Prime Minister Stephen Harper rejects ‘sociology’ talk in wake of terror plots

OTTAWA—Now isn’t the time to talk about “sociology” despite concerns about radicalization of Canadian youth in the wake of terrorist plotting, Prime Minister Stephen Harper says.

The prime minister refused to be drawn into a discussion about “root causes,” the very topic that caused trouble for rookie Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau a week earlier.

Instead, the prime minister struck a hard line Thursday as he commented on this week’s break-up of an alleged plot to attack a passenger train in Canada and the suspects who were arrested.

“This is not a time to commit sociology, if I can use an expression . . . . these things are serious threats, global terrorist attacks, people who have agendas of violence that are deep and abiding threats to all the values that our society stands for,” Harper said.

“I don’t think we want to convey any view to the Canadian public other than our utter condemnation of this kind of violence, contemplation of this kind of violence and our utter determination through our laws and our activities to do everything we can to prevent it and counter it.”

Trudeau stirred controversy last week in the wake of the bombings at the Boston Marathon that killed three when he said, “we have to look at the root causes.”

Harper and other Conservatives jumped on Trudeau, suggesting the Liberal leader was trying to make excuses.

However, this week’s arrests have raised fresh concerns about the influences that cause Canadian citizens to plot terror attacks.

One of the men charged this week, Tunisian-born Chiheb Esseghaier, came to Canada in 2008. His co-accused Raed Jaser came to Canada 20 years ago.

This comes after two young men from London, Ont., were killed in the attack on an Algerian gas plant that claimed the lives of 37 hostages in January. Another man from London, Ont., is reportedly serving a two-year sentence in Mauritania for terrorism offences.

While Harper said that security agencies are alert to the concern of radicalization, he offered few remedies to address it.

“This is obviously something we follow. Our security agencies work with each other and others around the globe to track people who are threats to Canada and to watch threats that may evolve,” he said.

Harper also said the timing of the arrests this week was dictated by law enforcement officials.

“It is law enforcement agencies including obviously the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, CSIS and others . . . that make decisions on operational police matters,” Harper said.

“Obviously they have worked very closely with their American counterparts,” he said.

Original Article
Source: thestar.com
Author:  Bruce Campion-Smith