On December 19th, 1999, a woman named Lucia Garofalo was arrested at the Canada-United States border. Her crime? trying to smuggle an Algerian, who has ties to an extremist group, into the U.S.. This incident came on the heels of another arrest involving an Algerian near Seattle after U.S. Customs Agents found materials needed to make explosives in his car. All three were linked to the Armed Islamic group that the U.S. feared were planning terrorist attacks in major cities on New Year's Eve. With these arrests only days apart, Canada was accused of not doing its part in protecting both countries from potentially dangerous groups. What is Canada's role in the fight against Terrorism? Are we a leader of national security or a safe haven for terrorists and extremists?. Good Evening Ladies and Gentlemen, fellow Speakers, and honourable judges. I am a high school student here to express my views about Canada's stance on terrorism.

                        As a democratic country, Canada is at the mercy of its own ideals, isn't it?. As a country, Canada respects others rights, no matter what nationality and with it's immigration policy, our country has a high immigration rate. In one year, over 52,000 applications for citizenship and immigration were reviewed. It is not only our policies that has made Canada a popular destination for terrorists. Because our country encourages diversity, you will find small ethnic communities that have formed in the larger cities. These communities are created by immigrants and other people with similar cultural backgrounds. Vancouver's Chinatown and Toronto's East Indian communities are such examples. Within similarly structured groups, many terrorists can find and easily manipulate people who sympathize with their cause and raise funds from them for their activities.

                       As shown, our short distance from the U.. can let the groups work in both countries without tipping off government organizations such as the Federal Bureau of Investigation in the United States and the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (which is known as CSIS) here in Canada. Since the early 1980's has been the site for many battles between extremist groups. One such incident happened when an Air India Jet from Toronto exploded in mid-air, killing all 350 people on board. It was later connected to Sikh terrorists who were fighting for a free homeland.

                      Though our country is known for it's diplomacy and peace keeping efforts, we can not watch idly as our safety is being place on the line!. In a submission to the Special Committee of the Senate on June 24t, 1998, Mr. Ward Elcock. A director of CSIS, was quoted as saying;
" ...The global terrorist threat today compared to ten years ago is more complex, more extreme, more sophisticated, ...more trans-national. If the world is now a global village, then threat exists in every neighbourhood.". This statement rings true. After the Columbine shootings in April 1999, it was discovered that the two teenage gunmen had found information on how to make bombs off the internet. And in the early months of 2000, web sites such as Yahoo! were hacked into by someone who was supposedly a Canadian. Though the damage was temporary, millions of people around the world found that they could not access the popular search engine. The World Wide Web has opened us to a world we've never seen. A world of learning and wonder, but also a world of extremes where information containing instructions for making bombs is exchanged freely for only pennies. It's an alarming reality, but we are no longer separated from the problems of the world by our geography.

                      When we hear the word terrorist, don't we usually think of an armed militant, determined to get his message across no matter what? and usually, we're right. Even as we enter the 21st Century, there are fewer major terrorist attacks, but there has been an increasing number of uprisings instigated by activist groups. An environmental extremist might spike trees in an attempt to stop logging operations. Some animal rights activists have been known to mail pipe bombs in the hope of halting medical testing. What is Canada doing while all this is happening?. As a participant in an international forum established to fight terrorism, CSIS exchanges intelligence's with other countries on terrorists and their activities. They try to limit the movement of terrorists and restrict access of weapons and chemicals for suspected or proven terrorists.

                        On february 16th, 2000, Lucia Garofalo was released back to Canada. She has pled guilty to conspiracy charges and the smuggling of an illegal alien. In total, she faces up to ten years in prison and $250,000 in fines for charges to which she has pled guilty. the past few months have been a wake-up call to Canada and we can no longer ignore the threat that terrorists bring. Realistically, Canada cannot stop terrorism. However, Canada must limit the severity of its impact and as we improve our nation's security, we will no longer be a safe haven for those who wish to terrorize others with their tactics.
 
 

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