Tories under fire for using terrorist propaganda to promote C-51

By Matt Dykstra
Friday, March 6, 2015

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EDMONTON — An Edmonton MLA blasted the federal Conservatives for an "irresponsible" social media post about terrorist threats to West Edmonton Mall.

On Monday, the federal Conservative Party of Canada shared a screengrab on Facebook from a video by al-Shabaab, a Somalia-based terror group that attacked Kenya's Westgate Mall in September 2013, killing 67 people and wounding more than 175 others.

A portion of the video encourages attacks on several other malls, including West Edmonton Mall.

"Jihadi terrorists are threatening Canada — we need to give our police and security forces the tools they need to protect us from the threat of terrorism. Add your name if you agree," read the post from the Conservatives, linking to a petition supporting the federal government's Anti-Terrorism Act, Bill C-51.

The post didn't sit well with Edmonton-Castle Downs MLA Thomas Lukaszuk, who said the message runs contrary to police assertions that the threat isn't imminent.

"As an elected official, I don't want Edmontonians to live with some undue fear and avoid public venues like West Edmonton Mall," he said, adding the post suggests that Canada's law-enforcement agencies are under-resourced.

"The Tories have doubled the fear because they told Edmontonians that there's danger and the police will not protect them,” he said.

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