People with traditional values could be extremists, Canadian police warn
Staff Sgt Camille Habel, the spokeswoman for Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), urged people to be vigilant following the arrest of four people in Quebec, who were allegedly involved in 'ideologically motivated violent extremism'.
Two of those arrested in a plot to seize part of Quebec were members of the armed forces.
Sgt Habel was asked by CTV what Canadians should look out for in the wake of the arrests.
'Well, radicalisation in general quite often will show by people isolating themselves and changing their behaviour, like changing what they're saying on a subject, like becoming more extremist,' she said.
'If someone you know believed in equal gender rights but all of a sudden is leaning towards traditional values, that might be a sign that they're becoming more extremist.
'But we also have to remember that having the most extremist views is perfectly legal in Canada, and that it's only acting with violence to prove that view that becomes a criminal offence.'
Her remarks triggered an angry backlash among Canadian conservatives.
Ron Chhinzer, a former conservative candidate, accused the RCMP of labelling mainstream views as extreme.
He said the police were ignoring Left-wing extremism in an interview on True North News, a conservative media outlet.
'What we see here is our national police force utilising the most basic concept of every religious group that a strong family is a strong community…and now we're being told by our national police force that any pivot back to that, to revalue family values as we know it here in Western society, is actually moving towards an extremism,' he said.
'I've never seen, and I looked for it, really much about any mention of other extremisms like Left-wing extremism. Why is it always pivoting this way to the right way, and since when has the thousands of years of historic values that we all carry now moved to any other pivot?'
'Come and arrest me'
Maxime Bernier, leader of the libertarian People's Party in Canada, challenged the police to arrest him.
'This @rcmpgrcpolice officer says not believing gender nonsense anymore and switching to more traditional values may be a sign of 'radicalisation'! Come and arrest me, woke moron, I'm clearly a radical extremist who may be about to commit some terrorist act!' he wrote on X.
Marie-Eve Breton, another RMCP spokeswoman, sought to clarify her colleague's remarks.
'It's the observed and sometimes sudden change in one's behaviour, beliefs or goals as well as tolerating the use of violence to achieve those goals, that could be one of several factors that signal a shift towards extremism,' she said.
'Each instance would have to be examined on a case-by-case basis, and all indicators would have to be considered in their totality.'
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