Message from Dan Hiebert

As noted in my previous report we held a major TSAS workshop in November (on national security and community relationships). In the January-March period we planned our next workshop, which will take place in May, 2014 (details will be included in my next progress report). I am happy to report that we have hosted our first extended international visitor at TSAS, beginning in January this year; Benoit Gomis brings to TSAS his expertise in the area of international criminal networks and their relationship with the illicit drug trade. He spend the last few years conducting research at Chatham House, one of TSAS’s partner organizations, and will undoubtedly be able to help us maintain that connection.

Work also continued on the Canadian Incident Database (CIDB) in the period of record, including a small workshop dedicated to this activity (held in Ottawa in March). The workshop included all of the major stakeholders in Ottawa and James Ellis (who leads the CIDB project) is incorporating the ideas that circulated at the meeting into the database. Thus far, his team has processed some 1,700 entries for the database.

The other major development in our normal operations this past quarter has been a significant improvement to the TSAS website. We have added a new feature enabling users of the website to search our affiliate list to find experts on various topics, which should assist members of the media and our government partners. We have also launched our Virtual Library, which is focused on the work of scholars associated with TSAS. If we are able to continue operating as a network, this will become a major resource for all of our partners.

Turning to our main activity, TSAS submitted three major funding proposals in the period of record. The first, which was successful, was an application to the Canadian Safety and Security funding program. I am pleased to announce that we have been awarded $580,000 through this initiative. These funds will support the ongoing operation of TSAS from 2014 to 2016. They also will support the establishment of three new ‘signature’ TSAS research projects, on: the detailed biographies of individuals who have contemplated becoming a foreign fighter (including a mixture of those who chose to vs. not to take up this idea); investigating internet forums as vehicles for radicalization; and projecting the issues that might inspire the next ‘wave’ of terrorism in Canada.

We also submitted an application to the Kanishka Project Funding Program, which has been tentatively accepted (we are close to signing the final agreement, and more details on this proposal and its outcomes will be provided in my next report).

Finally we also submitted a very large application to the Letter of Intent stage of SSHRC’s Partnership Grant system. Our application was approximately 100 pages. If successful, this will provide core support for TSAS from 2015-2022. The application was submitted in February and we anticipate hearing the result of the competition in early June.

As we look forward, in the next quarter, the final three months of our initial Kanishka grant, we will stage another major workshop in Ottawa, gear up for the CSSP and new Kanishka projects, and hear the results of our SSHRC application. We will also carry on our other general activities. For me, the most positive news from the period of record is the fact that TSAS can continue as an organization for at least the next two years.