Conservative MPs, cabinet ministers and Prime Minister Stephen Harper have repeatedly chastised Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau since he said “we have to look at the root causes” of terrorism following the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing.
“The root cause of terrorism is the terrorist himself,” Democratic Reform Minister Pierre Poilievre declared Monday as the House of Commons debated sending bombers to Iraq.
On Tuesday, Conservative MP David Anderson cited root causes and said Trudeau failed “to understand even the basic values Canadians see as important.”
Harper famously announced in 2013 that “this is not a time to commit sociology” when it came to studying radicalization.
But now the government is paying to do just that.
The Public Safety Department is commissioning a study on the social psychology of the Internet and how it can relate to violent extremism.
The contract has not been awarded, but the money comes from a $10-million, multi-year fund set up by the Harper government in 2011 to research preventing and countering terrorism.
Publicly, the government has painted the issue as black and white.
“They are doing this because they are evil,” Poilievre said of terrorists last week.
“Just as President Obama did with Osama bin Laden, we have to kill the terrorists before they kill us.”
But the tender for the study speaks of the complexities of who is drawn into extremist behaviour and why, referring to a constellation of factors that vary from case to case.
Asked Wednesday whether the study gives credibility to Trudeau’s arguments, Justice Minister Peter MacKay said it was a separate issue.
“I think what Canadians need to know first and foremost is that the government is looking out for the public safety,” said MacKay.
“So all forms and fashions in which we can promote Canadian safety, that’s what we’re going to do. And that includes holding people responsible.”
MacKay was asked whether the government wants to study the root causes of terrorism.
“This study is obviously going to give us an insight into what people are thinking. Obviously, we want to know if there are further actions that we should be taking.”
Liberals were enjoying the reversal.
Cape Breton-Canso MP Rodger Cuzner mocked Poilievre’s claim that terrorists are the root cause of terrorism.
“And the root cause of poverty is no money,” he said. “They love to develop policy around bumper stickers.”
Original Article
Source: thechronicleherald.ca/
Author: PAUL MCLEOD
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