In a year-end interview with one of Canada’s state television networks, CTV, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau claimed that he believes returning Jihadists — like those ISIS members headed back to Canada after losing the fight abroad — can be rehabilitated into “powerful” voices against radicalism within Canada.
To say that’s wishful thinking, well, that might just be an understatement.
Now that ISIS is nearly 98% defeated — a product of an increased offensive line against the Jihadists in Iraq and elsewhere — Canada anticipates that some of their departed brethren who left to join in the fight for the Caliphate, will return to their motherland. Unlike the United States, apparently, Canada plans on welcoming the ones who claim to be reformed back with open arms.
And Trudeau thinks that’s a good thing.
“We know that actually someone who has engaged and turned away from that hateful ideology can be an extraordinarily powerful voice for preventing radicalization in future generations and younger people within the community,” he told the news network.
This puts him at odds with the man in charge of rehabilitating returning radicals, Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale, who recently told the same news network that it might be nearly impossible to completely reform an ISIS fighter hardened from the battlefield. In fact, Goodale said, once a Jihadist has left to join the violent crusade, the chances of him returning with good intentions are almost zero.
“If you want to have a good solid hope of some kind of successful intervention, it has to be at a much earlier stage. You have to prevent the problem before it exists,” Goodale said. “Once a person has been in a war zone, once they’ve been actively engaged in terrorist-related activities, the capacity to turn them around is pretty remote.”
But nevertheless, the doe-eyed Trudeau says he’ll persist in turning the Islamic radicals into assets for Canada. He does say that he plans on monitoring returning Jihadists for problems, but he’s ready and willing to take them back anyway.