Thread: Canadian arrests will fan debate on immigration

Canadian arrests will fan debate on immigration
>By Bernard Simon in Toronto
>Published: June 4 2006 17:52 | Last updated: June 4 2006 17:52
>>
Saturday morning was probably not the best time for the Federation of Canadian Municipalities to urge the US to slow the implementation of tighter border controls on travellers from Canada.

The chances of Washington heeding that call – already low – had been diminished a few hours earlier when Canadian police arrested 17 people on suspicion of plotting a series of terror attacks against targets in heavily populated southern Ontario.

The arrests, one of the biggest anti-terrorism operations in north America since the terror attacks of September 2001, are likely to fan debate in Canada on several other emotive issues, notably immigration and the presence of 2,000 Canadian troops in Afghanistan.

Friday’s operation is also sure to provoke closer public scrutiny of the country’s rapidly growing Muslim community. While the men arrested on Friday were Canadian residents, several were immigrants from countries as diverse as Egypt, Somalia and Trinidad.

In line with a generally tolerant attitude towards immigrants, Canadian Muslims have until now faced little of the backlash that has followed attacks in the US and Europe.

“It’s a wake-up call to the Canadian state and the Muslim community, because it’s a reflection of failure on all our parts,” Tarek Fatah, communications director for the Muslim Canadian Congress, told the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.

Toronto’s mayor, David Miller, added that “we need to do some work to find out how people would be sucked into this kind of activity”.

Police alleged the arrested men were arranging delivery of three tonnes of ammonium nitrate and enough other bomb-making equipment to blow up several large buildings. Ammonium nitrate, normally used as fertiliser, can be turned into a crude bomb.

The Toronto Star reported on Sunday that the ammonium was supplied by the authorities as part of a “sting” operation.

The police refused to identify the group’s intended targets, but said they were all in Canada. Local media reports have mentioned Toronto’s landmark CN Tower, offices of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS), and the parliament buildings in Ottawa

The men, including five under 18, have been charged under an anti-terror law passed in late 2001.

The law has so far been used against only one person, Mohammad Momin Khawaja, an Ottawa software specialist, who is awaiting trial for alleged connections to a UK terror group. Several other people are being held without charge in Canada.

US officials have been concerned for some time that Canada’s relatively relaxed immigration and asylum rules could make it a staging ground for terror groups.

An Algerian-born man, Ahmed Ressam, is serving a 22-year sentence in the US for planning to detonate a suitcase bomb at Los Angeles International Airport during millennium celebrations in 1999. Mr Ressam was detained when he entered Washington state from Canada in a car containing explosives and timing devices.

Mr Fatah said that several of those arrested on Friday attended a small mosque in Mississauga, a Toronto suburb. The oldest member of the group, Qayyum Abdul Jamal, 43, was the mosque’s imam. CSIS said that the men were followers of a “violent ideology inspired by al-Qaeda”.

Large numbers of immigrants, especially from south Asia, have moved into the Toronto area over the past decade. Most have been allowed to enter Canada under a controversial family reunification provision.

The Liberal party, which formed the government from 1993 until earlier this year, has built a strong constituency in these communities.

The new minority Conservative government has retreated from earlier plans to tighten immigration laws. The prime minister, Stephen Harper, said on Saturday that “we are a target because of who we are and how we live”. But pressure is sure to increase on the government to make Canada a less welcoming target after the weekend’s events.


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http://news.ft.com/cms/s/fd1cfdc0-f3e8- ... s01=1.html

Oh, but their PM wants open border into the USA and from USA to MExico...it's time to put a stop to this nonsense....the world is too dangerous.....and I'm sick of hearing other countries wanting to enforce and strenghten their borders but Americans are called all sorts of names when they want that!!!

Wake up, Canada. Smell the coffee.

Originally Posted by LegalUSCitizen

Wake up, Canada. Smell the coffee.

The Canadians are our friends. They did a damn good job in those raids, they didn't worry about hurting anyone's feelings or arresting minors. They did what needed to be done without being a whimp.

Go Canada!
Go Prime Minister Harper! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_Harper