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At a workshop organized by CSIS, Canada’s spy agency, in October 2015, the threat of foreign fighters returning to Canada was assessed in stark terms.

Some believed the threat to be mitigated by the fact that Canadian foreign fighters disproportionately tend to die in combat — foreigners go first when it comes time to blow themselves up.

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Those who don’t die often choose to remain in Muslim countries post-combat, or come home disillusioned and wanting to lead a normal life.

But the CSIS workshop, a report of which was obtained through access to information legislation, also heard from less optimistic analysts who said they believed the returnees represent “a major and unparalleled threat to the West.”

“Even a small minority of returnees with combat experience and continued allegiance to ISIL represent a major threat,” the document reads.

The bombing Monday of a pop concert in Manchester is just the latest incident in the intervening 18 months to bolster that second perspective.