Politicians have a knack of rising to occasions without bothering too much about what the occasions are. Premier Christy Clark is no exception.
When three pressure cookers full of rusty nails were laid in the legislative precinct on Canada Day, our premier seemed to think that 鈥渢he heart of the democratic process鈥� was the target and not an event that provided the largest number of prospective victims available.
She seemed certain the perpetrators were among 鈥渢hose who would resort to terror.鈥�
鈥淲e will not let them [alleged terrorists] win. We will not let them strike fear into our hearts. We will not change.
鈥淲e will remain 91原创, bound together by open hearts and optimism for the future of our country, our towns, our cities, our province, our families and all of those we love.鈥�
She forgot, in her excitement, to mention liquefied natural gas.
Clark is not the only person to assume that John Nuttall and Amanda Korody are Islamic terrorists. The RCMP has said they were 鈥渋nspired by the al-Qaida ideology,鈥� which may mean no more than they learned how to make pressure-cooker bombs by reading an al-Qaida magazine titled Inspire.
The Mounties say they were 鈥渟elf-radicalized鈥� and 鈥渢ook steps to educate themselves,鈥� posted their own anti-Semitic conspiracy theories and made threats in defence of Islam on the Internet.
The Mounties don鈥檛 seem to think they had any contact with groups affiliated with al-Qaida, even over the Internet.
And that organization isn鈥檛 known for using women.
They may be no closer to al-Qaida than they are to Al Capone. Or Ali Baba.
Some newspapers can鈥檛 resist playing up the danger all those partygoers on Canada Day could have been in if the bombs could have gone off, which, the Mounties assure us, they couldn鈥檛.
鈥淣ear disaster,鈥� proclaimed the caption below a picture of a pot of rusty nails.
Neither can they resist reporting such clues to readers such as their living in a 鈥渕essy and foul-smelling basement apartment鈥� in Surrey where 鈥渁 methadone pill bottle lies empty on a kitchen counter beside a pamphlet entitled 鈥業slamic Laws Regarding Purity for Women.鈥� 鈥�
Clearly, these two are not of us, even though they may have been born here.
Lorne Dawson of the 91原创 Network for Research on Terrorism, Security and Society is one who finds it unlikely that Nuttall and Korody became jihadist terrorists all on their own, without the face-to-face contact usually necessary for 鈥渁 real conversion or commitment.鈥�
He suggests that their imaginations may have run away with them, perhaps with the assistance of a police informant posing as a collaborator.
I find it interesting that they have been charged under the Criminal Code and not the Anti-Terrorism Act that is supposed to keep us all safe from this kind of thing.
One of the counts against them is that they acted 鈥渇or the benefit of, at the direction of, or in association with a terrorist group,鈥� which seems to contradict a lot of what the Mounties have been saying about these 鈥渟elf-radicalized鈥� individuals.
They鈥檙e also accused of facilitating a terrorist activity and making or being in possession of an explosive device.
When Nuttall and Korody get their day in court 鈥� they鈥檙e to appear again on Tuesday 鈥� hopefully we鈥檒l learn more about them, whether they鈥檙e living in an imaginary world and how they moved from brave talk to cowardly action.
But they were under surveillance for some time. And RCMP Assistant Commissioner Wayne Rideout has said the pressure-cooker bombs 鈥渨ere completely under our control.鈥�
鈥淭hey were inert and at no time represented a threat to public safety,鈥� he said.
If that鈥檚 so, it looks as if the would-be bombers could have been arrested at the planning stage and before their useless devices were planted at the legislature.
That, of course, wouldn鈥檛 have made as big a story for Canada Day, or given the premier a chance to jump, triumphantly, to conclusions.
But I can鈥檛 end with a sneer. The Mounties deserve credit for detecting and disarming what could have been a horrible occasion.
A lot of people on the legislature lawn needed to hear Clark rise to it.
