The bombings in Sri Lanka over the Easter weekend bring home the need for countries around the world -- including Canada -- to be ever vigilant regarding the possibility of terrorist attacks.
As of Monday morning, the death toll from a series of co-ordinated bombings on Easter Sunday in that country had reached 290 people and hundreds more were injured as a result of the blasts.
Christian churches as well as luxury hotels were targeted. Potential bombs at other sites, including an airport, were defused.
As of Monday morning it was not clear who was responsible for these attacks.
Canada has seen its share of terrorism over the years. Following are just some incidents.
On April 23 last year, Alek Minassian drove a van through Toronto killing eight women and two men as well as injuring 16 people.
Before doing so, he had posted a video stating that the "incel rebellion has begun." "Incel" is short for involuntary celibacy, a term some men use when they can't get women to sleep with them.
On Sept. 30, 2017, Abdulahi Sharif drove a rented vehicle into Edmonton police constable Mike Chernyk then stabbed him near Commonwealth Stadium.
As he fled the scene in that vehicle he ran down four pedestrians. The incident has been investigated as an act of terrorism. An ISIS flag was found in the vehicle.
On Aug. 10, 2016, Aaron Driver was killed by police during a confrontation in Strathroy, Ont., after he had detonated an explosive device in the back seat of a taxi, injuring himself and the taxi driver. The confrontation followed a tip from the FBI that Driver was planning an attack.
On Oct. 22, 2014, Michael Zehaf-Bibeau shot and killed Nathan Cirillo, a soldier guarding the Canadian National War Memorial in Ottawa. He then stormed Parliament, and was eventually shot dead.
On Oct. 20, 2014, two members of the Canadian Armed Forces were rammed by Martin Couture-Rouleau, a convert to Islam. One of the two eventually died of his injuries. Couture-Rouleau was shot dead.
In 2013, two men were charged in connection with an alleged plot to derail a train from New York to Toronto.
During the 1960s the FLQ (Front de libération du Québec) carried out a series of bombings -- mostly of English Canadian businesses and the homes of prominent English Canadians in the province -- as part of a campaign for an independent Québec.
So we have seen our share of terrorism of one kind or another in this country -- even in this province.
CSIS (Canadian Security Intelligence Service) along with RCMP and local police forces, continue to do their part to prevent terrorism in this country. But we too have to be vigilant and report any suspicious activity to authorities.
My heart goes out to all those affected by the bombings in Sri Lanka but also to those who have suffered attacks in Bali, Paris, London, the U.S. and elsewhere in the world.
