by Renato Gandia
Linking the alleged terror attacks in Ontario to a potential attack in ¾ÅÐãÖ±²¥?s oilpatch is a bit of stretch, said an expert on international relations from the ¾ÅÐãÖ±²¥.
?Based on what we?ve observed so far, the target is Toronto?s highrise buildings and the like,? W. Andy Knight told Today in a telephone interview from Edmonton. ?There?s no specific threat in ¾ÅÐãÖ±²¥,? Knight said.
Premier Ralph Klein said on Monday ¾ÅÐãÖ±²¥ns have no need to fear a terrorist attack.
¾ÅÐãÖ±²¥ has been touted as a potential target due to its rich and sprawling oil and gas industry, but Klein said there?s no reason to believe the province is even in danger.
?There?s no need for ¾ÅÐãÖ±²¥ns to be concerned,? said Klein, adding should a threat arise, the province is ready. ?We do have an emergency plan and a security plan in place.?
But how a potential threat will be dealt with or how the province would react to an attack, the premier admitted he does not know.
?I don?t know what that security plan is and they won?t tell me,? said Klein.
?But I?m informed a very comprehensive security plan is in place to protect our oil industry and other industries that keep our economy moving in ¾ÅÐãÖ±²¥.?
However, Knight is not ruling out that ¾ÅÐãÖ±²¥?s oilsands and the oil patch can be targeted because the industry is important to the United States.
Potential targets in Canada, Knight said, could be anything from oil rigs to the whole oil industry itself or any industry that has any amount of U. S. control.
After Sept. 11, 2001, Knight was asked by the province to do an analysis of what the threat could be to ¾ÅÐãÖ±²¥.
?What we looked at were the oil and gas pipelines because they lead into the U.S.,? Knight said.
Because Canada is America?s largest trading partner and a number of U.S. companies have subsidiaries in Canada, by extension it?s a target for terrorist attack.
The province?s solicitor general said the alleged terror attack in Ontario is a reminder for all ¾ÅÐãÖ±²¥ns to guard against terrorism. ?We say we don?t think it can happen here and what we saw this weekend is that it could have happened and been three times worse than in the Oklahoma bombings,? said Solicitor General Harvey Cenaiko. He said the province has led the way in counter-terrorism measures, and urged ¾ÅÐãÖ±²¥ns to report anything suspicious to police to thwart future attacks.
?Obviously, we have grave concerns regarding our own threat assessment, but the threat still remains low here and at this time there is no link to ¾ÅÐãÖ±²¥,? he said. ?However, we have to remain vigilant and our counter-terrorism plan remains in effect. Oilsands, refineries, pipelines and storage facilities make this province a target,? he said. Cenaiko said ¾ÅÐãÖ±²¥ was the first province after the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks to create a counter-terrorism crisis management plan.
His office provides about $3 million annually to counter-terrorism tactics that involve Criminal Intelligence Service ¾ÅÐãÖ±²¥ working with police and the feds to assess threats and how to respond.
?I think one of the problems that we have right now is that our government is becoming too close with the U.S. in terms of U.S. policy,? Knight said.