The war against the Islamic State supposedly ended in triumph last month as the Iraqi president proclaimed the end of the "fake state." But the fact that Canada is still knee-deep in the global post-9/11 war against terror is one Canadians seem to have little time for, says Steven Zhou.

Canada escaped the recent wave of massive online extortion cyberattacks mostly by fluke and must be ready to protect itself against another wave of such assaults, which most likely have already been launched.

The recent bombing in Manchester, England, which killed 22 people (including children) and wounded dozens more, was followed shortly after by a temporary (though very unusual) severing of intelligence-sharing by the British with the U.S.

CSIS's use of Stingrays, and its practice of retaining large amounts of Canadian metadata, raise concerns over the oversight of national security in Canada. And two recent reports show that there's still a lot of work to be done on that front, says Steven Zhou.

There’s been a rise in this country’s level of intolerance as of late. It’s difficult to square this trend with the self-congratulating tone and image of Canada’s relationship with refugees in general.

"Fake news" is part of the social and political backlash from those tired of what they see as an unfair and rigged status quo, Steven Zhou writes.

Canadians of all stripes must fight their country's fear-based fixation on "national security" if they want to undermine systemic Islamophobia.