(Canadian Press) The federal government failed on Friday to persuade an Appeal Court that a schizophrenic man who attacked a Canadian Forces recruiting centre was a one-person terrorist group.
In upholding the acquittal of Ayanle Hassan Ali, Ontario’s top court rejected the idea that someone committing a terrorist act could legally be considered to be acting for, or in association with, a group of which the person was the only member.
“When Parliament wishes to describe conduct done for the self-interest of an actor, it uses different language,” the Appeal Court ruled. “A person cannot, at one and the same time, commit an offence and be the sole member of a terrorist group for which the offence was committed.”
