Ottawa Shooting Taints Canada Record on Halting Terrorism A gunman’s rampage into the heart of Canada’s legislature is prompting questions about the country’s approach to security. Much of downtown Ottawa was locked down after a soldier was gunned down at the country’s war memorial and a shooter was shot dead in Parliament after trading fire with security officers. Just two days earlier two soldiers in Quebec were struck by a car driven by a man the government said had been “radicalized.” One of the soldiers died. The Ottawa shooting seems to have been planned and -- while the government boasts an otherwise-untarnished security record - - questions will be raised on whether this could have been avoided, said Wesley Wark, a visiting professor and expert on terrorism at the University of Ottawa. “It will raise huge questions around whether there were indicators of this attack that somehow weren’t acted on or weren’t appreciated properly,” Wark said. A history of successful prevention may have “led to a bit of complacency.” The government had raised the country’s security level before both attacks, in Quebec and Ottawa. The sequence of incidents is heightening concerns that not enough was done. “That’s two events in close proximity, one after the other,” said Dane Rowlands director of the Norman Paterson School of International Affairs at Carleton University in Ottawa. It’s “troubling” that security measures weren’t elevated enough to prevent the Ottawa shooting following Quebec, Rowlands said. Prime Minister Stephen Harper, addressing the nation in a televised speech, said Canada will redouble efforts to combat terrorism and won’t be intimidated. “This week’s events are a grim reminder that Canada is not immune to the types of terrorist attacks we have seen elsewhere around the world,” he said. “We will learn more about the terrorist and any accomplices he may have had.” Past Plots Canada has foiled terrorism plots in the past, including a 2006 plan involving 18 people to attack Ottawa’s Parliament buildings and the Toronto Stock Exchange in the country’s most-populous city. In 2013, two suspects were arrested in connection to a plan to blow up a passenger train in Toronto. Normally, visitors to Parliament go through metal detectors before given access to the building. Staff and reporters who work there go through a different entrance and flash a pass card to security. It’s unclear whether the gunman entered through one of these entrances or accessed the building through a different route. It’s hard to determine whether there were security lapses because Ottawa’s war memorial isn’t a protected site and Parliament Hill’s precincts are heavily secured and guarded, Wark said. Still, questions may arise about Canada’s preparedness, he said. Known Suspect The suspect was known to Canadian authorities and had his passport seized, according to the Globe & Mail newspaper, which didn’t say where it obtained the information. The gunman was known as Michael Zehaf-Bibeau, according to a U.S. law enforcement official who spoke on condition he not be identified. The attack might change what people think about the ability of security forces to keep tabs on people whom they’ve identified as radicals, said Jean-Francois Ratelle, a Canadian visiting scholar at George Washington University. He studies how young people become radicalized. “This is going to be a real wake-up call,” Carleton’s Rowlands said by phone. “There’s going to be changes in procedures, but I think there’s also going to be a big change in attitude.”
Posted on: Thu, 23 Oct 2014 10:46:48 +0000
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