Despite increasing extremism, Canada maintains the terrorist threat level at a moderate level

Canada is seeing a “worrying increase” in extremism, but does not need to raise its terrorist threat level, according to CSIS.

Despite the series of frustrating attacks and plots, the Canadian Security Intelligence Service said the threat level would remain at “medium.”

CSIS Director Daniel Rogers approved the decision last Thursday, a spokesperson for the intelligence agency said in a statement to Global News.

“Although the threat environment has evolved over the past decade and increased in recent years, the risk of a verified attack has not increased significantly,” CSIS said.

CSIS issued its statement in response to a story published by Global News about a rise in terrorist arrests across Canada, many related to ISIS.

In just the past six months, the RCMP have stopped two ISIS-linked attacks, as well as bomb plots in Calgary and Ottawa in 2023.

At the same time, Jewish institutions were targeted by gunfire and firebombs, and Canada saw open support for groups such as Hamas.

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the National terrorist threat level It is used to determine the responses needed to prevent attacks.

This report is based on the recommendation of the government’s Integrated Terrorism Assessment Center (ITAC).

“There is no doubt that CSIS and ITAC are seeing an alarming increase in the volume of ideological, political and religious extremist rhetoric and activity,” CSIS said.

But she said the government had “managed threats effectively” and those who planned the violence had been “successfully disrupted”.

CSIS spokeswoman Lindsay Sloan said Canadian authorities are also getting better at using terrorism charges and peace bonds to prevent attacks.

“All these factors together result in Canada’s national threat level remaining at medium, which is consistent with the threat levels issued in Five Eyes partner nations.”

“Moderate” means the attack “could happen,” “High” means the attack is likely while “Critical” means high probability.

Canada has not changed its threat level in more than a decade and has not issued an annual report Public threat report Since 2018.

“In the past five years, Canada has also not experienced actual terrorist attacks by an individual under active investigation,” the CSIS spokesperson said.

But several attacks occurred during that period.

In 2021, ISIS supporters carried out a mass shooting at a Mississauga restaurant. A week later, an extremist rammed a truck into a Muslim family in London, Ontario, killing four.

The following year, two brothers with what authorities described as “anti-government beliefs” shot six police officers on Vancouver Island.

An attacker stabbed a bus passenger in Surrey, British Columbia, in 2023, then allegedly called 911 to say he did it for ISIS.

A gunman who wrote a manifesto about everything from water quality to Gaza storms Edmonton city hall in 2024.

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In a report released on January 8, Insight Threat Intelligence, a firm headed by former CSIS analyst Jessica Davis, wrote that Canada had seen a rise in terrorism-related arrests, and that the threat had “never been higher.”

Sloan said the recent jump in terrorism charges “is not a strict indication of the growing threat in Canada.”

She added that far-right groups are now treated as terrorist organizations, which means they were not accurately represented in previous data.

Andrew Kirsch, a former CSIS officer, said the medium threat level seemed reasonable. At this level, he said, terrorism “requires prioritization and constant vigilance.”

But with the government focused on foreign interference and elections on the horizon, he asked, “Do they have the resources to confront all of these high-priority threats?”

Phil Gorsky, a former CSIS analyst, said the threat level should be based on documented intelligence about the number of extremists and their ability to plan and carry out attacks.

He asked whether the Center for Intelligence and National Security was downplaying the threat posed by groups like ISIS at the behest of a government concerned with political optics, noting that France raised its threat posture to the highest level last year.

The threat level in the UK is substantialWhich means an attack is possible, while in Australia, it is possible And in New Zealand, it is a little.

The United States uses a National Terrorism Advisory System Which provides alerts for specific and credible threats. There are no current tips.

FBI He warns He warned last week of the possibility of copycat attacks after an ISIS supporter rammed a truck into pedestrians in New Orleans on New Year’s Day, killing 14 people.

St**********@gl********.ca