(MENAFN- The Peninsula) Canada vowed yesterday to toughen laws against terrorism as an opinion poll showed a majority of Canadians lacked confidence in their security services' ability to deter homegrown radicals who struck twice in the past week.
Investigators said there was no apparent link between the two attackers, who killed a soldier each in Quebec and the capital Ottawa, but Canadians worried about the parallels.
Police said both assailants had been through a radicalisation, a term the government uses to refer to Canadians who become supporters of militant Islamic groups. Both attackers were shot dead.
Justice Minister Peter MacKay said the government would act swiftly and go beyond the terms of a bill already planned that would strengthen the powers of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service spy agency.
"We're looking ... to see if there is a way in fact to improve or build on those elements of the criminal code that allow for pre-emptive action, specifically in the area of terrorism," MacKay told reporters in Brampton, Ontario.
"This has been an incredible motivational experience to say the least, in light of what took place this week," he said.
Canadians mourning the two soldiers adjusted to a tighter security cordon in Ottawa.
In Istanbul, packets of an unidentified yellow powder were sent to the Canadian, US, Belgian and German consulates, prompting security alerts. One Canadian consulate employee came directly into contact with a suspicious package and six others had indirect exposure, Turkey's disaster management agency AFAD said. Nine people were hospitalised as a precaution.
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