Comments on: Extremism at Home and Abroad http://policy-exchange.ca/archive/extremism-at-home-and-abroad/ A Journal of Canadian and International Public Policy Tue, 05 Jan 2010 00:13:22 -0700 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.5 hourly 1 By: Ishan Gupta http://policy-exchange.ca/archive/extremism-at-home-and-abroad/comment-page-1/#comment-96 Ishan Gupta Wed, 11 Nov 2009 16:57:53 +0000 http://policy-exchange.ca/?p=435#comment-96 The author of this article has raised several interesting issues. Many Canadians have been feeling a lack of leadership on the part of government following the state of the economy and this whole "inflated" swine flu fiasco. But as you touched on, this issue extends way beyond current affairs or even the current government. There have been severe leadership shortcomings in previous Conservative and even Liberal governments which I feel have primed Canadian agencies such as CISIS and even the RCMP for the serious overhaul that we now recognize they need. True government leadership, regardless of political party, is about the welfare of the Canadian people, and having some leadership these days would go far in preventing situations like Maher Arar and even in resolving the current abandonment on behalf of the Canadian government of Omar Khadr. In terms of extremism, many people who prefer looking at both sides of the coin would argue that you will always have a segment of the population that is alienated or susceptible to radical ideals. Recognizing the importance of "integration" by all level of government is important, but some argue what else is society to do? At the end of the day, even though some may understand where you're coming from and despite how educated some of your readers may be, a significant proportion of public opinion is likely to question whether extremism is likely to foster out of the grievances of the stigmatized or out of a perversion of ideals and values; such is the case with the Toronto 18 as I understand it. Although grievance is an imperative factor in the perversion of these ideals, I would argue that it is out of a “twisted” sense of right and wrong that extremism is truly born. However, you very adeptly provided a resolution to both your and my interpretation as to the root of extremism; the fact that all Canadians should speak with one voice condemning such actions. This country’s diversity is one of its greatest assets but also one of its greatest weaknesses. When you have such diversity across such a large nation, you will naturally encounter divides in the thoughts and beliefs of society, which leads to social stigmatization and as you so eloquently put it, seduction by radical ideals. In the end, it’s up to us to take a page from our southern neighbours in forging a national identity, a “collective unity” by means of which we can hope to speak about certain issues with a single voice reflecting Canadian values and the beliefs of all Canadian citizens, such as condemning terrorist acts and extremism, without intruding on the regional, cultural, religious or even political values that our society values. ;) GREAT JOB! The author of this article has raised several interesting issues. Many Canadians have been feeling a lack of leadership on the part of government following the state of the economy and this whole “inflated” swine flu fiasco. But as you touched on, this issue extends way beyond current affairs or even the current government. There have been severe leadership shortcomings in previous Conservative and even Liberal governments which I feel have primed Canadian agencies such as CISIS and even the RCMP for the serious overhaul that we now recognize they need. True government leadership, regardless of political party, is about the welfare of the Canadian people, and having some leadership these days would go far in preventing situations like Maher Arar and even in resolving the current abandonment on behalf of the Canadian government of Omar Khadr.

In terms of extremism, many people who prefer looking at both sides of the coin would argue that you will always have a segment of the population that is alienated or susceptible to radical ideals. Recognizing the importance of “integration” by all level of government is important, but some argue what else is society to do? At the end of the day, even though some may understand where you’re coming from and despite how educated some of your readers may be, a significant proportion of public opinion is likely to question whether extremism is likely to foster out of the grievances of the stigmatized or out of a perversion of ideals and values; such is the case with the Toronto 18 as I understand it. Although grievance is an imperative factor in the perversion of these ideals, I would argue that it is out of a “twisted” sense of right and wrong that extremism is truly born.

However, you very adeptly provided a resolution to both your and my interpretation as to the root of extremism; the fact that all Canadians should speak with one voice condemning such actions. This country’s diversity is one of its greatest assets but also one of its greatest weaknesses. When you have such diversity across such a large nation, you will naturally encounter divides in the thoughts and beliefs of society, which leads to social stigmatization and as you so eloquently put it, seduction by radical ideals. In the end, it’s up to us to take a page from our southern neighbours in forging a national identity, a “collective unity” by means of which we can hope to speak about certain issues with a single voice reflecting Canadian values and the beliefs of all Canadian citizens, such as condemning terrorist acts and extremism, without intruding on the regional, cultural, religious or even political values that our society values. ;)

GREAT JOB!

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