Pro-Palestinian protesters harassed and attacked MPs and senators as they gathered for a meeting near Parliament Hill this week, the Conservative Party leader in the Senate says.
Senator Don Plett says he was stopped and harassed by “probably 30 or 40” protesters as he drove into a building for the meeting. They blocked traffic and insisted drivers take pamphlets, and targeted him as he attempted to drive around them.
“They actually jumped on to my car. They were banging on my windows, they were laying on the hood of my car and they were trying to prevent me from moving,” Plett told a meeting of the standing committee on internal economy, budgets and administration. “I’m sure I’m on many pictures now on the Gaza Strip or wherever.”
“There was no security around to help and I felt very, very unsafe.
“I then went into my Manitoba meeting and (Winnipeg Conservative MP) Marty Morantz, who is of Jewish descent, had been walking there and of course he felt more unsafe than I had and later we heard at our meetings that there were probably a dozen members of the House that had also been under attack.”
“And when they had asked PPS (Parliamentary Protective Service) over at the House why they weren’t being given any help the answer was, we don’t have enough staff.
They seemed to have enough staff to stop all the hot tub parties and barbecues when we had some friendly protesters here and now they don’t have enough staff when many of us feel very unsafe.”
'They actually jumped on to my car. They were banging on my windows, they were laying on the hood of my car'
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Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called the attacks against Jewish institutions in recent days acts of terrorism and said that more police protection is needed to protect places of worship given the raging conflict in the Middle East.
The prime minister was asked by host Michel Bherer if he agreed with Quebec education minister Bernard Drainville that the gunshots fired at two Jewish schools in Montreal were acts of terrorism.
“Yes, absolutely,” said Trudeau, in French. “To do things just to create fear among a (specific) population with an ideological or political goal, that is terrorism. So it will take more police protection, more investments, and we’re doing that right now to protect mosques (???) and synagogues.”
Wait…what? Where did the Mosques in the above comment come from? Are Jews attacking or graffiti-ing Mosques in Canada or something? That “protecting mosques” comment seems to come out of left field with respect to attacks on Jewish institutions in Canada in recent days being acts of terrorism…but it is Trudeau so…selfies? Polling numbers?
In an unusually candid interview, the prime minister also opened up about his political future and his recent separation from wife Sophie Grégoire
apple.news
The website includes a link to the
government of Canada’s web page for national terrorism threat levels. But that page indicates the current level is medium, defined as “a violent act of terrorism could occur.”
“Medium” is the middle of five levels. The next highest, “high,” says that a violent act of terrorism “is likely,” while the highest level, “critical,” warns that an act “is highly likely and could occur imminently.”
The British warning of “very likely” attacks would seem to fall between the two highest levels.
The Canadian website notes the terror threat has been at “medium” continuously for almost 10 years, since October 2014.
Is a terror attack likely in Canada? Depends on the source, it seems. The levels of terror threat assessments for Canada vary greatly between Canada and the U.K. An update on the British government’s travel advisory page for Canada from Nov. 3 reads: “There is a high threat of terrorist attack...
apple.news
The issue was raised Wednesday during
Question Period in the House of Commons, when opposition leader Pierre Poilievre asked the Prime Minister if he agreed with the U.K. foreign office’s assessment.
“We are continuing to make sure that we are doing everything we possibly can to keep Canadians safe,” Justin Trudeau answered. “We understand that these are trying times around the world right now, but the best thing we can do as Canadians is stay true to our values, be respectful of one another, feel each other’s pain, and be there to support others through these very difficult times of a rise in hatred, including Islamophobia and antisemitism.”
Poilievre then pushed the point, noting that “terrorists are not interested in feeling other people’s pain; they are interested in causing other people pain,” and asking Trudeau to explain the difference in threat level assessments.
New U.K. travel advisory for Canada says terrorists "very likely to try to carry out attacks." Canadian level hasn't changed since 2014.
nationalpost.com
The federal government is playing down a recent British government warning that says an attempted terrorist attack in Canada is “very likely.”
“The U.K. updated its travel advice for Canada on 3 November to reflect the threat to British nationals,” the High Commission said in a statement. “We continue to work with Canadian authorities to ensure the safety of all British nationals in Canada and encourage British nationals to remain vigilant and monitor media and advice from local authorities for updates.”
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau declined to comment on the recent U.K. government warning, but said Canada works to monitor risks
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