Close X
Tuesday, November 5, 2024
ADVT 
National

Federal bill expected to criminalize act of encouraging a terrorist attack

Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 30 Jan, 2015 11:05 AM

    OTTAWA — The Conservative government wants to make it a criminal offence to encourage someone to carry out a terrorist attack.

    The Canadian Press has learned that legislation to be tabled Friday is expected to create a new Criminal Code provision against advocating an act of terrorism.

    A government source says an internal federal review of fatal assaults on Canadian soldiers last October identified the absence of a measure to prosecute extremists who encourage others to wage terrorism.

    The provision would stop short of criminalizing the glorification of terrorism — for instance simply posting an Internet video of a bomb going off.

    But if the video also called for a similar attack on Canadians, that would fall under the planned new measure.

    "This is not a glorification offence. This is about encouraging those kinds of terrorist acts," said the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the federal review.

    "The test that is applied is, is this advocating or promoting terrorism or a terrorist act?"

    On Oct. 22, a rifle-wielding Michael Zehaf Bibeau shot Cpl. Nathan Cirillo, an honour guard at the National War Memorial, before he died in a hail of gunfire inside Parliament's Centre Block.

    The federal push for a new offence of encouraging an attack is fuelled by concerns that Zehaf Bibeau read inflammatory online posts counselling attacks before embarking on his rampage, said the source.

    The bill is also expected to retool Canada's no-fly list procedures to make it easier to stop a suspected terrorist from getting on an airplane, as well as to give police more power to restrict the movements of purported extremists by lowering the threshold for obtaining a peace bond.

    Two days before Zehaf Bibeau's attack, Martin Couture-Rouleau fatally rammed Warrant Officer Patrice Vincent with a car in St-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Que.

    It soon became clear the RCMP had been aware of Couture-Rouleau — a man with jihadist sympathies — for months.

    The Mounties stopped him from travelling to Turkey, presumably en route to join militant fighters.

    But they did not have enough evidence to arrest him or further curb his movements.

    MORE National ARTICLES

    Vancouver Design Panel Rejects Controversial 'Origami Tower' On Waterfront

    Vancouver Design Panel Rejects Controversial 'Origami Tower' On Waterfront
    VANCOUVER — The City of Vancouver's design panel has rejected a controversial waterfront development dubbed the "origami tower."

    Vancouver Design Panel Rejects Controversial 'Origami Tower' On Waterfront

    B.C. Credit Unions End Merger Talks, Cite Operating Environments And Costs

    B.C. Credit Unions End Merger Talks, Cite Operating Environments And Costs
    NEW WESTMINSTER, B.C. — Merger talks have ended unsuccessfully for two credit unions in British Columbia. Westminster Savings Credit Union and Prospera Credit Union announced last September that they had entered into negotiations.

    B.C. Credit Unions End Merger Talks, Cite Operating Environments And Costs

    Gandhi-Bot Beer: Consumer Activist Moves Court

    Gandhi-Bot Beer: Consumer Activist Moves Court
    A consumer activist Thursday filed a complaint against America's New England Brewing Company, which sparked a controversy by using a picture of Mahatma Gandhi on its beer cans and selling them in certain parts of India.

    Gandhi-Bot Beer: Consumer Activist Moves Court

    Muslim Woman Editor Arrested For Reprinting 'Charlie Hebdo' Cartoons

    Muslim Woman Editor Arrested For Reprinting 'Charlie Hebdo' Cartoons
    The woman editor of an Urdu daily was arrested for reprinting a controversial cartoon of Prophet Mohammed which was first published by the French weekly "Charlie Hebdo" but later released on bail, police said Thursday.

    Muslim Woman Editor Arrested For Reprinting 'Charlie Hebdo' Cartoons

    Swap In Personal Learning And Nix Standardized Testing, B.C.'s Educators Hear

    Swap In Personal Learning And Nix Standardized Testing, B.C.'s Educators Hear
    VANCOUVER — An international education expert has giving the thumbs down to standardized testing in schools in favour of a new approach to teaching that centres on a child's individual talents.

    Swap In Personal Learning And Nix Standardized Testing, B.C.'s Educators Hear

    Two Men In Custody After Langford Shooting; Mounties Searching For Gun

    Two Men In Custody After Langford Shooting; Mounties Searching For Gun
    LANGFORD, B.C. — Two men are in custody after a shooting earlier this week in Langford on southern Vancouver Island.

    Two Men In Custody After Langford Shooting; Mounties Searching For Gun