Month: June 2006

In a series of police raids last night, over 400 RCMP officers in joint operation with CSIS, arrested up to 12 suspects across Ontario suspected of plotting a series of terrorist attacks in the province including one in downtown Toronto at an office building near the CN Tower.

The Toronto Star is reporting this morning that the suspects are a group of teens and men in their early 20s.

Sources told the Star that the group had been watched by Canada’s spy service since 2004 and a criminal investigation by the RCMP began last year.

…

The group is being charged under the new anti-terrorism legislation introduced into the criminal code in December 2001, after the 9/11 attacks. It’s only the second time the terrorism laws have been used in Canada.

…

Sources close to last night’s investigation are calling the suspects arrested yesterday a “homegrown” group, meaning they are Canadian citizens or long-time residents, raised and allegedly radicalized without leaving the country. It’s a phenomenon Canadian officials have been warning about for the past few years.

The terror attacks in London last year on 7/7 were allegedly committed by homegrown Islamic fundamentalists.

CTV News somewhat confirms this and provides other revelations:

Police seized chemicals used to make explosives and weapons.

…

The suspects are either second-generation Canadians or recently immigrated to Canada with their families.

…

Sources claimed the men have no connection to al Qaeda, but were allegedly inspired by militant Islamic groups.

The National Post focuses its article upon the “homegrown” trend that has hit Europe and which now seems to have come to Canada:

Across the Atlantic, the term “European Jihad” is now used to describe the new generation of young Muslim extremists who not only live in Europe, but also consider it a legitimate terrorist target.
A Canadian Jihad is apparently underway as well.

Updates to follow…

UPDATE: The RCMP release:

TORONTO, June 3 /CNW/ – On Friday, June 2, 2006, members of the RoyalCanadian Mounted Police and partners of the Integrated National Security Enforcement Team arrested 12 individuals and charged them under Section 83 of the Criminal Code of Canada.

This group took steps to acquire three tonnes of ammonium nitrate and
other components necessary to create explosive devices,” said Assistant
Commissioner Mike McDonell. “To put this in context, the 1995 bombing of the
Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City that killed 168 people took one tonne
of ammonium nitrate.”

Arrested and charged with offences under the Criminal Code of Canada are:

1. Fahim Ahmad, 21, of Robinstone Drive, Toronto, Ontario;
2. Zakaria Amara, 20, of Periwinkle Crescent, Mississauga, Ontario;
3. Asad Ansari, 21, of Rosehurst Drive, Mississauga, Ontario;
4. Shareef Abdelhaleen, 30, of Lowville Heights, Mississauga, Ontario;
5. Qayyum Abdul Jamal, 43, of Montevideo Road, Mississauga, Ontario;
6. Mohammed Dirie, 22, Kingston, Ontario;
7. Yasim Abdi Mohamed, 24, Kingston, Ontario;
8. Jahmaal James, 23, of Trudelle Street, Toronto, Ontario;
9. Amin Mohamed Durrani, 19, of Stonehill Court, Toronto, Ontario;
10. Steven Vikash Chand alias Abdul Shakur, 25, of Treverton Drive, Toronto, Ontario;
11. Ahmad Mustafa Ghany, 21, of Robin Drive, Mississauga, Ontario;
12. Saad Khalid, 19, of Eclipse Avenue, Mississauga, Ontario.

“Our investigation and arrests prevented the assembly of explosive devices and attacks being carried out. At all times, the focus of our investigation was the safety and protection of the public,” concluded McDonell.

The RCMP will not confirm targets yet the Toronto Police have specified that the TTC was not a target.

Here is a chilling poem that I found from a Zakaria Amara called “A LITTLE MUSLIM FROM PALESTINE”:

I’ll always be a contender
Yes, I know my bones are very tender
And by Allah you won’t see me surrender
Look at my eyes? You’ll see no butterflies
My home is filled with cries… due to all the lost lives
But I swear by Allah I’ll never compromise
I’ll still throw the stones even with my broken bones
Why can’t I hear from you, don’t you have any phones?
Ya I forgot, your not on the chase, try it out and put your self in my place
Soon I’ll return to my lord , the one that deserves every grace
Oh you don’t have to worry cause of me you’ll find no trace
It really is to late, why did you wait?
You could have sent me at least one dinner plate
I guess it is my fate
And La Ilaha Illa Allah is my mate.

The RCMP provides some background on the team that conducted the exercise:

Backgrounder: Integrated National Security Enforcement Teams (INSETs)

National Security requires an integrated approach to ensure early detection and prevention of any potential threats to Canada and the public. The importance of greater integration of resources and intelligence has been heightened by the reality of terrorism for many countries, including Canada.

The RCMP has refocused its National Security Intelligence Sections (NSIS) to become Integrated National Security Enforcement Teams (INSETs) in major centres throughout the country. The purpose for this is to increase the capacity for the collection, sharing and analysis of intelligence among partners with respect to individuals and entities that are a threat to national security and; create an enhanced investigative capacity to bring such individuals and entities to justice; and enhance partner agencies collective ability to combat national security threats and meet all specific mandate responsibilities, consistent with the laws of Canada and the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

INSETs are made up of representatives of the RCMP, federal partners and agencies such as Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA), Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS), and provincial and municipal police services. INSETs exist in Vancouver, Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal.

Through shared federal, provincial and municipal resources – INSET members are better able to track, deter, disrupt and prevent criminal activities (major or minor offences) of terrorist groups or individuals who pose a threat to Canada’s national security. This type of increased capacity enables INSET members to work with their partners nationally and internationally.

This release just came from Prime Minister Stephen Harper:

Statement

Date: June 03, 2006

For release: Immediate

STATEMENT BY THE PRIME MINISTER ON TERRORISM ARRESTS MADE IN TORONTO

OTTAWA — Prime Minister Stephen Harper issued the following statement in relation to the recent arrests made in Toronto, announced earlier today:

“This morning, Canadians awoke to the news that our law enforcement and national security agencies have arrested 17 individuals for terrorism related offences.

“These individuals were allegedly intent on committing acts of terrorism against their own country and their own people.

As we have said on many occasions, Canada is not immune to the threat of terrorism. Through the work and cooperation of the RCMP, CSIS, local law enforcement and Toronto’s Integrated National Security Enforcement Team (INSET), acts of violence by extremist groups may have been prevented.

“Today, Canada’s security and intelligence measures worked. Canada’s new Government will pursue its efforts to ensure the national security of all Canadians.”

– 30 –

The following are the sections cited by the RCMP that were broken under the Criminal Code of Canada:

83.18

(1) Every one who knowingly participates in or contributes to, directly or indirectly, any activity of a terrorist group for the purpose of enhancing the ability of any terrorist group to facilitate or carry out a terrorist activity is guilty of an indictable offence and liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding ten years.

(2) An offence may be committed under subsection (1) whether or not
(a) a terrorist group actually facilitates or carries out a terrorist activity;
(b) the participation or contribution of the accused actually enhances the ability of a terrorist group to facilitate or carry out a terrorist activity; or
(c) the accused knows the specific nature of any terrorist activity that may be facilitated or carried out by a terrorist group.

(3) Participating in or contributing to an activity of a terrorist group includes
(a) providing, receiving or recruiting a person to receive training;
(b) providing or offering to provide a skill or an expertise for the benefit of, at the direction of or in association with a terrorist group;
(c) recruiting a person in order to facilitate or commit
(i) a terrorism offence, or
(ii) an act or omission outside Canada that, if committed in Canada, would be a terrorism offence;
(d) entering or remaining in any country for the benefit of, at the direction of or in association with a terrorist group; and
(e) making oneself, in response to instructions from any of the persons who constitute a terrorist group, available to facilitate or commit
(i) a terrorism offence, or
(ii) an act or omission outside Canada that, if committed in Canada, would be a terrorism offence.

(4) In determining whether an accused participates in or contributes to any activity of a terrorist group, the court may consider, among other factors, whether the accused
(a) uses a name, word, symbol or other representation that identifies, or is associated with, the terrorist group;
(b) frequently associates with any of the persons who constitute the terrorist group;
(c) receives any benefit from the terrorist group; or
(d) repeatedly engages in activities at the instruction of any of the persons who constitute the terrorist group.

2001, c. 41, s. 4.

83.2

Every one who commits an indictable offence under this or any other Act of Parliament for the benefit of, at the direction of or in association with a terrorist group is guilty of an indictable offence and liable to imprisonment for life.

2001, c. 41, s. 4.

83.03

Every one who, directly or indirectly, collects property, provides or invites a person to provide, or makes available property or financial or other related services

(a) intending that they be used, or knowing that they will be used, in whole or in part, for the purpose of facilitating or carrying out any terrorist activity, or for the purpose of benefiting any person who is facilitating or carrying out such an activity, or
(b) knowing that, in whole or part, they will be used by or will benefit a terrorist group,

is guilty of an indictable offence and is liable to imprisonment for a term of not more than 10 years.

2001, c. 41, s. 4.

Yesterday, a Joe Volpe parody site went up called YouthForVolpe.ca which lampooned the Liberal leadership candidate’s drug money (ahem pharmaceutical donations) from children of Apotex execs. When Volpe gave back the money yesterday (CTV News called it “Volpe’s volte-face”), the website went down. At the time, I thought that the designers had thought that it was irrelevant or that it had served its purpose, so they pulled it. It turns out that this is not the case.

Joe Volpe had the Canadian Internet Registration Authority sever the link from YouthForVolpe.ca to the server which hosted the website.

Today, in Jane Taber’s piece in the Globe and Mail:

Mr. Volpe’s campaign had the site shut down without knowing, it seems, who put it up: “Hi Everyone,” wrote Brenden Johnstone, who is with the Volpe campaign, in an e-mail to other leadership campaigns. “There has been concern about how the issue of the Volpe donations was reflecting on the leadership race.

“My Office has had the website suspended through CIRA [Canadian Internet Registration Authority] and CDNS [Canadian Domain Name Services] and it will be down as soon as 6 p.m. I think the issue with the website has been dealt with. . . .”

This is absurd, censorship and an abuse of power. As a citizen, regardless of your political affiliation, and as a Internet consumer, this should outrage you. The Internet is for free speech, and this fundamental freedom is really only labeled as such because it is one of those elements of our liberty that had to be protected from tyrants with power. If one cannot lampoon a political candidate (the archetype of free speech in a free society) then we aren’t truly free. What is perhaps most chilling is that this censorship has come from a candidate for the Prime Ministership.

If you believe in freedom of speech online and abhor the strongarmed actions of Mr. Volpe against Canadians and the Internet citizenry, please trackback this post and pass this on to all of those who might share this concern.

and then… why not send him an email to voice your concerns: Volpe.J@parl.gc.ca

UPDATE (supplemtary info): There’s more information to the story. The deletion of the domain name was in full compliance of rules of the CIRA (just because it’s a rule, doesn’t make it right). Supposedly, if one registers a .ca domain name with anonymous details, the domain name can be removed under the CIRA’s rules. However, one first needs to point it out (as Joe Volpe’s campaign did).

This doesn’t necessarily make it right, however. Joe Volpe didn’t like the website “youthforvolpe.ca” and he found a way to have the domain name deleted. He was able to do this on a technicality which essentially says that a domain name (and thus free speech delivered via domain names) is only permitted if the user isn’t anonymous.

The debate over whether or not one should be able to register a .ca domain name anonymously is certainly one that we should have.

However, it appears that Joe Volpe’s stifling of free speech was done in full compliance of the rules of the CIRA and that he was able to exert censorship over the webmasters at youthforvolpe.ca over a technicality.

The drug money donations from children were technically in full compliance of the laws of Canada as well, however, Volpe gave the money back.

Rules are rules, but in every case we must measure the spirit of what is right regardless of them.

UPDATE: I just got an email from the kids at youthforvolpe.ca. They received an email from their .ca registrar after they emailed them demanding which part of the Registrant Agreement that they were in violation of. It turns out that it had nothing to do with anonymous registration:

From : CADNS.CA <registrar@cadns.ca>
Sent : June 1, 2006 8:41:26 PM
To : “Youthfor Volpe” <youthforvolpe@hotmail.com>
CC : archive@cadns.ca
Subject : RE: Domain registration for youthforvolpe.ca

Article 3.1
Paragraph (h) (i) and (ii)
(h) not engage in any direct or indirect activity which in CIRA’s opinion is designed to bring, or may bring, the Registry into disrepute, is designed to interfere, or may interfere, with CIRA’s operations or designed to expose, or may expose, CIRA to prosecution or to legal action by the Registrant or a third party including, but not limited to, any of the following kinds of activities:
(i) directly or indirectly, defaming or contributing to the defamation of any other Person,
(ii) unlawfully discriminating or contributing to the unlawful discrimination of any other Person; or
(iii) committing any other actionable wrong against any other Person
including, without limitation, any other infringement of the Person’s
rights;

Yep, the reason given was because the registrar believed that the website somehow defamed Joe Volpe and the registrar believed that it might expose CIRA to a lawsuit.

It appears as though this had nothing to do with a technicality of anonymous registration.

We know that Joe Volpe’s crew contacted the registrar to demand action on the youthforvolpe.ca website. CIRA claims that the site was canned because of anonymous registration. But the original registrar, the one that pulled the plug on the domain name, appears to cite section 3.1, paragraph h, subsections i, ii, and iii.

It appears that CADNS.CA, the original registrar, got spooked by Joe Volpe’s unfounded threats of legal action and they quoted the related sections of the Registrant Agreement to kids at youthforvolpe.ca. However, from what I can see, youthforvolpe.ca was not in violation of this section of the agreement.

While the issue of anonymity may be a policy of the CIRA, it appears that the youthforvolpe.ca domain was suspended by CADNS.CA under the threat of legal action (that which is cited under the paragraphs above). Any threats of legal action would be unfounded.

UPDATE: YouthForVolpe mirrors are here, here, and here.

UPDATE: I have received word from the folks at CADNS.ca and they want to correct the record. They have told me:

“Mr. Volpe’s office was not the one who brought the erroneous information on the registration to our attention. It was a reporter from the Globe who did that. At no time did anyone from Mr. Volpe’s office contact us and bring anything to our attention, or at any time contact us and ask to have the domain name cancelled.”

Of course, this appears in to be in direct contradiction with the original Jane Taber quote that launched this whole post (see above). So what about that?

CADNS.ca replies:

“The email quoted by Jane Taber in the Globe article was a false brag by a junior volunteer with Mr. Volpe’s campaign, and should not have been quoted and used by the Globe. We have demanded retractions from both the Globe/Taber and from Mr. Volpe’s office, who is ultimately responsible for things uttered in public by their campaign workers be they staffers or volunteers.”

False brag? If this is true, Joe Volpe’s staff flat out lied and slandered CADNS.ca and CIRA.

“I read further on your web site to where you publish an email from our employee, in part only, not the entire email, I might add. At that point the young man, our employee, had obviously become flustered by the hostile email activity from the “kids at youthforvolpe.ca” to quote your description. The employee simply made an error in quoting that particular section of the CIRA registration agreement, and chose to act with a little
sarcastic humour, to the effect of “hey maybe it could even be for this part too, who the heck knows.” Bear in mind, this was after he already
sent the *supposed* registrant the entire set of registration rules dealing with cancellation of a new domain name within 7 days of registration. He
had already told the *supposed* registrant that he/she needed to show proof of eligibility to register a .ca domain name, and to provide correct
contact information, at the time of this response. I note that the “kids at youthforvolpe.ca” only give you one section of the email, and not the
whole trail.”

This is very likely. The email that was forwarded to me by youthforvolpe@hotmail.com did not contain all of the details above. The forwarded email demanded which part of the agreement the registrant was in violation and it could be that the employee acted with “sarcastic humour” and only quoted section 3.1 (h) and (i) because of this sarcasm. Dr. Michael Geist confirms he received emails from youthforvolpe@hotmail.com which made it appear “that the registrar cited defamation and discrimination as the reasons for suspending the domain name registration.”

“The actual and true reason for the cancellation was, in fact, due to the total fabrication of registrant information on the registration. Note this is not anonimity [sic], this is falsified information. The registrant also used foreign contact information on one of the database contact sets. This was part of the reason for the quick action. Typically, we get those with credit card fraud action in registration of domain names. I have given instructions to act swiftly in those cases, and this registration fit the profile completely.

The registrant was given an opportunity to correct and provide information, and refused, therefore the suspension went the full gambit to the cancellation.”

It would appear that the anonymous prankster decided to remain anonymous.

So let’s weigh this situation for what it is.

First, let’s assume that both CIRA and CADNS.ca do not have a political agenda here. The political players in this story are Joe Volpe’s staff and the anonymous prankster behind youthforvolpe.ca. This story was conveyed, initially by Jane Taber, and then by me as more as more information became available.

Errors were made by all parties here. Volpe’s staff appears to have flat out lied in an email quoted by Jane Taber of the Globe and Mail. Jane Taber didn’t follow up with CADNS.ca (I am guilty of the same). The anonymous registrant did not provide me with the full context of the exchange between him/herself and CADNS.ca (context which includes, according to CADNS.ca, an offer to correct the registrant’s information). CADNS.ca foolishly quoted the libel chill section of the registrant agreement when clarification for suspension was requested by the registrant perpetuating a whole series of events that led us to believe that Joe Volpe was bullying the registrar (a mistake only amplified by the original falsehood by the Volpe staffer).

I present CADNS.ca’s version of the events here because it does seem to be a plausible explanation to this mess and I have no reason to doubt them. Besides, they seem like good folks.

UPDATE: Here is the CADNS.ca press release

A press release from Joe Volpe is expected today (June 6) clarifying why his office lied in the email quoted by Jane Taber of the Globe and Mail.

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