Canada's Homegrown Terrorism

It has been said and repeated ad nauseam that one man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter. Difficult to argue the point when the acts of ‘terror’ are limited to a couple of countries, or kept internally, where one faction is hell-bent on convincing a narrow population of a particular point of view. Impossible to maintain a ‘freedom’ perspective once multiple countries are caught in the crosshairs, or when innocent civilians are being shredded to bits while sipping a beverage in a sidewalk café.

Canada has long enjoyed a positive international reputation, and with only a few exceptions, this country has been inoculated against participation in acts of terrorism, the Air India Flight 182 in June, 1985 being the most direct and public level of global terrorism participation.

As Canada continues with its immigration and multicultural policies welcoming tens of thousands each year to enjoy her way of life, and as Canadians themselves become more radicalized to a particular ideology, the threat of more frequent occasions of homegrown plots will undoubtedly challenge the intelligence community to identify and intercept the purveyors of domestic terrorism.

Nonetheless, Canadian citizens have left their shores to train with radical factions of Islam, contributing to worldwide panic and terror. Too, Canada has been abused as a thoroughfare for the transit of people and armaments focused on wreaking havoc on a more prominent international stage. From banking to flying to cyber-attacks, and all points in between, Canada has played a more important, albeit gullible, role in facilitating acts of international terrorism than its citizens would care to admit.

That said, one does not have to venture outside Canada, nor look very far into her past, to find numerous acts of domestic terrorism that created the much anticipated levels of fear, panic, and destabilization desperately sought by the perpetrators of these villainous deeds.

Here is a brief reminder of three notorious moments in Canadian history where homegrown terrorism ruled the news headlines and struck a major blow to the innocence and peace of mind of her conscience.

The Doukhobor

Aided in their escape from persecution from Tsar Nicolas 1 and the Russian Orthodox Church by the likes of renowned novelist Leo Tolstoy and international Quakers, the Doukhobor (Spirit Wrestlers) emigrated to Canada between 1899 and 1914 to land that is in present day Saskatchewan. Around 1908, some 6000 Doukhobor migrated further west to British Columbia, where they were permitted to live a communal lifestyle, forming a splinter group called Sons of Freedom (later to be known familiarly as the Freedomites).

For the next six decades, the Doukhobor often clashed with provincial and federal authorities over issues such as vital statistics registrations, education of children, and military service. Though claiming to live a life of passiveness and peace, the Doukhobor marched nude in parades, committed acts of arson, and bombed public buildings and railways. Their skirmishes with the British Columbia authorities over registering live births and sending their children to school led to the police seizing the children and holding them in captivity (forcing the provincial curriculum down their throats) for up to six years, while the parents languished in prison.

Stopping short of an apology to the Doukhobor, the British Columbia government issued a ‘statement of regret’ in 2004 for their heavy handed approach in seizing and holding the Doukhobor children.

The FLQ

This is arguably the best known version of Canadian homegrown terrorism.

During the period of 1963 to 1970, the Front de liberation du Quebec (FLQ) was involved in kidnappings, murder, bank robberies, and bombings to further their efforts to separate Quebec from Canada. The FLQ would lay claim to nearly 100 bombings in the Montreal area, most notably the February 13, 1969 bombing of the Montreal Stock Exchange where 27 people were injured. The FLQ robbed banks to finance their activities and stole dynamite and explosive materials to construct their bombs.

In what would be known as the October Crisis, the FLQ were responsible for the kidnapping and murder of provincial cabinet minister Pierre Laporte in 1970, and the kidnapping of British diplomat James Cross. In response to these acts of domestic terrorism, then-Prime Minister of Canada, Pierre Trudeau, invoked the War Measures Act on October 16, 1970, the one and only use during peacetime this country has been under what is commonly called Martial Law.

Eco Terrorism

There have been numerous incidents of eco terrorism desperately carried out in Canada. Typically these include acts against resource companies such as tree spiking and pipeline sabotage. None, however, rose to the frequency and intensity of those involving Wiebo Ludwig near Hythe, Alberta.

Wiebo Ludwig was the leader of a Christian community called Trickle Creek located in northwestern Alberta. They were a quiet and peaceful group until the 1990’s when conflicts arose between the Trickle Creek community and the oil and gas industry, who were rapidly installing new facilities in the area to extract sour gas.

Ludwig and his followers (mainly extended family members) linked the toxins from nearby oil and gas activities to the sudden onset of birth defects and stillborn deaths of animals and humans, and the poisoning of soil and water on the Trickle Creek farm.

Following peaceful attempts to have the oil and gas conglomerates held responsible for contaminating the environment, acts of sabotage against assets of the polluting companies became more frequent, including bombings of pipelines and distribution sites, some of which Wiebo Ludwig would later be imprisoned.

Interestingly, during one of the trials against Ludwig, the Crown was forced to admit that the RCMP acted as agent provocateurs when the storied police force themselves detonated a bomb at a pipeline facility, with the apparent blessing of the Province of Alberta and the energy company that owned the asset. As intended, the media ate up the story and made veiled or direct links to Ludwig and his followers.

In 1999, adolescents in a pick-up truck took a joy ride out to the Trickle Creek farm and trespassed onto the land, driving in an erratic manner without regard to the well-being of humans or animals. In non-legal terms, they were spinning donuts and frantically racing around the property near some occupied camping sites. Fearing for their safety, some residents of Trickle Creek shot at the pick-up truck. One of the bullets ricocheted, striking and killing one of the joy riding teenagers, Karman Willis.

Wiebo Ludwig died on April 12, 2012.

Tinkering with Nature – Man’s Failure to Coexist with Wildlife

Mankind continues to encroach on the last remaining vestiges of wild lands as urban sprawl drives short sighted governments to increasingly carve up migration routes and natural habitat in favor of furthering the financial agenda.

On its own, there is absolutely nothing nefarious about financial growth for corporations that provide jobs and drive those economic indicators heard on nightly newscasts. However, when that expansion clashes with ancient ecosystems, migratory paths, breeding grounds,  and wildlife habitat, our response is to slaughter the diminishing numbers and genetic purity of wildlife that most concrete jungle dwellers rarely have the opportunity to see outside the caged prison of a zoo.

To ease barriers faced by developers, mankind seems perfectly willing to slaughter any wildlife in the path of ‘progress’. Routinely, those charged with wildlife management have introduced wild horse culls, coyote culls, wolf culls. bison culls, elk and deer culls, and a host of marine and land based wildlife culls to suit short sighted agendas.

Recent news reports of the bison cull at Yellowstone National Park and British Columbia’s wolf cull led to outrage as it was learned the reasons behind the culls. Most would likely agree that, if the reason for the culls is to prevent the spread of disease, then the ends justify the means. However, when those culls are introduced because of a contractual obligation, as is the case with the Yellowstone bison, then perhaps the contracts need to be renegotiated to reflect the realities of a more educated and enlightened people of today.

The Bison Cull at Yellowstone National Park

Once, up to 60 million head of bison thundered across the prairies of North America, providing the aboriginals with a staple of food, clothing, and other uses, until they were hunted to extinction by whites seeking only the commercialized pelts. By the early 1900’s, only a few dozen bison remained.

Today, the successful protection of bison has resulted in approximately 4900 head in Yellowstone National Park. But that’s too many according to a contractual agreement between federal agencies and Montana state representatives that has legislated a maximum 3000 head in the Park.

The Interagency Bison Management Plan (IBMP), signed in 2000, was the result of rancher’s fears that when bison migrated to lower elevations for winter forage, they would infect grazing cattle with brucellosis, a bacterial infectious disease. This, despite there not having been recorded such a case.

Ranchers in Montana are a powerful and influential lobby that are principally responsible for the eradication of wolves in Yellowstone until that species was successfully reintroduced using packs from Canada in 1995. Simmers to revert to large scale wolf culls in Yellowstone are brewing again.

To be fair to ranchers, they are hard-working people raising their herds as a source of income from which they make their living. However, in the interest of protecting an ancient ecosystem that existed long before their arrival, better solutions need to be introduced that can ensure the survival of wildlife and ranches alike.

The Wolf Cull in British Columbia

British Columbia is its second year of a two year planned cull of 500 wolves throughout the province, costing the taxpayers 2.2 million dollars. What makes this massive cull even more devious is its alleged use of a Judas wolf, something provincial authorities deny but the Wildlife Defence League (WDL) says it has proof in the form of an audio confession from one of the contractors bloodying its hands on behalf of the province.

A Judas wolf (so-called in a biblical reference to its betrayal to the pack) is outfitted with a radio transmitter collar which is tracked by a helicopter. When the tracking signal shows the wolf stationary for a period of time, it is indicative the wolf is at the den, at which time the chopper swoops in and a sniper opens fire. The wolves don’t stand a chance, except Ghost, the named Judas wolf, whose life is spared so it can lead the flying assassins to a future pack.

Wolves are revered in aboriginal culture and are an apex predator, helping to balance the ecosystem we seem hell-bent on destroying.

So, why is the beautiful province of British Columbia tinkering with the wolf population? Not coincidentally, it is because it has previously tinkered with populations of prey species, and before that, with other predator species. The circle continues to tighten like a noose, as the boundaries for wildlife shrink.

Now What?

Evidently, we lack the foresight to coexist with wildlife. Those agencies we task to help us understand the behaviors and ecosystems of wildlife are failing in their mission to be the advocates for managing development of our public lands. Agreeably, it cannot be an easy mandate. Financial pressures and bureaucratic meddling make the job difficult.

What is needed is international and inter-regional cooperation between agencies. That means federal national parks agencies, provincial and state wildlife agencies, municipal land use planners, affected special interest groups (such as ranchers) must all approach this imperative with open minds and solution-based long term vision, with the goal of eliminating the short sighted sporadic and conflicting wildlife policies that currently exist.

What we are doing is definitely not working well for man or wildlife.

Top Thirteen Tips for Exhibiting Success at Trade Shows

As someone who has participated in umpteen trade shows exhibiting services with the goal of generating sales leads, my keen eye has observed trade show booths that seem to be flush with attendees, whereas in others you could shoot a cannon and not hit a sole. Working a trade show booth is hard work. If you don’t think so, you’re probably not doing it right.

Regardless of the size of your company, a trade show exhibit can be a cost-effective way to introduce yourself to the greatest number of potential customers who are interested in the types of products or services you offer. Your role at the trade show or exhibition is to engage those attendees to garner sales leads for immediate purchase and to plant the top-of-mind seed for future contact. But if you wait for customers to come to you, you might as well pack up and head home because you are wasting your company’s time and money. It could even be argued that you are harming your employer’s image by sitting back and watching the world go by.

Here are my Top Thirteen Tips for Exhibiting Success at Trade Shows…

Be Ready. Ensure your booth is set up, neatly arranged, attractive to the eye, and that you have sufficient quantities of sales literature (collateral material) available. Take the time to ensure your pen works, as well as those you are using at the booth. Test the writing surface so you can mitigate any issues with customers filling out entry ballots, etc. If you are using visual presentations, test the Wi-Fi to ensure you are signed on and can receive a signal. Make sure everything works. Ease up on your cologne/perfume, make sure your hygiene is in check, and wear comfortable shoes. Remember, this may be your very first impression with a buyer. Make sure you appear like you deserve their business.

Get Rid of Your Chair. No matter what you think, nobody likes approaching a trade show booth where people are sitting down. You look lazy and uninterested. Being on your feet for an entire trade show is exhausting, but you are there to hype your products and services. Working in tandem with your colleagues can provide ample opportunity for rest breaks, but sitting down on the job sends the wrong message.

Stay Off Your Phone. I’ve heard every excuse in the book as to why someone needed to answer a Tweet or text or call. Treat your shift on the trade show floor as an important meeting with a VIP client. When you are focused on that smartphone, you look obviously preoccupied and distracted. You can’t help your potential customer when you are in that mode. Treat this time as if you were with another customer back at the office, or wherever you conduct your business.

No Eating at the Trade Show Booth. The worst case I have ever personally witnessed was a trade show exhibitor who happened to be representing a restaurant chain openly eating food obviously obtained from a competitor. I was gobsmacked. Even if you do not represent a food and beverage company, eating in your booth while working not only is rude and makes you seem unapproachable, it is rife with the dangers of spilling on yourself or getting some little bit stuck in your teeth, etc. Just don’t do it.

Arrange Your Booth to Draw Attendees In. Having an attendee step into your trade show booth is like getting your first YES in the sales process. The attendee is obviously curious enough in whatever you’re flogging to commit extra time to learn more about your company. It also removes this potential customer out of the traffic flow where his attention will be diverted by passers-by bumping into him or other attendees rifling around near him. Accordingly, do not place a table blocking the widest end of your exhibit. Better that any table you may need be off to the side to avoid it being a barrier.

Be Professional. Act With Integrity. At many trade shows and conventions, you are likely to be exhibiting alongside your competitors. No matter what a potential customer says or does, never ever use this forum to put down or in any way disparage your competitor or another exhibitor. Take the high ground or else this will come back to bite you on the derriere. This is your opportunity to promote your products and services, not compare them to others.

Introduce Yourself to Neighboring Booths. I have often picked up a direct referral from a neighboring exhibitor as they engage an attendee who asked a question or made a comment to that booth. The referral you get in such a situation sounds to the potential customer like a ringing endorsement, even if the other exhibitor knows little of you. Having that kind of segue into a conversation with a potential customer means you are this close to a sale. Do not overlook your neighboring booths.

Hello. Eye Contact. Smile. No matter if you have to say it ten thousand times in a day, make eye contact, smile, and say a genuine hello, even if they are passing you by. Do not judge the attendee on how they are dressed. Every attendee is either a potential customer, or a potential influencer. If they respond, you can gauge their interest through body language and set in motion your sales pitch accordingly. If not, you have lost nothing. Be real.

Move It. Keep moving slowly around and outside your booth. It gives the impression of activity. And as you know from frequenting your favorite hangout, people want to be where other people are. Standing idle makes you look bored. So does having your hands in your pockets, so avoid that too. Besides, if you are moving around, even during a lull in the general trade show activity, you are more likely to avoid the negative images of boredom and disinterest.

Actively Engage Attendees. You must be active in reeling in attendees. Chances are they have only limited time to spend at the trade show, so engage attendees to invest their time with you. You don’t have to act like a carnival game operator, but you do have to initiate the first contact. Do so with enough gusto without seeming creepy.

Invite Attendees to Interact. After you have engaged an attendee, invite them to interact with your booth. There are plenty of examples in which this can occur. Invite them to enter a draw. Offer wrapped candies or promotional giveaways. If you wish to get more elaborate, offer an attendee a complimentary photo against your backdrop. Maybe you have a complimentary 5 minute massage by a professional masseur. Inevitably, while the attendee is interacting with your booth, they are chatting with their colleague, or asking you questions about your product, or maybe only subconsciously imprinting your company in their memory bank. Like any sales process, the more time that attendee spends with your company and its products, the more likely they are to consider purchasing from you.

Own Your Real Estate. This is by far my most important piece of advice. Your booth may only be 10x10 feet, but there is no law that says you need to be imprisoned in that invisible gate. I always step in front of my booth space with brochures in hand so attendees must encounter me. Be omnipresent around your booth actively moving about greeting attendees and inviting them to interact with your booth. This is uber effective when you are working your trade show booth with colleagues. I am usually the wrangler due to my outgoing personality. I spend 3 seconds with anybody coming my way. I am unavoidable but not interfering or pushy. Think of the wrangler as a resume. Its job is to get you to the interview. Same holds true for the wrangler. His or her job is to get an attendee to interact with the booth where the real sales process can begin. Your reach during your trade show presence is increased significantly by utilizing this tactic. I spend zero time inside my trade show booth and sales leads quantity and quality skyrocket.

Follow Up After the Show. No company can afford to send you and your colleagues to a trade show or convention just because. You are there to promote your products and services. If you have taken a sales-oriented approach, you will have captured some follow-up data from attendees you have engaged. Use it wisely. Sift through to separate those attendees into categories. I like to use three divisions. The urgent pile represents potential customers most likely to buy immediately and those who have asked you to send additional information on a specific product or service. Next, is what I like to refer to as lookers, or shoppers. These seemed interested in your company and what it has to offer, but are in no immediate rush to buy. Then there are those who perhaps just stopped by your booth to enter your free draw or did not demonstrate much interest in your company. While all are worthy of a follow-up, spend your immediate time with the keeners, then the lookers, then the ballotters, in that order. If you do this correctly, your entire list should be appropriately addressed within two weeks.

Each trade show and convention poses a myriad of challenges and opportunities. Booth sizes may differ. Placement on the show floor can impact the traffic you experience. However, regardless of what you sell, or where you exhibit, or how large your company is, employing these tips will deliver a profound influence on your next trade show exhibition.

The Truth About War History

It is possible to have more than one interpretation of history. Whether that history is one of your darkest skeletons or that of cataclysmic world events, your perspective shapes the truth of what occurred.

The waters get murkier as external influences interfere, adding another dimension replete with its own agenda. The same events, therefore, can have multiple histories.

World War Two, and in particular the European Theatre of that calamity, created a new international map drawn by the triumphant Allied Forces. Within the confines of what became the most devastating world event in terms of human suffering, were sidebar episodes, no less shameful, no less tragic, and no less evil than the war itself.

Estimates of 50 million killed during World War Two were widely held as a reasonably accurate estimate. However, that figure was established long before news of atrocities emerged from Russia and Asia that easily double that estimate. Shrouded in secrecy in a pre-internet era, totalitarian rulers could conduct mass murder to their heart’s content.

During times of war, morality and humanity rarely take center stage. Often used as an excuse, war itself becomes the reason to violate man’s basic tenants, setting neighbor against neighbor, and dredging up disagreements from antiquity based on perception.

World history is unfortunately rich with examples of holocausts. In more modern times, euphemisms such as ethnic cleansing are substituted, presumably to reserve the former for what the Jewish people and others experienced under Nazi occupation. Or perhaps we do so in an effort to put lipstick on a pig. Regardless of the term used, the practice of exterminating a people based on whatever criterion is not a new concept. Nor is the ideology passé.

We tend to use the Nazi regime as a benchmark due to its chronological proximity. Either we, or someone close to us, were personally affected by World War Two. The other primary reason Nazi atrocities are often cited is the amount of propaganda and profile that it received, and continues to receive by the likes of scholars and Hollywood. Contrast this with the equally grave atrocities being committed in the very same time period by such nations as Russia, China, and Japan, little of which is studied or discussed with the same veracity today, even by direct descendants of their respective victims.

Too, the glare of the Nazi atrocities continues to blind us to those abominations occurring today, particularly if those ethnic cleansings are of those where we are not fully vested, or from where our attentions are purposefully diverted. In an attempt to rationalize, we ask ourselves, How can we equate today’s holocausts within the framework of what we have been taught by the horrors of World War Two?

As in our private lives, we like to tuck our collective ugly history into neatly compartmentalized crates, out of sight, out of mind. Perhaps that is why the old adage of history repeating itself is so accurate.

Rarely do wars solve anything. They merely create another historic chapter in which to arm one side with enough desire for retribution to rile the minions into a frenzy fevered enough to ignore humanity and morality yet again.