Items seized in police raids, including flashlights and walkie-talkies, are shown during a press conference in Toronto. The suspects were 'inspired by al-Qaeda,' said a CSIS official.(Aaron Harris/Canadian Press)
INDEPTH: TORONTO BOMB PLOT Overview CBC News Online | August 4, 2006
In the largest operation ever carried out under Canada's Anti-terrorism Act, more than 400 police officers conducted a series of raids in southern Ontario on June 2-3, 2006, and arrested 17 suspects.
Search warrants were executed on homes in Mississauga, Toronto and Pickering. Most of the suspects were taken under heavy guard to be processed at a police station in Pickering, east of Toronto. Police officers carrying automatic weapons ringed the building. Snipers were perched on nearby rooftops. It was a show of force rarely seen on Canadian soil.
ALLEGED TARGETS
Targets mentioned in court documents
» Parliament Buildings, Ottawa
» CBC Broadcasting Centre, Toronto
» CSIS offices, Toronto
» Unspecified military installation, Toronto
Other targets mentioned in media
» Toronto Stock Exchange
» CN Tower, Toronto
The 12 men and five youths were accused of knowingly participating in a terrorist group and either receiving or providing terrorist training. Police allege the suspects were inspired by al-Qaeda and planned to make bombs to attack targets in Ontario. None of the allegations have been proven in court.
As many as 400 police officers and security officials were involved in the operation. Officials revealed very few details of what was going on as it was going on — except that people were being arrested under the provisions of the Anti-terrorism Act.
It wasn't until the next morning — when the RCMP held a news conference in Mississauga, Ont. — that police would reveal some of the details. Placed on a table for the reporters to see was some of the evidence police say they seized. Among the items were bags of ammonium nitrate — intended as a harmless fertilizer but a deadly explosive when mixed with certain ingredients.
RCMP Assistant Commissioner Mike McDonell, right, speaks as CSIS Assistant Director of Operations Luc Portelance looks on during a press conference in Toronto on June 3, 2006. (Aaron Harris/Canadian Press)
RCMP Assistant Commissioner Mike McDonell said the suspects had ordered and received three tonnes of ammonium nitrate. He said it was three times the amount that Timothy McVeigh used to bomb a federal building in Oklahoma City in 1995. That blast killed 168 people.
"This group posed a real and serious threat," McDonell said. "It had the capacity and intent to carry out attacks. Our investigation and arrests prevented the assembly of any bombs and the attacks being carried out."
McDonell said the raids had thwarted a plot to blow up targets in southern Ontario. Toronto police Chief Bill Blair said he was aware of the targets but would not reveal them, except that Toronto's transit system had not been singled out.
Two months after the initial sweep, an 18th suspect, Ibrahim Alkhalel Mohammed Aboud, 19, of Mississauga, Ont., was arrested in the alleged plot.
'Home-grown terrorism'
"We are a target because of who we are and how we live, our society, our diversity and our values," Prime Minister Stephen Harper said.
"Their alleged target was Canada: Canadian institutions, the Canadian economy, the Canadian people."
All of the suspects were either born in Canada or were long-time residents. Luc Portelance, the assistant director of operations for the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) called it a case of "home-grown terrorism."
"For various reasons, they appear to have become adherents of a violent ideology inspired by al-Qaeda," Portelance told reporters.
On Nov. 13, 2002, Canada was named as a potential target for attacks in an audiotape attributed to Osama bin Laden. Security officials had been warning since then that it was a matter of "when" and not "if" Canada would be attacked.
On May 29, days before the arrests, the deputy director of CSIS, Jack Hooper appeared before the Senate defence committee, where he addressed the possibility of "home-grown terrorists" in Canada.
"We know who and where some of them are," he told the committee.
Canada's Anti-terrorism Act became law on Dec. 18, 2001. It gave police sweeping new powers, including the power to arrest people and hold them without charge for up to 72 hours if they're suspected of planning a terrorist act. It also made it easier for police to use electronic surveillance in their investigation of suspects.
Police said this investigation has been underway for a couple of years. Two of the suspects were already in jail, accused of trying to smuggle weapons into Canada from the United States in November 2005. It's believed that the investigation began as security officials monitored traffic to extremist-related websites.
The arrests of the 17 suspects marked the second time that the Anti-terrorism Act was used for that purpose.
The first involved Ottawa software developer Mohammad Momin Khawaja, who was arrested in March 2004, accused of participating in the activities of a terrorist group and facilitating a terrorist activity. He was also named — but not charged — in Britain for playing a role in a foiled bomb plot. He is being held in an Ottawa detention centre, awaiting trial.
In the United States, reaction to news of the alleged plot drew mixed responses. Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice said the arrests showed Canada is doing its part in the "war on terrorism."
"This shows that the Canadians are on the job. That's what it really shows."
But New York Republican Peter King, the chairman of the House of Representatives homeland security committee, said the case shows it's easy for extremists to operate in Canada.
"I think it's a disproportionate number of al-Qaeda in Canada because of their very liberal immigration laws, because of how political asylum is granted so easily."
Canada's ambassador to the United States, Michael Wilson, sought to reassure the Americans.
"Canada is just as diligent and successful in fighting terrorists as the Americans," he said. Soon after the arrests, Wilson organized a Washington visit for top Canadian security officials, so they could brief their American counterparts on how they are staying on top of militant activity north of the border.
RCMP Assistant Commissioner Mike McDonell, right, speaks as CSIS Assistant Director of Operations Luc Portelance looks on during a press conference in Toronto on June 3, 2006. (Aaron Harris/Canadian Press)
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