(This
column was published in the North
Shore News on
Dec. 22, 1999)
Gov't inaction on terrorism a disgrace
By Leo Knight
The
Ministry of the Solicitor General is responsible for protecting
Canadians and helping to maintain Canada as a peaceful and safe
society.
--
Opening address on the Solicitor General of Canada's website.
DOMINATING the headlines across the country in the past few days was the arrest of alleged Algerian terrorist Ahmed Ressam.
When
he was arrested, his car was carrying over 45 kilograms of
bomb-making materials, detonators and liquid nitroglycerin,
material apparently only available on the black market.
The
arrest and explosives seizure has fueled fears in the U.S. of
Y2K terrorist attacks. Especially considering the man Ressam was
staying with at the 2400 Motel on Kingsway in Vancouver seems to
have disappeared.
The
FBI and the CIA are spearheading the investigation into the man
authorities claim is associated with Osama bin Laden, the
wealthy Saudi Arabian the Americans have been chasing since the
embassy bombings last year in Tanzania and Kenya.
What's
ridiculous in this case is that Ressam was still in this country
after being rejected for refugee status because of connections
to an Algerian-Islamic extremist organization.
Indeed,
a former roommate of his was Said Atmani, who was extradited
from Canada to France for the 1996 Paris Metro bombings, which
killed four people and injured dozens more.
He's
also done time in this country for theft of computers and
assorted other high-priced stuff.
According
to the Montreal police, in whose city he was convicted in
February of 1998, Ressam was part of an Algerian crime ring.
Without
confirming the information, law enforcement officials hint the
crime ring was designed as a fund-raising arm for the terrorist
activities.
Again,
why was he still here?
Irony
being what it is, the arrest of Ressam and the shameful
information of his life in Canada and our failure to deal with
him occurred in the same week as the solicitor general tabled
the government's response to the annual report of the Special
Senate Committee on Security and Intelligence.
In the report to the House, Solicitor General Lawrence MacAulay said, "The government is now reviewing immigration and refugee policies with the aim of making them more responsive to Canada's needs and strengthening the means to enforce the government's policy direction."
In
saying this, MacAulay pre-supposes we are currently doing
anything effective to curb that ability.
The
committee's report was given to MacAulay in June, six months
before Ressam's arrest.
Its
32 recommendations include such gems as: "The committee
recommends that the government of Canada continue to use all
legitimate means to influence the United States' policy and
actions to ensure a common approach and to further the two
countries' cooperation and support for each other in the fight
against terrorism."
This
is all a bad joke really.
The
government's response to the committee report was tabled last
Thursday, two days after the arrest of Ressam.
In
a press release issued by MacAulay on Dec. 16, the solicitor
general said, "Our security is something we can't take for
granted. It depends on a strong security-intelligence
capability, law enforcement readiness, and on international
cooperation. This government is committed to moving on a number
of issues identified by the committee."
The
press release continued with the following piece of literary
largesse: "Mr. MacAulay said that the special Senate
committee had praised the government for the positive change in
the level of preparedness and professionalism in the security
and intelligence community.
"In
the report, Senator Kelly noted that, 'There has been a positive
change in the level of preparedness and professionalism in the
security and intelligence community. Issues and concerns
identified by previous committees have been, in the main,
addressed.'"
Hard
to believe that whoever wrote that gets paid around $80,000 of
your hard-earned dollars.
It's
nice to know that "issues and concerns have been, in the
main, addressed."
Let's
have a quick peek back at just a snippet of the claptrap being
force-fed by a succession of solicitors general of this Liberal
government.
April
11, 1994: "The primary threat to Canada is international
terrorism and the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS)
has been re-orienting its activities accordingly as the threat
from traditional espionage declines, Solicitor General Herb Gray
told the Commons today in delivering the annual statement on
national security."
Glad
they recognized the problem way back then.
I
also found this little gem from the hapless Andy Scott,
MacAulay's predecessor: "Canada is developing a range of
tough measures against terrorists, Solicitor General Andy Scott
today told the House of Commons in a statement on national
security."
That
was on April 30, 1998, two months after Ressam was convicted in
Montreal and after CSIS, the RCMP and Canadian Immigration had
positively linked him to international terrorism.
Yet
somehow, he was still here conducting his nefarious activities
until last week when he was arrested by American law
enforcement.
It
remains to be seen how many more Ressams are currently operating
in our country because of the ineffectiveness and incompetence
of the federal government.
Unfortunately,
the information will probably come to us as a result of the FBI
investigation and not our own government.
What
a disgrace!