Terrorism in North America (Canada, United States, Mexico), 1970 – 2010: a Research Note

Abstract

The shooting on September 5, 2012 at Parti Quebecois headquarters in Montreal that police now describe as a full blown assassination attempt against this party’s “premier-designate” Pauline Marois, resulted in the death and injury of two persons. Montreal police believe the suspect, Richard Blain, was spurred to action by the underlying prospect of increased French influence in Quebec.[1] That event, reminiscent of the shooting of U.S. Representative Gabrielle Giffords (D-Arizona) and others in Tucson in 2011, compels us to re-examine the issue of terrorism trends in Canada from a comparative analysis perspective that takes into account “long-haul” terrorism trends in Canada, the United States, and Mexico between 1970 and 2010 as well as a select number of more contemporary events.