The news was expected since their designation as “Terrorist entity” by the Canadian Parliament. Organization “Neofascist” Proud Boys and twelve other groups have been added to the blacklist of terrorist entities in Canada, the Department of Public Security announced on Wednesday (February 3).
Asked if this group represented “A serious and current threat to the security of Canada”, Bill Blair, Minister of Public Safety, said yes. “There is more and more evidence (…) of the escalation of violence in which this group has been implicated ”, he justified during a press conference. “We have been monitoring the activities of this group with great concern since 2018”, attention that has grown since the US presidential election, he explained.
The Proud Boys have been in the limelight since their mention by Donald Trump during the first American presidential debate, in September 2020. While Joe Biden and the moderator had asked him to disavow this group, the American president was satisfied with their order to ” stand back and be ready ”.
Founded in 2016 and mainly present in Canada, the United States, the Proud Boys have “Played a central role in the insurrection “ January 6 at the Washington Capitol, the ministry said in a statement. This is, according to the ministry, “Of a neofascist organization which engages in political violence” and whose members “Espouse misogynistic, Islamophobic, anti-Semitic, anti-immigrant and / or white supremacist ideologies”.
They would have several hundred, if not several thousand members in North America and would be present in all major cities of Canada, a government official told reporters, wishing to remain anonymous.
Over 70 groups on this list
Three other groups associated with“Violent extremism of an ideological nature” were also included on the list. This is the Atomwaffen Division, described as a “International neo-Nazi terrorist group”, of the Russian Imperial Movement, “Nationalist group established in Russia” and already placed on an American blacklist, as well as The Base, group “Neo-Nazi” founded in 2018.
The other registered organizations are affiliated with Al-Qaida groups such as – Ansar Dine or the Macina Liberation Front, both active in Mali – or the Islamic State organization and its branches in East Asia, the Great Sahara or in Libya. “Given their actions and their ideologies”, the ministry believes that there is “Reasonable grounds to believe” that these groups have “Knowingly participated” or “Ease” a “Terrorist activity”.
This registration does not mean, however, that these groups have “Committed a crime”, but they expose themselves to seeing their “Property seized, blocked or confiscated”, explains the ministry on its site.
The Canadian blacklist includes more than 70 entities, including Al-Qaida, Hezbollah, the Taliban or the Islamic State organization.
