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Within 24 hours of Sunday’s shooting in a Quebec City mosque, 27-year-old Alexandre Bissonnette stood in a prisoner’s box as the 11 charges against him were read aloud.

By then, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had already condemned the killing of six worshippers as a terrorism attack. Other political leaders, federal and provincial, also called it an act of terror.

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And yet, Bissonnette was charged with six counts of first-degree murder and five counts of attempted murder — but not with any terrorism offences.

Why not? According to experts, there could be several reasons.

The Criminal Code of Canada defines violent acts as terrorism if they’re done, entirely or in part, for political, religious or ideological purposes and with the intention of intimidating the public or a specific segment of the public.

“It poses two extra burdens on the Crown in terms of proving what was in the mind of the accused at the time of the offence,” Alana Klein, a McGill University criminal law professor, noted on Tuesday.