ARCHIVED - Promoting Peace and Preventing Youth Radicalization Worldwide

Ottawa, ON
December 6, 2010
As delivered

Thank you, Constable.  I was a little worried you were going to go over everything.  1976 I was hardly in grade school in 1976. But thank you for those kind words of introduction.  It's certainly a pleasure to be here. I know that the other constable indicated that this was the beginning of winter.  For those of you who are familiar with Canada, I'm from Winnipeg, right in the centre of Canada, this is in fact a brisk summer day in Winnipeg.  So this is a – so if you don't complain about this weather, we'll send you to Winnipeg. 

I want to thank Farah, the Executive Director of the Canadian Friends of Somalia and all of the organizers for inviting me to speak to you today at this forum about radicalization and how we as Canadians work together to help disrupt threats to our safety and our security. 

Canada's strength lies in our commitment to freedom, democracy, human rights and the rule of law.  These are core values that are deeply rooted in our society.  We are proud to live in a country that embraces the many cultures and religions of the world but we cannot take our security and our freedom for granted.  As Minister of Public Safety, I have a responsibility to engage Canadians in an open discussion about the challenges we face in continuing to strengthen our country's safety and security.  I also have a responsibility to speak candidly about the nature of threats facing Canadians.  These threats are real.  They pose a major risk to our lives and our livelihoods and they must be taken seriously.

Today, I am glad to have this opportunity to talk about a particular threat that we face in Canada, that of violent extremism.  And Canada, Canadians and Canadian communities are being targeted.

As we sit here today in Ottawa, these threats are or seem somewhat distant.  But Canadians whose lives have been touched by terrorism know just how real the threat can be.  As you are all likely aware, this is the 25th anniversary of the events of Air India Flight 102 – 182, excuse me, the largest terrorist attack in our history.  In 1985, hundreds of Canadians perished in this atrocity.  Since then, we also cannot forget that 24 Canadians died in the terrorist attacks on September 11th.  Both of these events are a direct result of radicalization that led to violence. 

Overseas, Canadians have been targeted.  We have seen attacks on Canadian companies in Algeria and Yemen and several kidnappings of Canadians by terrorists.  Canadians have also suffered, for example, in the Bali bombings and the Mumbai attacks.  Thanks to the vigilance of our intelligence and law enforcement community, a number of serious plots have been disrupted by the work of our law enforcement agencies over the past few years.  If carried out, these plots could have resulted in devastating attacks both in Canada and abroad.  The Toronto 18 plot is perhaps  most widely known but we've had a number of other successful investigations and prosecutions and recently we saw convictions in a number of these cases. 

And you will all recall the failed attacks aimed ultimately at destabilizing western nations — the plot to bomb an airliner last December, the recent plot involving cargo planes and of course the Times Square incident.  These examples are all reminders that we must seek to understand how and why these threats are evolving.

This is why radicalization leading to violence is an area of increasing concern and focus for Public Safety Canada. I must indicate that in my discussions with our allies, in particular our American allies, I've met a number of times with Eric Holder, the Attorney General of the United States and Janet Napolitano, the Homeland Security Secretary who are also very concerned about this.  In fact, the more I speak to them, the more I realize we have this issue in common. In speaking to my colleagues in Great Britain, exactly the same concern is being raised:  that of radicalization leading to violence — a somehow seemingly inability to understand why in fact Canadians, Americans and others who are citizens of countries, sometimes second and third generations, would then seek to destroy some of their fellow citizens.

In cases of radicalization, the most significant threat arises when individuals make the decision, for whatever reason, to act violently based on their beliefs.  We know that radicalized individuals come from a variety of socio-economic, religious and cultural backgrounds.  Radicalization occurs due to a multitude of factors and influences.  And the radicalization process is unique for each individual so it is impossible to predict a pathway to violence.  At the same time, we know that certain communities are facing greater challenges related to radicalization than others.  Given that some of these issues are playing out in the Somali Canadian community, we are here today to engage you on this issue.

We have all heard the reports about the six young Canadians who allegedly travelled to Somali to take up arms with Al-Shabaab.  The narrative propagated by Al-Shabaab and like-minded groups is very compelling to some youth.  Its allure lies in the appeal to heroism, to reshaping one's identity, to being part of something greater than oneself, to fighting perceived injustice and to making a real difference in the world. 

I know you are gravely concerned about how this narrative is affecting your community and I can assure you that the government shares this concern.  In March of this year, our government took the important step of listing Al-Shabaab as a terrorist organization under the Criminal Code of Canada.  One of our objectives in doing so was to deny this group financial support from Canadian sources.  Our government has thus contributed to a global effort to put a stranglehold on Al-Shabaab's finances, limiting their ability to undertake terrorist activities, including the recruitment of vulnerable Canadians.

Our government recognizes that the complex nature of the problem necessitates a shared and comprehensive response.  A primary responsibility for government is to protect all Canadians by detecting and countering the work of extreme terrorists and others.  We do this through intelligence-gathering, criminal investigation and prosecutions.  And our efforts in this area are guided by the principles of human rights, equality and respect.  However, we cannot effectively counter the threat of radicalization leading to violence through detection and disruption alone.  We must also focus our efforts on long-term preventative programming that aims to foster individual and community resilience to that compelling yet very dangerous narrative employed by Al-Shabaab, by Al-Qaeda and others. 

Let me elaborate for a moment on how this concept of resilience and how it can be strengthened. Resilience is a quality that is woven into the very fabric of our society and the communities in which we live.  It is a net that holds us together when something threatens to pull us apart, be it a natural disaster or indeed a terrorist attack.  On an individual level and with young people in particular, resilience is what allows them, for example, to say no to drugs, to bounce back from a traumatic experience or to reject the allure of violent, extremist messaging. 

The question is how do we build that resilience in the context of radicalization leading to violence?  I suspect this group here will have many ideas which is excellent because this is not a job for government alone.  Our efforts need to be integrated and need to be at an individual, local, provincial and federal level to address the factors contributing to radicalization and to build resilience. 

For its part, the government is already doing several things. The RCMP, CSIS and other government organizations such as Citizenship and Immigration Canada are engaging communities in numerous ways, including this one, to continuously build positive relationships.  We need to understand each other and government agencies need to have the confidence of Canadians if together we are to be successful in countering violent extremism. It is essential that collaborative efforts in countering violent extremism are based on a foundation of mutual trust.  My department and its portfolio agencies have launched a number of initiatives to increase public understanding of the role of government in protecting Canada's national security. 

For example, the RCMP National Security Program conducts community outreach with a view to establishing trust with all communities across Canada.  This program encourages open dialogue to help communities and the RCMP better understand mutual goals, identify and resolve local concerns and to ensure that appropriate channels of communication exist on an ongoing basis. 

Through the Cross-Cultural Roundtable on Security, my colleague, the Minister of Justice, and I engage leaders from a variety of Canadian communities in an ongoing dialogue on national security issues.  The government also provides information sessions to newcomers to Canada and young Canadians, especially to increase their understanding of the roles and responsibilities of law enforcement and security agencies.  I am pleased that my department is currently planning similar outreach sessions with members of the Somali community in Edmonton, Toronto and Ottawa in the new year.  Again, referring to the experience of my American counterparts, it is a similar strategy that they're adopting in terms of reaching out to the communities to ensure that they understand, that is these communities understand that they are not the problem but indeed that they are part of the solution. 

I hope that these outreach sessions will lead to a higher level of trust and open communication and help empower these new and young Canadians to realize their role in keeping Canada safe.  Although government has an important role to play in countering violent extremism, it is my belief that the most effective responses come from affected communities themselves. Indeed, communities are best placed to work with government, to identify and address the grievances and tensions that create fertile ground for violent extremism.  We will only find success in countering radicalization if we can work together to steer our young people towards constructive ways of expressing their desire to change society.  Providing them with the tools to pursue positive changes in society through legitimate means is the most powerful way to expose the impoverished, manipulative ideology of Al-Qaeda and the terrorist groups.

I want to commend the Canadian Friends of Somalia for holding this important conference on youth radicalization.  The Somali diaspora around the world faces some very difficult challenges.  Coming together today is one small but important step toward better understanding and communicating these challenges and fostering a meaningful dialogue on potential solutions. 

Radicalization concerns us all because it endangers Canadian lives and rips communities apart.  It is my hope that this initiative will serve as a model for other communities that may be facing similar challenges.  And I can assure you that our government will remain responsive to all who wish to engage in a serious dialogue about radicalization that may be occurring in their communities.

Let me conclude by reiterating that we all have an important role to play in countering violent extremism and in keeping Canada safe.  Our government has taken measures to strengthen many areas of national security, some of which I have mentioned today.  But, as I have stressed, public safety and national security do not begin and end with government.  I believe that strong communities are our greatest source of resilience in countering violent extremism.  Only through frank and open dialogue like that which will occur here over the next few days will we be able to understand the factors that contribute to this extremism and build the partnerships needed to effectively address it.  With Canadians working together in their communities to combat terrorism, we are doing our part to combat the global problem of radicalization.  We must remain vigilant. 

Thank you very much for your attention.

Date modified:

2015-11-24