I JOINED a group of Canadians and other visitors on a sidewalk on Younge Street in downtown Toronto to watch a TV in a window showing the horror of the attacks on the World Trade Center WTC).

It was midday, about an hour after the planes, commandeered by terrorists, plowed into the two skyscrapers and the Pentagon.

As we thought about what would motivate individuals to carry out these unpardonable and evil acts, workers and shoppers in this largest of all Canadian cities streamed out of office buildings, stores and even the Salvation-like Goodwill stores to head for home.

As I walked at Bay and Front near the Union Station, an intersection normally clogged with people at that time, it was as bare as a Sunday morning. People were fearful of copycat attacks. They wanted to get home to follow the incomprehensible situation on their TVs. These Canadian workers, among whom were probably many of the hundreds of thousands of immigrants from the Caribbean area and Guyana, wanted to reach the safety and comfort of their homes and families.

Now, more than a week after the senseless and horrendous crimes, the news broadcasts on the TVs are still dominated by them. On the radio phone-in shows, that's all there is.

Media coverage of such related issues of the tragedy, such as increased security (and longer waits) at the airports, is taking place against the backdrop of a deep cross-country outpouring among Canadians of "solidarity", as Prime Minister Jean Chretien put it in his first response on the Tuesday evening, with the American people in their hour of need. Prayer services were held all over Canada.

Thousands of people, again undoubtedly including ‘New Canadians' from the Caribbean and Guyana, assembled at Parliament buildings in Ottawa. As I exited the subway at the Yorkdale station in north Toronto, even a street musician was playing patriotic American songs on his organ. As I walked among the piles of flowers, wreaths and messages outside the US Consulate on University Avenue, I was moved by the sounds of people actually crying.

It is estimated that some 130 Canadians are among those missing following the WTC attacks. Many others worked in surrounding buildings. Canada's security services are now investigating reports that some of those involved in the terror had entered the US through Canada. It is documented that foreign terrorists have in the past used Canada as a base for previous attacks on US targets. Canada is also a member of the North American Treaty Organisation (NATO), a quasi-military grouping of the former ‘Western' powers and is therefore committed to fulfill certain obligations at times like these. In an interview with Canada's National Post newspapers, Minister of Foreign Affairs John Manley said bluntly: ‘Canada is at war with terrorism…(we shall) stand shoulder to shoulder with the United States'. In Parliament, known as the House of Commons, Mr. Chretien said his Liberal Party government would "do what it must do to defeat terrorism".

Sober analysts here, however, note that Canada's involvement in the inevitable response from Washington will most likely be in the area of intelligence gathering and general counter terrorism efforts rather than actual military commitment. A poll carried out by the state-run Canadian Broadcasting Corporation indicated only about 31 per cent of Canadians would like to see Canadian troops being part of any US-led alliance.

Significantly, in his speech, the Canadian Prime Minister also underscored that any fight-back and counter measures were against terrorism, not against Islam or Muslims, reflecting the general media-fed opinion that the attacks were carried out by forces associated with Osama bin Laden, said to be in Afghanistan.

The other parties in the Canadian Parliament, the right wing Canadian Alliance and the Progressive Conservatives and the social democratic New Democratic Party, also urged longer established Canadians to desist from being part of a back-lash against Arab Canadians or others who physically look like they come from the Middle East.

Regrettably, however, disturbing incidents were reported. A Toronto schoolteacher told me some Muslim students at high schools were being harassed. A Hindu temple in the city of Hamilton west of Toronto was burned down while a mosque in Oakville was damaged. These, however, appear to be isolated incidents.

Nevertheless, in a statement issued by over a 100 Canadian Muslim organisations, in addition to condemning the terrorist acts in New York, urged the media to "exercise restraint" and maturity in how it blames the tragedy on any particular ethnic group. The Canadian Muslim Civil Liberties Association also reported receiving several disconcerting reports about harassment and actual physical attacks.

There are those who fear the terrorist acts would play into the hands of right wing forces and even the Canadian state and opinion making institutions. Quoted in the Toronto weekly newspaper now, MIT professor Noam Chomsky noted: "(The) attacks were major atrocities…the primary victims, as usual, were working people, janitors, secretaries, fireman, etc. It is likely to prove to be a crushing blow to Palestinians and other poor and oppressed people. It is also likely to lead to harsh security controls, with many possible ramifications for undermining civil liberties and internal freedom… In short, the crime is a gift to the hard jingoist right, those who hope to use force to control their domains.

Toronto lawyer, Charles Roach, said in an interview with the Chronicle, that "in times of crisis, civil rights are quite vulnerable'. Roach, who has Jamaican roots, said he hoped the WTC attacks would not be used to whip up xenophobic sentiments against visible ethnic minorities in Canada and potential immigrants and refugees of such stock.

Other level-headed and sober analysts are urging Canada not to be part of any retaliatory response by a US-led alliance that would disrespect the sovereignty and self-determination of certain countries and movements worldwide. A political solution, based on the positive involvement of the United Nations and on the principles of peace to economic and social equality, must be found. It is the only way to control and ultimately eliminate terrorism, this viewpoint holds.
Norman Faria, Guyana's Consul in Barbados, is now on a two-week visit to Toronto