Aaron Driver leaves court in Winnipeg in February 2016. Photo by Canadian Press/John Woods
On Thursday morning, CBC News reported that the RCMP had warned both the Toronto Transit Commission and Metrolinx about a security threat related to the incident in Strathroy, which is about 140 miles west of Toronto. There was an increased police presence at Union Station—the city's main transit hub—on Wednesday; however, a spokesperson for the Toronto police said there isn't anything to suggest that Toronto was a target. Driver's case is already starting to raise questions about how effective peace bonds are in terrorism cases. Over the last year, police have increasingly used the tool against people suspected of supporting or participating in terror groups, instead of laying formal charges. The RCMP has been tight-lipped about the whole thing, only releasing a vague statement on Wednesday saying that "a suspect was identified and the proper course of action has been taken to ensure that there is no danger to the public's safety." The RCMP is expected to hold a proper news conference on Thursday. Driver last spoke to the media outside the Winnipeg courthouse in February after further restrictions were added to his peace bond. "If I fought it, they would have added even more conditions than I'm already under," Driver told reporters at the time while wearing a black balaclava that covered his mouth. Earlier last year, Driver, who was born to a Christian family in Saskatchewan, told CBC News in an extended interview that he believed the 2014 terror attack at the parliament buildings in Ottawa was justified. "If a country goes to war with another country or another people or another community, I think they have to be prepared for things like [that] to happen." he said. "They had it coming for them. They deserved it." Driver had a tumultuous childhood and spent much of it moving back-and-forth between different family members and social services. His father was a member of the Canadian military, and his mother died when he was seven years old. In an interview with CBC News last year, Driver's father said Aaron started to become more religious around 2011 and 2012 when he fasted for Ramadan and ate halal meat. "When he was living at home, he was very secretive, a lone wolf. He didn't bring friends over, never talked about where he was going and what he was doing." Shortly after that, he said Aaron began espousing more extremist views. In October 2014, CSIS agents contacted his father to warn him about his tweets. "Some things made me want to throw up," his father said. "People beheaded. He's commenting on them like it's some big joke, and he's applauding their actions. There was a picture of Christian kids being assassinated, and he said they deserved it." Canada's public safety minister Ralph Goodale said in a statement that Canada's national terror threat level has not changed, and that the "safety and security of Canadians is of the utmost importance to the RCMP and we take all such threats seriously." Follow Rachel Browne onTwitter.Aaron Driver (left), guy in Wednesday's gvt-wide terror alert (right). — Stewart Bell (@StewartBellNP)August 11, 2016