AN ACTIVIST who endured a near-miss in the Canadian terror attack said the incident “shocked me to the core.”

Wilson Chowdhry, of Ilford, was almost caught up in the terror incident in Edmonton, Alberta, on Saturday, September 30, after attending a rally to highlight the plight of Pakistani Christians persecuted for their faith.

A 30-year-old Somali-born refugee who was known to police was arrested on suspicion of ploughing into four pedestrians and stabbing a police officer with a knife several times.

Mr Chowdhry left the event at 9.30pm and went back to his hotel, located one minute away from the site of the attack.

Mr Chowdhry, chairman of British Pakistani Christian Association said: “Here is Edmonton an extremely quiet city this attack has caught me off guard and has shocked me to the core.”

"This attack was simply too close to home and I find myself at a loss for words. There is nowhere that is safe from Islamic extremists using means such as these opportunist and less sophisticated vehicle attacks.

"The mindset of individuals willing to perpetuate such violence is an unfathomably evil, that will serve to create more division amongst increasingly polarised communities.

"I fear that unless nations in the West are willing to speak up about the true nature of the root causes of these incidents, we will never be able to overcome the proliferation of the hate ideology motivating these fundamentalists.”

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called the incident “a terrorist attack”.