Daimnation!: Brave words from a Liberal

November 27, 2007

Brave words from a Liberal

Whatever one may generally think of Ujjal Dosanjh (now critic for public safety), he's got the right stuff on this issue:

The Air India bombing and the issues it raises are not, sadly, simply a throwback to the mid-1980s.
Activists and journalists who cover these issues continue to receive threats. As recently as this past summer, I was the recipient of new threats. No one has ever been prosecuted.

My experience with terrorism and its proponents has led me to believe there are certain steps that should be taken to combat this threat.

The provisions in the Criminal Code should be reviewed and amended, if need be, to ensure that encouraging others to commit violence is made a criminal offence. For example, I received a threat last July on Facebook to the effect of: "I hope someone beats the living [expletive] out of you just like they did before when ur ass was crying in the hospital." I am advised that as far as current law is concerned, such wording is considered an expression of "opinion" and so is not prosecutable.

The glorification of terror and violence must be made an offence in the Criminal Code. This year alone, there were two significant publicized examples of terror being praised: floats at last spring's Vaisakhi parade in Surrey, B.C, were emblazoned with the picture of Talwinder Singh Parmar, the Air India mastermind. And a service honouring Parmar was held at a Sikh temple in British Columbia. These events send entirely the wrong message to anyone paying attention, particularly children.

Federal and provincial governments must work together to review the laws governing non-profit organizations to more effectively prevent terrorist financing from happening in Canada. A federal/provincial/territorial working group on non-profit status and charities would be very useful to ensure uniform standards across the country.

A lesson worth learning for us is that we in Canada are not immune from what has happened in such countries as France, the U.K. and Spain in terms of homegrown and terrorist violence. Air India was an earlier wake-up call that some of us took a long time to heed.

Finally, politicians must show leadership and not pander to minorities, no matter what the cause, if it even remotely involves the promotion, glorification or use of violence. If we believe -- as we claim to -- that Canada has to be an example to the rest of the world as a peaceful society, then we have to ensure that we nurture that peace actively and vigorously.