Terrorism Creates Fear

For the past couple of days, there's been a fair bit of speculation over whether the type of thing that happened in London last week could ever
happen in Canada.

According to representatives from the Canadian Centre for Emergency Preparedness, that city always knew its underground system was a prime target for terrorists, but could do little to stop the destruction. This country is apparently one of the top five targets for this type of cowardly attack - partly because of our close proximity to the U.S. and partly because we're so vulnerable.

Some say Canadians should brace themselves and take on more responsibility
when it comes to stopping terrorists. How the hell are we supposed to do that and teach our children to be open-minded and unbiased human beings at the same time? The whole idea behind terrorism is to create a climate of fear and distrust that freezes people in their tracks. Once paralyzed by these feelings, life changes dramatically.

We've already witnessed the effects of 9/11 on worldwide air travel and usually even at border crossings. Cultures who rarely got a second glance as they wore their traditional clothing and practiced personal beliefs in countries other than their homeland are often cast suspicious glances today.
Packages that used to be picked up and transported to the nearest lost and
found at train stations and airports are now cause to evacuate the building
and bring in the bomb squad.

Now they're asking us to keep an eye on everyone else... and something about that just feels wrong. Possibly because, for the one actual terrorist this type of guarded behaviour will stop, thousands of innocent people will be harassed everyday - most of them just for seeming a little bit too weird to someone else.

This is like handing a frightened person a loaded gun in pitch-blackness...
it could have disastrous results. By adjusting our way of life or the way we interact with others because of terrorist threats, we've lost some of the basic freedoms that make this nation what it is. We've let them win…

M.S.