Terror groups drawn to recruit in Canada because of multiculturalism, academic says

The recent slew of hate-motivated incidents in Canada had myriad alleged motivations, from Islamism to white supremacy. The terror groups that promote such ideologies were likely drawn to recruit in Canada because of its multiculturalism, says one academic.

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“Most Canadians are big fans of multiculturalism. We celebrate it. It’s part of our existence,” says Arne Kislenko, a professor of international relations at Trinity College, University of Toronto and in Toronto Metropolitan University’s history department.

But, he said, there’s also that friction that exists. “There are some people always that feel left out, so they tend to engage in crass stereotypes.”

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Recent weeks have seen incidents across Canada: a shooting at a synagogue in Belleville motivated by antisemitism, the arrest of three people in Ontario in separate incidents related to antisemitic and anti-Muslim threats made online, the arrest of an Alberta teen in relation to the 764 network, which is classified as a terrorist group in Canada, the arrest of a man in Quebec for allegedly planning to attack Canadians with chemical weapons, and antisemitic flyers handed out in Belleville nearly two weeks after the shooting.

There are currently 89 terror groups listed in Canada, including Hamas, ISIS, Al Qaeda, Proud Boys and the Bishnoi Gang.

Kislenko said it’s no different than Germans in the 1930s. Despite some of them being highly educated, they started to think that Jewish or Slavic people “were somehow not human or that they had evil designs.” Today, there’s a similar sentiment of placing blame on others, he said.

Another reason why terror groups might recruit in Canada? From the outside, at least, it appears to be an “easygoing” society. It’s “safe place” where they can operate.

One way recruiters acquire targets is to find someone who has made a comment on a mainstream platform, like Instagram or Twitter. Recruiters from terror groups with similar ideologies to whatever post the person commented on then bombard them with messages. Eventually, the person may be put in contact with like-minded people, who might recruit them.

“We saw that with ISIS. It’s super sophisticated, targeted propaganda — high-tech recruitment videos with music and the promise of everything you could imagine,” said Kislenko.

Radical ideologies can also spread on encrypted and unmoderated forums and game sites, according to Dr. Valarie Findlay. She is an Ottawa-based expert in extremism and ideological violence. She founded non-profit resource network IVY, dedicated to supporting youth.

Forums like Discord, Gab, Telegram, 4chan, 8kun (formerly 8chan) and game sites like Roblox and Rimworld “all operate in a similar fashion” and are places where “anyone can create groups focused on hate movements, extremism and social violence,” Findlay told National Post.

Groups like the 764 network coerce youth and “psychologically manipulate them to do the most abhorrent, terrifying crimes towards themselves, their own family, to family pets,” she said.

“Once you’re out of that situation, you realize what you’ve done and how horrifying it is, and that now somebody knows about it, somebody has that evidence or proof, then you have a sort of responsibility to yourself to try and maintain that ‘friendship’ on an even keel, so they never use it against you,” said Findlay.

“But they’re going to use it against you. That was the plan all along. It’s a very slippery slope.”

She said it’s a red flag when someone online becomes increasingly interested in your personal life. “It’s the unfortunate thing about social media. It’s great for the friends that you already have, but it is the worst place to actually make enduring, trustful friendships,” she said.

Both Findlay and Kislenko said that recruiters seek out vulnerable and isolated youth.

“They’re still trying to understand the world. They’re trying to experience it,” said Findlay. “Well-formed adults who are very socially intelligent and have developed their principles — they don’t want to talk to them because those are the folks that will poke holes in their theories, because logic ruins those narratives.”

The young people who do get targeted are often looking for the simplest explanation for complicated issues, said Kislenko.

“People blame Jewish people for everything. It’s a convenient scapegoat. Or you blame big government, or you blame women, right? And that’s what a lot of these newer terrorists are engaging in,” he said. “If you’re deeply antisemitic, you’re probably focusing on Israel and what it’s doing in Palestine, even if you don’t know what that means or have an opinion about it. You see it on the news, and certain narratives play into that.”

Findlay said that although it may seem like there are more hate-motivated attacks now, it’s been going on “for a long time.”

“How it manifests and how it channels and how (terror groups) establish their reach obviously has changed because of the advent of technology from the 1970s roughly onward. It has really made everything look like it’s happening more often in a way,” she said.

“And (terror groups) really do attach to waves of prosperity and economic decline, as well as the rise of conspiracy theories. They follow trends. When things are not looking so great … these things kind of seem to flourish a little bit more.”

Kislenko said just because it’s hard to police against recruitment, it doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t. He recommends an educational approach and possibly putting some restrictions on social media.

“We should empower law enforcement and intelligence not with more authority, but with a better capacity and more funding and training to look for these (recruiters),” he said.

“We should be judicious in prosecution…because it is hate and it is terrorism, and they are closely connected, and that leads to (the shooting in) Belleville, amongst other places.”

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