Canada considers designating neo-Nazis, white supremacists as terrorist groups

OTTAWA–The Canadian government is nearing a decision on designating white supremacist and neo-Nazi groups as terrorists, the Star has learned.

Far-right extremism has received more mainstream attention in the wake of the Jan. 6 riot in Washington, when a mob of Donald Trump supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol Building. News reports have identified people in the mob as members of militia groups, as well as the far-right Proud Boys movement.

But a source told the Star on Wednesday that Canada’s intelligence agencies have been quietly probing domestic extremist groups for months to determine if they meet the legal threshold to be designated terrorist entities.

Public Safety Minister Bill Blair’s office has told at least one anti-hate advocacy group to expect the decision imminently. Blair’s office declined to comment Wednesday.

Designating a group a terrorist entity has significant consequences for that group and its members. It would allow financial institutions to freeze assets, empower police to seize property, and make it illegal to knowingly participate or contribute to the organization.

Anti-racist advocates have been pushing the federal government to expand the list of terrorist entities to include more neo-Nazi and white supremacist groups that have a presence in Canada.

Those groups include Atomwaffen, a neo-Nazi group linked to murders in the United States, O9A, a satanic neo-Nazi cult, and The Base, a militant white supremacist group. All three have recruited in Canada and, while their numbers are not believed to be high, they’re considered among the most dangerous.

But much of the attention on far-right extremists since Jan. 6 has focused on the Proud Boys, a loosely organized “Western chauvinist” movement created by far-right personality Gavin McInnes. That’s both because the Proud Boys figured prominently in the Capitol riot, and because the movement has a much more public profile than other far-right groups.

On Monday, the House of Commons unanimously passed a motion brought by NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh urging the government to designate the Proud Boys as a terrorist group.

The motion is non-binding, so even though Liberal MPs supported it, it does not commit the government to action. But the idea that politicians, in the absence of intelligence or evidence, could vote to label a group “terrorists” raised concerns among national security and legal experts.

Stephanie Carvin, a Carleton professor and former intelligence analyst, noted that politicians have a role to play in countering extremism. But Carvin also raised concerns about the “politicization” of terrorist designations.

“At the end of the day, I want a minister accountable for the decisions that they make on this list … I don’t think we should call it a process free from politics. I think what we worry about is politicization, which I would see as something different,” Carvin said in an interview.

“You want accountability in the system, which is ministerial accountability, which is inherently political. But not politicization, which to me would be where politics is driving the process.”

Bernie Farber, a longtime activist and the head of the Canadian Anti-Hate Network, also noted differences between the American version of the Proud Boys and Canadian “chapters.”

Canadian Proud Boys are “much more disorganized” than their U.S. fellow travellers, Farber said, more “thugs and bigots” than a coherent organization.

“But given what happened on Jan. 6, Proud Boys might get added to that (terrorism) list only because of their actions during the insurrection,” Farber said in an interview.

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While Canadian officials mull terrorist designations, a warning from U.S. law enforcement Wednesday suggested the threat of domestic extremism may be heightened in early 2021.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security warned that domestic extremists may be “emboldened” by the riot in Washington earlier this month, and the “same drivers to violence” are expected to remain in 2021.

The terrorism advisory bulletin suggested that extremists may target “elected officials and government facilities.”