The NDP’s government’s often-referenced review of the province’s agencies, boards and commissions hasn’t got out of the starting gate.

Pressed last week for details, timelines, objectives and information about who was conducting the review, officials in the premier’s office admitted the review hasn’t begun yet and could provide no details on what it will involve.

“The new government’s focus right now is on preparing a budget that will protect frontline services as we grow and diversify our economy,” premier’s office spokesman Matthew Williamson said Monday in an e-mail. “Albertans also deserve to know the province’s 300 agencies, boards and commissions (ABCs) are working effectively and efficiently with taxpayer dollars. We will have more to share about the mandate and timelines for this important review in the coming weeks.”

Many Albertans assumed the review was ongoing.

Energy Minister Marg McCuaig-Boyd told reporters just last week she was reviewing the Alberta Energy Regulator (AER) and several other agencies under her purview as part of a review of all ABCs, and that she expected to complete the reviews by the end of the year.

Opposition party critics said they were surprised to hear the review was not ongoing since the premier has mentioned it on several occasions.

“We’re surprised to hear that. We thought the NDP would move a whole lot quicker than they have on this,” said Wildrose critic Jason Nixon. “They just don’t seem to be flipping over any rocks.”

Nixon said it makes sense to expedite scrutiny of the political entities in order to identify problems and fix them as quickly as possible.

“There’s no explanation why we would not move forward on the review,” he added. “We think we should have moved forward on this right away.”

Liberal Leader David Swann said the revelation is “very disappointing.”

“Why isn’t it a bigger priority? They spend up to two-thirds of the budget,” Swann said. “And if this new government is serious about its commitment  to having less partisan appointments, why are they not moving as quickly as possible to distance themselves from the practices of the previous government?”

Swann said the NDP government has some explaining to do.

Alberta Party Leader Greg Clark criticized the NDP for being slow off the mark.

“This creates uncertainty … and uncertainty is a killer,” he said.

Clark said the government is holding the review like a threat over the heads of ABC officials.

“They don’t know what’s coming next and that has an impact on how they do their jobs,” he said.

Clark said the NDP could use the review to make the ABCs more efficient and effective and that work should begin now.

“We need to find ways of doing more with less,” he said. “If we’re not going to do these kind of reviews, we’ll never find that out. It’s a real concern.”

The Progressive Conservatives didn’t respond to an interview request.

Former PC premier Jim Prentice vowed during the election campaign to cut the number of ABC’s by 20 per cent, merging some and eliminating others that “have out-lived their usefulness.”

He said a hand-picked three-member panel provided him with an initial review, but a more systematic examination was required.

NDP Premier Rachel Notley told the legislature in the spring the review promised by Prentice didn’t get very far, but promised quick action by her government.

The weekly collection of images taken or first published by the Calgary Herald staff in the past 7 days ending September 25.

Alberta Party Leader Greg Clark tried to light a fire under a new all-party committee on ethics and accountability Tuesday, urging its 17 members to commit to full consultation with Albertans on the most important work they may ever do in government.

Clark, the leader and lone Alberta Party MLA, called on the committee at its first meeting to commit to in-person democracy-building consultations around the province regardless of cost — but the committee voted to defer his motion until the costs could be quantified.

“When we look back on this — on our experience serving the people of Alberta — this may very well be the most important legacy that any of us leave,” he told fellow committee members.

“It’s going to take time, it’s going to take money … but it’s important we do it properly because we’re not going to get a chance to do it again.”

The committee was announced in the throne speech last spring and appointed in late June before the legislature adjourned for the summer.

It will review the Election Act, the Election Finances and Contributions Disclosure Act, the Conflicts of Interest Act and the Whistleblower Protection Act.

Clark described the committee’s assignment as “the most comprehensive review of Alberta’s democratic institutions since Alberta was founded in 1905.”

Wildrose committee member Jason Nixon echoed Clark’s view of the importance of the mission, which the committee has one year to complete.

“We think there are some pretty serious issues that need to be addressed to give Albertans confidence in these acts,” he said.

The Wildrose wants to see more stringent rules around insider contracts, conflicts of interest, protection for whistleblowers and rules governing the electoral system, he said.

Liberal Leader David Swann said he would like to see the committee also examine election reform, including proportional representation.

“There are a lot of progressive governments in the western world that have moved toward this,” Swann said. “If there’s one thing that the evidence suggests, it’s that there’s a higher voter turnout when people see their preferences reflected in the legislatures or the parliaments of their countries.”

PC MLA Richard Starke said the legislation under review is crucial to providing the appropriate checks and balances to democratic institutions.

“We’ve already seen the benefits of having whistleblower protection in place,” he noted, referring to the recent disclosure of improper procurement practices. “Three years ago that disclosure may not have happened.”

The committee, chaired by NDP MLA Christina Gray, has been given a year to complete its work and submit a report and recommendations to the Legislative Assembly.

dhenton@calgaryherald.com

What creates a terrorist?

It’s a question that has resonated through the country since a string of attacks motivated by those espousing extremist beliefs shocked the nation — especially since the perpetrators were, for the most part, born, bred and radicalized in Canada.

Radicalization seems like a new phenomenon in Canada, but it has roots that stretch back deep through human history. It may seem to be little understood in a modern context, but several Canadian scholars have been working to better comprehend the conditions and psychology that can lead to radicalization, a key part in stopping it.

Here, the Herald’s Dylan Robertson interviews some of Canada’s pre-eminent experts on the topic, to offer some insight into the mind of a homegrown terrorist.

Martin Couture-Rouleau’s father is convinced his son had mental health issues. But doctors at a psychiatric ward deemed him healthy enough to be released into the public.

Researchers say there’s little evidence that mental-health issues cause violent radicalization.

“I think people resort to this hypothesis to perhaps feel better or reduce their uncertainty, because it’s hard to understand why people would die for a cause,” says Jocelyn Bélanger, a psychology professor at the Université du Québec à Montréal.

“We try to demonize the things we can’t grasp.”

He worries that linking terrorism with mental health further stigmatizes people with psychological disorders.

Lorne Dawson, a University of Waterloo psychology professor, says many terrorism cases involve mental health-issues, but they aren’t the cause of the radicalization.

He cites the example of Norwegian nationalist Anders Behring Breivik, who was found to have paranoid schizophrenia and a personality disorder, but was deemed sane enough to realize he had slaughtered scores of people in 2011.

Dawson says those who are drawn to both cults and terrorist groups are often normal.

Among four Calgary men who left for Syria and Iraq in 2012, one was an addict who attempted suicide, one was an accomplished human-resources employee and two were popular, successful students.

“They are not marginalized people, they are not losers. There may be some, but they’re not all. Usually they’re overachievers. They come from very conventional, middle-class homes. They have been captain of the swim team; they have done well in school.”

They are not marginalized people, they are not losers.

He notes that extremist offshoots have existed for centuries — and studies suggest they’re increasing.

“As modernity marches on, there’s a segment of society that feels alienated, doesn’t fit in, can’t handle the change,” says Dawson. “There’s a segment of the society psychologically and socially geared to be drawn to this point of view.”

Related

• Read the entire Radical Reality series
• Black cars and troubling questions: A Canadian's travails under anti-terrorism surveillance
• How police can stop a terrorist in Canada

Canadian police who suspect someone is involved in terrorism have a variety of tools at their disposal:

For decades, police have occasionally made themselves known to groups they’re investigating, in the hopes of scaring off the less-dedicated members. Since anti-terrorism Bill C-51 became law in June, Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) agents have been also able to disrupt threats, even with more drastic actions that break the law.

For over a decade, the immigration minister has been able to suspend passports based on a reasonable belief a citizen might go abroad to commit a crime, including terrorism. As part of this year’s budget bill, the government lowered the proof needed for revocation.

The RCMP has also started charging suspected terrorist with passport fraud for minor violations, instead of pursuing charges that require more proof. Some Canadians have managed to join terror groups abroad despite not having a valid passport.

When police believe a terrorist act is imminent, they can get ask a judge for a peace bond, similar to a probation order. Under threat of arrest, people can be given a tracking bracelet, or forbidden from using the Internet and communicating with terror groups.

Police tried to get a peace bond last summer for Martin Couture-Rouleau, but they didn’t have enough proof. Months later, he killed a soldier in St-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Que.. Bill C-51 makes it easier for police to undertake preventative arrests as they gather evidence for charges or a peace bond.

Bill C-24, the Strengthening Canadian Citizenship Act, came into effect in late May. The government can now revoke Canadian citizenship from people eligible for foreign citizenship (even if they were born in Canada) if they are convicted of serious crimes like terrorism, including in foreign courts.

Dubbed the Passenger Protect Program, the government has run a no-fly list since 2007. People are only notified they’re on the list in certain cases. While they can appeal the decision, they rarely learn why they’re on the list.

Months after the terror attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, the Liberal government passed the first Anti-Terrorism Act. Dozens of people have since been charged with attempting attacks at home. Last July, Mohamed Hersi was the first person convicted under the 2001 act for trying to join a terrorist group, facing 10 years for attempting to join al-Shabab in Somalia.

Under Bill C-51, Canadians spreading terrorist propaganda can face up to five years in jail, and a judge can order such material to be deleted from Canadian computers.

Related

• Read the entire Radical Reality series
• Black cars and troubling questions: A Canadian's travails under anti-terrorism surveillance
• 'Everybody can be radicalized': How an everyday Canadian stunned the country as a terrorist
• Is radicalization a mental health disorder?

CALGARY — “They’re following me again.”

Kalim eyes his rear-view mirror as a black Dodge Charger follows his rickety sedan on a Sunday afternoon in mid-March.

The young Muslim-Canadian says he’s constantly prowled by black cars since terrorism investigators approached him last year.

“They do this all the time,” says Kalim, 21, who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

To an outside observer, such a statement might sound like paranoia. But when Kalim makes a sudden left turn, the black car follows.

It veers into the right side of the lane when he puts on his turn signal. He turns off his blinker, and the car returns to the centre of the lane.

At a red light, Kalim turns around and glares through his rear window. Shortly afterwards, the car speeds past, with a passenger wearing a shoulder crest.

Last December, Kalim was approached by the RCMP’s Integrated National Security Enforcement Team for Alberta, the group that investigates homegrown terrorism.

Nine months later, he hasn’t been charged with a terrorist offence, but unmarked cars and undercover police follow him around town.

They said they were just trying to find the truth. I feel like they were trying to force me to (falsely) confess something

Police have questioned his family and friends. Kalim, in turn, has lost his job, triggering fights with his family.

“He’s broken down in front of me so many times, when he gets so agitated at what was going on,” says Kalim’s longtime friend Sajjad Khan.

Kalim’s case illustrates the thin line Canadian police straddle each day, between maintaining national security and stigmatizing communities most affected by homegrown terrorism.

Khan, for instance, has had police show up at his door and ask him to talk in the back of their marked cruiser.

They’ve also pulled up to him as he leaves work, asking about people who attend his Calgary mosque. Khan says neighbours, family and co-workers wonder why he’s attracted the police.

“I know one of these guys,” says Khan, referring to his friend Kalim. “Imagine how many more people are going through this.”

Kalim believes he first attracted the Mounties’ attention last December after shooting a pellet gun in Banff. According to court documents, he pleaded not guilty to possessing a firearm in a national park, and asked for a delayed trial.

The young man had booked a Jan. 1 plane ticket for Baghdad, where he believed security jobs paid much better than his shifts patrolling reserves and banquet halls around Calgary. His mother, who lives in Iraq, had also arranged a fiancée.

Kalim told his plans to the court, as well as a courthouse officer during a brief chat. The next day, four RCMP officers showed up at his house.

Two officers took Kalim to speak inside one of their police cars, while two spoke with his father and brothers.

According to Kalim, they said the courthouse sheriff claimed the young man attempted to recruit the officer into the Islamic State group, known as ISIL.

Kalim says they also asked whether he knew anyone who had joined the terrorist group that now occupies parts of Syria and Iraq under its hardline rule.

Being under surveillance for suspected terrorism has had a huge impact on his life, says Kalim, who asked for anonymity. “I said either charge me, arrest me, or leave me alone,” he said he told authorities in frustration.

Kalim revealed he briefly knew four Calgarians who left to fight alongside ISIL: Farah Mohamed Shirdon, Damian Clairmont and brothers Collin and Gregory Gordon.

He showed the Calgary Herald/Postmedia a Facebook conversation with Collin that took place last fall, before he was reportedly killed in Syria.

In the messages, Kalim argued ISIL violates Islamic law by killing innocents. Collin called Kalim an apostate and a spy.

Kalim says police asked if he saw “any radical activity” in the young men. Kalim replied they’d occasionally gripe about “how hard it is to be Muslim here,” but never spoke about ISIL.

Police pressed him repeatedly for details about a “recruiter” in Calgary, he recalls.

“They said they were just trying to find the truth. I feel like they were trying to force me to (falsely) confess something.”

Over the next three days, friends and colleagues told Kalim RCMP officers were asking about him.

At the nearby Morley reserve, where Kalim worked weekly security patrols, colleagues said national security police asked them about Kalim’s mindset, and whether he’d told them of his plans to travel to Iraq.

Within a week, Kalim’s supervisor stopped booking him on shifts.

Last September, the National Council of Canadian Muslims, in a co-written anti-terrorist handbook, called on police to avoid “inappropriate information-gathering techniques,” such as “showing up at workplaces.”

But the night before the launch of the United Against Terrorism handbook, which the RCMP helped craft for a year, the Mounties pulled their support, citing an “adversarial tone.”

Kalim’s friend Khan recounts his own “humiliating, embarrassing” interactions with the Mounties.

“They just like, pop up in front of my house, flash their badge and they tell me to get into their van, or their SUV.”

An RCMP spokesman said the force can’t respond to specific cases, but police pursue all possible crimes “through various investigative avenues to determine if criminal charges need to be laid,” Sgt. Harold Pfleiderer wrote in an e-mail.

“The mandate of the RCMP is to collect evidence in support of criminal prosecution, and not simply to gather information or intelligence,” Pfleiderer said.

Last December, the Mounties called Kalim in for three meetings at their Calgary detachment. He recorded these meetings, and several phone calls.

In one recording, two officers grapple to understand why Kalim would leave the safety of Canada without a job contract, and why his mother picked his future wife.

In another recorded meeting, the officers are agitated after failing to reach Kalim’s mother using the Iraqi phone number he gave.

“I said either charge me, arrest me or leave me alone,” recalls Kalim, who worried his flight to Iraq, just a week away, would somehow be stopped.

Two days before his flight, Kalim says a Canadian Security Intelligence Service agent phoned his father, asking to meet them both at a Tim Hortons.

The two agents said they’d been watching Kalim’s Facebook account, where he posts photos of guns and Chechen rebels. They’d also seen his private chat with Collin Gordon. Yet, they said he was still OK to fly to Iraq.

But that evening, Mounties approached both friends who had signed Kalim’s passport application, asking them whether Kalim wanted to join terrorist groups.

“At first it’s like a waste of time, so f — that. But man, it gets to you. You have no sense of security. It’s like if you scratch your ass, CSIS (and the RCMP are) watching you.”

You have no sense of security. It’s like if you scratch your ass, CSIS (and the RCMP are) watching you

Kalim’s hopes of heading to Iraq came to a bizarre, crashing end last New Year’s Eve.

An anti-terrorism officer called Kalim 15 hours before his flight, asking for another photocopy of his passport.

When Kalim arrived at the local detachment, the officer gave him a signed letter from Citizenship and Immigration Canada suspending his passport.

Kalim showed The Herald/Postmedia the letter, which cites three Passport Order sections, including 10.1: When the immigration minister advises suspension “is necessary for the national security of Canada or another country.”

Related

• Read the entire Radical Reality series
• 'Everybody can be radicalized': How an everyday Canadian stunned the country as a terrorist
• Is radicalization a mental health disorder?
• How police can stop a terrorist in Canada

Kalim stormed out, and sped his car to a passport office to ask further questions. But he skidded on a slippery road, crashing into another car. He was charged with dangerous driving.

Since then, Kalim’s been sleeping in his car after constant fights with his father.

In March, Kalim got his passport back, and spent the summer working odd jobs.

Navaid Aziz, an imam who has taught Kalim, says the young Calgarian is impressionable and short-tempered, but not an extremist.

“I think he has a good heart. I think he wants to do the right thing,” says Aziz. “When you’re looking for validation from your peers, that can lead you to stupid things.”

In June, Kalim was late for his dangerous driving hearing. But before he arrived, a Crown prosecutor told the court the charge had been stayed the night before.

Aside from the judge, Crown lawyer and a reporter, only a portly man in a Hawaiian shirt sat in the courtroom.

The man followed the prosecutor out of the courtroom, and introduced himself as an Alberta sheriff. “I’m conducting surveillance on the suspect,” he told the lawyer.

Kalim eventually arrived at court and found out about the status of his charge from a clerk.

For Aziz, it’s no surprise Kalim has attracted police attention.

“He had told so many people so many different things,” says the imam.

“He’s an individual that requires a lot of supervision, a lot of mentoring. But overall, I would say his heart is in the right place.”

In late June, Calgary police invited Kalim into their new anti-radicalization intervention program, called ReDirect. The program links vulnerable youth with counselling, social workers, employment help and sometimes religious advisers.

“I think it’s that they don’t want me to become a terrorist,” said Kalim, who continues to be followed by black cars. “Why should I take medication if I don’t need it?”

The RCMP’s Pfleiderer says police are working to protect the country’s national security, but also to build ties “in the early intervention and the prevention of violent extremism.”

But Khan believes police are thwarting their own outreach efforts, by constantly following around individuals like his friend Kalim and other young Muslim-Canadians.

“They’re just isolating people from the community. And what happens when someone’s isolated? They don’t feel like they belong there, and it just pushes them towards what they’re trying to get them away from.”

reporter.dylan@gmail.com

SAINT-JEAN-SUR-RICHELIEU, QUE. — Martin Couture-Rouleau sat in an idling car for almost two hours beside a Tim Hortons until he spotted his targets.

Two Canadian Armed Forces officers stepped out of a Service Canada office last October and were immediately rammed by a car. Warrant Officer Patrice Vincent, 53, later died of his injuries.

Couture-Rouleau had been yearning for martyrdom for months. As he sped off, he called 911 to make sure everyone knew he was “acting in the name of Allah.”

Police chased him for four kilometres, until he crashed into a ditch. Witnesses say he ran at police with a knife and was shot and killed.

Couture-Rouleau, 25, became the first Canadian to successfully orchestrate a terrorist attack on home soil in the name of Islam.

Martin Couture-Rouleau, who yearned for martyrdom for years before killing Patrice Vincent.

“It’s clear that for my son — for those who knew my son — it wasn’t him who did this,” his father, Gilles Rouleau, says in an interview.

Couture-Rouleau’s radicalization followed a common trajectory identified by cult researchers and terrorism experts. They call it the “quest for personal significance,” an overarching need to find meaning and belonging in a group — especially after a major personal failure.

“Everybody can be radicalized, because the significance quest is a universal drive,” says Jocelyn Bélanger, a psychology professor at the Université du Québec à Montréal who has studied hundreds of terrorism examples.

“It’s a fundamental human drive.”

And one that can lead vulnerable people to extremist causes.

“Some more than others have a desire to matter, to be different, to stand out from the crowd — to do something that’s going to have an impact on the world,” says Lorne Dawson, a University of Waterloo psychology professor who co-leads Canada’s largest terrorism research network.

‘A fragile frame of mind’

Couture-Rouleau had a middle-class upbringing in Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, where bungalows with tidy lawns are clustered near dairy farms.

He had minor troubles early in life, attending classes for children with behavioural issues. His mother separated from his father, but stayed in touch.

As a teenager, Couture-Rouleau played poker and smoked pot. At 16, he was pulled over for impaired driving. He was known to party and wasn’t religious.

Related

• Read the entire Radical Reality series
• How police can stop a terrorist in Canada
• Is radicalization a mental health disorder?
• Black cars and troubling questions: The travails of a Canadian under anti-terrorism surveillance

He split up with his wife months after she gave birth in April 2011, but they shared custody of their son.

Couture-Rouleau worked for a delivery service before launching a pressure-washing business in March 2012, but it quickly fell apart. Friends and neighbours say he was destroyed by the financial hit, changing almost overnight from a smiling young man with minor problems to an angry shut-in.

Psychologists say such sudden changes are evident in people who join cults or terrorist groups. They call them “cognitive openings,” when someone is looking to fill their life with new things. It can be as dramatic as the death of a child, or as normal as pining for a new career.

For some, it’s seeing their dreams and savings evaporate.

“You’re in a fragile frame of mind. You’re looking for some guidance and leadership,”says Dawson, who has spent decades studying cults.

“Along comes someone at that moment, with a clear set of beliefs and ideas that are about saving the world and about how you, little old you, can make a difference.”

You’re in a fragile frame of mind. You’re looking for some guidance and leadership

Edmonton Deputy Police Chief Brian Simpson has seen it in their investigations.

“The themes around what that catalyst is seems to be fairly consistent: some life crisis, or some life issue that is unresolved and looking for resolution,” he says.

‘Fulfilling their duty’

In April 2013, Couture-Rouleau converted to Islam, according to court documents.

“I practise this religion for myself alone, and I have absolutely no intention of imposing my beliefs, neither on my son or anybody,” he wrote in an affidavit.

The next month, he opened a Facebook page under the name Ahmad Rouleau. Within weeks he replaced jeans with flowing robes, and grew out a beard. He told friends he was sending money to Syria. He turned inward, spending hours online. Occasionally, he’d post quotes found on inspirational posters: “Better to live one day as a lion than 100 years as a sheep.”

Dawson says those who go to fight with groups like ISIL see their quest as a struggle against oppression from the West, even though the terrorist group clearly oppresses the people it controls.

“Most are reasonably well-meaning, rather utopian-thinking idealistic guys who really think they’re fighting for the Ummah (the global Muslim body) and they’re going to establish the Islamic state,” says Dawson, who has security clearance with the RCMP and CSIS to study recent cases.

Hussein Hamdani, who works to dissuade radicalized youth in Hamilton, Ont., says that many of the cases he’s been involved in began with a grievance.

“They’re feeling that there’s an injustice, feeling that there’s a war against Islam, feeling that the West is at war against Islam and not knowing what to do about it.”

Hussein Hamdani, who works to dissuade youth from violence, says many of the people he has worked with a grievance. “They’re feeling that there’s an injustice, feeling that there’s a war against Islam, feeling that the West is at war against Islam and not knowing what to do about it,” he says.

‘You physically hurt’

In May 2014, fearing his mental state, Couture-Rouleau’s ex-wife started keeping their three-year-old son from his scheduled visits. In a court filing, Couture-Rouleau’s lawyer stated he “is of the Muslim faith and believes that the defendant refuses him access to (their son) for this sole reason.”

It’s these sorts of blows to one’s identity that can lead some people to violence, according to an emerging theory in terrorism research.

“Neuroscientific evidence shows that the part of brain associated with social exclusion and physical pain is the same. When you’re ostracized, not included, you physically hurt,” says Université du Québec’s Bélanger.

Neuroscientific evidence shows that the part of brain associated with social exclusion and physical pain is the same. When you’re ostracized, not included, you physically hurt

Bélanger was part of a research team that surveyed 11,000 extremists in Jordan, the Philippines and Spain, as well as thousands of Tamil Tigers in Sri Lanka.

“We saw evidence that feeling humiliated and ashamed were predictors of radicalization and willingness to die for a cause,” he says.

Consolidation

By late May, Couture-Rouleau stopped posting on Facebook. Instead, he’d persuaded several friends to convert to Islam.

Reports said he talked of fighting a holy war in Syria because it offered the promise of martyrdom. At one point, he tried to convert his sister, drawing the ire of his father, Gilles Rouleau.

“All these kids have a problem in their heads,” Gilles says, before his voice starts quavering. “They all have a mental problem; that’s where it starts.”

Gilles Rouleau, father of Martin Couture-Rouleau, took his son to a psychiatric ward in the weeks before Martin drive his car into two Canadian servicemen.

He took his son to a psychiatric ward, which released him the next day.

In June 2014, Gilles called police, who started watching the young man. He was arrested a month later, trying to board a flight to Turkey, where scores of radicalized Canadians have continued on to Syria.

RCMP tried to get a peace bond in order to track his activities and limit his contact with certain groups. However, they didn’t have enough proof he intended to commit a terrorist act.

“If the same thing happened now, they would have been able to save my son. But like in all things in Quebec, it takes a death before we move,” says Gilles.

All these kids have a problem in their heads. They all have a mental problem; that’s where it starts.

Police could only take Couture-Rouleau’s passport and began regular meetings.

“We worked with him, with the imam in the mosque he was attending and with police officers that are part of our community service, to try to exert a positive influence over him,” Quebec RCMP Supt. Martine Fontaine told reporters after Couture-Rouleau’s attack.

But those sorts of pre-criminal interventions are usually only effective when someone still identifies as an individual, according to University of Calgary terrorism researcher Michael Zekulin.

“Once you get into that group dynamic and you start withdrawing, and spending more and more time with people sharing those ideas — be it face-to-face, or be it online — that’s when the real psychology starts, and it makes it really difficult to come back.”

Staircase to Terrorism

Terrorism researchers use models to explain radicalization. The most popular, the Staircase to Terrorism, involves five steps.

First, people see a grievance and try to find a solution. Secondly, if that doesn’t work, they find someone to blame for their anger. In the third step, a leader suggests violence to restore justice. The fourth step shifts to a black-and-white world view, where the group is all that matters. All contact with family and friends is cut.

Those who have witnessed a family member radicalize frequently describe it as “brainwashing,” but academics call this “consolidation.”

The last step is killing innocent people.

As for interventions, success is hard to assess. Fontaine said Couture-Rouleau had shown progress just 11 days before his attack.

“The meeting ended on a very positive note, so we had no reason to believe after that he would commit a criminal act,” she said. “On the contrary, he said he wanted to perhaps take steps to change things in his life.”

On Oct. 17, Couture-Rouleau was scheduled for a custody hearing regarding his son. That evening he changed his Facebook profile picture to a hallway with two doors: one leading to heaven, the other to hell.

Three days later, on the eve of Canadian jets taking off for ISIL territory in Iraq, he wished his father good morning and set out for the Tim Hortons plaza.

reporter.dylan@gmail.com

As Alberta updates its climate change strategy, a new survey suggests more than half of its residents believe the province should adopt stronger policies to cut greenhouse gas emissions.

The survey, conducted by EKOS Research Associates for the Pembina Institute, found that 56 per cent of respondents were supportive of stronger climate change policies by the NDP government.

It dropped only slightly to 53 per cent when higher production costs for oil and gas companies were taken into account.

“We’re really encouraged by the results that show Albertans really want strong action on climate change across the board,” said Simon Dyer, Alberta’s regional director for Pembina, which is a clean energy think tank.

The poll comes as the province is in the midst of reviewing its climate change strategy, which is set to be in place before the world climate change summit in Paris in December.

Greenhouse gas emissions from Alberta have been climbing for more than a decade, soaring 53 per cent since 1990.

A review panel, led by University of Alberta economist Andrew Leach, will provide advice to the provincial government on how to price carbon, how to grow its renewable energy sector, how to promote energy efficiency and how to reduce the reliance on coal-fired electricity.

Half of Albertans polled in the survey thought a carbon tax is the way to go, while 38 per cent were opposed to the idea.

The support for a carbon tax grew to 60 per cent if it’s used to protect low-income households from increased energy prices and even higher to 72 per cent if the revenue is directed at specific sources such as infrastructure or community projects that reduce carbon emissions.

“That would potentially be surprising to some people,” said Dyer. “Perhaps Albertans are aware of the positive experience of the implementation of a carbon tax in British Columbia and see that’s it’s actually been successful.

“Albertans intuitively know that if you want to reduce emissions, you have to create those penalties and other options. Albertans are maybe tired of the criticism we get internationally.”

A spokesman with the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers said they aren’t surprised that Albertans are interested in being responsible on climate.

“At the same time, what Albertans and most Canadians want is a balanced approach,” said Jeff Gaulin, vice president of communications with the industry group. “A balanced approach that says, ‘Yes, let’s do better on climate, but let’s not put the economy or industry or jobs at risk.’

“We think we can do more on the climate file, but at the same time we need to be competitive and balanced so we can continue to grow our industry.”

The EKOS poll, however, suggests Albertans are also keen to diversify the province’s economy.

In fact, 66 per cent of survey respondents thought the government should prioritize diversifying the economy over making the oil and gas industry more competitive.

Forty-eight per cent thought oilsands production should stay at current levels or be reduced, while 43 per cent believed it could increase either a little or a lot.

Gaulin suggested oilsands growth would help drive Alberta’s economy over the coming decades.

“It increases jobs, government revenues, jobs and prosperity,” he said. “All of those help to diversify our economy, all of that allows government to provide social services that Albertans need and want, all of that helps to attract investment.”

The survey suggested 70 per cent of those polled support investing in renewables to reduce coal use and 86 per cent want to see the province increase support for clean energy and clean technology.

Frank Graves, president of EKOS Research Associates, said he wasn’t surprised by the results because Albertans have had similar responses in the past.

“It’s a little more impressive given the frailty of the economy and the receptivity to some of these innovative and bold new measures is quite impressive,” he said.

Graves cautioned, however, that some people will exaggerate their commitment to the environment.

“Their words and deeds, there’s a little disjuncture sometimes,” he said, “but I do think this reflects a genuine sense that we need to take a different path in the future on balancing the environment, the economy and energy.”

The Pembina’s Dyer added that it’s clear Albertans are putting a lot of thought into the issue.

“It shows Albertans think energy and environment is a critical issue that we need to get right — that the environment is not some sort of luxury item that gets dealt with during the good times,” he said. “It’s a strong signal that Albertans want the government to make progress and deliver.”

A total of 1,855 Albertans were surveyed by EKOS Research from Aug. 28 to Sept. 10. The margin of error is plus or minus 2.3 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.

cderworiz@calgaryherald.com

Twitter: cderworiz

Ripping up an untendered deal with a Tory-connected firm to run the Kananaskis Country Golf Course and putting the operation of the publicly-owned links out to tender would cost Alberta taxpayers up to $16.9 million, according to an independent report.

While the flood-damaged facility will still be at risk of damage from future high waters after a $23-million rebuild, Deloitte LLP says a sole-sourced 2014 contract with Kan-Alta Golf Management Ltd. to repair and run the course for the next decade provides the “best financial return” to the provincial government.

Alberta’s treasury will have to be tapped for up to $8.8 million of the construction cost that is not covered by Ottawa’s disaster assistance plan, according to the report provided to the Herald by the provincial government in advance of today’s expected public release.

The New Democrats campaigned during the recent election against the government’s decision to spend money on the “luxury golf course” while hospitals went without repairs.

But now that the party is in power, it says it will proceed with the renovations agreed to by its Progressive Conservative predecessors.

“We will not put taxpayers on the hook for the emotional satisfaction of ripping up an agreement,” Environment Minister Shannon Phillips said in an interview.

“That’s not how we do business and that’s not good, evidence-based policy-making.”

Phillips said the $16.9-million figure is an estimate of the compensation the government would have had to pay Kan-Alta for six years of lost profits under the term of the contract that was in force in 2013.

If the government was unable to show that ending the current 10-year agreement negotiated by the Tories in 2014 was in the “public interest” and would result in savings to taxpayers, she said legal advisers have warned the government it may have to pay out upwards of $30 million in compensation.

“I’m trying to make a silk purse out of sow’s ear,” Phillips said.

Work on the course — halted since March pending the result of the review announced by the former government — is expected to resume this fall as the government tries to have the course back in operation by the 2017 season, she said.

The deal with Kan-Alta dates back to the course’s opening in 1983 when documents show the firm — owned by friends and former associates of former Premier Don Getty who have donated $2,600 to the Tories in recent years — was awarded the contract to operate the facility even though government documents show they were not the lowest bidder.

Deloitte’s review of the agreements with the firm since 1999 found the terms regarding liability for damage in the event of a disaster like a flood were “unfavourable to the Crown,” but that successive Conservative governments and Kan-Alta “negotiated in good faith” during extensions of what was until last year a de facto “perpetual” contract.

The deal required the firm to obtain business interruption insurance, but the report reveals that the course’s location in a flood plain meant Kan-Alta was unable to obtain coverage, something the government knew when it inked the agreement sixteen years ago.

So, when the 2013 floods destroyed all but four of the holes on the course, a clause required taxpayers to compensate Kan-Alta for all of its losses above a $100,000 deductible.

As a result, when the terms of a new deal to rebuild the course at public expense negotiated last July, the Tory government agreed to pay the firm $10.2 million in compensation for operating costs and lost profits while the facility remained shuttered.

In addition to eliminating any future liability for Kan-Alta losses from another disaster and allowing a public tender when the current deal expires, the report said the revamped agreement also improved the annual return to taxpayers by approximately $500,000 per year.

Under the 1999 arrangement signed by the Ralph Klein regime, Kan-Alta had only had to pay a maximum of 4.5 per cent of gross revenues as rent for the world-class course, a figure that an expert consulted by the Herald has said is less than half the market rate.

After deductions for capital improvements and maintenance at the facility, the contracts show there was actually no net amount payable to Alberta’s treasury under the sole-sourced deal in many years.

In 2003, the agreement was extended by five years and amended to provide for a fixed base rent instead of a percentage of revenues.

While Deloitte estimated the changes to the agreement slightly increased the total return to taxpayers by about $1 million over the remaining 15-year term, a former assistant deputy minister told the consultants the changes further sweetened the deal for Kan-Alta.

The contract shows that for the five years prior to the 2013 floods, annual rents paid to the province averaged just over $80,000 on a course the company said was producing annual net profits of $2.5 million.

The province’s financial watchdog has said he will use the Deloitte review as the basis of his own investigation to see whether Albertans got “value for money.”

Under the 2014 deal, the base rent changed from a fixed amount back to a portion of gross revenues that ranged from 10.5 per cent to 12.5 per cent if annual receipts exceeded $10 million.

Phillips said last year’s agreement was a “slight improvement” over prior Tory deals she describes as “scandalous.”

“This was a bad agreement rolled over and extended for a generation by a PC government making decisions that were clearly not in the public interest,” she said.

“No one in our government wants to be in the golf course business … and in 2026 this will be put out to public tender.”

mmcclure@calgaryherald.com

Twitter.com/mattmcclure2

When Adam Johnson travelled to London, Paris, Copenhagen and Amsterdam a few years ago, he was blown away at each city’s extensive public transit networks.

He returned home, bought a place in Calgary’s deep southeast, and couldn’t stop thinking about how public transit can shape a city.

“You can’t miss something you’ve never had, but once I had a taste of it I knew I wanted to see our city connected by transit,” he said.

Johnson joined LRT on the Green, a not-for-profit community coalition that champions the city’s LRT Green Line, a project that would add 40 kilometres of track to the city’s existing 59 kilometre LRT system.

A 40-page report prepared by the group following months of surveying communities along the Green Line will be unveiled Wednesday evening and presented to community members and city councillors.

“What we found is this project touches a lot of very different communities,” Johnson said.

“Everyone sees (the Green Line) as being a centrepiece of development in their community.”

Johnson said many Calgarians choose to live in the suburbs because homes are more affordable, but they quickly find they’re spending a lot of money on gas to fuel their vehicles.

“We got a lot of comments back…that (the Green Line) is a real chance for a lot of equality in terms of access to communities,” he said.

“Getting this project built is going to open up a lot of doors and make it a lot easier for a lot of families.”

The Green Line LRT got a boost this summer when the federal government pledged $1.53 billion for the long-sought project. 

The project hasn’t received a funding commitment from the NDP government and city officials must still determine the final alignment of the Green Line and develop a land acquisition strategy to purchase as much as $100 million in land along the route.

Johnson said the transit groups want to see the province get on board with a project that will create jobs, spread equality, and positively impact people across the city.

By 2043, the new line could serve as many as 456,000 Calgarians living along the corridor, greatly reducing traffic congestion in a city projected to grow another 700,000 to 1.89 million in that time.

In 2013, city council narrowly voted to allocate $52 million in tax room each year over a decade, from 2015 to 2024, to create a $520-million fund for the Green Line.

AKlingbeil@calgaryherald.com

Police are investigating after a body was found in southeast Calgary early Wednesday.

Around 5:55 a.m., police were called to check on the welfare of an individual in the 2600 block of 43rd Street S.E.

When police and EMS arrived, they found the body.

The medical examiner has been called to the scene to help determine what happened.

TransAlta has agreed to pay a record $56 million settlement to the province for manipulating power prices and insider trading five years ago, but consumers who paid the doctored prices for electricity won’t get a nickel back under the deal.

The Calgary-based utility, the largest in the province, negotiated the settlement with the market watchdog Wednesday, but the money will go into the province’s general revenue fund.

“It’s a big penalty,” said electricity consultant David Gray, who is organizing a class action law suit against the utility. “It’s too bad none of it is going back to the consumer.”

The Alberta Utilities Commission (AUC) ruled in July that TransAlta engaged in manipulating power prices and insider trading to benefit its portfolio when it shut down its coal-fired power plants for repairs during peak periods of demand on cold nights during the winter of 2010-11.

Under the terms of the deal, TransAlta has agreed to pay a $25-million administrative penalty, plus $27-million to reflect the estimated profits it gained from its contravention of market rules, as well as the $4-million cost of the investigation.

An expert for the Market Surveillance Administrator (MSA) estimated TransAlta gained an economic benefit of between $22.5 million and $26-million through its contravention of the regulations, according to documents filed with the commission.

Energy Minister Marg McCuaig-Boyd noted the deal has to be approved by the AUC.

“It is important that government allows the AUC to evaluate the proposed settlement independently, so we won’t be commenting further at this time,” she said in a statement. “We will continue to watch the process closely.”

The MSA said the AUC’s ruling against TransAlta will “form the bedrock for future decisions.”

“The MSA and TransAlta can now focus on producing value for Albertans rather than being mired in lengthy legal disputes that would be a continuing distraction for all stakeholders,” the MSA said in the consent order it filed with the commission.

In the deal, TransAlta also surrendered any right to appeal the AUC ruling to the courts and agreed the MSA investigation, which it had harshly criticized, was fair and reasonable.

The MSA said the consent order provides reasonable assurance to the public and the commission that TransAlta fully appreciates the seriousness of the contraventions.

Jim Wachowich, counsel for the Alberta Consumers Coalition, said any time a wrongdoer is caught and punished for violation of marketplace rules, it’s good news for consumers.

“This isn’t going to prevent all wrongdoing,” he said. “It’s certainly going to be a disincentive. These are significant dollars.”

Wildrose critic Don MacIntyre said he was pleased the case is closed and the legal costs won’t pile up for the taxpayers, but he said it’s disappointing Alberta legislation doesn’t give the AUC the power to order restitution.

“It still indicates to us that we need a review of the AUC’s ability to dole out appropriate penalties for serious breaches,” he said. “We’ll continue to push to protect the consumer from future threats of market manipulation like this.”

PC critic Rick Fraser said TransAlta is sorry this happened.

“For them, without a doubt it’s a learning moment,” Fraser said. “I have no doubt in my mind that TransAlta is going to strive to be the most ethical company that they can be.”

He said he doesn’t believe the utility intended to do anything wrong.

“They felt they were operating under the rules given at the time,” Fraser said.

Both Liberal Leader David Swann and Alberta Party Leader Greg Clark said they hoped the size of the penalty sends a message to both the public and Alberta utilities.

“That should send a clear message that this type of behaviour is unacceptable,” said Clark.

TransAlta said Wednesday it will pay the agreed amount in two separate instalments with the first payment of $30 million due 30 days after the AUC issues an order approving the settlement. It said it was committed to pay the remainder one year later.

“For over 100 years, TransAlta has been a responsible operator and a proud contributor to the communities in which it works and lives,” the utility said in a release. “TransAlta has been selected by Sustainalytics as one of Canada’s Top 50 Socially Responsible Companies since 2009 and is recognized globally for its leadership on sustainability and corporate responsibility.”

TransAlta agreed to a previous settlement for $370,000 in 2012 for failing to operate in a manner that supports the fair, efficient and openly competitive operation of the market.

dhenton@calgaryherald.com

twitter.com/darcyhenton

Cheers and catcalls rained down from the audience at Wednesday night’s forum in the riding of Calgary Shepard as federal candidates sparred over controversial anti-terror legislation passed by the Conservative government.

Tory candidate Tom Kmiec drew a cascade of boos — as well as some loud yells of support — from a crowd of more than 100 people as he affirmed his support for Bill C-51, which extends the powers of police and the Canadian Security and Intelligence Service (CSIS) but has been criticized as overreaching.

“We needed to have more co-operation from different departments so we could deal with terrorist threats that Canada faces — and we do face them,” said Kmiec.

“Protect Canadians first, that’s what the government is here to do.”

The legislation has been a major bone of contention between the Liberals and the NDP as they compete to position themselves as the best choice for Canadians looking to vote against Stephen Harper’s Conservative government in the Oct. 19 federal election.

The Liberals under Justin Trudeau supported the bill while Tom Mulcair’s NDP opposed it.

Liberal candidate Jerome James defended his party’s stance, saying it had pushed the Tory government to amend the bill to increase oversight.

“The truth of the matter is the Liberal Party has done more to protect the civil rights of everybody in this room by interacting with Bill C-51,” James said.

But the NDP’s Dany Allard said the issue was one of principle.

“When you believe against something, you don’t vote for it once and then you say you’ll fix it later,” he said.

“An NDP government will repeal Bill C-51.”

The federal Greens also opposed the legislation. Green candidate Graham MacKenzie said the bill shows the disconnect between government and the public.

Calgary Shepard is a new riding created out of the old Calgary Southeast constituency, held by Conservative heavy-hitter Jason Kenney, and Calgary East, which has been represented by Tory Deepak Obhrai.

Asked about their top priorities for the riding, Kmiec and James both painted themselves as the best option to deliver the long-sought Green Line transit project.

Kmiec pointed to the Conservative government’s promise of $1.5 billion for the project — made just before the writ was dropped to launch the federal election campaign — while James touted the Liberal infrastructure plan, which calls for a massive acceleration in spending.

Allard said the $4.6-billion Green Line, which would connect Calgary’s north with the southeast by light rail, is important and it would be covered by the NDP’s own plan to boost capital funding.

But he said his major commitment to the riding would be to help implement the NDP’s promise of $15-per-day daycare, which would make a major economic difference for working families in the riding.

MacKenzie said it was time for a “paradigm shift” in Canadian politics.

He said that while the other parties make promises about what they will do, the most important issue is having an MP who will actually listen to constituents.

“I don’t want to be in the government if I get told how to vote (by the party) … I want to represent you. That’s my job as a government worker, to listen to you, to be transparent,” MacKenzie said.

The Shepard forum was just one of a number of federal political events held in the city Wednesday.

The Calgary Jewish Federation sponsored a forum with representatives of the parties, while a candidates “conversation” was held in Calgary Forest Lawn.

jwood@calgaryherald.com

Over the course of 10 months, Alexander Brown underwent two brain surgeries, had two central lines inserted into his little body and required two devices in his brain to drain fluid and relieve pressure. Doctors removed stem cells, drew blood, and put Alexander through countless CT scans and MRIs.

He suffered from brain cancer, and was only two years old.

Little Alexander passed away in October 2010 after battling a rare and highly aggressive form of the disease.

But five years later, the little boy lives on, in a way. His parents, Tara and Jonathan Brown, donated Alexander’s brain and tumour to researchers at the University of Calgary.

The donation has allowed researchers to create the only cell line for the type of tumour Alexander had, meaning they can grow tumours and research them in the lab in the hopes of finding a way to prolong the lives of those who have an ETANTR (embryonal tumour with abundant neuropil and true rosettes).

“Once we realized how important it was to research, we thought, ‘we have to help keep it alive,’ ” Tara Brown said. “He started something and our purpose now is to help finish it.”

Brown and her husband have fundraised for childhood cancer research every year since, and on Wednesday, they led a lantern walk and vigil in Calgary in memory of their son and other children who have passed away from the disease.

Jonathan and Tara Brown hold the lanterns they made in memory of their two-year-old son Alexander, who passed a way from a rare brain cancer in 2010, during the ceremony Time to Remember at Eau Claire Market in Calgary. The vigil took place Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2015.

“It’s amazing to be able to connect with families that have experienced the same thing,” said Brown. “You all get it. You all understand that you can be happy one minute and crying the next.”

“It’s nice to be around that love.”

Cancer is the No. 1 disease killing children between six months of age and young adulthood, yet it accounts for just three per cent of all cancer research funding in Canada.

According to Kids Cancer Care Alberta, about 1,500 Canadian children are diagnosed each year with cancer — one in five do not survive.

“While we have improved over the years in better treatments, we still haven’t seen a high increase in cure rates for cancer,” said Jenna Schwanke, an outreach specialist with Kids Cancer Care.

“It is still a great challenge to get more funding, to get more research so we can really improve treatment and get more cures for some of the cancers.”

The research made possible by the donation of her son’s brain is deeply meaningful, Johnson said.

“We really sensed that it was his purpose,” she said. “To come here and to help get this research started, and for us to just keep it going and find a cure for it.”

estark@calgaryherald.com

twitter.com/erikamstark

Amarnath Amarasingam, a post-doctoral fellow at Dalhousie University’s Resilience Research Centre, has spoken with scores of online ISIL supporters — some as young as 12.

Those conversations have given him some insight into the minds of those who are attracted by the extremists beliefs of ISIL, and what pushes them to the next step of acting in support of those ideas.

Here, he shares some of those insights with the Herald’s Dylan Robertson for his series Radical Reality: Canada and Homegrown Terrorism.

In 2013, two CSIS agents knocked on the door of Christianne Boudreau and told her that her son, Damian Clairmont, had joined al-Qaida in Syria.

It was a shock for the Calgary mom, even after she questioned her son’s conversion to Islam a few years previously. What she didn’t know then, but can now see, were the early signs of radicalization of her son.

Here, she tells the Herald’s Dylan Robertson about how she now can see the early signs of extremist beliefs.

Ahmad Waseem left Windsor, Ont., in 2012 to fight in Syria and eventually join the Islamic State group, known as ISIL. Wounded in battle, he later came back to Canada for medical treatment.

Authorities knew he’d returned, and a local mosque tried to intervene. Waseem’s mother took his passport, but he still made it back to Syria.

On Nov. 12, 2013, he announced the news by posting a photo to Facebook of an ornate mosque taken from a taxi van, saying: “Turkey is beautiful.”

Months later, Waseem set up an account on the anonymous question-and-answer website Ask.fm. He raved about life in Syria, and referred interested ISIL supporters to how-to guides explaining the journey he had made twice — what to pack, how to evade authorities and when it’s best to slip away from your family.

Experts aren’t sure whether anyone can be radicalized solely through an online connection, but many believe cases like Waseem’s show the Internet accelerating young Canadians’ ability to fight abroad or strike at home.

“The Internet cannot be ignored in this discussion,” says Ray Boisvert, former counter-terrorism chief for the Canadian Security Intelligence Service.

“Without the Internet, the speed, the rapidity, the depth of penetration of the message would never have been so great,” Boisvert says, while stressing “the Internet is not to be blamed for radicalization.”

Without the Internet, the speed, the rapidity, the depth of penetration of the message would never have been so great

According to a Brookings Institute report, there were 46,000 Twitter accounts explicitly supporting ISIL between last September and December. Some post about life within ISIL territory; others share advice on how to get there.

But the vast majority are ISIL supporters in western countries, whose conspicuous support for the group poses a dilemma for authorities. People who follow accounts like Waseem’s call themselves the “baqiya,” a term from the Qur’an that refers to those who remain on the Day of Judgment.

Within this online echo chamber, tens of thousands of anonymous young people obsess over perceived Muslim oppression, and spread the high-quality propaganda videos ISIL releases weekly.

Between mundane tweets about sports and food, they post gruesome photos of Syrians injured by western bombs, while praising ISIL beheadings as justified revenge.

Related

• Read the entire Radical Reality series
• Radicalization tears apart Canadian families
• Canada's security establishment opens dialogue to defuse thoughts of terrorism

Any news headline that shows ISIL as a threat to the West is widely shared, while military losses are ignored. When site operators shut down their accounts, they start another within minutes to flaunt their rebel status.

Only a few directly incite their peers to violence, including a “Canadian-born Muslim fighting for the (caliphate)” who goes by the pseudonym Abdullah Khalid. Researchers believe he’s a teenage boy in Manitoba.

Ahmad Waseem posted photos from the Middle East even after his passport had been taken by his mother in Canada.

The federal government has targeted this phenomenon with anti-terrorism Bill C-51, which became law in June.

“Terrorists are using the web to broadcast their hatred message, and somewhat influence and radicalize vulnerable individuals,” Public Safety Minister Steven Blaney told The Calgary Herald/Postmedia in an interview.

“We have a duty as a government to ensure that those who want to attack Canadians are prevented from doing so.”

A Canadian judge can now deem material “terrorist propaganda” and order it destroyed from any hosting computer in Canada. Canadians can also face up to five years of jail for knowingly advocating a terrorist act.

To date, no one has been charged.

“The powers that we have vested in police forces and security forces to provide policing in cyberspace are woefully inadequate and sort of piecemeal,” says Rafal Rohozinski, CEO of the SecDev Group, an Ottawa think-tank that is regularly commissioned for government research on cyber-terrorism and espionage.

The powers that we have vested in police forces and security forces to provide policing in cyberspace are woefully inadequate and sort of piecemeal

The U.K. government has publicly mulled banning encrypted communications, though it has yet to table any legislation. Rohozinski and Boisvert say such a move would be unpopular in Canada, but encryption gives terrorists and human traffickers a means of communicating without detection.

Rohozinski says Canadian police are now moving to stop those who assist terrorism online, but they could also tie up their resources by prosecuting those who simply post support for groups like ISIL.

Amarnath Amarasingam, a post-doctoral fellow at Dalhousie University’s Resilience Research Centre, has spoken with scores of online ISIL supporters — some as young as 12.

“They find a real sense of belonging outside of their school, outside of their mosque, outside of their families,” says Amarasingam, who has spent over a year speaking with western foreign fighters in Syria and Iraq, as well as those who wish to join them.

He cites the example of a young man whose enraged father told him to close his accounts after law enforcement officials visited his home:

“He wants to literally stop my whole life and cut all relations with my Muslim friends online. Trust me, I’ve never felt like I belong anywhere until I met the brothers and sisters online,” reads one of his interviews, conducted on the condition of anonymity.

“Baqiya Twitter is the one place I felt at home. The Internet keeps us connected; keeps us as a family. Sometimes it’s like the person online is the real you.”

That’s why Blaney says his government has allowed judges to shut down websites, even if only ones based in Canada.

“By enabling the agencies to stop and shut down terrorist websites, we certainly are intervening in the early stage of radicalization — because we’ve realized that the web has been used by terrorist entities as a radicalizer.”

But Amarasingam isn’t convinced, and questions locking up young people or hampering their future by making their names public.

“If there’s an actual plan of some kind, then that’s one thing. But I think we need to have a real conversation about what a tweet actually means and what a Facebook post actually means, and what to do about it.”

reporter.dylan@gmail.com

Since early 2014, Public Safety ministry staff have been talking to Canadian youth about terrorism.

“This is not an easy thing to talk about. Communities are very uncomfortable — and rightfully so,” says Phil Gurski.

After 29 years at both of Canada’s spy agencies — Communications Security Establishment (CSE) and Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) — Gurski spent two years with the Public Safety ministry helping run these sessions, before he retired in April.

Public servants have hosted these town halls in Ontario, Quebec and Alberta. They mainly speak with Muslims aged 15 to 30, in groups of 100 or less.

The staff detail cases of people who have been radicalized. The goal is to have young people spot signs of radicalization, and know whom to contact if they’re concerned.

Related

• Read the entire Radical Reality series
• 'Without the Internet, the depth of the (terrorism) message would never have been so great'

“You can’t put your head in the sand and say this isn’t happening,” Gurksi says. “The challenge is … What do we do about it? How do we address it?”

According to documents released to Postmedia through freedom-of-information laws, the examples used are real-life cases such as Calgary’s Damian Clairmont, who left for Syria in 2012. He was later killed fighting for the Islamic State group.

As of April, 500 young people have attended these sessions.

In surveys, participants said they felt more likely to recognize people at risk of radicalization.

Gurski says one of the most important things about working with Muslim communities is avoiding the word “jihad.”

“Rather than using terminology that’s bound to offend — and we’re probably going to get wrong anyway — why don’t we use terminology that we can all agree on?”

Gurski says his former colleagues prefer terms like “al-Qaida-inspired radicalization” and “violent extremism.” He says government employees are motivated by logistics, not political correctness.

“You’re not mislabelling it; they’re calling it for what it is. You’re simply using terminology that’s not going to get you behind the 8-ball after the first few sentences when you get there.”

Just weeks before Aaron Driver was arrested in a Winnipeg terrorism investigation in June, his father in northeast Alberta was hoping it would happen.

“I’d rather see him arrested and get help that way than to be left to his own devices, and perhaps do something crazy,” Wayne Driver said two months before police moved in.

It had been a lonely, worrisome six months since agents from the Canadian Security Intelligence Service told Wayne his troubled 24-year-old son’s passport was seized over his desire to join the Islamic State group, also known as ISIL.

Aaron had been posting support for the group online, alongside photos of gruesome atrocities. He said he supported attacking military officials, despite his own family’s deep roots in the Canadian Forces.

“I still can’t understand how your kid could do something like that, especially when you did your best like any parent to raise him,” said Wayne, an Air Force corporal at CFB Cold Lake who helped train soldiers in Canada’s anti-ISIL bombing mission.

I still can’t understand how your kid could do something like that, especially when you did your best like any parent to raise him,

Since being contacted by CSIS officials, Aaron’s father and stepmother — who are both soldiers — tried to get him help, while worrying about how their son’s actions would affect their jobs and reputations.

“All we have really is ourselves,” Wayne said. “We have to be our best support for each other.”

His isolation echoes scores of family members across Canada who don’t know how to spot radicalization and feel helpless once their children enter terrorism investigations.

A military family

Aaron Driver spent his childhood bouncing between provinces as his military family moved between placements. His mother died when he was seven years old and he struggled in school, often running away for days, according to Wayne.

As a teenager, Aaron says he dabbled in drugs and heavy drinking. He claims his father sent him to a halfway house while they lived in Ontario, before he was transferred to Winnipeg.

Aaron Driver’s support of ISIL and Islamic radicals alienated his military family.

At age 17, Aaron says he got his girlfriend pregnant, and turned away from a lifestyle of partying to exploring religion. He said he found Islam much more convincing than the Christianity his family instilled in him.

But the girlfriend miscarried, and Aaron decided to restart his life. In 2011, he moved back in with his father in Winnipeg for the first time in years. By then, Wayne says Aaron seemed to be getting his life on track, taking courses to finish his high school degree.

But by 2013, he started acting evasive.

“He was very secretive with his comings and goings,” Wayne said. “He’d go out late at night without any explanation about where he’s going.”

He was very secretive with his comings and goings. He’d go out late at night without any explanation about where he’s going

Wayne confronted his son when Aaron stopped showing up to his classes. By February 2014, Wayne and his wife were being transferred to CFB Cold Lake in Alberta. Aaron stayed in Winnipeg.

Wayne didn’t hear much from Aaron until last December, when he got a call from a CSIS agent asking to meet and discuss his son.

“They showed me a file for him that was a couple inches thick,” Wayne said.

The binder showed an extensive collection of tweets and Facebook posts praising ISIL brutality. Under the pseudonym Harun Abdurahman, Aaron attracted 800 followers and said the October attacks on soldiers in Ottawa and Quebec were justified.

“I went through all kinds of emotions right there,” said Wayne. “They’re showing me different pictures of kids being murdered and beheaded and other pictures of people whose faces are half-gone. And my son was liking this, commenting that they deserved it; (that) retribution is good for what Canadian Forces was doing to them overseas.”

As a fourth-generation soldier, those posts struck him particularly hard.

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“I went from disbelief at first — I had to look at online names several times just to make sure it was my kid — to shock and disappointment, to grieving for the people that were murdered,” said Wayne, who’s been with the Air Force for 15 years.

Wayne notified his superiors, who moved him to a desk job and lowered his security clearance.

“I could not work with the fighter pilots because of the nature of their business, which, of course, is to training to blow up ISIS targets,” he said.

“After the disappointment came the uncertainty. Well, if I can’t work here, are they going to do something to my security clearance? Am I going to be downgraded back so I can’t be employed anywhere on this base?”

What followed was a week of meetings with military brass and police, with Wayne worried he and his wife, who co-ordinates logistics on the base, would be fired.

“That is the biggest thing; how is it going to impact our life in the military? I don’t want to suddenly be out on the street because my kid’s a dummy.”

‘He doesn’t really know me’

In an instant-messaging conversation with The Calgary Herald/Postmedia in late May, Aaron said weeks before his arrest that he identifies as a Muslim, not as a Canadian, and would rather live in a Muslim state.

“Makes no sense to keep people who hate you in the country next to you,” he said just two weeks before his arrest. “It’s short-sighted. They could simply revoke passports for confirmed migrants after they leave Canada.”

Aaron avoided talking about family, and Wayne’s recounting of events.

“First of all, he doesn’t know what he’s talking about. He played such a small part in raising me, he doesn’t really know me. He and I don’t even share blood,” he claimed in a conversation just days before his arrest.

The way in Syria hit Aaron Driver hard. He told people close to him that the West was fighting Islam, not ISIL, and he regularly posted links to ISIL propaganda on his social media accounts.

Instead, Aaron focused on his political and religious views, saying the West was fighting Islam, not ISIL. He said that arresting scores of Muslims in Canada have encouraged more to leave for Syria.

Through at least 12 social media accounts that websites routinely took down, Aaron regularly posted links to ISIL propaganda. He also posted links that show how to encrypt communications to avoid police and intelligence officials.

In May, U.S. police shot two radicalized men dead in Garland, Texas, after they attempted to slaughter attendees of an event to ridicule the Prophet Muhammad. ISIL supporters like Aaron nevertheless said the pair were successful for putting the U.S. on edge.

“I think this worked out beautifully,” he tweeted with a smiley face. “It really is refreshing to see the kuffar (infidels) scrambling to make sense of this.”

(I’m) a little worried. But at the same time I won’t cower at the threats of the government and give up my rights to speak

In his May chat with The Herald/Postmedia, Aaron said he wasn’t afraid of Bill C-51. The bill, made law in June after his arrest, has made it a criminal offence to promote terror groups online.

“(I’m) a little worried. But at the same time I won’t cower at the threats of the government and give up my rights to speak,” said Aaron, who hasn’t been available since his arrest.

‘He’s always my kid’

Wayne has had intermittent conversations with his son since last December. Sometimes Aaron responds to a text message within days, while he only answers the phone every couple of months.

The father started reading the Qur’an and went to a local mosque to try understanding his son’s religion. The local imam showed him a religious edict known as a fatwa that denounced ISIL on theological grounds. Aaron picked a fight after Wayne sent it to him.

“He’s gotten to the point where he’s not open or willing to see anyone else’s point,” he said.

For months, Wayne worried what would happen if his son were arrested.

“If he’s going to get help because he’s going to be arrested, then I’m all for it. But if they’re just going to throw him away in a hole some place saying, ‘Well he’s no good, he’s a potential terrorist,’ then that’s no good either.”

Wayne passed on Aaron’s number to a Muslim social-services group in Winnipeg, that unsuccessfully tried to coax him into Arabic classes and free counselling.

If he’s going to get help because he’s going to be arrested, then I’m all for it

In the meanwhile, he tries to keep the channel of conversation flowing.

“He’s almost got to the point where he’s turned his back on us, but not quite there yet,” Wayne said.

“I just let him know that I’m here. Let him know I love him, and it doesn’t matter what he does, he’s always my kid. And I pay the consequences of his actions as well, so be careful what you do.”

Lack of support

After the December visit, military officials directed Wayne and his wife to the mental-health counsellor on the base. Because of Aaron’s support for attacking soldiers, police told them who to call if they felt they were being followed.

A January report by the Department of National Defence warned of an “emerging trend” in which terrorist sympathizers in Canada harass and threaten the family and friends of Canadian military personnel on social media.

Wayne said his wife checks that the doors of their house are locked every evening. Both have been to the base counsellor, but Wayne said they haven’t received any advice on how to deal with a radicalized son.

“We’re by ourselves up here,” Wayne said. “The only people we have to talk to are those not going through the situation.”

We’re by ourselves up here. The only people we have to talk to are those not going through the situation

In the United Kingdom, police have assigned a family liaison officer to some terrorism cases since 2006. The officer keeps in contact with relatives of people under investigation, suggesting support services and explaining the status of the case.

Some have reportedly helped families coax a loved one away from a violent ideology.

This fall, Calgary police plan to start assigning liaison officers to families of suspects involved in terrorism investigations, likely the first Canadian police force to do so.

‘The signs were there’

Like Wayne, Christianne Boudreau says she had a gut-wrenching feeling when CSIS first approached her.

In 2013, two agents knocked on her door in Calgary and told her that her son, Damian Clairmont, had joined al-Qaida’s branch in Syria.

Damian Clairmont had a troubled childhood after his father left at age 10. He retreated to computer games and drugs, and attempted suicide when he was 17.

Christianne Boudreau at home in Calgary. Her son Damian Clairmont was killed in Syria.

He found Islam shortly after, and while Boudreau says she didn’t understand his long beard and demand for halal food, it seemed to ground him.

But after a year, Clairmont started keeping his friends secret, never taking a phone call inside. He started picking small fights over his archaic views on gender, and refused to eat at the table when alcohol was served.

When the news was on, he would occasionally say some killings are justified.

She didn’t know how to respond to his increasingly radical behaviour, and hoped it was just a phase.

In the summer of 2012, 20-year-old Clairmont moved into a Calgary apartment with at least four other young men who later left to join terror groups in Iraq and Syria.

The signs were there, but I didn’t know how to read them

In November 2012, he told his mother he was leaving to study Arabic in Egypt. Instead, he called her from Syria.

For a year, he regularly exchanged messages with his mother on Facebook and by phone, with her begging for him to come home, and Clairmont assuring her that he was happy.

His half-brother Luke, then nine years old, would roll across the living-room floor, crying into the phone, pleading for Clairmont to come home after four years, as he’d promised.

In January 2014, Boudreau got a text message from a number in Syria, asking whether she was Damian’s mother. “He was killed defending his base inside Aleppo city,” the message said.

“The signs were there, but I didn’t know how to read them,” Boudreau said.

Evidence suggests many families are in the same situation.

A recent study of 119 lone-actor terrorist attacks in the United States and Europe found that 64 per cent of families knew their relative was radicalized and intended “to engage in terrorism-related activities because the offender verbally told them.”

“These findings suggest therefore that friends and family can play important roles in efforts that seek to prevent terrorist plots,” according to the study, commissioned by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

And while Boudreau says CSIS agents later told her they knew Clairmont intended to go to Syria, privacy laws prevented authorities from sharing information with parents of adult children.

Anti-terrorism Bill C-51, which was made law in June, now gives spies the power to so.

“This is what we call the threat-disruption strategy. This is critical,” Public Safety Minister Steven Blaney said in an interview.

“The sooner we intervene, the lesser will be the impact, both for the individual and society.”

But it’s too late for Boudreau, who is still asking CSIS to help her get the closure and insurance compensation that comes with a death certificate.

Months into her grief, Boudreau reached out to a woman in France with a similar story. She eventually travelled to Europe to meet other mothers whose sons were killed after joining groups in Syria, and learned about non-profit groups formed to tackle extremism.

Since then, Boudreau has become an advocate for families affected by radicalization, speaking at conferences and telling her story in videos made for high school students.

“If I can save just one child, it’s worth everything,” she said.

Working together

Earlier this year, Boudreau reached out to Wayne Driver and his wife.

With Canada’s national intervention strategy still in the works, Boudreau also launched a non-profit group in September 2014 to help parents in crisis, like the Driver family.

Hayat Canada is a spinoff of Exit, a Berlin group that has helped people leave neo-Nazi groups since 1989. The group expanded to take on violent Islamic radicalization in 2011, offering German parents an anonymous toll-free number to call.

The German group instructs parents on how to help their children avoid recruitment by radicalizers, and when it’s time to involve social workers or police. They weigh heavily on Islamic passages about the importance of obeying one’s family.

“They’re years ahead of us in Europe,” said Boudreau, whose team of roughly six volunteers has dealt with seven cases so far.

The Calgary woman says parents need to recognize the warning signs, and learn how to draw young people back in.

“Every time we hear of someone who hasn’t gone abroad, or who’s still alive, there’s hope.”

Aaron’s arrest

RCMP arrested Aaron Driver at a bus stop on June 5. They raided the suburban basement he was renting, and confiscated a computer.

Court documents say an RCMP officer fears Aaron “will participate in or contribute to, directly or indirectly, the activity of a terrorist group.”

As a condition of the peace bond, a judge implemented probation-style conditions, which, if broken, could result in a year in jail. Though publicly named, Aaron hasn’t been charged with an offence.

Aaron cannot use the Internet, must wear an electronic monitoring device and take part in “religious counselling.”

In Cold Lake, Wayne wishes he’d said something sooner. He knew things weren’t right when Aaron stopped showing up for his classes. He regrets pushing Aaron away.

“We need to pay more attention to what our kids are doing, whether they’re teenagers or adults,” he said.

“I tried to respect his privacy, but look where that got me.”

reporter.dylan@gmail.com