TORONTO – Wednesday’s shooting on Parliament Hill that left two people dead, including Cpl. Nathan Cirillo, was not the first time people have carried out acts of terrorism (or planned to) on Canadian soil.
Cirillo was shot and killed Wednesday morning while guarding the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier on Parliament Hill in what Prime Minister Stephen Harper later labelled a terrorist attack.
Here’s a partial list of some of terrorist attacks carried out or planned in Canada.
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The Front de libération du Québec (FLQ)
The FLQ was a separatist paramilitary group that operated in Canada during the 1960s. The group was allegedly responsible for over 100 different attacks over seven years including the bombing of the Montreal Stock Exchange in 1969.
The group’s actions culminated with the 1970 October Crisis during which it kidnapped James Cross and Quebec Labour Minister Pierre Laporte who was later murdered.
Pierre Elliot Trudeau instituted the War Measures Act during the crisis, suspending civil rights in Canada.
The Air India Bombing
The 1985 bombing of an Air India flight on its way to London from Montreal didn’t happen in Canada, nor was it in response to Canadian policy, but it did kill over 260 Canadians.
A total of 329 people died, including 268 Canadians.
READ MORE: Soldier killed in Ottawa identified
The 2004 firebombing of a Montreal Jewish school
On the first day of Passover in 2004, Sleiman Elmerhebi participated in the firebombing of a the United Talmud Torahs School in Montreal. The attack caused $800,000 in damage.
Elmerhebi pleaded guilty and said it was a reaction to the ongoing conflict in the Middle East. He was sentenced to two years in prison.
Anne Aubé, the crown prosecutor in the case, called the attack an “act of terrorism” during the trial.
The VIA Rail Plot
The 2013 VIA Rail Plot was one of the two unsuccessful plots on the list.
Three men, Chiheb Esseghaier, Raed Jasser, and Ahmed Abassi, were charged and accused of plotting to attack a VIA rail train travelling between Toronto’s Union Station and New York City.
Esseghaier and Jasser were accused of working with the support of Al-Qaeda.
The Toronto 18
The Toronto 18 plot was thwarted by authorities in 2006. Eighteen people were arrested and accused of planning to storm the CBC building in Toronto, the Parliament Buildings in Ottawa and behead the Prime Minister.
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