for both the Canadian military and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, which is involved in airport security. During their 12 years in office, the Liberals had allowed Canada’s military to decline, both in numbers and in equipment, to the point where it was recommended that Canadian troops be withdrawn from their duties around the world and returned home.
Harper, on the other hand, made a point of visiting Canadian troops in Afghanistan soon after taking office to show his support for them, their mission and the fight against Islamist extremism. Harper has said that he eventually wants to restore the Canadian military to its pre-1993 levels when the Liberals took power under Jean Chretien.
In contrast to Harper, one of Chretien’s first acts once in office was to cancel the contract that would have replaced the military’s aging helicopter fleet, a move that cost the Canadian taxpayer $500 million dollars in cancellation fees. The Liberal neglect of the armed forces was actually a continuation of the anti-military trend started in 1968 by Canada’s pacifist, Marxist-leaning Liberal prime minister, Pierre Trudeau, who wanted to pull Canada out of NATO.
But America may yet have to wait for Canada’s help in developing a ballistic missile defense system for North America. In 2005, the former Liberal government refused to join the United States in setting up a continental, anti-missile shield, which is an unpopular issue in Canada. Prime Minister Harper, on the other hand, has promised to hold a free vote in Parliament on the measure. Harper will probably wait until the Conservatives are in the majority to hold the vote, since his minority government would otherwise risk defeat and have to resign.
Equally as important for the security of North America is the fact that the anti-American bias, which was so common within the Liberal government, has disappeared under the Harper government. President Bush meanwhile has spoken highly of his meetings with Stephen Harper. After years of mutual antagonism under successive Liberal governments, a new era of respect and cooperation between Canada and the United States has begun.
posted by Marko at 5/16/2006 08:17:00 AM
<< Home