Huffington Post:
I’ve prayed in downtown Toronto mosques, on multiple occasions, in the last week. According to Prime Minister Stephen Harper, that means I may be a frequent visitor to a terrorist breeding ground.
On January 30, a reporter asked Harper how newly-introduced anti-terror legislation will differentiate between somebody who is “radicalized” and “a teen who’s just messing around in the basement.” Harper answered by saying promoting terrorism is a serious offence no matter “what the age of the person is, or whether they’re in a basement, or whether they’re in a mosque or somewhere else.”
Harper’s response to this question associates hundreds of mosques across the country with the promotion of terrorism and violence and is misguided for multiple reasons.