RCMP, Edmonton police chief, terrorism

Recent Edmonton police chief terrorism comments have been rejected by the RCMP. The comments made were about the oil industry and the city of Fort MacMurray harboring jihadist sympathizers. In a National Post interview with Edmonton Chief Rod Knecht the commander told the media that the northern Alberta region is a common stopping place by Canadians who need money, and these individuals leave the area and join extremists groups in other countries. Knect stated “You can go up to Fort McMurray … you’re relatively anonymous, you’re in one of those work camps and you can make a hockey sack of money in a very, very short period of time. You can make a whole bunch of money in a very short period of time if that’s what you want to do, and you can do it in relative anonymity.”

In response to the terrorism comments from the Edmonton police chief a response was given by RCMP Cpl. Sharon Franks, who said “The Key issue of radicalization is not centred around a location, local economy or other geographic concern. Rather, it lies with identifying those persons, wherever they may choose to live or work, who may be vulnerable to being radicalized for a specific purpose. There is no indication that Fort McMurray is more at risk than any other community in Alberta, or the country for national security concerns. The RCMP is concerned by any terror related activity that is a direct threat to Canada as a country. We take any threat to the security of Canadians and their livelihood very seriously.”