OTTAWA - A national security expert is urging the Harper government to reflect calmly on the shooting incident in Ottawa before changing counter-terrorism laws.
Wesley Wark, who teaches at the University of Ottawa, says the key question is whether the security laws passed after the 9-11 terrorist attacks have served Canada well.
Wark says only once there are answers should the government consider changes to resources, organizations or laws.
Otherwise, he warns, officials will just be flailing in panic — something he would like to think is un-Canadian.
The Conservatives were already poised to introduce changes to the law governing Canada's spy service when a gunman fatally shot a soldier Wednesday at the National War Memorial before storming Parliament Hill.
The proposed amendments — Harper told the House of Commons today they would be "expedited" — would give the Canadian Security Intelligence Service more power to track terror suspects abroad and provide blanket identity protection for the agency's human sources.
