Investigating implicit biases around race and gender in Canadian counterterrorism

Abstract

A growing body of research on terrorism and countering violent extremism (CVE) has increasingly questioned the lack of attention to—and myths around—women involved in extremist and political violence, while other research has drawn attention to racial and religious stereotypes that affect national security policies and practices worldwide. While Canada is often heralded as a global leader in multiculturalism and gender equality, the nation’s national security sector still faces significant challenges around implicit biases related to race and gender. This study asks whether gender and racial stereotypes impeding counterterrorism and CVE in other countries are also affecting policies and practices in Canada. Using twenty-six in-depth interviews with practitioners, police officers, academics, and government officials from seven major cities across Canada, this paper argues that persistent gender and racial stereotypes are indeed a key challenge impeding Canada’s efforts to adequately address radicalization into and disengagement from extremist violence.

Estimating implicit and explicit racial and ethnic bias among community pharmacists in Canada

“…It is important to note that Canada’s health care system, work environments, and potentially underserved populations differ from those in the U.S. In Canada, there has been much less research attention on bias against people other than Black and Indigenous communities ( Schmidt, 2020 , Gran-Ruaz et al, 2022 ). In particular, there is a significant gap in research regarding Arab Canadians, who are among the country's quickest-growing visible minorities( Canada, 2022 ).…”

Contesting Power: A Comparison of Muslim Civil Society Responses to Counter-Radicalization Policies in Canada and the U.K.

“…This marks a significant shift in the CR landscape in Canada as prior efforts to prevent 'radicalization' were wrapped in the community policing functions of the RCMP and community outreach activities of Public Safety Canada. It appears that the RCMP is also interested in expanding preventive efforts, such as training "frontline officers and community members to recognize the signs of violent extremism so that problems can be spotted and dealt with before they get out of hand" (S. Bell, 2019). CR efforts continue to focus on and frame Muslim violence as exceptional, with recent counterterrorism and CR initiatives showing significant racial bias (Schmidt, 2020). There also appears to be interest from the RCMP, CSIS, and Public Safety Canada in focusing on more than just 'Islamist' violence (S. Bell, 2020; Canadian Security Intelligence Service, 2020).…”