In what is alleged to be an act of terrorism related to radical Islam, two Canadians are dead, and another is in hospital in the mainly French-speaking province of Quebec.
Michel Juneau-Katsuya is CEO of Northgate Security and Strategic Intelligence, and former senior intelligence manager at Canada’s national security agency, the Canadian Security and Intelligence Service (CSIS)
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The events took place in St Jean sur Richelieu, about 40 kilometres south of Montreal before noon on Monday. There is a large military base in that city as well as the Royal Military College.
A resident of the city, Martin Couture-Rouleau, 25, converted to Islam a year ago and began to identify himself as Ahmad LeConverti (Ahmad the converted) on his Facebook page according to Radio-Canada.
Increasingly, pro-radical Islam pictures and comments on the social media site brought him to the attention of federal authorities as one of some 90 Canadians being watched for ties to terrorism.
Authorities even revoked his passport to prevent him travelling abroad to join Islamic terrorist groups.
Yesterday, at about 11;30 in the morning in the parking lot of at a large commercial centre with stores and several government and military office buildings, Rouleau is alleged to have aimed his car at two military personnel, one in uniform, striking them both before fleeing.
That car was spotted soon after by city police and was chased for four kilometres before the driver lost control and his car flipped into a ditch on the edge of town.
The QMI news service reports that witnesses say a young man emerged with a knife and ran at the officers who then shot him. He died later in hospital. Officially, police have only said that a knife was found at the scene.
One of the soldiers struck by the car, whose identity is being withheld at the request of the family has since died, the other is recovering and is said to be out of danger.
Rouleau’s father has declined to comment other than to say he lost his son and asking reporters to let him mourn.
The federal police, RCMP, have said little noting they do want to compromise an investigation by Quebec police.
The Quebec provincial police have said only the hit and run might have been a planned attack by Rouleau, but they said so far nothing confirms that it is related to an act of terrorism. However, the QMI news agency says a police source informed them that the man made a call to 911 during the chase saying he carried out the act in the name of Allah
The incident was raised in Canada’s parliament during Question Period, when the Prime Minister was asked by a member of his own Conservative Party about “unconfirmed reports of a possible terror attack” against Canada’s military. Prime Minister Harper responded that the government was ”aware of these reports” and that they are troubling.
The incident comes on the heels of an announcement by the government last week that they will introduce new legislation that would enhance powers for the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, including:
* Allowing CSIS to obtain information on Canadians fighting abroad with terrorist groups through the “Five Eyes” spy network, which includes Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand.
* Letting CSIS more easily track Canadians engaging in terrorist activities abroad, and similarly helping a Five Eyes country track its nationals working with terrorist groups in Canada.
* Giving CSIS informants the same anonymity accorded to police sources.
At a news conference in St Jean sur Richelieu this morning, the federal Public Security Minister Steven Blaney, and Quebec provincial Public Security Minister Lise Theriault expressed sadness at the tragic events while emphasizing that all levels of police are in constant close communication regarding such situations. In response to a reporter’s question Minister Blaney said the incident was clearly related to radicalization.
The Commissioner of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, Bob Paulson, reporting to Parliamentarians on the House Public Safety Committee earlier this month, said “We have about 63 active national security investigations on 90 individuals who are related to the travelling group, both people who intend to go [abroad] or people who have returned and have been referred to us by the service,”
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