Canadian Intelligence Eh
Everywhere you look these days terrorism and violent extremism dominate the headlines. Whether you follow what is happening in Afghanistan or Iraq, or in the West writ large, we are inundated with news of attacks by groups and individuals fighting for a 'cause'.In a world of multiple voices and opinions it can be very hard to know where to turn. One choice is to look to those who actually worked in counterterrorism in the national security world. In these half-hour podcasts 30-year Canadian intelligence veteran Phil Gurski is joined by a fascinating array of individuals with something meaningful to say about these issues as they provide insight into what they mean and what we need to do about them.
Episodes
206 episodes
Spies Like Us Season 2 Episode 19
The guys delve into Russian antagonistic moves in the West, the abuse of Canada's student visa programme, and encourage Marc Garneau to run for Prime Minister
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37:37
Episode 254 - Does TikTok really pose a 'national security' threat?
That TikTok is a very popular social media platform is not debatable. There are more than 1 BILLION users worldwide and 170 million in the US alone. However, the fact that TikTok is owned by a Chinese company is raising questions. What ha...
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24:19
Episode 253 - Another bad year for terrorism in Africa?
In its 2024 report The Global Terrorism Index, the Institute for Economics and Peace noted that for the first time an African country, Burkina Faso, took top sp...
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22:46
Episode 259 - Terrorism is terrorism, and that includes Jewish extremism
Setting houses on fire. Uprooting olive groves. Attacking schools. Killing civilians. These are things we have become accustomed to when we talk about jihadis but in this case we are talking about Israeli Jewish settlers in the West Bank....
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10:33
Spies Like Us Season 2 Episode 18: You got questions, we got answers!
The popular Q&A show is back! The guys talk about the greatest national security threats facing Canada in 2025 and what the heck is a UAP? Thanks to all who sent us their questions and comments.
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35:41
Episode 252 - When the soldiers come home from a foreign deployment, what then?
After 9/11 Canada was one of the first nations to send its forces to Afghanistan to find Al Qaeda and help Afghanistan oust the Taliban. Thousands of soldiers deployed and over a decade 159 died (in addition to seven civilians). Canada le...
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25:57
Spies Like Us Season 2 Episode 17
In the first episode of 2025 the guys talk about the New Orleans terrorist attack and weigh in on their own concerns for national security and public safety in the coming year.
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35:33
Episode 258 - While every attack is different there are some familiar characteristics here
Another vehicular attack, another round of questions on what happened and why. The families of those killed and injured in an ISIS-inspired incident want answers on why this occurred, what was known, and why it was not stopped. Was there ...
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11:01
Episode 257 - What does a vehicular attack in New Orleans tell us about terrorism on a global scale?
New Year's Eve is supposed to be a happy time, ushering out the old year and welcoming the new. For partygoers and revelers in New Orleans it was anything but. A truck rammed into people after midnight, killing ten (so far) and wounding a...
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10:35
Episode 256 - Terrorism is with us to stay unfortunately
I would imagine most people are sick of hearing about terrorism. We read and view reports on a daily basis where individuals and groups carry out attacks or, more hopefully, are foiled by law enforcement and security intelligence agencies...
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11:27
Episode 251 - What good is intelligence if it is not passed on to decision makers?
Those who work in intelligence have a tough job. Whether it is HUMINT, SIGINT, IMINT or any other 'INT', the data is vast and must be collected, processed, tested for accuracy, corroborated, analysed and put into short product so that bus...
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26:05
Quick Hits Episode 255 - Why can't we all get along in the terrorism studies field?
In many areas it is acceptable to put forward a hypothesis, based on what is known, and see where it goes. Honest practitioners will change that idea once new information is made available, and not hold to it in the face of clearly contra...
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11:34
Episode 250 - The Taliban has an opponent: here's to their success!
Ever since the Taliban retook Afghanistan in the fall of 2021 news out of that nation has been solidly negative. Public executions have been reinstated. Women's rights are as bad now as they were when the Taliban (Taliban 1.0) took power ...
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25:29
Episode 255 - Quick Hits Episode Is an act of violence terrorism if there is no underlying coherent ideology?
Another mass gathering, another vehicular attack, this time in Magdeburg, Germany. This is a trend, especially amongst Islamist jihadis (Nice, Barcelona, London, Berlin...) in recent years. This case is different, though, as the alleged m...
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10:41
Spies Like Us Season 2 Episode 16 - Operation Kris Kringle
In this last episode of 2024 the guys talk about the pluses and minuses of calling Luigi Mangione, the killer of a US healthcare executive, a terrorist, and why Santa Claus would make a GREAT intelligence operative
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33:27
Episode 249 - Who are the Balochis and what do they want?
Think Pakistan and you probably think of Al Qaeda leader Usama bin Laden's last refuge in Abbottabad (before US Navy Seals killed him in 2011). The country is a producer of terrorists - in India - but also a receiver of them - in the form...
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23:42
Quick Hits Episode 254 - Is it helpful to ignore the jihadi elephant in the room?
Ever since 9/11, Western nations have devoted a lot of time and money trying to understand 'radicalisation', and more narrowly the kind of radicalisation that leads to violence. In essence, this is what causes terrorism (terrorists are ma...
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11:04
Episode 248 - Is the killing of a US healthcare executive an act of terrorism?
As I have noted on far too many occasions no one can agree on what is terrorism and what is not. Not all acts of violence qualify as such and it is often very difficult to determine if the requisite underlying criteria (political, religi...
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21:43
Spies Like Us Season 2 Episode 15: AI-AI-Oh!
When you don’t know nuthin’ it is best to ask someone who does know sumpin’. The guys are happy to welcome AI guru Ryan Zorn, an ex-CSIS dude, to demonstrate the challenges of AI and the threats to national security. Oh, and hope springs eterna...
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37:39
Episode 247 - Is it time to yet to celebrate a new beginning in Syria?
Any time a brutal dictator is ousted is a good day for the world as there are far too many still in power in the world. The Assads, father and son, were particularly inhumane, using, among other tools, chemical weapons against their own p...
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26:12
Episode 253 - The West needs to stand up more to autocracy
The world is in a terrible mess right now. Autocracies like Russia, China, Iran, North Korea, Venezuela and others are running roughshod over human rights and international norms. All this has huge implications for national - and internat...
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10:50
Episode 246 - The gun that killed Thomas Darcy McGee, father of Canadian Confederation
There are undoubtedly many artifacts of historical importance that have gone missing, and the discovery of such is a meaningful event. The fact that the gun believed to have killed a leading Canadian politician shortly after the country's...
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30:57
Season 2 Episode 14 - Beware honey pots, even if you are Winnie the Pooh
The guys weigh in on partisan politics when it comes to national security, why it is important to vet contacts and why Xi Jinping uses honeypots (aside from the fact that he does look like Winnie the Pooh with a jar on his head).
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33:39
Episode 245 - Is jihad hip and cool?
If there is one thing that is consistent it is the tendency of youth to piss off their parents. They engage in activities that make the older generation pull their hair out. Do young people join terrorist groups for similar reasons? Is th...
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28:25
Episode 244 - When French Canadian separatists terrorised Quebec
We in Canada brag about being the 'peaceable kingdom' (as it turns out the title of my latest book on terrorism!). But not that long ago, a group of Quebecers, seeking independence for the province from Canada, engaged in a bombing campai...
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21:20