It scares me when Canada is called a safe haven for terrorists by many other countries. For years, terrorists have been setting up shop in Canada by taking advantage of Canada’s liberal immigration laws and lacking screening process. Once in Canada, they are able to operate freely in any part of the country, mainly as a result of weak law enforcement. Terrorists find it easy to enter Canada by posing as refugees and crossing the unprotected US-Canada border.

In fact, there are currently 40 recognized terrorist organizations operating in Canada according to Public Safety Canada. Some well-known players on the list include: Al Qaida, Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigade, Hamas, Hezbollah, the Tamil Tigers and the Palestinian Liberation Front. Our very own intelligence service stated, in a report from August 2002, that aside from the US, Canada hosts the most international terrorist organizations in the world.

So why aren’t we doing anything about this problem? The main reason is most people are unaware of their presence as they operate discreetly and out of the public eye. This is especially done in our Northern territories. Prime examples of their activities include fundraising and lobbying with the intent of sending all money received back to the terrorists’ “home country.”

Not only do these terrorist organizations fundraise, we have good reason to believe that they are also operating as sleeper cells, ready to execute an attack on Canadian soil within short notice from head office. In the last few months alone, various media outlets in Canada reported that Hezbollah cells in Toronto were conducting surveillance on El-Al Flights and even Synagogues in an attempt to plan an attack on our soil. Over the past year, there were many other reports indicating terrorist organizations that were ready to carry out attacks on various Canadian targets.

In light of the recent tragedy in Mumbai, Canada acting as a safe haven for terrorists cannot be taken lightly any longer. Such a situation could lead to significant conflicts and confrontations like it has between India and Pakistan who are on the brink of war. Imagine a situation where a major terrorist attack is launched in the United States and it is learned that the terrorists came from Canada. This would probably not lead to full-out war, but its consequences could have major implications on Canada’s relationship with the United States.

In order to solve this problem, it’s time for Canada to finally take a more active role in the fight against terrorism on its soil. Currently, our immigration laws are an embarrassment to our country. We need to have tighter laws and a more vigorous screening process to ensure terrorists cannot gain entry into our country with such ease.

As for the terrorists already in Canada, the police need to have more power to eliminate terrorists and the threat they pose to innocent civilians. The police need to infiltrate the terrorist cells and have the ability to take necessary actions when they suspect someone of terrorist activity without being slowed down by bureaucratic processes.

Lastly, it’s time both Canada and the United States come to an agreement on how to properly monitor their border. Currently, it remains the largest unprotected border in the world with no military personnel on patrol.

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Tags: attack, canada, terrorist

This entry was posted on Thursday, December 4th, 2008 at 6:25 pm and is filed under Terrorism. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.