In briefing to minister, RCMP warns of 488% jump in terrorism charges
The number of terrorism charges laid in Canada jumped 488 per cent last year amid rising youth radicalization, the RCMP wrote to the public safety minister.
The RCMP’s ministerial briefing binder, posted on a government website this week, said violent extremism remained “a prominent national security threat.”
“Canadian police have foiled six terrorist plots in the last 12 months alone, with arrests spanning from Edmonton to Ottawa to Toronto,” the briefing said.
Between April 1, 2023 and March 31, 2024, 25 suspects were accused of 83 terrorism-related charges, “representing a 488% increase,” the RCMP wrote.
Three minors and six young adults were among those charged, and another eight youths faced terrorism peace bonds, signalling a “rise in youth radicalization.”
Youths are being targeted online by Islamic nut-jobs.
Online platforms were “contributing to substantial youth engagement with violent extremist ideologies and an increase in the number of youth subjects of interest,” the document said.
“This increase in violent extremism has not seen a parallel increase in resourcing.”
The 75-page document was prepared in December when David McGuinty became public safety minister during the final months of Justin Trudeau’s government.
It was released publicly on Wednesday, after Prime Minister Mark Carney handed the public safety portfolio to Liberal MP Gary Anandarasangaree.
Briefing binders are supposed to inform cabinet ministers about the priorities, challenges and workings of the departments within their new realms.
The RCMP package identified violent extremism as a “hot issue,” along with foreign interference, hate crimes, the Canada-U.S. border and opioids.
U.S. President Donald Trump has justified his trade war against Canada with claims that fentanyl smuggling across the northern border was a “grave threat” to America.
But there is “little to no evidence” to back that assertion, the RCMP document said. The police force said it was nonetheless “committed to working with international partners” on the matter.
The government’s demands on the RCMP have “stretched the organization beyond its current capabilities and capacity,” the briefing warned the minister.
“The RCMP cannot continue to effectively deliver on the full breadth of its federal mandate without addressing significant resourcing challenges.”
The Canadian Security Intelligence Service has also said it was seeing a “concerning increase” in extremism, but it does not believe the national terrorism threat level needs to be raised.
The recent spike in terrorism is linked partly to renewed interest in the so-called Islamic State. Since 2023, police have disrupted several ISIS-linked plots, including an alleged bombing of a pro-Israel rally on Parliament Hill.
Other foiled attacks targeted Calgary Pride events and an unknown location in Toronto. An arrest in Quebec allegedly stopped an attack planned in New York City.
Three Canadian women who were part of ISIS in Syria have also been charged with terrorism, while a handful of others are on peace bonds that limit their movements.
Last week, an ISIS financier pleaded guilty in a Toronto court to raising money for Gaza through crowdfunding and sending it to the terrorist group’s overseas handlers.
Meanwhile, members of far-right groups have increasingly been charged with terrorism offences for activities such as producing hate propaganda.
“Violent extremism is on the rise worldwide and constitutes a prominent national security threat,” the RCMP told the minister.
In cases where charges can’t be laid, police are using “disruptive measures” and terrorism peace bonds, it said.
Earlier this month, Global News reported a Yemeni citizen was arrested on a terrorism peace bond on April 19 as he was allegedly trying to leave Toronto to join an Iranian-backed terrorist group.
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The Liberals promised a suite of crime measures. Here’s what they’re taking on
After an election which saw the Conservatives campaign heavily on crime while the Liberals promised stricter measures for offences like violent car thefts, the new minority Liberal government has a stack of new crime policies to implement.
Lisa Kerr, an associate professor at the Queen’s University law school, said the proposals are “all, generally speaking, in the direction of being tougher on crime, but in ways that are targeted to more serious offenders.”
She said they will “likely still preserve discretion for Crown prosecutors and judges to respond in appropriate ways to individual cases.”
The proposals include tougher bail and sentencing guidelines for some crimes, and the creation of new criminal offences involving intimidation at schools and places of worship, as well as online sexploitation.
Justin Piché, a criminology professor at the University of Ottawa, said the moment reminds him of when Bill Clinton became president of the United States and put forward laws to increase the use of policing and prisons and impose steeper sentences.
“I don’t necessarily think it’s because he believed in them. I think it was because he didn’t want to get outflanked on the right on these issues and lose power and the ability to govern more broadly,” he said.
He said the Liberals didn’t want crime “to be an issue for them, and that’s clear in the kinds of policies that they’re promoting.”
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre spent much of the recent federal election campaigning against what he dubbed the “hug-a-thug” criminal justice policies of the previous Liberal government. He promised to counter those policies with measures such as mandatory life sentences for multiple offences.
When experts said a number of those policies would be unconstitutional, Poilievre said he would be willing to use the notwithstanding clause to make them law.
The Liberals put forward a list of crime policies of their own, including a promise to “move aggressively” to implement stricter bail laws for a number of offences.
They committed to making bail more difficult to get for those charged with car thefts involving violence or those conducted for a criminal organization, and for home invasions and some human trafficking and smuggling offences.
Kerr said the move to establish a reverse onus for bail for these crimes — which moves the burden of proof from the prosecutor to the accused — is “likely a response to some of the heated rhetoric around bail that was part of the federal election.”
But she said those who make decisions in bail court “are already attentive to public safety in these cases, and we have seen ever-expanding rates of pretrial confinement in a province like Ontario for decades.”
Michael Spratt, an Ottawa-based criminal defence lawyer, said people with prior records who were on bail when arrested, and those who used weapons to commit crimes, already “face an uphill battle” to get bail.
“Promising to crack down or to treat those cases seriously ignores the fact that our courts already do,” he said.
He gave the example of a Liberal election promise to require courts to prohibit individuals from possessing firearms or weapons if they’re charged with a violent offence or an offence involving a criminal organization. Spratt said that’s something that happens already.
Spratt said the Liberals gave “some nods” to tough-on-crime approaches but described some of those measures as “largely performative.”
He argued those promises are “much less damaging to our democratic institutions than the sledgehammer that the Conservatives and Pierre Poilievre wanted to use to performatively get tough on crime by undercutting and overriding Charter protections.”
The Liberal party platform also promised tougher sentencing guidelines for repeat car thieves and violent and organized crimes. They promised to allow for consecutive sentencing for some cases of car theft and for serious and violent offences.
The Liberals also vowed to make it a criminal offence to intentionally obstruct access to places of worship, schools and community centres, or to intimidate or threaten individuals at those locations.
It’s an issue the Conservatives have used to attack the Liberals repeatedly. The Liberals were accused by some Jewish organizations of not doing enough to protect Jewish communities from acts of violence and hate.
Carney also promised to make distribution of non-consensual sexual deepfakes a criminal offence and to introduce a bill to protect children from online sexploitation and extortion.
Kerr said the proposal on deepfakes is “just a sensible response to changing technology.”
Spratt called it an example of “positive criminal justice reform that’s really necessary to keep up with modern times.”
The measures will be in the hands of new Justice Minister Sean Fraser. It’s not clear which of the promised policies will be government priorities — Carney has released a single mandate letter for all of his ministers and it does not mention the justice policies.
Carney did give a nod to the importance of crime issues to his government by naming Ruby Sahota to the new post of secretary of state for combating crime.
Spratt dismissed the move, using the baseball term “eyewash.”
“It is the performative act of getting your uniform dirty to make it look like you are trying really hard,” he said.
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Israel raises alert for travellers to Canada, warning of ‘increased threat’
Israel raised its travel alert for Canada to a “potential threat level” on Sunday, warning of “an increased threat by terrorists against Israelis and Jews in Canada.”
The warning issued by Israel’s National Security Council came on the same day as demonstrators gathered in Toronto, Vancouver and other Canadian cities for the United Jewish Appeal’s annual Walk with Israel event.
“Today (Sunday), anti-Israel organizations in Canada are planning to hold protests and demonstrations … in opposition to rallies in support of Israel,” the Israeli notice says.
“In the past few days, the discourse surrounding these events has become more radical, including what could be understood as calls to violently harm Israelis and Jews at these events.”
The notice recommends attendees at the Walk with Israel events follow the instructions and advice of police and security officials “and avoid any friction with the anti-Israel protests.”
Toronto police said Sunday they had arrested and charged a man with mischief and causing a disturbance after he allegedly yelling anti-Semitic slurs at attendees during the Walk with Israel event in that city.
Deputy Chief Lauren Pogue said in a statement Friday that police were “aware of plans by some individuals to interfere with the event” in Toronto and would have “a strong presence in and around” the demonstration along with regional policing agencies.
Canadian Jewish organizations have hosted the Walk with Israel event, though sometimes under different names, for more than 50 years.
In its notice Sunday, Israel’s National Security Council further warned Israelis travelling to Canada and those who are already in the country to “exercise increased precautionary measures, avoid displaying Jewish and Israeli symbols in public and remain extra vigilant while in public.”
The warning notes a rise in attacks and threats against Jewish institutions and centres in Canada over the past 18 months since Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, and Israel’s military began bombarding Gaza in response.
Earlier Sunday, police said a Toronto man was arrested after allegedly posting “several hate-motivated death threats against the Israeli community on social media” between Wednesday and Saturday.
The suspect, identified as 26-year-old Basel Al-Sukhon, was arrested Saturday and charged with uttering threats and “indecent communications.”
Toronto police said Saturday the same suspect is believed to have returned to the synagogue and vandalized its signs on Dec. 20, 2024, and later vandalized signs at three other synagogues along Bayview Avenue on May 18.
“This investigation is being treated as a suspected hate-motivated offence,” police said in a statement.
Sunday’s demonstrations were held as Israel continued its renewed military offensive in Gaza after a ceasefire with Hamas ended in March. The Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry said Israeli strikes over the past 24 hours killed at least 38 people.
Israel has vowed to secure the release of all hostages Hamas still holds in Gaza, which Hamas has said it will only do in exchange for a lasting ceasefire and a complete Israeli withdrawal from the territory.
Israel also blocked the import of all food, medicine and fuel for two-and-a-half months before letting some aid enter Gaza last week, after experts’ warnings of famine and pressure from some of Israel’s top allies — including Canada.
Prime Minister Mark Carney released a joint statement with the leaders of France and the United Kingdom calling on Israel to allow humanitarian aid into Gaza or face “concrete actions,” including sanctions.
The statement drew fierce criticism from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre.
“No more rampaging anti-Semitic riots on Canadian streets,” Poilievre said in a speech to the Conservative caucus in Ottawa on Sunday, without referring specifically to the Walk with Israel events.
Israel says it plans to seize full control of Gaza and facilitate what it describes as the voluntary migration of much of its population of more than 2 million Palestinians, a plan rejected by Palestinians and much of the international community.
—with files from the Associated Press
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