The Mackenzie Institute for the Study of Terrorism, Revolution and Propaganda is an independent and non-partisan

think tank A think tank, or policy institute, is a research institute that performs research and advocacy concerning topics such as social policy, political strategy, economics, military, technology, and culture. Most think tanks are non-governmenta ...

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

. It was founded in 1984 and focuses on geopolitical security matters. The institute has been a registered charity with the Canada Revenue Agency since 1992. In 2019, it was ranked as the 36th best think tank in Canada and Mexico by the

Think Tanks and Civil Societies Program The Think Tanks and Civil Societies Program (TTCSP) was a non-profit program at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, that operated from 1989 to 2021. TTCSP was originally established at the Foreign Policy Research Institu ...

at the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...

Founding

It was founded in 1984 by Brigadier Dr. Maurice Tugwell, an academic and former career

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

officer. Tugwell served in the Army from 1943 to 1978, and was awarded the rank of Commander of the

Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established ...

in 1973. After retiring from the Army, he earned a

doctorate A doctorate (from Latin ''docere'', "to teach"), doctor's degree (from Latin ''doctor'', "teacher"), or doctoral degree is an academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism ''l ...

in war studies from the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...

and emigrated to Canada where he became a professor at the

University of New Brunswick The University of New Brunswick (UNB) is a public university with two primary campuses in Fredericton and Saint John, New Brunswick. It is the oldest English-language university in Canada, and among the oldest public universities in North Americ ...

(UNB). Before founding the Mackenzie Institute in 1984, he founded the Centre for Conflict Studies at UNB in 1978. The Institute is named after explorer

Sir Alexander Mackenzie Sir Alexander Mackenzie (or MacKenzie, gd, Alasdair MacCoinnich; – 12 March 1820) was a Scottish explorer known for accomplishing the first crossing of America north of Mexico in 1793. The Mackenzie River is named after him. Early life ...

Current activities

The Mackenzie Institute publishes online research papers on a wide variety of geopolitical security matters, with a focus on

terrorism Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of criminal violence to provoke a state of terror or fear, mostly with the intention to achieve political or religious aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violen ...

political extremism Extremism is "the quality or state of being extreme" or "the advocacy of extreme measures or views". The term is primarily used in a political or religious sense to refer to an ideology that is considered (by the speaker or by some implied share ...

, warfare, and

organized crime Organized crime (or organised crime) is a category of transnational, national, or local groupings of highly centralized enterprises run by criminals to engage in illegal activity, most commonly for profit. While organized crime is generally th ...

. The Institute has been called upon by committees of the

Parliament of Canada The Parliament of Canada (french: Parlement du Canada) is the federal legislature of Canada, seated at Parliament Hill in Ottawa, and is composed of three parts: the King, the Senate, and the House of Commons. By constitutional convention, the ...

to provide expert testimony on security issues. This has included appearances before the Special Senate Committee on the Anti-terrorism Act and the House of Commons Standing Committee on Justice, Human Rights, Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness in 2005, the Special Senate Committee on Anti-terrorism in 2010, the House of Commons Standing Committee on Public Safety and National Security in 2015, and the Standing Senate Committee on National Security and Defence in 2016. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the Institute partnered with the CEO Global Network to put on a series of webinars on security issues. According to the ''2019 Global Go To Think Tank Index Report'' (

), the Mackenzie Institute ranks as the 36th best think tank in Canada and Mexico.

Funding

The Institute is a non-profit organization that depends upon individual donors and charitable foundations; it does not accept government funding. It has been a registered charity with the Canada Revenue Agency since 1992, and in 2018 it had revenues of $87,926.00 against expenses of $93,303.00.

Governance

The Institute has an advisory board and a board of governors. As of July 2020, the advisory board is chaired by Lewis W. MacKenzie, a retired Canadian general. The board of governors is chaired by Lou Milrad, a business & technology lawyer (retired), and its past chair is David McFadden.

Controversy

Several newspaper reports have described the Institute as a conservative or

right-wing Right-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that view certain social orders and hierarchies as inevitable, natural, normal, or desirable, typically supporting this position on the basis of natural law, economics, authorit ...

organization. In 1994, journalist

Michael Valpy Michael Granville Valpy (born 1942) is a Canadian journalist and author. He wrote for ''The Globe and Mail'' newspaper where he covered both political and human interest stories until leaving the newspaper in October, 2010. Through a long career ...

criticized the Institute for producing what he described as an ideologically-driven report of supposed "leftist conspiracies". John C. Thompson, then the president of the Mackenzie Institute, repeatedly rejected such descriptions, describing himself as a "classical liberal". He has written, "If being a traditional liberal these days means being condemned as a

right-wing nut "Wingnut", wing nut or wing-nut, is a pejorative American political term referring to a person who holds extreme, and often irrational, political views. Definitions and etymology According to Merriam-Webster, a "wingnut" is "a mentally derange ...

, I plead guilty". In July 1995, members of the Animal Liberation Front allegedly sent a pipe bomb to Thompson's office in Toronto. His assistant could have been killed, except that the device's battery had become disconnected through mishandling by Canada Post. In 2005, the Institute released a report entitled "Waiting for the Kaboom: Indicators to Watch for", described as a citizen's guide to finding terrorists. In this report, John C. Thompson encouraged Canadians to watch for theft of credentials and credit cards, attempts to buy weapons in bulk, increased visits to access tunnels under office towers, and large groups of men living together "for no apparent purpose". He also warned Canadians about people wearing bulky clothing in hot weather, arguing that suicide bombers sometimes wear several sets of underwear to protect their groins for the virgins they believe martyrs receive in the afterlife. These guidelines were welcomed by some law enforcement groups, but were also met with some criticism. Canada's Public Safety ministry declined to comment on the release. The Mackenzie Institute later issued a revised version of the report, under the new title "Precursors of Hostile Intent: Signs of a Potential Terrorist Attack".John C. Thompson, "Precursors of Hostile Intent: Signs of a Potential Terrorist Attack"
, Mackenzie Institute, current as of 20 March 2006, accessed 15 May 2007.

References

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External links

Official Website of the Mackenzie Institute
Political and economic think tanks based in Canada Think tanks established in 1984 1984 establishments in Ontario