Government removes all mention of ‘Sunni’ and ‘Shia’ extremism from terrorism threat report

The government has again revised a report that is supposed to update Canadians on the major terrorist threats they face, removing all references to Islamist extremism.

While the report, first released in December, had initially identified attackers “inspired by violent Sunni Islamist ideology” as the main terrorist threat to Canada, that line has now been cut.

All mentions of “Sunni” and “Shia” extremism were also taken out of the annual report, along with section headings on both types of terrorism.

The so-called Islamic State, Al Qaeda and their regional affiliates use terrorism to promote their versions of Sunni Islamist extremist ideology, while Hezbollah is a Shia extremist group.

But Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale told reporters Thursday he wanted the terrorist threat report to use language that “did not impugn or condemn an entire religion.”

WATCH: No mention of Islamist extremism in terror threat report

2:36 No mention of Islamist extremism in terror threat report

“The issue here are people who engage in terrorist activity that actually defies the precept of their religion, so to allow their deviant behavior to be a criticism of a total religion or a total culture is just wrong,” he said.

“The idea, the objective here is to get language which is precise, which focuses on the issue that is being reported on in a clear and accurate way that does not impugn an entire community or an entire religion that is not responsible for the terrorist behavior.”

WATCH: Conservative MP Pierre Paul-Hus said Thursday he wants to find out why the Liberals erased references to “Sunni” and “Shia” extremism from the government’s annual terrorism threat report

1:13 Conservatives want to know why Liberals erased ‘Shia’ and ‘Sunni’ forms of extremism from terrorism threat report

The government had already cut the term “Sikh extremism” from the report following complaints. A section heading on violence linked to the fight for an independent Sikh homeland is now gone.

The latest change was announced on Twitter and Facebook by Liberal MP Ruby Sahota, who wrote that she had worked with Goodale to “remove language” from the report.

“The report no longer contains the terms ‘Sikh,’ ‘Shia,’ and ‘Sunni,'” she wrote. “Words matter. Our agencies and departments must never equate any one community or entire religions with extremism.”

But in a blog post Wednesday, former Canadian Security Intelligence Service analyst Phil Gurski likened the government’s repeated second-guessing of the report to a comedy routine.

“To my mind this is just political correctness and electioneering gone mad,” wrote Gurski, who also worked at Public Safety Canada, which produced the threat report.

“The inability to call a threat what it is makes it harder to identify and neutralize it.”

WATCH: Goodale says government is working on terrorism terminology after report draws anger

2:09 Goodale says they’re working on descriptors of terrorism after report draws anger

After the report prompted complaints, Goodale said he was confident it was “never intended to encompass or malign entire religions.”

He said he had asked officials to review the terminology “and make the appropriate changes to the language used throughout the government to describe extremism.”

The latest revision of the report contains no references to religions with the exception of terrorist group names such as ISIS and the International Sikh Youth Federation.

Conservative MP Pierre Paul-Hus accused the government of playing politics and said he did not understand why it would “just erase this information critical for the security of Canada.”

Despite cutting references to Sikh, Sunni and Shia extremism from the annual report, Public Safety Canada continues to use the terms in its online list of outlawed terrorist groups.

Asked how the descriptions maligned communities, Goodale’s spokesperson Scott Bardsley said: “The impact of these terms may not be readily apparent to some who come from places of privilege, who seldom experience judgment based on skin colour or religion alone.”

Stewart.Bell@globalnews.ca