The federal public safety minister says a rash of co-ordinated bomb threats across several countries including Canada presents an opportunity to learn about law enforcement's capacity to respond to what often prove to be groundless concerns.
At an appearance in Toronto, Ralph Goodale says international police and intelligence officials are reviewing the wave of bomb threats to learn "every conceivable lesson.''
He says one area of focus will be police's ability to respond to and investigate threats like the ones that rolled out via email in Canada and the United States on Thursday.
Police departments in Toronto, Montreal, Calgary, Ottawa and Winnipeg, as well as RCMP detachments in B.C. and Manitoba and Ontario's provincial force, were investigating multiple threats.
Responses ranged from quiet investigations at potential targets to full-scale evacuations of busy buildings such as downtown Toronto subway stations.
Authorities in Montreal said the five they investigated turned out to be unfounded.
Police forces have a range of bomb threat protocols, saying they have to wrestle with the duty to balance public safety with the limits of their internal resources.
- With files from the Canadian Press