The subway system shuttling people through Canada’s largest city has received 34 bomb threats since the beginning of 2014 — but the public didn’t hear about most of them.
“In Canada, we’ve been very low-key in our communications about threat and how to manage it. We tend to keep it quieter rather than talk up what the threat will be,” said crime specialist Ross McLean.
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“There’s two sides to it: one is they could decide they don’t want people to be scared, the other could be they want to downplay the risk.”
The culture in Canada is that we generally don’t really talk about threats and how to respond to them, said security expert David Hyde.
The total number of bomb threats to the TTC subway system was mined from a document outlining the reason for tens of thousands of service delays over the years; the transit commission deferred questions about its bomb threat response to the Toronto Police Service. Toronto police did not respond to request for comment by time of publication.
Some incidents have been made public, such as the April 2016 case of a 54-year-old Toronto man who was charged with public mischief after several bomb threats were made against TTC stations. Police said at the time that there was never a danger to the public.
While threats can often be chalked up to a prank, the very real risk that exists can’t be ignored, said Hyde.
“If I was in charge of security I would be concerned about it and trying to figure out if there were any patterns there or we can try to track down why this is happening,” said Hyde.
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The threats could have stemmed from a phone call, or a discovered note or fake device that led to the transit disruptions, said Hyde. It’s unusual for attackers to tip-off authorities that an attack is imminent. However, Hyde said, a fake bomb call could be a “dry run” for those plotting an attack, who could then observe how authorities respond.
The TTC certainly is not alone in keeping threats quiet. Public places have always been subject to bomb threats, said Hyde, the difference now is that we are “living in a different time.”
“We are living in times where the level of threat has increased, and the tempo of the threat and the incidents has increased. We have had things happen here, and the states, things are happening in Europe,” said Hyde.
“There is potential for there to be a terrorism attack, so we can’t be complacent. If I’m the public in Canada, I’d want to be treated like an adult on the issue.”
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Hyde believes Canadians should be made more aware of active threats, and have a better understanding of what to do if they see threats online and how to identify someone at risk.
“I think the public needs to be brought up to speed … we haven’t got to worry about terrorists around every corner in Canada but we have to be aware of the reality and have to be prepared and that’s only going to happen when the country engages with the public instead of keeping them in the dark,” said Hyde.
There’s a lot more going on behind the scenes to monitor and control threats in the country than most Canadians realize, the experts agree. While Canada’s threat level remains low, the public needs to know if that changes — and we can’t be complacent.
“I always think the public is better off knowing what the risk is and what the threat level is so that they can protect and respond themselves,” said McLean.
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McLean believes that Canadians should be briefed regularly by the RCMP or other officials about ongoing threats here and in other parts of the world, to show that, “someone’s got your back.”
Canada’s public transit users should take comfort in knowing that passenger safety is of the utmost importance, said Steve Weir, inspector and manager of Transit Safety Operations at GO Transit in Ontario, in an email to Global News.
“Recent terrorist attacks across the world are a stark reminder that the threat from international terrorism is a genuine risk,” Weir wrote.
While they might not share the information with the public, transit officials work closely with Canadian and international law enforcement and security agencies to review best practices and exchange information, he said.
“As recently as May 2017, transit law enforcement agencies from North America and the U.K. met in British Columbia to review security incidents and share information to better plan and prepare for ensuring security on open mass transit systems,” Weir wrote.
“We are committed to ensuring that our transit system is as safe and secure as possible.”