A History of Terrorism in Canada

Canada is often viewed as a peaceful nation, yet A History of Terrorism in Canada reveals a long and continuous record of politically and ideologically motivated violence. From the nineteenth-century Fenian raids and terrorism in Quebec to the 1985 bombing of Air India Flight 182 and the post-9/11 rise of lone-actor attacks, the book offers a comprehensive, contemporary account of how terrorism has shaped – and continues to shape – modern Canada and its place in the world.

Steve Hewitt dispels assumptions that terrorism is recent, un-Canadian, and easily understood. Drawing on years of security and intelligence research, he presents a sustained history of terrorism and counterterrorism in Canada, analyzing the motivations, methods, and meanings of political violence by diverse actors as well as the evolving responses of the Canadian state. The book addresses counterterrorism policies; societal responses to political violence; and key debates over definitions of terrorism, state terrorism, and effective prevention. Hewitt’s argument is organized around three central themes: how the enduring myth of Canada as a peaceable kingdom has affected perceptions of terrorism, the complex intertwining of terrorism’s domestic and international dimensions, and how terrorism has changed over a long history of British and American imperial power.

Clear-eyed and timely, A History of Terrorism in Canada demystifies the violence and paints a nuanced, transnational portrait of Canadian terrorism.