kEiThZ
Superstar
We might. I'll leave that to the public and politicians to debate. But as far as the threat goes? It's really not that high. And ramping up security just to give the public confidence would cost a fortune and prevent nothing. Terrorists (and ISIL in particular) are evolving to recognize "targets of opportunity" as a much more effective terror tactic than massive and well-planned attacks. As such, if you harden one set of targets (military and government installations) they'll move on to the next (malls, schools, libraries, etc.). If we decide to secure every building in the country? They'll get us in transit (target personal vehicles, public transit, public spaces).
And if you think you can profile or curtail this through immigration? What do you do when Canadian born young men are getting radicalized?
Foreign policy may be part of the answer. Do we go after safe havens? Or do we completely avoid those war zones? (I half suspect that this government has felt some moral obligation to go to Iraq, because Canadians make up a significant portion of ISIL's foreign fighters...). Immigration policy may also be part of the answer. But then, how do you screen for extremism without effectively ruling out immigration from huge swathes of the globe? Surveillance? Even setting aside the rights concerns, the costs associated with constant surveillance of large numbers of persons is massive.
In short, there may not be much we can do. There are democratic countries that simply live with terrorism (Israel and India come to mind...). And we may well have to accept that we will have losses. It's depressing to think that. But it's the truth. At best we can focus on the prevention of mass casualty attacks, or attacks that threaten critical infrastructure or institutions and directly impact our way of life. Beyond that? I just don't know what we can really do....
