It doesn’t sound good. Hope things remain well here.
It is “now probable” that an Islamic extremist group will try to launch an attack on Canadian soil, the director of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service warns in a report just made public.
"During the past year, Canada and Canadian interests abroad continued to be under threat from al-Qaeda and its affiliated groups,‘’ Jim Judd said in his 2004-05 report to the public safety minister.
The Canadian Press obtained a copy of the report on Tuesday through an access to information request.
“While the threat remains concentrated overseas, an attack on Canadian soil is now probable,” Judd wrote.
The annual report was top secret when it was hand-delivered in November to Anne McLellan, the Liberal MP who held the public safety portfolio at the time.
A declassified copy of Judd’s report was handed over to the Canadian Press.
Both McLellan and her government were defeated in the Jan. 23 election, and Conservative Stockwell Day is now the public safety minister.
Canada appeared on two different lists of target countries prepared by Osama bin Laden’s al-Qaeda network, in November 2002 and March 2004.
Canadian soldiers have recently taken on a higher-profile role in Afghanistan, trying to eradicate remnants of the former Taliban government, which gave shelter to bin Laden before and after the attacks against the United States in September, 2001.
Conservatives aware of warning
Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s acting national security adviser told the Canadian Press Tuesday that the Conservatives are aware of Judd’s warning and the continued threat.
"We’re just trying to increase the level of sophistication as to how we refine that consideration of the threat, where it might come, how it might come,‘’ said Stephen Rigby.
Last week’s budget set aside $95 million for a fund to let rail and public transit operators pay for measures designed to protect passengers from the kind of carnage caused in 2005 when militants bombed the transit system in London, England.
The Canadian Air Transport Security Authority, which handles airport security across the country, is also getting more money for its operations – $133 million this fiscal year.