Canada Finds Difficult Balancing Public Security, Respecting Individual Rights: Expert

Subscribe
Canadian authorities will be challenged with balancing public safety and respect for individual liberties in the wake of the recent shootings, Assistant Professor at the University of Ottawa's School of International Development and Global Studies Benjamin Zyla said.

WASHINGTON, October 24 (RIA Novosti) - Canadian authorities will be challenged with balancing public safety and respect for individual liberties in the wake of the recent shootings, Assistant Professor at the University of Ottawa's School of International Development and Global Studies Benjamin Zyla said.

"The difficulty for the authorities in Canada and abroad thereby is to find the right balance between providing more security for the public on the one hand while respecting individual rights and freedoms of citizens on the other," Zyla told RIA Novosti Thursday. "They must also avoid stereotyping certain groups and thereby pushing them into isolation."

Zyla noted that the shooting at the National War Memorial in Ottawa raises a lot of questions on many levels, which will be addressed in the coming days and weeks.

"It seems to me that the most pertinent at this point, perhaps, is to find answers to the question how this individual was able to walk across the front lawn of the House of Commons and then enter the building with a rifle without being stopped at the door," he said, adding that as a result of this there might be increased police activity, especially in downtown of the capital.

"We will also see heightened security at airports, rail stations, and public places of importance, not only in Canada but also abroad. Germany, for example, has also increased its security provisions for the Bundestag and government ministries," Zyla underlined.

Zyla stressed that it was well known to law enforcement agencies that the Islamic state has singled out Canada as a potential target country, and encouraged its followers to target Canadian forces personnel.

"On the larger scale of things, this country knows since the terrorist attacks on 9/11 that North America was a target of terrorist activities," he went on to say. "Canadian authorities always knew that such activities could also spread to Canada."

"Moreover, the terrorist incidents in 2004 [firebombs in Montreal], 2006 [Toronto 18], and 2013 [Via Rail plotting] on Canadian soil have shown that this country is a target. In that sense, sadly, the notion of a lack of immunity should not necessarily be new or surprising," Zyla asserted.

Canadian Defense Minister Rob Nicholson has stated Thursday that Canada will continue with the deployment of forces in Iraq.

"Either way, certain MPs are right to demand full information about the extent of Canada's military operation against ISIL in Iraq from the government; that is how many troops, especially special forces operators are deployed, where exactly, and what are they doing there exactly," Zyla said.

"Moreover, the government should lay out the rules of engagement for this operation and deliver a so-called exit strategy of how and when to pull back," he concluded.

On Wednesday morning, a gunman Michael Zehaf-Bibeau, 32, shot dead a soldier guarding the National War Memorial in Ottawa and then proceeded to Parliament Hill's Center Block, where he was killed in a shootout with a policeman.

On October 23, Canada's Prime Minister Stephen Harper stated that the attacks on the soldiers in Quebec and the shooting in Ottawa showed that Canada lacked immunity from terror attacks. Harper has vowed to strengthen the nation's anti-terrorism laws.

Newsfeed
0
To participate in the discussion
log in or register
loader
Chats
Заголовок открываемого материала