Montreal metro information easily accessible
My alarm is my television. I can set it to go on at a certain time, on a certain channel and off again later. So this morning it was set for 10h. So it went on. On the LCN news I heard something about terrorists that had the Montreal metro map on thier computer. I got out of bed quickly and came to the living room to watch the news piece. But I was still half asleep so I didn’t get much of the story. So I just found the online article (in French).
Ok, here’s my best at a little translation of the article. According to LCN, the Spanish police has found detailed Montreal metro maps on the computer of a man questionned about the Madrid March 2004 bombing which killed 191. Abdelhak Chergui and his brother were arrested back in May 2005. The police think they provided the bombers with technical help in the preparation of the attacks. Apart from Montreal metro maps, there was also information on the type of metro wagons used, the seat plan inside the wagons, the number of people using the metro as well as how the wagon doors operate. The Spanish authorities could lay new charges on the 2 men in light of this newly gathered information.
Yet most of the information the media say these terrorists had can easily be found online. For example on this Wikipedia page they say the type of wagon, this extensive Montreal metro website also has a ton of information, this website with detailed information on the wheels of the wagons, the tunnels, etc, and even footage of the metro running on Radio-Canada’s website. Is it a good thing to have all this information out there??
It took me 5 minutes to find all these websites. Terrorists probably have more ressources than I do. Imagine the information they can gather! It’s a bit scary when I think about the possibility of an attack. But then I really hope the Montreal authorities are prepared to prevent to such an event. I think they are…
Update, 15h48: “The federal Liberals are directing $110-million to improving transit security in Canada’s six largest cities. Transport Minister Jean LaPierre [...] says Ottawa knows that Canada has been targeted by foreign terrorists and the new measures will go a long way towards improving not only security, but the readiness of emergency agencies. [...] LaPierre says the program has been in the works for months and has nothing to do with the flurry of pre-election spending that’s been going on this week.” - from Montreal Gazette website…
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They could just as easily have found that out by taking a ride in the metro…
As for the authorities being prepared, that’s why LCN is running this story. They want the government to spend millions of dollars in security equipment. This probably won’t prevent an attack, but ensures the rich get richer.
Yes… Ok… You can get some information by riding the metro. But I think these guys were in Spain to plan the attacks. They can’t ride our metro from Spain right?
I do like your idea about the $$ involved…
Wow! This scares me! I love the city and shudder that anything this awful was in the works. Canada usually does well at not mixing in the boiling pot of world’s hot spots on terrorism. I wonder what drew their interest in YUL?
Terrorism is precisely that: someone finds a map somewhere of a city and immediately after, everyone thinks they are in great danger.
I salute web sites that are proud of our installations. If it continues, we won’t even be able to take pictures legally in the streets. Oh sorry we already can’t. Well, THAT’s what we should be afraid of.
If they are planning on attacking Montreal, they really have nothing to do, seriously, there are at least a good thousand better places to attack around the world, including Toronto and all the cities in the USA. What would they gain by attacking Montreal?
Maybe because Montreal is a less obvious target than Toronto or another Canadian city? I have no idea.. :)