Canada has “declared the Proud Boys a terrorist entity, adding the far-right group to a list that includes al-Qaeda, ISIS and al-Shabab in an effort to crack down on ‘ideologically motivated violent extremism,’ described by the country’s public safety minister as the ‘most significant threat to domestic security.'” However, Canada still has not listed Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) as terrorist, as the U.S., Bahrain, Saudi Arabia have done.
It’s a strange moral calculus that considers the Proud Boys a greater threat than the IRGC. However reprehensible the Proud Boys might be in the eyes of some for being self-described “Western Chauvinists,” an “all-boys club,” and “anti-immigrant” (a smear against anyone who advocates for responsible immigration), the Canadian government has provided no sound evidence to justify listing the group as “terrorist.” One may consider a group to be morally reprehensible for all sorts of reasons, but that is, or should be, very different from slapping them with an official government designation of “terrorist.”
One publication highlighted about the Proud Boys that “in recent months the group have become synonymous with violent opposition to the Black Lives Matter and Antifa movements.” But the article (among many others) does not mention that Black Lives Matter and Antifa are infamous, violent groups which pick fights and commit acts of violence without suffering any consequences. Such groups fear opposition, so now that the Proud Boys has been dismantled as a group by the Canadian government and can no longer oppose them in their public rioting, they have free rein. Although Black Lives Matter is revolutionary and has sparked political unrest, trafficking in intimidation on a massive scale and causing untold havoc and destruction, no such label has been assigned to it. Instead, back in June, Justin Trudeau personally “attended a Black Lives Matter protest on Parliament Hill. A month later, he said he was assigning his cabinet to spend the summer working on multiple plans to address systemic racism.”
By listing the Proud Boys as “terrorist,” Canada is sending the clear message that it is cracking down on what it considers to be overt expressions of the so-called “right wing” ideology — a troubling path that Canada has been on for years. Canada is also minimizing the real threat of jihad terror as it focuses on “right wing extremism,” and Trump is being blamed. Now Magazine Toronto reported: “The truth is the cult of Trump has deeper roots than we’d like to believe in Canada.” Islamic supremacist entryism has been advancing steadily and tremendously under Trudeau, while the government focuses on “right wing threats.” What better way to cover up Canada’s vulnerability to jihad terror than by manipulating the discourse on defining what real terrorism is? In 2018, leaked intelligence documents showed a greater threat of Islamic terror than the government was publicly admitting.
Recall the anti-Islamophobia motion M-103 followup: “Taking Action Against Systemic Racism and Religious Discrimination Which Includes Islamophobia.” Included in this freedom-violating, $23-million taxpayer-funded document was a framework to “monitor citizens for compliance” and “train law enforcement to investigate online and offline ‘hate speech.'” Two government partnership groups that were tabbed to help implement M-103 were IRFAN, which was designated a “terrorist entity” in 2014 by the previous Canadian government, that of Conservative Stephen Harper, and the CAIR offshoot known as the National Council of Canadian Muslims (NCCM, formerly CAIR-CAN).
When Public Safety Minister Bill Blair was asked whether “there was evidence that the Proud Boys pose a “serious security threat to Canada,” his reply was appalling, particularly given his extensive investigations background in policing before becoming a politician: “Absolutely, yes,” Blair said, and went on to cite hearsay evidence of a “’serious and concerning escalation’ to violence in the aftermath of the U.S. presidential election.”
To the disappointment of many, the current opposition Conservatives agreed with listing the Proud Boys as “terrorist,” despite the further undermining of Canada’s already embattled freedoms that this represents, but Conservative MP Shannon Stubbs said that “the Liberal government has been ‘soft on extremism’ because it has not imposed sanctions on the Iranian agents responsible for shooting down flight PS752 last year, which killed 55 Canadians and 30 permanent residents.”
Listing the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a terrorist organization “would allow Canadians to sue the Iranian government through the use of the Justice for Victims of Terrorism Act.” Iranian dissidents have repeatedly voiced feeling “unsafe” in Canada, especially given Canada’s open-door immigration policy, combined with the Iranian regime’s far-reaching proxies globally. Pakistani dissidents are also concerned, particularly after the murder of Pakistani human rights activist Karima Mehrab Baloch in Toronto.
Listing the Proud Boys as “terrorist” has deep implications as the government covers up real terrorism, along with its own alarming descent into totalitarianism. An unrelated case further highlights the latter, involving the forcible detention of a citizen “when there is no presented reason nor rationale to do so” after landing at Toronto International Airport.
TORONTO — Canada on Wednesday declared the Proud Boys a terrorist entity, adding the far-right group to a list that includes al-Qaeda, ISIS and al-Shabab in an effort to crack down on “ideologically motivated violent extremism,” described by the country’s public safety minister as the “most significant threat to domestic security.”
The announcement by Public Safety Minister Bill Blair came less than a month after some Proud Boys joined the violent mob that stormed the U.S. Capitol after attending a rally by then-President Donald Trump in the hope of overturning the presidential election. Five people, including a Capitol Police officer, died in that attack.
It also followed a warning last week by the Department of Homeland Security about the heightened threat of “ideologically motivated violent extremists with objections to the exercise of governmental authority and the presidential transition” and “perceived grievances fueled by false narratives.”
The U.S.-Canada border is mostly closed, but Canadians made it to the Capitol siege
Designation as a terrorist group carries financial and legal consequences. Police can seize the property of the group or its members; banks can seize their assets. It’s a crime to knowingly provide assistance to a designated group to facilitate or carry out attacks. Group members may be denied entry to Canada.
The government also listed the Atomwaffen Division, a neo-Nazi group whose members participated in the violent 2017 Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville; the Base, another neo-Nazi group; and the Russian Imperial Movement, a Russian nationalist group with members linked to violent activity abroad.
“These groups are unfortunately active in Canada and around the world,” Blair said. “Their violent actions and rhetoric are fueled by white supremacy, anti-Semitism, racism, homophobia, Islamophobia and misogyny.”
The Proud Boys: How the right-wing extremist group gained prominence
Also added to the list were eight groups affiliated with al-Qaeda and the Islamic State, as well as Hizbul Mujahideen, a militant Kashmiri liberation group.Senior government officials said they were not aware of any other jurisdiction that has designated the Proud Boys as a terrorist group. They said the Capitol insurrection was not the “driving” factor, but it did produce a “trove of information” that was added to the intelligence reports that informed the decision.
The Canadian government says ideologically motivated violent extremism includes xenophobic violence, anti-authority violence, gender-driven violence and grievance-driven violence not clearly affiliated with an organized group but shaped by “echo chambers of online hate.”
The Proud Boys was formed in 2016 by Vice Media co-founder Gavin McInnes, a Canadian. The far-right, male-only group of self-described “Western chauvinists” has a history of street violence, including against Black Lives Matter demonstrators.
Canada said the group played a “pivotal role” in the attack on the Capitol, and that “leaders planned their participation by setting out objectives, issuing instructions and directing members during the insurrection.”
Analysts say the Proud Boys were emboldened when Trump, pressed during the first presidential debate to condemn the group, told members to “stand back and stand by.”
Asked whether there was evidence that the Proud Boys pose a “serious security threat to Canada,” Blair said, “Absolutely, yes,” and cited a “serious and concerning escalation” to violence in the aftermath of the U.S. presidential election.
White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki said Wednesday the U.S. government was conducting its own review.
Security analysts in Canada have warned of the threat of right-wing extremist groups here, bolstered by transnational alliances they’ve built with counterparts in the United States and Europe.
“We are more and more preoccupied by the number of ultra-right-wing extremists,” David Vigneault, director of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, told a Canadian Senate committee in 2019.
Several months later, Canada announced that the neo-Nazi groups Blood & Honor and Combat 18 would be the first ideologically motivated extremist groups to be included on its list of terrorist groups.
Public Safety Canada reported in 2018 that it was “concerned about threats posed by those who harbor right-wing extremist views.”
It cited several examples of right-wing extremist attacks in Canada, including the fatal shooting of three Royal Canadian Mounted Police officers in 2014 by a man motivated by anti-law enforcement and anti-government beliefs and a 2017 shooting in which a man who was “motivated, at least in part, by his self-admitted fear of Muslims” killed six worshipers at a Quebec City mosque.
Neither of the men were charged with terrorism offenses.
mortimer says
White males who believe in tradition, family, faith and freedom are now ‘the problem’, but Iranian jihadists are ok. (Sure … sure.) They are mocking and slandering the men and women who built the most advanced civilization ever.
SemiDave says
Clown World has surely arrived (officially) in Canada!
Terry Gain says
Clowns are funny. There is nothing funny about Trudeau. For Canadians, he is even more dangerous that Biden because he has no serious opposition.
revereridesagain says
Only too true! The cynical, opportunistic attitude of politicians the world over must never be underestimated. They will lick the hands of anyone who will advance their own power. And we have seen how they drive away the outsiders who would challenge that power.
Lion heart says
Yesterday Melissa a host show of the social never ceased to amaze me on the other segment when she said” I hate to call it Islamic terrorism “when talking about proud boys terrorist entity and surely they are ! Oh yeah you hate that but you guys were struggling with words out of fear to call it Islamic terrorism and lainey just said stumbling on words “ the other guys “ ?? really ? Can’t you see how many Christians of the Middle East especially in Iraq were killed just for exposing Islam ?? and you in Canada in the West are afraid to call it Islamic terrorism???? ? Are you that sensitive towards the ideology which calls you the worst of creatures( Quran 6:98 ) do you hear me Melissa ?? The proud boys are not basing their violence on any holy scriptures nor do they pose a threat to terrorists while world unlike in Islam ( Quran 9:29 ) be brave and stop cowering to Islam especially in the West ? and stop deleting comments which you don’t like so that Muslims would be pleased with you really ??? and I am a Canadian Christian guy originally from Iraq.
Terry Gain says
I am not carrying a brief for Proud Boys in Canada as I know little about them, but as someone who supports civil liberties and does not trust a Prime Minister who has said he admires China’s command economy and who fulsomely praised Cuban dictator Fidel Castro, I am curious. Has the Trudeau government cited even one act of violence or one exhortation to violence to justify this designation?
Keith O says
Terry, Quick google search sez NO!
Given Justine’s leanings towards the PRC and his hard on for Fidel Castro, I would guess he isn’t interested in looking at facts nor what’s best for the Canadian people.
gravenimage says
I was wondering the same, Terry. I haven’t been able to find much about them that is concrete–it is mostly innuendo.
Fred van de Bunt says
These proud boys must have been involved somehow in one or more “terrorist acts”?
But the thing is, as far as I can find, the Canadian parliament can add an entity to the terror list.
The danger with those terrorist laws is that they might become a political instrument.
The Proud Boys are also involved in Trumpism, I see on Wikipedia, suggesting that Ayatollah Trump is their supreme leader, implying a one way ticket to Guantanamo Bay for the supreme terrorist?
Biden wanted to deescalate internal tension, but looking at the timing of adding the Boys to the terror list, Justin Jihad Trudeau tries to polarize internal strife in the US as much as possible.
gravenimage says
I can’t find anything specific. Many also claim the Proud Boys are racist and white supremacists, but their leader for most of their existance has been an Afro-Cuban guy from Miami. One of their bid things seems to have been taunting soccer fans and their having had their PayPal account pulled. Not saying there is nothing potentially disturbing there, but hard to see how accusations of actual terrorism hold up.
b.a. freeman says
Fred, there used to be a proud boys website, and when i checked it out, there was nothing hateful on the site that i could find. currently, the only website i was able to find was proudboysusa.com, which only has a GIF of a dancing mr. trump, with no text or links. my guess is that their hosting service dumped them, and they currently only have a severely underpowered server someplace (perhaps connected via a dyndns connection) of which no leftist organization is aware.
as far as i am aware, the only fights the proudboys had was when antifa groups targeted them after their public meetings. it must be remembered, however, that the left *H*A*T*E*S* anybody who dares to defend western civilization, and the proud boys, by calling themselves “western chauvinists,” thus became a prime target of the left.
somehistory says
The word “white” has now become synonymous with “terrorism.”
The word “White” means “racist,” “bigot,” “anti-Semitic,” “phobic,” “dangerous,” “lawless,” “misogynistic” “terrorist.”
It seems that to be White is now to be automatically a criminal; Even if the White person has not committed any crime of any kind in any place.
Keith O says
Seems that the proud boys are a terrorist threat because trusted organizations like ANTIFA, CAIR and the Southern Poverty Law Lynch mob have said so. And of course, we all know how trustworthy and transparent they are, so it must be true.
RichardL says
it is part of the all-out war against conservatism. The next thing is that any not hard left political party will be called racist etc. I have very little hope for Canada
gravenimage says
Canada designates Proud Boys ‘terrorists’ but won’t follow up on parliamentary motion to call IRGC terrorist
…………..
Who can be surprised by this?
somehistory says
Today, I read some of a report by Tucker Carlson regarding the investigation by the FBI on the Capitol “riot.”
Mr. Carlson said that the agency asked BOFA for records of their customers who had bought plane tickets, traveled to D.C., Maryland or Virginia, bought things in one or more of those places, etc. without the customers’ knowledge or consent.
A customer was then interviewed…maybe interrogated, and there is a difference…who fit the “profile,” but had nothing to do with the riot. Mr. Carlson said to imagine how that innocent customer felt. He also spoke about big business going along with the federal government, not protecting their clients/customers.
And he mentioned the treating of citizens as al queda.
More and more of this can be expected.
Richard Courtemanche says
———- Original Message ———-
From: Richard Courtemanche
To: Prime Minister/Premier Ministre
Cc: “steven.guilbeault” , “bill.blair” , “david.lametti” , “erin.otoole”
Date: February 5, 2021 at 3:59 PM
Subject: By far the Worse PM and Government, ever!
Dear Ministers, PCO and bureaucrats,
How could this have happened to a once-more-democratic country like Canada!
So much political corruption, incompetence, idiocies, indifference!
The sociopath, perhaps psychopath even, couldn’t have created that on his own. Servile ministers and staff lost their patriotism and self-respect to turn on their fellow Canadians. Rising Socialism… Communism engineered within our governmental structures with the assistance of a bribed media and little political opposition.
So generous and subservient to China that continues to subjugate us while their princess is treated lavishly and our two Michaels are slaves. Canada has given so much internationally including China. So naive, we are! Is our present government so devoid of intellect, wisdom and diplomacy where our ‘leader’ is only Little Potato! Demoralizing.
Politicians and public servants committing moral and spiritual suicide. Has personal self-preservation superseded your responsibility to patriotically serve the nation! Accomplices to treason! Bowing to an empty emperor, all-flash no substance. A puppet to the machinations that hide in the background and you pulling his strings driving his irrational ideologies.
An anti-nationalist and PM fraudster who is utterly a void, a talking head for postmodern rhetoric, meaningless psychobabble spewing virtue signalling and completely unworkable policies. The narcissist is something created out of a high school “communications course” responsible for such idiotic rhetoric as, “It will be as easy as a bridge if only we would unite like a twin!”
What to say about the witless fools who have chosen him to lead this nation through a crisis he largely has created!
Are my factual truths the kind Stephen Guilbeault wants to censor from the network in order to prevent further depreciation of your party’s deeply tarnished reputation! Here’s a priority, Stephen: Eradicate despicable and destructive Pornhub, apparently headquartered in Montreal, and the likes from networks and communities. Or, is that one of Justin’s untouchable venues sustaining his lifestyle!
Bill Blair’s persistence to take away weapons from responsible law-abiding citizens. You have to be a hypocrite to continue harassing Canadians when you know darn well that you can’t do anything significant with armed criminals! Reflects poor judgement.
Blair designating Proud Boys as a terrorist entity, the only country to do so. No hearings and no appeals. Certainly doesn’t meet the ideological criteria for terrorist designation. How cowardly! Socialism indeed. A group where men can be manly, patriotic, drinking club. Meanwhile, the Muslim Brotherhood, a reputed terrorist group so designated in many countries including the Middle East, intimidates our ‘leaders’ and continues to plan Jihads in our governments, institutions and communities. What about ISIS fighters Trudeau welcomed in his ‘tolerance and accommodation’ hypocrisy and are now sleeping cells awaiting the call for action! If you have a problem surging with Whites, Bill, blame Trudeau’s racist policies subjugating them.
So, get our government back in order and serve Canadians according to the Constitution.
Seriously,
Richard Courtemanche
Peace, Order and Good Government
Mr. J. says
Note the intellectual dishonesty with which they are lumping the Proud Boys together with neonazis.
One of the Proud Boys’ most high-profile leaders, Enrique Tarrio, is Afro-Cuban. And the Proud Boys have always made a point of being open to all men, regardless of race, religion or sexuality. They even have a chapter in Israel. They do not care for race and they reject antisemitism – and in that, they are fundamentally different from actual neonazis.
Yes, they’re still a bunch of boorish hipsters. They’re also quite anti-establishment – but their ire is against the self-hating anti-Western left, instead of against capitalism (Antifa et al) or real or perceived racism (BLM et al). But they are worlds apart from the crowd that unironically uses terms like ‘ZOG’.
But stereotyping the entire non-establishment segment of the right as antisemitic and fascist is a dirty little game that the political establishment and the left have been playing for decades. Part of it has to do with simple ignorance – a lot of people aren’t even aware that there are very real differences between different rightwing groups. But for the most part, it is entirely deliberate slander. Lump unrelated groups together, or even flat-out lie about what people said or did. It’s a trick that, unfortunately, works quite well.
Just keep mentioning them in one breath with David Duke and Timothy McVeigh, and people will actually start believing that they’re all the same thing. Most people are ignorant, after all. They will be inclined to believe such claims *unless* they have watched and listened when groups like the Proud Boys speak for themselves.
Note that the Proud Boys have never been implicated in bombings, assassinations or mass-shootings. The worst they’ve done is stand up to the aggression of far left street mobs by physically confronting them in the streets. Even at worst, the Proud Boys are no worse than BLM or the various Antifa gangs.
That’s why the establishment media are going out of their way to associate the Proud Boys – and any other kind of right-of-centre dissident – with the worst of the worst of the far right. It’s a disingenuous way to make people believe that there is no double standard, even though there very much is.
But the fact that they are now being labeled as terrorists is all the more alarming. Framing dissent as terrorism is the sort of thing that dictatorships and military juntas are infamous for. It’s a particularly underhanded kind of authoritarianism.
Let’s just hope that there will be a severe backlash against this.