John Rapley
CANADIANS, AND particularly residents of Toronto, are apparently now living in fear of being the next London.
Seventeen suspects were rounded up this week in an alleged terrorist plot that included plans to bomb public buildings, kidnap politicians, and eventually behead the prime minister.
However, few of the suspects are foreigners with links to al Qaeda. They are a home-grown group of alienated youths who gravitated towards radical Islam while growing up in Toronto. This is not 9/11. It is a Madrid or London scenario. That makes it more worrying still.
The temptation to alarmism is obviously strong. However, on the face of it, the plot does not look like a finely-honed one on the brink of success. 'Training' apparently took place on a farmer's field - without his permission, which led him to call the police. Details of the plot circulated freely in cyberspace, allowing investigators to collect it from their armchairs. All in all, Canada's Islamic radicals look a bit like the Keystone Cops of terror.
INFORMATION VACUUM
Because the investigation was led by federal authorities rather than local police, the usual channels by which information gets to the media have not been operating. This has left an information vacuum that defence lawyers have eagerly filled. By putting out some of the more alarming charges in such a way as to rile public opinion, they appear to be trying to compromise the prosecution's case.
All the same, some of the suspects are well known in Toronto for their radicalism. Moreover, for sending troops to Afghanistan, Canada has joined Osama bin Laden's most-wanted list. The inspiration for an attack is present. As a result, some Canadians seem resigned to some kind of terrorist incident, sooner or later. Given Toronto's cosmopolitan nature, its size, and its place as a communications hub, Canada's largest city seems the likely destination for such an attack.
More than anything, though, what probably worries Canadians is how this incident will affect their sense of self. A few years back, when Canada made it to the top of the United Nations Human Development Index, the federal government launched a PR drive. What the world needs is a little more Canada, it told anybody who was listening (mostly other Canadians). Canadians have long considered their country so liveable not only because of its prosperity, but because of its civility: here was a model nation of people from different ethnic, religious and linguistic groups, living together in a tolerant harmony.
As European immigration debates turned ugly, as Americans patrolled their border to keep out Mexicans, as ethnic divisions plunged other countries into war, Canada prided itself for standing outside these currents. Maybe it still does. But its self-image has suffered a blow, and it faces challenges if it is to restore it. The backlash against Muslims has begun, with mosques being vandalised in Toronto. And young Muslims feel a heavy burden, as they are identified with terrorism and disloyalty.
CONNECTIONS TO TERRORISTS
Moreover, the fact that most of the suspects come from well-established families - in some cases, families that have been in Canada for generations - with few connections to terrorist 'epicentres' in places like south Asia is especially troubling. Youth alienation is nothing new. The fact that it can turn to bomb plots so readily is, and it is quite troubling. Ineptitude and bungling aside, the impact of this incident on Canada's famed ethnic relations cannot be good.
Maybe it really is just a matter of time. But it will also probably be a matter of good leadership whether Canada's terrorist plot is the first of many, or simply some kind of wake-up call.
John Rapley is a senior lecturer in the Department of Government at UWI, Mona.
