Communities Advised to Report 'Radicalized Youth'

The Harper government has advised racialized communities, targeting Muslims, apparently associated with ‘radicalized youth’ to report young people who voice strong political or religious perspectives to security forces.

At a news conference on October 3, 2010 Public Safety Minister, Vic Toews stated, “We are very concerned about the radicalization of Canadian youth and then becoming not only radicalized but then going to fight jihad, becoming militarily trained and then of course coming back to Canada.”

Mr. Toews was responding to a Globe and Mail story about three University of Manitoba students who disappeared three years ago after travelling to Pakistan leading to an international terrorism investigation. According to the Globe and Mail, Miawand Yar, Ferid Imam and Muhannad al-Ferekh flew out of Canada in early 2007 to Pakistan via Europe. What happened to them after they reached the border region of Waziristan, Pakistan, a known al-Qaeda and Taliban stronghold, is unknown.

In defending the government’s appeal to specific communities to turn over young people who may hold strong views Mr. Toews added, “I want to stress, again, that it's so very important that we have co-operation from the groups where these individuals are coming out of so that our security authorities can better assess the situation and protect Canadians.”

Using Somali Canadians as an example to bolster the government’s racist position, Mr. Toews said, “Some months ago, the Somali community approached the security authorities here in Canada expressing concern about their youth that had gone from Toronto overseas to fight jihad.” He added, “I want to say that this is perhaps the most effective means of protecting Canadians against a terrorist threat.”

Not surprisingly, there have been negative reactions from members of some Muslim communities. Shahina Siddiqui, the executive director of the Islamic Social Services Association, responded by suggesting that the Minister’s comments could incite suspicion from non-Muslim Canadians directed at Muslims and within Muslim communities themselves. Further, she expressed concern that it paints an inaccurate picture that Muslim Canadians do not cooperate with law-enforcement more generally.

The federal government’s perspective as expressed through Mr. Toew’s comments suggests a Conservative agenda to turn non-Muslim Canadians against cultural communities in the country and members of those communities against one another. It also points to a more general perspective that to hold ‘radical’ or different political and religious opinions is wrong and, moreover, dangerous.

Clearly, given the Federal government’s take that holding divergent views makes one ‘radicalized’ and, therefore, potentially dangerous this is indeed a perilous time to think outside Harper’s box.