What is the most serious threat to public safety?
Canada is prone to extreme weather that threatens public safety in the form of flooding and heavy snowfall and winter weather. Citizen’s safety is also threatened by criminal activities in Canada that fall under federal mandate. This is in the form of drug and weapon-related crimes perpetrated by gangs. More recently an additional threat to public safety has been the coronavirus. This also falls under the umbrella of a public safety threat invoking a coordinated response of highly trained scientific and medical personnel. These public safety officials have been tasked with containing and reducing the spread of the virus to protect Canadians. Canada, like other Western nations, is also under threat of terrorism. One of the most recent attacks of terrorism to take place in Canada was that committed by Saad Akhtar. Saad surrendered at a police station claiming he had an explosive device. This followed Akhtar wielding a hammer along the street in which he attacked and murdered 64-year-old Hang-Kam Annie Chui. Canada faces acts of unprovoked and seemingly random acts from radicalized individuals. These acts are almost impossible to stop based on the whim of individuals living within Canadian society. All that can be done is to have the facilities to mobilize highly trained and armed police officers at a moment’s notice.