The government’s new CSIS bill got tabled yesterday, but because it was due to be tabled before the attacks happened last week, there is really nothing in there that responds to those attacks, and doesn’t include any of the previously reported measures like criminalizing the promotion of terrorism online. Instead, what it does is extend source protection and warrant provisions to help them conduct investigations when suspects go overseas. These provisions are largely in response to Supreme Court rulings that said that CSIS sources don’t have the same kind of blanket protections that police sources do. I’m also not sure about the provision for a warrant to investigate outside of the country, given that, well, it’s not the jurisdiction of our courts, so we would need some kind of agreements to operate in those countries I would think. The bill is also designed to help facilitate information sharing between our Five Eyes partners, but there are no corresponding accountability mechanisms, because the government insists that the current oversight from SIRC is “robust” and good enough. Never mind that SIRC faced significant delays in getting needed information from CSIS during their investigations, and that they misled SIRC in the course of another investigation. But hey, the oversight is “robust” and all.

After testifying at Senate committee yesterday, RCMP Commissioner Bob Paulson provided a couple of more details about the video that Wednesday’s shooter made, claiming that he seemed lucid when he made it, and that he made references to foreign policy and religion. Not that one seriously believes that you can armchair diagnose one’s mental state based on a video recording, mind you. Paulson also said that he wants the legal threshold lowered from “reasonable suspicion” to “reasonable belief,” and that preventing radicalization is the real key.

Major Canadian Muslim groups denounced terrorism yet again yesterday in Ottawa in the wake of Wednesday’s attack. Not that it will apparently matter, given the way that people keep ignoring the way that Muslim groups denounce terrorism while demanding that said groups denounce it… Elsewhere, Adnan Khan looks at the need for mosques to provide some post-conversion guidance to people, as other religions do, lest they fall into more radicalized perversions of the faith, which may be the case with the two Canadian attacks this past week.

Stephen Harper has opted not to attend the APEC summit in Beijing next month, but will instead stay in Ottawa for Remembrance Day. Given that the Princess Royal is supposed to also be visiting at that time, it does make a certain amount of sense, even before the events of last week. There is also talk that the rededication of the War Memorial, planned for the Princess Royal’s visit, should include Corporal Nathan Cirillo. NDP veteran’s critic Peter Stoffer thinks that there should be a statue of Cirillo to keep vigil of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier permanently. These calls seem to miss the point of the War Memorial, unfortunately.

Initial reports out of the security review on the Hill are showing some gaps, such as the radios of the various forces not being able to communicate with one another, and jurisdictional issues like forcing RMCP officers to turn over their service weapons when they enter the building. No doubt these silos will start to be broken down as part of the review process going forward. It also looks like uniformed Commons security guards are going to get semi-automatic handguns as part of the new measures.

Here’s a look at the different national security agencies and police forces that combat home-grown radicals.

In Hamilton, Stephen Maher looks at the community in mourning in advance of Corporal Cirillo’s funeral.

US Secretary of State is in town today for bilateral meetings and to express condolences after Wednesday’s attack, while the French president is making a state visit to Ottawa, Calgary and Banff starting Sunday. Hollande will address Parliament during his visit.

And John Tory is now the mayor of Toronto, while Jim Watson remains the mayor of Ottawa for another term.