Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness, Bill Blair. (Flickr/ Province of British Columbia)
The federal government added 13 groups to its list of terrorist entities on Feb. 3, with four of them being white supremacists groups: Atomwaffen Division, The Base, The Proud Boys, and the Russian Imperial Movement. This brings the total number of entities on the list to 73.
Public Safety Minister Bill Blair said the new addition of the groups is an important step to prevent ideology-based violence.
“These groups are unfortunately active in Canada and around the world […] fueled by white supremacy, antisemitism, racism, homophobia, Islamophobia and misogyny,” said Blair in a public announcement.
Using terrorist list to label white supremacists risks repeating errors of 9/11 era, civil rights groups say
Civil liberties advocates are urging the Canadian government to find a more transparent way of tackling white supremacy and neo-fascism after 13 groups including the Proud Boys were designated as terrorist entities last week.
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Relying on same process that targeted Muslims after 9/11 won t solve problem of extremism, say advocates
Posted: Feb 08, 2021 10:05 PM ET | Last Updated: February 9
The federal government announced on Feb. 3 that it was adding 13 groups to its list of terrorist entities, including the neo-fascist Proud Boys. A majority of the groups on the list are Islamist extremists such as al-Qaeda.(Shannon Stapleton/Reuters)
Anti-hate and civil rights groups are cautiously relieved after the terrorist designation wasn’t expanded for the Proud Boys, which could’ve snarled Black Lives Matter, Indigenous land defenders or others.
TORONTO, Ontario (CTV News) Anti-hate and civil rights groups are cautiously relieved the terrorist designation wasn’t expanded for the Proud Boys, which they say could have given law enforcement more leeway to surveil Black Lives Matter, Indigenous land defenders or others.
Critics have been worried about the definition of terrorism potentially being expanded since the federal government first publicly indicated it’d be considering adding the extremist group to its list of terrorist entities. This action followed the Proud Boys’ involvement in riots in the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6.
The Canadian Anti-Hate Network, which monitors and researches hate groups, had been publically and privately lobbying the feds to ensure the neo-fascist Proud Boys fit the current criteria and officials “didn’t lower the bar” on the definition.
Canada has added the far-right Proud Boys organisation to its list of “terrorist entities”, following pressure from lawmakers to take a harder line against far-right extremism after the deadly riot at the United States Capitol last month.
In a news conference on Wednesday, Public Safety Minister Bill Blair said the federal government added 13 groups to the “terrorist” list, including the Proud Boys, the Atomwaffen Division, The Base and the Russian Imperial Movement.
“Recent events have made Canadians much more aware of the serious threat posed by violent extremist groups. These groups are unfortunately active in Canada and around the world. Their violent actions and rhetoric are fuelled by white supremacy, anti-Semitism, racism, homophobia, Islamophobia and misogyny,” Blair told reporters.