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Pressure is intensifying ⬆️ Public Inquiry seems to be the keyword! Trending via The Globe and Mail ⬆️ Canada’s spy agency, CSIS has informed NDP MP Jenny Kwan that she is being targeted by China, a revelation shared as her party announced plans to call a vote on whether former governor-general David Johnston to step aside as special rapporteur on foreign interference in favor of a full-scale public inquiry. https://www.theglobeandmail.com/politics/article-ndp-mp-informed-she-is-being-targeted-by-china-as-party-renews-call/ Trending via Global News ⬆️ Johnston must step aside as special rapporteur, NDP motion urges. The federal NDP has tabled a motion calling for David Johnston to step aside as special rapporteur investigating foreign interference in Canadian affairs. https://globalnews.ca/news/9730487/david-johnston-special-rapporteur-ndp-urges-step-aside/ All opposition parties are still calling for a public inquiry and there remain unanswered questions in Johnston’s report, as well as continued reports into the extent of Chinese interference.

I will vote yes. In my opinion, it is evident that a growing ⬆️ divide exists between the political elites and the everyday citizens they are meant to represent. This disconnect can have significant consequences for effective governance and the trust citizens place in their government institutions. Specifically, I believe that this disconnect may have influenced individuals within organizations like CSIS to take more politically motivated stands, sometimes even crossing the red line to make society aware in general. Poll based on the article from 📰 The Globe and the Mail: When the (literal) Laurentian elite forget who they are and who’s listening to them https://www.theglobeandmail.com/politics/article-when-the-literal-laurentian-elite-forget-who-they-are-and-whos/

Not a surprise for myself, to give my short opinion. Trending via the CBC Book alleges longstanding U.S. concerns. Canadian intel veteran who recalls probe to testify in Parliament. The United States ran a secret probe into national-security threats posed by Chinese overseas operations that drew alarming conclusions about Canada, alleges a new book co-authored by a former RCMP and military intelligence official. The book says the project, code-named Operation Dragon Lord, led to an unnerving takeaway: Beijing's activities in Canada represented a security threat to the United States. Full Article with a lot of text to read and interesting details: https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/us-dragon-lord-probe-book-1.6783063?cmp=rss

There has been a bit of discussion lately about Canadian terrorists, particularly around whether we should allow dual-citizenship, stop letting in refugees, and/or be more selective about where Canada's immigrants come from. CSIS released a report about Canadian terrorists and the results shatter a lot of the myths that are floating around the forum. A Study of Radicalisation: The Making of Islamists Extremists in Canada Today. The report tells us that terrorists in Canada mostly commit their acts of terror abroad, are almost always born in Canada, rarely are they immigrants, and never have they been refugees. The report goes on further to say that not only are they not immigrants, but they almost never come from marginalized groups and are typically fully integrated into Canada. In other words, they don't come from those immigrant enclaves that struggle or refuse to integrate into Canada. In fact, CSIS says these terrorists are usually "highly integrated into Canadian society." MI5 also conducted a study in Britain that was released recently and found very similar results. MI5's study went further to say that "religious identity actually protects against violent radicalization," which flies in the face of generally accepted forum commentary. What does this tell us at the end of the day? Well, the experience of immigration, immigrant communities, and religion are almost never the source of terrorism here in Canada. People are not bringing extremist ideas with them here, despite popular belief to the contrary. Furthermore, the most religious are the least radicalized. The findings of CSIS (as well as MI5 and some American intelligence experts) has found that Islamic Extremists, who are religious by definition of course, are typically radicalized politically well before they adopt their extreme religion stance. In other words, there is no direct path from being deeply religious to becoming radicalized, rather it seems the radical become deeply religious. What CSIS and others believe these terrorist activities are really about is political motives, territorial claims about securing the "land of Islam." These terrorist activities and their narratives seem to have more in common, at least according to CSIS, with the IRA and FLQ than with Muslim communities around the world.