Canadian Damian Clairmont who was killed in Syria in January 2014 while fighting for ISIS. Source: Supplied

But recently it has been labelled a ‘hotbed of terrorism’ after five youths from the same mosque had fled the city and joined the Islamic State.

It also emerged concern over the problem was so great local police had been working with Muslim leaders to try to stop the tide of recruitment and that several imams had managed to “dissuade” some young men from joining “rebel forces” linked to al-Qaeda last year, the Calgary Herald reported.

Whether or not this Perth-sized Canadian city deserves the terror hotspot tag is the focus of a VICE documentary which examines claims Muslim youths were being radicalised in what appeared to be at a more alarming rate than anywhere else in the country.

It also explores whether the recent changes to Canada’s anti-terrorism laws which were introduced following the two ‘lone wolf’ incidents will add to the problem.

According to Canada’s Secret Intelligence Service (CSIS), around 130 citizens have travelled overseas to join extremist groups, and it estimates at least 30 are fighting in Syria.

Five of those are youths who attended the 8th & 8th Musallah mosque in Calgary.

Among them was Damian Clairmont, a 22-year-old Canadian who died while fighting in Syria in January last year.

Clairmont, who turned to Islam in his late teens after he tried to take his own life, is believed to have been radicalised around the time he started attending the 8th & 8th mosque.

Screengrab pf Christianne Boudreau, mother of Damian Clairmont who joined ISIS. Picture: VICE Source: Supplied

His mother Christianne Boudreau says her son initially found solace in the Islamic religion but then began to slowly withdraw from those who helped him transition to the faith.

“He was happy, calm, peaceful and got along with everybody,” she told VICE of when he first turned to Islam. “Then he started wandering to different mosques ... and that is when we started noticing changes.”

Those changes, she said, occurred when he started going to the 8th and 8th mosque.

“No more friends came by, if someone was picking him up they would pick him up around the corner and if he got a phone call he wouldn’t take it in the house, he would go outside,” she explained.

“He started becoming much more agitated. And he started challenging beliefs that ... completely contradicted how I raised him.”

Navaid Aziz, imam at the 8th & 8th Musallah, Calgary. Picture: VICE Source: News Corp Australia

Navaid Aziz, the imam at the 8th & 8th Musallah, says he did not know Damian or the other youths from the mosque who joined IS and believes they may have been radicalised by preachers online.

“For the most part people were shocked (at learning the five had joined IS),” he explains. “When you don’t find purpose and meaning in life, you find death. and that is what I feel a lot of these kids ended up finding.”

Mr Aziz said it broke his heart that organisations such as IS had destroyed “his religion” with their “reprehensible acts”.

Ms Boudreau explained not long after Damian changed he announced he was moving to Egypt to study.

Christianne Boudreau with her Damian Clairmont before he left for Syria. Picture: VICE Source: Supplied

However he never made it to Egypt. Instead he had flown to Istanbul then crossed into Syria.

She only discovered this after intelligence officers turned up at her home and explained that they had been monitoring her son for the past two years.

Months went by before she heard from Damian again. Then, in a rare and random phone call he admitted what he was doing.

“He said he was there for a purpose — to save women and children, from torture, rape and murder,” she told the BBC. “No-one else was doing anything, he thought. When I asked him, ‘Are you holding a gun?’ he would never answer. He didn’t want me to know the details.”

Ms Bourdreau, who now campaigns against the radicalisation of youths, says she remains angry no one tried to intervene in her son’s transition.

It is a sentiment echoed by Mohamed El-Rafih, a local social worker turned politician who once works with at-risk youth.

He says the Canadian government’s decision to introduce controversial anti-terror legislation known as Bill C-51, which gives unprecedented powers to government departments, police and to CSIS, the country’s spy agency, will alienate more disaffected youths.

The laws were introduced in the wake of two ‘lone wolf’ attacks on Canadian soldiers in Ottawa and Quebec.

Calgary, Canada which has been labelled a terrorist hotspot. Source: Supplied

Mr El-Rafih says he believes there is a higher risk of alienation and segregation for the Muslim community in Calgary.

“Language under types of laws that is being passed by the government, laws like C-51, when youth see that all they are thinking about is ‘am I going to get red flagged, is CSIS going to be following me, is RCP going to be following me?’,” he said.

“As long as people are afraid and youth are afraid to speak up and have this discussion outside people are going to think we have something to hide.

“If we continue on this trajectory, with the government putting out segregating language, and isolating language and proactive language, not just towards our community but also (to) mainstream communities put up barriers against Muslims and then have Muslims put up barriers to box themselves in because they are afraid to be part of that general society, you’re festering an environment which is going to breed terrorists.”

But retired police chief Rick Hason told the documentary he believes the new laws will help to stop the radicalisation of youths while acknowledging the law could create a breeding ground for extremists.

“I think what C-51 does is provide additional powers that will allow the federal authorities to intervene and prevent,” he says. “If you are investigating someone who obviously has articulated their intention to fight for a terrorist organisation, do you let them leave because otherwise you are exporting terrorism?”

While the documentary makers says they were unable to determine whether Calgary was a hotbed for terrorism, they say they did find there was a high level of paranoia and fear in the Muslim community and warned the Canadian government’s controversial C-51 bill could lead to more radicalisation of the city’s youth.

Meet the young Muslims who have abandoned the West to fight in Syria.