Members of Alberta’s Somali community are appealing directly to the Harper government for help to prevent their children being lured away to fight in the Middle East and expose the people who are doing it.
Alberta’s Somali community sent a letter to the Harper government, asking for a partnership for resources to find out who is convincing an increasing number of youth to leave the country and go overseas.
The letter is also calling on other Somali-Canadians to speak up when they become aware of extremists in their midst.
Speaking from New York City, Prime Minister Stephen Harper did not specifically respond to the letter, but he did comment about the government’s approach to ISIS.
“Good relationships with our Muslim community has actually really helped to identify a lot of these threats before they become much more serious because they’re anything but aligned with this kind of thinking.”
The letter also states that the issue doesn’t just affect Canada’s Somali community. It says that all Muslims need to speak up about extremist activity.