Canada Is Officially Labelling The Proud Boys & 12 Other Groups As Terrorist Organizations

Canadian Public Safety Minister Bill Blair announced on February 3 that the federal government is adding 13 new extremist groups to Canada's terrorist entities list under the Criminal Code. 

One of those groups is the Proud Boys, which was founded by former Montrealer Gavin McInnes.  

Editor's Choice: Who Are The 'Proud Boys' That Stormed Capitol Hill & What's Their Connection To Montreal?

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This update hopefully sends a strong message that Canada will not tolerate ideological, religious or politically-motivated acts of violence.

Bill Blair, Canada's Minister of Public Safety 

"These groups are unfortunately active in Canada and around the world [...] fueled by white supremacy, antisemitism, racism, homophobia, Islamaphobia and misogyny," said Minister Blair. 

Three of the terrorist organizations added to the list are Al Qaida affiliate groups, five are affiliated with Daesh — another word for ISIS or ISIL — and four are ideologically-motivated violent extremist (IMVE) groups.

The names of IMVE groups are:

• Atomwaffen Division

• The Base

• The Proud Boys

• Russian Imperial Movement

Finally, the government added Hizbul Mujahideen, an Islamic militant group originally formed in 1989 with the goal of liberating Kashmir from India and merging it with Pakistan. 

According to Blair, adding groups to this list can help with laying terrorism-related charges against perpetrators and supporters in addition to making it harder for these groups to acquire funds.

"When an entity is placed on the list, banks and financial institutions can freeze their assets," Minister Blair said.

"It’s a criminal offence for Canadians to knowingly deal with the assets of a [listed] terrorist entity."

Blair said growing concern for domestic terrorism in Canada was a key driver of the change — announced less than a week after the fourth anniversary of the Quebec City mosque shooting, which left six Muslim worshippers dead and 19 others injured.

He also said the move makes it easier to remove hateful online content from the terrorist entities and their sympathizers.

"The threat of ideologically-motivated extremism has been identified as the most significant threat to domestic security in Canada," Blair said.