OTTAWA— Islamist jihadists have “declared war” on Canada and other democratic countries leaving Canada no option but to “face that head on and deal with it,” Prime Minister Stephen Harper said Thursday.

In remarks that stepped up the political rhetoric and represent a change in the government’s characterization of the security threat posed by Al Qaeda, the Islamic State group and other extremist groups, Harper issued a blunt assessment of the significance of Wednesday’s attack in Paris, tying it to October’s attacks and past plots in Canada.

“The international jihadist movement has declared war. They have declared war on anybody who does not think and act exactly as they wish they would think and act,” Harper said Thursday in Delta, B.C. “They have declared war on any country like ourselves that values freedom, openness and tolerance.”

“And we may not like this and wish it would go away, but it is not going to go away and the reality is that we are going to have to confront it,” he told the media after an announcement on apprenticeship programs in British Columbia.

Harper said Canadian police and security agencies have largely been able to identify threats here, and prevent them from coming to fruition. “But this recent development, the emergence of the so-called Islamic State and its sudden control of vast territory with vast amounts of financial resources has escalated this to a whole new global level.”

The comments underscored the Conservative government’s resolve to continue to wage a military campaign against the Islamic State (also known as ISIL), as well as to legislate new anti-terror powers for domestic police and security forces — and signal a new attempt to justify Canadian action in terms that have legal importance.

Harper said his government would move “very early” after Parliament resumes Jan. 26 to tighten anti-terrorist measures at home, promising a broader range of legislated powers for security forces “to identify potential terror threats,” to boost powers of detention, arrest, “and other actions where necessary.”

Harper hinted Canada could extend its current military mission in Iraq, saying Ottawa would continue to engage with allies fighting the spread of the so-called Islamic State — which he called “an entire jihadist army now occupying large parts of Iraq and Syria.” The mission involving Canadian jet fighters and special commando force advisers on the ground training Kurdish soldiers to fight was authorized last October for just six months.

With an April deadline approaching, Harper said the allied military effort has had “considerable success” when measured against one of its main objectives — to halt the territorial advance of ISIL.

“While it has not been rolled back significantly, the advance over territory due to allied action has been more or less stopped at this moment and in fact I think there’s even some small reversal of the gains that ISIL has made,” the prime minister said.

Harper said a second objective was to “reduce the threat that this movement poses to the wider world and in particular to this country, and I think there’s more work to be done to accomplish those things but obviously that’s why we continue to be committed to this mission.”

“We haven’t taken any decisions on next steps. We will continue to evaluate the mission according to (these) criteria and according to the risks we think it ultimately poses to our country. That’s ultimately why we are there.”

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Harper urged continued vigilance, and encouraged “citizens and communities to co-operate with our security agencies in terms of any requests for information or assistance.

“At the same time we also encourage people to go about their lives to go about their lives and to exercise our rights and freedoms and our openness as a society as loudly and as clearly as we can because that is the best way of defeating what is ultimately a movement of hatred and intolerance.”

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