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home / 世界杯决赛2022

covid-19 grievances, conspiracy theories drove extremist narratives in alberta, canada: csis

“grievances and conspiracy theories related to the covid-19 pandemic continue to drive ideologically motivated violent extremist narratives in canada and justifications for political violence."

by matthew black

sep 20 2022
read time 2 minute read
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csis documents cite grievances over covid-19 as driving extremist narratives in alberta and canada during 2021. jonathan hayward / the canadian press
canada’s national intelligence agency cited covid-19 grievances and conspiracy theories as driving extremist narratives throughout alberta and canada late last year, according to reports obtained by postmedia.
the documents from the canadian security intelligence service (csis) — marked as “top secret” and for “canadian eyes only” — were acquired via an access to information request for terrorist threat assessments in alberta between march 2020 and january 2022.
the records show concern over ideologically motivated violent extremists (imve), particularly around opposition to coronavirus-related public health measures that the agency claimed was driving what it termed an “anti-government threat environment.”
“grievances and conspiracy theories related to the covid-19 pandemic continue to drive ideologically motivated violent extremist narratives in canada and justifications for political violence,” the report from november 2021 reads. names of specific groups and individuals were redacted.
“the integrated terrorism assessment centre (itac) assesses that restrictions and public health measures related to the covid-19 pandemic and vaccines continue to be the most significant drivers of imve threats.”

politicians at risk

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the reports note politicians were particularly at risk, citing threats to prime minister justin trudeau as well as to former alberta municipal affairs minister tracy allard.

the documents note how a makeshift gallows and threatening message were left outside allard’s home in november 2021.

“we assess that some anti-authority and anti-government imve adherents in canada will attempt to use public health restrictions to incite others to violence.”
the reports stresses the need for heightened security for public officials, citing the murder of british mp david amess, who was fatally stabbed during an open availability with constituents on oct. 15, 2021.
“ministers and opposition leaders who are local, identifiable and in a known location with minimal security in place could be specifically targeted simply due to ease of access.”

world juniors threat assessment

the documents also outline a threat assessment for the 2022 world junior men’s hockey championship that initially began on dec. 26, 2021, in edmonton and red deer but was cancelled on dec. 29, 2021, after covid-19 outbreaks on multiple teams.
the reports ultimately find that an act of terrorism was “unlikely” at the tournament but also that “the threat of an attack cannot be fully discounted.”
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“wjc 2022 could be an attractive attack target for a lone-actor inspired by propaganda, past related terrorist incidents or direct grievances with certain government officials.”
any attack, officials believed, would likely be of “low sophistication” and likely involve a bladed weapon, firearm or vehicle against a “soft target” near one of the venues.
“these attacks require little planning and are challenging to detect,” one of the reports warned.
the tournament was rescheduled for edmonton last august and took place without incident.
nonetheless, the reports state that while no terrorism incidents were immediately anticipated, attacks of opportunity remained a constant threat in alberta and across canada.
“extremist actors in canada have both the intent and the capability to undertake a violent attack.”
mblack@postmedia.com

twitter @bymatthewblack

matthew black
matthew black

matthew black is a politics reporter for postmedia based at the alberta legislature in edmonton. he has previously covered news, sports, courts, and politics for ctv news in edmonton and cbc news in vancouver and toronto. his work has also appeared in the globe and mail, deadspin, and slate. he holds a bachelor of arts and master's of arts from the university of alberta as well as master's of journalism from the university of british columbia.

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