[QUOTE=astorian]
I’ve been reading some of the news coverage, and two things stand out:
The Canadian police and media are going out of their way to downplay the Islamic angle to this incident. What I keep reading is, the suspects represent a wide spectrum of Canadian society… so, there are lots of Francophones among the terrorists? Lotsa Catholics? Lotsa Cree Indians? Anybody who WASN’T a Muslim?
The Canadian authorities seem far less troubled by the FACT that radical Muslims wanted to blow people up than by the POSSIBILITY that there might be some backlash against innocent Muslims.
[/QUOTE]
Canadian here. I work downtown in First Canadian Place, a possible target.
Can’t say I’ve noticed EITHER of these two “stand out points” myself.
Yes, there is some concern that this will lead to an anti-Muslim backlash. IMHO that’s a legitimate issue.
But to claim that this issue is more troubling to anyone up here is a truly absurd bit of hyperbole.
Lots of discussion about radical Islam in today’s Globe & Mail - I simply do not see anyone downplaying the “islamic angle”.
That Globe article mentions the fact that they’re all Muslims over and over again:
Note the Globe’s implied assumption that since the suspect were Muslims, the local Muslim talking heads should be expected to know who they are.
The “Broad strata” comment is a QUOTE, not the Globe’s editorial position.
Jesus, people are being hypersensitive about this. What do you expect, for them to just randomly insert the word “Muslim” every third word? The media’s done a fine job reporting this story. There’s no need for witch hunts.