I like to find humour in all situations that might pop up, but not this. As I watched little children be evacuated from a Saskatoon School the other day because of“suspicious powder”, my heart sank. There have 5 such attacks on various institutions over the span of a week, including a Hospital Cancer Clinic. There is some sick piece of ****, you fill in the word there, that thinks pulling fake terror attacks is funny.
Here’s the school being evacuated
The Saskatoon Police have said on a tv report, that if the person is caught, he/she would be charged with “Mischief.” I contacted Saskatoon Police and they never returned my call. If you were to leave a bag of suspicious powder or a pipe with wires coming out of it, in the bathroom on an airplane, I’m pretty sure you’d would be charge with an act of terror and treated like a terrorist. Sure one is Municipal and the other is Federal. Does this say that the municipal law has to catch up to the Federal law in cases of terrorism? The Criminal Code is the Criminal Code. For clarification I contacted the Saskatchewan Government Justice Dept. Yup, you guessed it, no comment there either. When it comes to terror we all should be on the same page and that’s what Canada’s Criminal Code does…
“The definition of “terrorist activity” in section 83.01 of the Criminal Code has two components. The first component incorporates a series of offences enacted to implement international legal instruments against terrorism. The second, more general, stand-alone component, states that a “terrorist activity” is an act or omission undertaken “in whole or in part for a political, religious, or ideological purpose, objective or cause” that is intended to intimidate the public or compel a person, government or organization to do or refrain from doing any act, if the act or omission intentionally causes a specified serious harm. Specified harms include causing death or serious bodily harm, endangering life, causing a serious risk to health or safety, causing substantial property damage where it would also cause one of the above listed harms and, in certain circumstances, causing serious interference or disruption of an essential service, facility or system, whether public or private. No where does it mention “Mischief.”
The penalty is up to life in prison for terrorist activity. If and when the police catch the person or persons doing this, adult…prision! If it’s a kid, they should be charged with a terror offence. Maybe put on the No Fly list forever and be fined the cost of everything incurred. That would include each location staff salaries for the day, cost of police, fire, ambulance. If they are to young to pay, then their parents should pay.
Here’s the emergency response
I think we’ve gone way passed yelling fire in a crowded theatre. Pulling the odd fire alarm, like some of us might have done in school, is “Mischief”, but sending possibly deadly powder is a whole different ball game. They caused parents, little children, hospital staff and patients to be terrorized. Businesses, Schools and a Hospital to be disrupted. They also took emergency services away from people that might have really needed them. As it turned out every package was harmless.
My hat is off to the way the fire and police depts handled every situation. Very professional. So I leave it to you, in todays World, is sending a bag of powder to an institution a terror attack (fake or not) or mischief? To the cowardly piece of crap that sent the packages, be afraid very afraid, because you will be found and “Hey, Get Off My Lawn”!
Hey, Get Off My Lawn 