ARCHIVED - For the Honourable Vic Toews P.C., Q.C., M.P. Minister of Public Safety at the Kanishka Project Opening Conference

Ottawa, Ontario
November 8, 2012

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Good morning.

It's a pleasure to be here, and I would like to welcome you all to this important event.

In particular, I would like to welcome and acknowledge the presence of four family members of victims of the Air India bombing.

Susheel Gupta and Rob Alexander who are here on stage with me, as well as Monique Castonguay and Dr. Bal Gupta.

Dr. Gupta will be speaking during one of today's workshops about his personal experiences of working on behalf of victims' families.

For these families, terrorism is very real.  They lived through it, and continue to experience its repercussions to this day.

You are all here today because our Government made a commitment to work with the families touched by the Air India attack, and to work collectively to recognize the tragedy, acknowledging that we still have more to do.

Our collective understanding of terrorist threats and of how violent extremism can take root will be strengthened through the research coming out of the Kanishka Project.

This opening conference is an important venue where we can exchange ideas, and build communities of knowledge to help inform how we combat terrorism in the future.

This research is fundamental to our commitment to safeguard the safety and security of all Canadians, and to building stronger, safer, and more resilient communities.

As you will hear over the next two days, these are complicated threats that keep changing.

Of particular interest for the Kanishka Project is the complex issue of radicalization leading to violence.

We know that Canada is not immune to this threat, with the Toronto 18 providing perhaps the clearest, most-recent example.

We also see it in the recent assessment by the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS), where it noted that violence committed in the name of extremist political or religious ideology remains a core threat to Canada.

And while we know we have a problem, there are areas in which we can improve our understanding.

For example, what impacts do messages of violent extremism have in different sectors of Canadian society?

How do we distinguish between those who simply claim to subscribe to a violent ideology, and those whose claims will actually lead to action?

The challenge is that there is no clear, simple set of traits that predict which individuals or groups will turn to acts of terrorism.

But make no mistake, our Government is taking action.

Earlier this year, we underscored just how seriously we take these issues when we announced Building Resilience Against Terrorism: Canada's Counter-terrorism Strategy.

This represents a comprehensive resource that will guide our efforts to mitigate the effects of terrorism.

Specifically, Canada's strategy is comprised of four key pillars – prevent, detect, deny and respond.

As part of the prevention element, Canada aims to target and diminish the factors contributing to terrorism by actively engaging with individuals, communities and international partners.

Of note is the work that the RCMP is doing, domestically and with partners abroad, to improve how law enforcement partners with communities to address all forms of violent extremism.

But we still need more answers.

We are seeking research directly relevant to questions such as:

• How is the threat environment evolving and what does this mean in a Canadian context?
• Should another terrorist incident occur, how will Canadian society react, and what steps can be taken to address the needs of Canadian communities?
• How do we measure and improve the effectiveness of counter-terrorism strategy and practice?
• What role does the media play in how narratives of threat or grievance take hold – or not – in different sectors of society?

To effectively answer these questions, we need to become better at connecting policy makers, frontline officials, researchers, and communities, along with key partners in the private and non-profit sectors.

This conference has the potential to create these kinds of connections.

Before I conclude, I would like to suggest some points for you to consider during the rest of this conference.

While we are already doing much more to reach out to communities – and I have had the pleasure to take part in a number of these efforts – we can do more.

We want to build more effective relationships with communities, and partner with the right leaders.

This is why I am pleased to see so many participants here, not just from Canadian community organizations, but organizations from abroad as well.

The threats are shared, and our response must be shared as well.

That means building our capacity to react to events in ways that prevent further harm.

And it means building, where possible, the capacity for our society to emerge from such events better able to manage them in the future.

We must address these threats and formulate responses while maintaining rights, freedoms, and the rule of law, as well as preserving Canada's open, democratic, multicultural society.

On behalf of the Government of Canada, I would like to offer our appreciation to all four of the family members here today for your work and for your attendance.

Ultimately, my hope is that we can come back together in a few years to talk about the progress that we have made through the Kanishka Project.

As I've said before, working to prevent future acts of terrorism is the greatest tribute we can offer to the victims of Air India Flight 182 and to all victims of terrorism.

Thank you, and I wish you all a successful conference.

Date modified:

2015-11-20