Martin Couture-Rouleau: A homegrown madman
Maclean’s | 22 October 2014

CSIS, meanwhile, has used the threat of homegrown terrorism to demand and receive further powers from the federal government

A bill has been tabled by the federal government. One of the powers gives “blanket anonymity to CSIS informants”.

His passport had already been revoked because of his unstable behavior, and the RCMP had him under surveillance.

Couture-Rouleau «était devenu vraiment extrémiste» | La Presse

‘No indication’ radicalized Quebec man was violent, lawyer says | Winnipeg Sun

The last two articles mention his financial problems, and that his wife didn’t allow him access to his child. He was well-liked, but it seems like his family were disturbed by the sudden changes and completely shocked by this incident.

So this is very different in some ways from the Ottawa shooter who, they say, could not get along with anyone. However, the Maclean’s article also describes Couture-Rouleau as a “loner”. So the two stories we’re hearing this week are about “lone wolves”, acting on their own supposedly, whether that’s true or not. There doesn’t seem to be any kind of organization at all [but there must be something influencing them].

The La Presse article mentions a story about how he purchased thousands of dollars worth of jewelry (and that does sound like psychosis – there is another story out there claiming he must have had schizophrenia), and a claim by his friends that he was into “conspiracy theories”.

And that is just the kind of thing the government would want to use against dissidents of all kinds (based on what the UK prime minister said recently about those who question 9/11 and 7/7) — when people question government stories about why they want to bomb Syria while saying they’re bombing “ISIS”, which isn’t the actual name of that group anyway, so the public is being fed garbage by the media continually. And people might question why Western governments want to war continually in the Middle East, constantly killing innocent people and being involved in atrocities such as what happened to the Libyan leader.

That’s called a “conspiracy theory” when people express discomfort about how the West is saying they are going to be attacking basically the allies of the same groups they must have been earlier supporting against Assad!

And we’re all supposed to be afraid to say anything, especially after these kinds of incidents.

The La Presse article quotes a friend who thought Couture had been brainwashed and that he could not have made the decision himself:

Je suis sûr qu’il y a quelqu’un qui lui a lavé le cerveau. Il doit avoir été influencé. Je ne peux pas croire que mon chum ait pris cette décision par lui-même», dit un ami de longue date.

So I think both of these incidents have this in common. The Ottawa shooter was a drug addict and very troubled, as the psychiatric report stated. Also he was involved in a robbery incident. So he was the kind who was desperate for money. And this Quebecois man also was having financial problems, and it looks to me like he was showing signs of psychotic or bizarre behavior even before this incident.

To be frank with you, it looks like they were both in some kind of state in which they could be easily influenced by someone to do what they did. That’s how it looks to me so far.