New Patterns in Canadian Terrorism: Charges Are Up, Motivations Are Shifting—and More Youth Are Involved
Hello, Insight Monitor subscribers! Terrorism charges are up. Motivations are shifting. And the official threat level? Still stuck at medium. Canada’s terrorism landscape is changing in ways that aren’t always reflected in public threat assessments. From QAnon-inspired attacks to the quiet rise of ideologically motivated extremism, the picture is more complex than a single label suggests. And it’s only getting more complex with the war in Iran and the mobilization of Iran’s proxies, supporters, and surrogates. This week, I’m digging into the numbers, the trends, and the questions. Have a read to learn more about terrorism in Canada:
Last year, I reviewed terrorism metrics in Canada and found some surprising trends, namely that we have more terrorism incidents in Canada than ever before. This includes terrorism peace bonds, charges, and attacks, and the numbers have been climbing. Peace bonds are being used more often as a preventative tool, though there’s debate about how effective they really are.
Historically, most charges have targeted religiously motivated actors—those inspired by groups like ISIL or al-Qaeda. But in recent years, there’s been a noticeable shift: more and more cases involve ideologically motivated individuals. What’s interesting is that while religiously motivated actors are charged more often, most actual attacks in Canada have been carried out by ideologically motivated ones. That suggests authorities may be better equipped to detect and stop religiously motivated plots, possibly because of long-standing international intelligence partnerships and entrenched ideas of what counts as “terrorism.”
That article generated a lot of interest and some controversy. Stewart Bell covered it in his Global News article on terrorism in Canada. The Integrated Threat Assessment Center also had some thoughts on the data and analysis, which they declined to share with me directly, but that I got to read all about in an access to information request. It was actually sweet how much time they spent on this little blog.1 Keep reading to learn what it all means for measuring terrorist activity in Canada:
