Federal cabinet ministers were warned months before the September 11 terrorist attacks that Canadian charities were being exploited to raise money for terrorist organizations and that extremist groups were using Canada as a base for fundraising and logistical support, according to newly declassified records.Cabinet minutes obtained through Access to Information reveal ministers discussed terrorist financing, organized crime and extremist threats during a confidential meeting on May 8, 2001, roughly four months before Al-Qaeda carried out the attacks on New York and Washington that killed 2,753 people, including 24 Canadians.The records show one unidentified cabinet minister urged greater scrutiny of charities suspected of being used to finance terrorism."One minister commented on the need to closely examine the use of charities as positive channels for terrorist fundraising," the minutes state. The documents do not identify the minister or any organizations under suspicion.Then-defence minister Art Eggleton also warned colleagues that Canada faced security threats from both domestic and foreign-based terrorist groups."Minister Eggleton noted contemporary security threats can come from inside Canada or by way of foreign terrorist elements operating in the country," the minutes say.The records add that Eggleton told cabinet he had been working with the solicitor general to address those threats and warned emerging nuclear, biological and chemical risks required serious attention.Cabinet also received a security briefing from then-solicitor general Lawrence MacAulay, who cautioned that organized crime and international criminal networks were becoming increasingly sophisticated..According to the minutes, MacAulay said transnational crime required greater attention and emphasized Canada's efforts to work with the United States to ensure bilateral political and economic relations were not harmed by perceptions that Canada represented a weak link in North American security.The minister also warned that advances in technology were strengthening both organized crime and terrorist organizations operating internationally.One month after the September 11 attacks, cabinet received another classified briefing, this time from then-Canadian Security Intelligence Service director Ward Elcock.According to the October 9, 2001 cabinet minutes, Elcock told ministers that supporters of "most of the world's terrorist organizations" were present in Canada."He stated that terrorists had traditionally used Canada mainly as a venue for fundraising, recruitment and logistical support," the minutes state.The CSIS director also warned that Al-Qaeda had changed its strategy during the 1990s."However, since the early 1990s the Al-Qaeda terrorist network has seen Canada as a base from which to launch attacks against the United States," the declassified records say.Elcock told cabinet his briefing focused on religious extremism, particularly Sunni Islamic extremism, and referenced Osama bin Laden's 1998 declaration calling on Muslims to kill Americans and their allies worldwide.The documents state CSIS investigations had confirmed the presence of supporters of Sunni terrorism in Canada, although no individuals or organizations were identified in the records.The declassified files do not indicate what specific action, if any, the federal government took in response to the warnings before the September 11 attacks.
