A foiled terror plot targeting Toronto sought to destabilize the economy by attacking targets including the Toronto Stock Exchange with three truck bombs set off over several days — possibly starting Sept. 11, a court heard yesterday.
The Superior Court of Justice heard in an agreed statement of facts one of the alleged co-conspirators wanted the 2006 plot to “screw” Prime Minister Stephen Harper, the government and the military, hoped the attacks would be bigger than the London subway bombings, and believed they would make Canada rethink its involvement in Afghanistan.
He also said he wanted to “detonate the bombs on three consecutive days, rather than simultaneously, because he feels it would have a greater impact on Canada and result in Canadians not leaving their homes due to fear,” according to the statement of facts read by Crown lawyer Croft Michaelson.
The account in the agreed statement of facts was read into a court record during a sentencing hearing for Saad Khalid, 22, the first of the so-called Toronto 18 to enter a guilty plea.
