Keep Calm and Carry On, Stephen Harper

Doubling down on counterterrorism at home and abroad won't make Canada a safer place.

The attack on the Canadian Parliament building on Wednesday raises familiar questions about how democratic leaders should respond to such events. The death of a Canadian soldier demands a respectful mourning, but the broader issue is how this event should be understood and how Canada's government and society should react. Will the attack be met with calm resolution — as one might expect after a damaging flood, a destructive tornado, or a tragic fire — or will the fact that the attack is an act of "terror" reinforce the paranoia and "clash of civilizations" worldview that has warped the West's response ever since 9/11?

When dealing with the possibility of terror attacks by homegrown copycats, a central problem is the impossibility of devising a 100 percent foolproof defense against any misguided extremist or a mentally disturbed person who decides to lash out with violence....

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