By Michael Nickerson
Paranoia has a bad rep. As the saying goes, “You may be paranoid, but that doesn’t mean they’re not out to get you.” Let’s face it; part and parcel with an effective military is a healthy dose of skepticism and mistrust. It’s the duty of our armed forces to seek out possible threats, anticipate dangers and be aware of who might be foe and not friend. Good intelligence and preparation wins the day, or so the theory goes.
So it was with some relief that I read the recent reporting by David Pugliese in the Ottawa Citizen concerning intelligence gathering and public information planning by the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF). It confirmed for me, as it should for all Canadians of pure hearts and minds, what we all expected: The enemy is closer than we thought. Very close.
As examples, we now know that there are Yukon residents who are very interested in information on wildfires, and British Columbians showing keen and troubling inquisitiveness in Amazonian forest fires. We also know through deep intelligence gathering, that there are people in Ontario who are dissatisfied with their provincial government’s management of long-term care homes. Needless to say, sedition runs deep and wide in this country. Can provincial coup d’états committed through the combustion of conifers be far off? Think about that for a minute…chilling indeed.
Thankfully the CAF has already prepared for such threats with what it calls Precision Information Teams, or PiTs for short. These are small teams composed of young, motivated members combing social media sites like Twitter, Facebook and Instagram for anything that might catch their eye.
As the chief of staff for Canadian Joint Operations Command, Rear Adm. Brian Santarpia explained to the Ottawa Citizen, the CAF refrains from hindering PiT members’ enthusiasm in data collection, saying “the young folks who are doing it are going to surprise us every time with something that turns out to be more relevant than any of us thought it would be.” No stone left unturned, no mouse click left unnoticed. I feel safer knowing they know where I’ve surfed, don’t you?
As you can imagine, there are some who aren’t onboard with the new military order of domestic intelligence gathering. But rest assured members of our CAF not only know better than those people, they’re working to help change their minds.
In order to help deal with what might be considered irrational and detrimental behaviour by the Canadian public during the current pandemic, there are patriots (may they be blessed) who have planned to deter social disobedience and ensure compliance of government edicts. This would not only involve “influence activity” specialists but stratagems from the war in Afghanistan; namely portable radio stations and vehicles broadcasting live information by loudspeaker. It went well there, so I take heart it will work here, and so should you!
But we have a problem, my dear friends. Some see this as an intrusion, perhaps even a violation of public trust. Unfortunately, the domestic data collection effort will now be reviewed, no doubt curtailed, heaven forbid abandoned. And efforts toward shaping the views and minds of the citizens in this country face stiff opposition. When the pandemic plan for what a good patriot would call public clarification and compliance came to the attention of Chief of Defence Staff Jonathan Vance, he shut it down. He’s since announced his retirement. A coincidence? I think not!
I have no doubt that CDS Vance has already researched the temperatures required to ignite at least a half-dozen types of trees in this country. He’s been very busy admitting things that just aren’t helpful for the public good. How dare he be transparent, even in the face of bad press?! He could have stood strong and faced the enemy. But he’s one of them, my fellow patriot. He’s a Canadian!
Take heart that the CAF is still watching, monitoring, and identifying the enemy within. They’ll find them and they’ll let you know what you’re supposed to think about that when they do. Trust the CAF, because they don’t trust you.
