7.2.2 Dealing with Terrorism
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7.2.2 Dealing with Terrorism
"Aftermath of the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing show people helping
others from the scene" on April 15th, 2013. Photo by Aaron "tango"Tang",
courtesy of Flickr and Wikimedia Commons
When people in North America hear the world "terrorism", they are usually reminded of the bombing of the World Trade Center in New York City that killed nearly 3000 people on September 11, 2001. The British think of the 2005 London subway explosions
that killed 52; those in Spain remember the 2004 series of train bombings in Madrid that left 191 people dead; those in India consider the coordinated shooting and bombing attacks in Mumbai that killed at least 178 in 2008.
What is terrorism? Why do these acts of seemingly senseless violence occur, killing innocent people and disrupting the day-to-day lives of millions of people around the world?
What is terrorism? Why do these acts of seemingly senseless violence occur, killing innocent people and disrupting the day-to-day lives of millions of people around the world?
Terrorism is the systematic use violence to strike fear in the hearts of civilians and disrupt society. No definition of terrorism as a criminal act is legally binding, terrorism is considered usually to be grounded in extremist ideology. Others may define war as terrorism because it also is driven usually by ideology, it forces people to live in fear, and it ends in the death of civilians.
Although most people condemn acts of terrorism because they interfere with individual rights and ignore the rule of law, violence is sometimes the only way to get a point across according to the perspective of some people.
Terrorism is not a new problem; it has been with us for centuries. When a group of people feel strongly about their beliefs and way of life and feel that there is no legitimate way to voice their concerns, they resort sometimes to extreme acts that range from vandalism and violent protest to planned and systematic destruction of buildings and human life.
What is your view on the following statement?
Do you agree?
One man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter.
Most Canadians tend to think of our country as a peaceful one with many legitimate ways for people to make their voices heard. However, Canada has experienced acts of terrorism. In the early 1960s, a group known as the Front de libération du
Québec or FLQ wanted independence for Québec.
Unhappy with the Anglophone control of parliament and the slow pace of change in Quebec, the group was responsible for dozens of violent incidents, including the bombing of the Montreal Stock Exchange, the kidnapping of British Trade Commissioner James Cross, the kidnapping and death of Québec Labour Minister Pierre Laporte, and the deaths of 8 other people.
For the first and only time in Canadian history, Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau enacted the War Measures Act. It gave the Federal government sweeping military powers to find the victims and kidnappers. While the event occurred in Quebec, civil liberties were revoked across the country, and the police could search private homes, seize property, and arrest people without due process.
Learn more about this controversial decision below. To avoid such sweeping government power in a crisis, the Charter of Rights and Freedoms was enacted in 1982, and the War Measures Act was replaced with the Emergencies Act in 1988.
Unhappy with the Anglophone control of parliament and the slow pace of change in Quebec, the group was responsible for dozens of violent incidents, including the bombing of the Montreal Stock Exchange, the kidnapping of British Trade Commissioner James Cross, the kidnapping and death of Québec Labour Minister Pierre Laporte, and the deaths of 8 other people.
For the first and only time in Canadian history, Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau enacted the War Measures Act. It gave the Federal government sweeping military powers to find the victims and kidnappers. While the event occurred in Quebec, civil liberties were revoked across the country, and the police could search private homes, seize property, and arrest people without due process.
Learn more about this controversial decision below. To avoid such sweeping government power in a crisis, the Charter of Rights and Freedoms was enacted in 1982, and the War Measures Act was replaced with the Emergencies Act in 1988.
- Read "October Crisis, 1970" on pages 400 to 401 of your text Perspectives on Ideology.
- Read 'The October Crisis Reinterpreted' written in 2010 on the 40th Anniversary of the crisis.
- The heavy hand of Trudeau in The National Post (2013) Book Review
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"October 1970" from "Canada: A People's History", William McKeown, You-tube
Was the Trudeau government justified in taking illiberal action to deal with this 'apprehended insurrection?'
Consider the following questions:
- How does ideological extremism lead to acts of terror?
- To what extent should democratic governments act illiberally to protect society?
How should democratic countries respond to terrorism?
"Secure Beneath the Watchful Eyes", London Transit poster, Mayor of
London. Photo by Kenneth Lu on October 21st, 2002 , courtesy of Flickr,
CC-BY 2.0
After the attack on the World Trade Center in September 2001, the United States enacted the PATRIOT Act. The USA PATRIOT Act or
Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act increases the powers of law enforcement to search telephone, e-mail, medical, financial, and other records, and it increases
the ability of immigration officials to detain and deport immigrants they suspect of terrorist acts. Airport security and border crossing inspections have increased, including the requirement for all Canadians crossing into the United States to
carry a passport.
Canada enacted its own legislation in response to 9/11 called the Anti-Terrorism Act. Although it does not infringe on
personal freedoms to the extent the US Act does, it does have an effect.
While many citizens in liberal democracies defend these security measures as a necessary means to protect citizens from harm, others criticize them as restrictions on personal rights and freedoms. To many, these actions are considered illiberal; practices that violate or restrict liberal principles.
Canada enacted its own legislation in response to 9/11 called the Anti-Terrorism Act. Although it does not infringe on
personal freedoms to the extent the US Act does, it does have an effect.
While many citizens in liberal democracies defend these security measures as a necessary means to protect citizens from harm, others criticize them as restrictions on personal rights and freedoms. To many, these actions are considered illiberal; practices that violate or restrict liberal principles.
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"Canada's Anti-Terror Measures", CBC News The National, You-tube
Read the following in your textbook, Perspectives on Ideology.
- "Restricting Freedoms in Subtle Ways" - pages 402 to 404
- "Canada's Anti-Terrorism Act" - pages 396 to 397
To what extent should our personal freedoms, including our right to privacy, be denied to protect us from the actions of terrorists?