 For many Canadians, especially those in the Greater Toronto Area, the most understandable emotions this week are fear and mistrust, prompted by the stunning arrests late Friday of 12 men and five youths on terror-related charges, allegedly linked with plots to attack unspecified targets in Toronto and across southern Ontario.
| Not that they're justified, of course. It was only three tons of potential explosive and a few firearms and such. Nothing serious... |
News of the arrests sparked front-page headlines around the world, tarnishing Toronto's image as a safe city immune to terrorism.
| Y'know, I never had that image of Toronto. The image I had was one of a city run by Marshmallow People, living in a dream world... |
Adding to the unease were police comments that those arrested had enough explosive material to build a bomb three times the size of the one used in the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995 in which 168 people died.
| Shucks. Why would that cause anybody unease? |
Yet, in this intense climate in which suggestions that radical Islamic fundamentalism plays a part in this case, it is vital for all residents to show restraint, to let the justice system work as it should, and to avoid prejudging members of south Asian or Arab descent, or those who are Muslims.
| I'm not sure anybody is. There are lots of people preparing excuses for them, or trying to poke holes in the case, if only by innuendo. One might even suggest to them that they let the case play out and get the facts, rather than what they want to be the facts. |
Unfortunately, such restraint may have been broken Saturday night when vandals struck a Toronto mosque. |