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Informed Discussion on the Tamil Canadian Terrorism Arrests

   24 August 2006, the wee hours

The Globe and Mail lets its readers comment on its stories online. No doubt this readership will have something informed to say on the recent arrests of Tamil Canadians trying to buy arms, bribe officials, and fund the LTTE.

First off, someone points out how evil multiculturalism is. There is a lantern festival going on at Ontario Place. That can’t be good:

Yep, it sure is great to live in a multicultural country, isn’t it? Multicultural. I sounds so inoffensive, so accommodating, so obvious, that everyone embraces it without question. Now look at the mess we got ourselves into. Terrorists, segregated communities, and conflict within our own borders. These are the worst aspects of it. I could also point out how Christmas is now a forbidden word, and how Catholic schools may lose public funding in Ontario. Yep, what a great idea that was. — Always Right from Somewhere, Canada

We must also be afraid of the perpetual-foreigners:

Big brother doesn’t have to waste its time spying on regular citizens, they need to concentrate their efforts on these foreign people and our judges need to stop interpreting anti terrorst laws to suit their own beliefs, and start FOLLOWING the laws, to protect the damn citizens of Canada. — Terry H from Moncton, Canada

If you aren’t White, how can you be a Canadian? I’m as confused as this guy:

Canadians? These people appear to be Sri Lankans with Canadian passports of convenience. — George Gonsalves from Aurora

I didn’t know that most people who immigrate from war-torn countries are gangstarrs:

Fact is most people who came from war torn countries do have association with these groups and continue with their criminal activities in our country. It should be looked into and make sure that our system is not abused by these individuals. — Judah Nanneti from Toronto

Apparently being an immigrant means that Canada can never be your country. You are forever a guest, whether you are a citizen or not.

Now, I’ve been told it’s actually very hard to immigrate to Canada from South Asia. I also know several people who have had a very hard time convincing judges their refugee claims were legitimate. I suspect this idea that Canada’s immigration system is too lax is something people who haven’t had to immigrate have thought up:

The unfortunate thing is that anybody can get a passport here anyway. All anybody has to do is fill out a form get some photos and wait in line for a few hours until clerk takes your cash and stamps your application. Our immigration and refugee policies are sadly lacking in this day and age. — al wonders from Canada

I should add, why would you want it to be hard to get a passport? You already need to be a Canadian citizen to get one. These guys weren’t traveling with fake documents, so it’s not like the passport getting process was being taken advantage of.

Tamil Muslims are not particularly conservative in the way they interpret Islam. You won’t see women covered head-to-toe in Sri Lanka. I guess if you live in Cambridge you might not know that though:

I can just imagine the conversation at the US Customs booth in Buffalo…‘Citizenship?’….‘Canadian’…‘Purpose of your trip?’…‘We are going to a very wild and crazy stag party for our good brother Mohammed…there will be women who’s burkas are open far enough to expose their noses and even their mouth! Maybe we will see the hair on their head if we are lucky! We are hoping to be having a really big blast!’…..‘OK sir, pull over there please.’ — Harvey Mushman from Cambridge, Canada

Now, there are legitimate concerns to be voiced when it comes to Canadian citizens working with terrorist groups and organizations. Sadly, most of the comments over at the Globe and Mail don’t voice them. At least the papers coverage itself was far from shrill.

Update: Comments closed. What’s with all the spammers?

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