Other People's Wars - Caledonia Wake Up Call

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Other Peoples’ Wars -- Chapter TwoChapter 2. Terrorist Groups with a Presence in CanadaTerrorism in Canada’s HistoryCanada has a reputation as a haven for terrorists from many different backgrounds. This,unfortunately, is somewhat true, but we may not be quite as open to penetration by insurgents assome critics think. This chapter will look at the groups that are active around the world, andthen look at some of those with connections within Canada.Canadians tend to act surprised to learn that terrorism is present in Canada – a point that doesconfirm suspicions that many of us know little about our own history. Irish Fenians were aconcern around the time of Confederation, and Darcy McGee (one of the Fathers ofConfederation) was assassinated by one in 1869. Down through the decades after this, therewere few problems inside Canada, although the Ku Klux Klan made an appearance betweenthe World Wars and caused some problems. 1 The other major source for occasional acts ofterrorism (usually within their own community) were the Doukhobors, the first of the importedor ‘émigré’ groups to come into Canada. More would be heard from them after the SecondWorld War.Canadians are perfectly capable of generating terrorism on their own, although most incidentsare minor, and narrowly focused within particular communities. Anthony Kellet catalogued 428incidents of terrorism originating in Canada during a 30-year period between 1960 and 1989. 2These were acts by a variety of actors from the radical Left and Right, Quebec Separatists, theDoukhobors (still), and single issue players such as the Animal Liberation Front and anti-Abortion activists. The majority of these actions (some 200 in all) involved Quebec separatists,and 143 involved actions by the Sons of Freedom subset of the Doukhobors.Quebec separatists provoked the greatest emergency with the FLQ crisis in 1970, when –101 years after the death of Darcy McGee -- a Quebec cabinet minister became the secondCanadian politician to be assassinated. Considerable attention was also generated by the shortlivedcareer of five radical leftists, who went on a spree in 1982-83 that culminated in a clumsybut massive truck-bomb outside the Litton Industries plant in Toronto in October 1983. Truckbombs and assassinations were unusual, as the vast majority of Canadian terrorist attacksinvolved Molotov cocktails, pipe bombs, and other unsophisticated forms of attack. Kellet’sfigures only include actual attacks, not threats, by groups that were formed in Canada andattacking targets inside Canada.1 Julian Sher, White Hoods: Canada’s Ku Klux Klan; New Star Books, Vancouver, 1983.2 See Anthony Kellet, “Terrorism in Canada: 1960-1992”, pgs 285-312 in Violence in Canada: SociopoliticalPerspectives; (Jeffrey Ian Ross ed.), Oxford University Press Canada, 199524
Other Peoples’ Wars -- Chapter TwoTerrorism inside Canada from international actors is not a new phenomenon either. Kelletalso listed 62 incidents of international/émigré terrorism between 1960 and the end of 1989. 3Most of these involved unsophisticated attacks with pipe-bombs and Molotov cocktails ondiplomatic sites – with the Cuban Consulate in Montreal receiving much unwelcome attentionfrom Cuban expatriates during the 1960s. There were some attacks on Yugoslavian targetsmounted by Canadian Croatians (who also sponsored some terrorist incidents insideYugoslavia); some prominent Canadian Jews were among the intended targets of a BlackSeptember letter bomb campaign in 1971-72. Two Canadian Marxists also stumbled off toNicaragua for ‘Solidarity Work’ with the Sandinistas in the late 1980s, but had actually beenrecruited by a Latin American terrorist group and deliberately involved themselves in thekidnapping of a Brazilian multi-millionaire.Two other sources of terrorism during this time included the Armenian Secret Army for theLiberation of Armenia and the Justice Commandos of the Armenian Genocide, and the start ofSikh terrorism inside Canada. The Armenian groups lived a short, but spectacular life,assassinating a Turkish military attaché on Ottawa’s prestigious Island Park Drive in a rush-hourdrive by shooting, and staging the 1985 takeover of the Turkish Embassy in Ottawa – duringwhich a Canadian security guard was shot to death. Sikh terrorism first appeared in 1979, andhas been present in Canada ever since, with the Air India bombing (which exploded in mid-airover the Atlantic off Ireland) being responsible for the deaths of 329 people, 154 of who wereCanadian citizens.Deliberate attacks on Canadian targets abroad have been few and far between – so far. TheCanadian Embassy in Peru was bombed (with only minor damage) in 1991, and the Air Canadacargo area in Los Angeles International Airport was bombed by an Armenian group in 1982.Canadian diplomats have had to exercise caution in some postings (Sri Lanka, for instance,where there was a terrorist attack on non-Canadian targets just outside the Canadian Chanceryin 1992) but so far they do not seem to have been targeted.The pace of terrorist violence generated inside Canada has not changed much in the 1990s.While the Canadian radical right is too penetrated to easily reform itself after the collapse of theHeritage Front, it has also been incapable of any significant pre-planned and deliberate violence.The Radical left presents occasional threats -- once with a series of parcel bombs, and with thedeliberately planned use of firebombs during “protests”. The Animal Liberation Front is stillbusy, and an Anti-Abortionist engaged in a series of sniper attacks.While terrorism is not unknown in Canada, most of the groups generated inside the countrycan be easily handled by Canadian police (if not always being satisfactorily dealt with by ourcourts). Things are less sure when considering international terrorism, whether generatedabroad, or sustained by émigré groups inside Canada.3 Ibid.25
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Appendix: A List of Canadian Terror
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Mahjoub, Mohamed Zeki. A Toronto ar
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