Public Safety Minister Bill Blair announced today that the federal government will designate 13 groups as terrorist entities, adding some white nationalist and neo-Nazi groups to a list already populated with militant Islamist organizations.
The federal government will now classify the Proud Boys (a neo-fascist organization with chapters in Canada and the U.S.), the Atomwaffen Division, AWD (a group that calls for acts of violence against racial, religious and ethnic groups), and the Base (another neo-Nazi organization that advocates for violence to incite a race war), as terrorist entities under the Criminal Code.
The government considers these three groups, along with another new addition, the Russian Imperial Movement (a Russian paramilitary group with ties to neo-Nazi groups worldwide), as “ideologically motivated violent extremists.”
The Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) defines the term as extremism driven by a range of grievances and ideas from across the traditional ideological spectrum.
“No matter the ideological motivation, they’re all hateful, intolerant and, as we’ve seen, they can be highly dangerous,” Blair said Wednesday, adding that he hopes expanding the terrorist list will send a message to groups intent on sowing division and hate and causing harm, that their actions will not be tolerated by law enforcement.
“Their violent actions and rhetoric are fuelled by white supremacy, anti-Semitism, racism, homophobia, Islamophobia and misogyny, and unfortunately, often in combination of all of the above. On several different occasions we have seen the tragic results that this type of extremism can bring to Canadian soil, Blair said referencing the 2017 Quebec City mosque attack and the 2018 Toronto van attack.
It is not necessarily a crime to be a member of these groups, but designating an organization as a terrorist entity can have serious criminal and financial consequences.
Banks can now freeze assets and police can charge anyone who financially or materially supports such a group.
Under section 83 of the Criminal Code, it is an indictable offence to “collect property,” “provide or invite a person to provide, or make available property or financial or other related services,” to a terrorist entity.
A group is added to the terrorist list if Canada’s security and intelligence agencies, after an “extremely rigorous” probe, find “reasonable grounds to believe that an entity has knowingly participated in or facilitated a terrorist activity,” the government said in announcing the new designations.
Last month MPs voted unanimously to call on the government to add the Proud Boys to the terror list following the storming of Capitol Hill in Washington D.C.
Proud Boys have been under watch
Multiple media reports have linked Proud Boys members to those who stormed Capitol Hill after a speech by then-U.S. president Donald Trump on Jan. 6. A self-described organizer for the Proud Boys has been arrested for taking part in the siege.
A security official, speaking on background, said the Proud Boys have been under review for some time and the Jan. 6 attack “wasn’t the only factor and it wasn’t the driving factor” in designating the group as a terrorist entity.
“It’s a group that we’ve been looking at as a community for a while,” the official said.
The official said the Commons motion, pushed by NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh, was also not a motivating factor in designating the Proud Boys as terrorists. There was “no political motivation whatsoever,” the official said, adding Canada’s national security agencies alone determine which groups should be legally branded with this terrorist label.
Armed members of the Proud Boys groups stand guard during a memorial for Patriot Prayer member Aaron Jay Danielson in September 2020 in Vancouver, Wash. Danielson was shot and killed last August, during a pro-Trump rally in Portland, Ore. The federal government will today list the Proud Boys, a neo-fascist organization, as a terrorist group. (Nathan Howard/Getty Images)
Blair said the Proud Boys “absolutely” pose an imminent security threat to Canada.
“It is deeply concerning. There’s been an escalation, not only in rhetoric, but security and planning,” he said. “Countering this group has become an important priority for the government of Canada.”
The Atomwaffen Division, which is known in some circles as the National Socialist Order, has previously held training “hate camps,” where members receive weapons and hand-to-hand combat training. The group’s members have also carried out violent acts at public rallies, including the August 2017 rally in Charlottesville, Va.
The Base, a largely U.S.-based group which advocates for the creation of a white ethno-state, has trained members on lone-wolf terror attacks, bomb-making, counter-surveillance and guerilla warfare, officials said. Members of the group carried out attacks at a January 2020 rally in Virginia.
Asked why other groups, like Ku Klux Klan and the Three Percenters, an anti-government militia movement, were not added to the list, an official said they have not yet met the government’s threshold for a terrorist designation.
Beyond the neo-Nazi groups, the government has also expanded the list of ISIS and al-Qaeda affiliates that are considered terrorist groups, including ISIS chapters in Bangladesh and East Asia. The government has also listed the Hizbul Mujahideen, a militant group that wants to unite the Indian and Pakistan-administered parts of Kashmir.
The full list of 13 new terrorist entities:
Atomwaffen Division
The Base
The Proud Boys
Russian Imperial Movement
Three Al-Qaeda affiliates: Jama’at Nusrat Al-Islam Wal-Muslimin, Front de Libération du Macina, and Ansar Dine
Five ISIS affiliates: Islamic State West Africa Province, Islamic State in the Greater Sahara, Islamic State in Libya, Islamic State East Asia, and Islamic State – Bangladesh
MONTREAL – One expert says entry-level pay under the tentative deal between Air Canada and its pilots could be a stumbling block ahead of a union vote on the agreement.
Under their current contract, pilots earn far less in their first four years at the company before enjoying a big wage increase starting in year five.
The Air Line Pilots Association had been pushing to scrap the so-called “fixed rate” provision entirely.
But according to a copy of the contract summary obtained by The Canadian Press, the proposed deal announced Sunday would merely cut the four-year period of lower pay to two years.
John Gradek, who teaches aviation management at McGill University, says as many as 2,000 of Air Canada’s roughly 5,200 active pilots may earn entry-level wages following a recent hiring surge.
After the airline averted a strike this week, Gradek says the failure to ditch the pay grade restrictions could prompt pushback from rank-and-file flight crew and jeopardize the deal, which is up for a vote next month.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 18, 2024.
ROME (AP) — Salvatore “Totò” Schillaci, the Italy striker who was top scorer at its home World Cup in 1990, has died. He was 59.
Schillaci had been hospitalized in Palermo following treatment for colon cancer.
The Palermo Civico hospital said in a statement that Schillacci died on Wednesday morning after being admitted 11 days ago.
Schillaci scored six goals for Italy during the 1990 World Cup. He came on as a substitute during Italy’s opener against Austria, scored in a 1-0 victory, and went on to earn the Golden Boot awarded to the tournament’s top scorer. He only scored one other goal for Italy in his career.
Italian soccer federation president Gabriele Gravina announced that a minute of silence would be held in memory of Schillaci before all games in the country for the rest of the week.
“The uncontrollable celebrations, in which his face was the symbol of shared joy, will remain forever part of Italian soccer (history),” Gravina said. “Totò was a great player, a symbol of tenacious desire and redemption. … His soccer was full of passion. And that fearless spirit made everyone appreciate him and will make him immortal.”
Schillaci also won the Golden Ball award at the 1990 World Cup as the tournament’s top player ahead of Lothar Matthaus and Diego Maradona.
Schillaci played for Messina, Juventus, Inter Milan and Japanese team Jubilo Iwata during his club career.
“You made an entire nation dream during the Magical Nights of Italia ’90,” Inter said on its social media channels.
West Germany won the 1990 World Cup, beating Argentina in the final, while Italy beat England for third place with a winning penalty kick from Schillaci.
Roberto Baggio, who scored Italy’s opening goal in the third-place match, wrote on Instagram, “Ciao my dear friend.”
Having been born and raised in Palermo, the Palermo soccer team announced that it would hold a public viewing of Schillaci at its Renzo Barbera stadium ahead of the funeral, the Gazzetta dello Sport reported.
French soccer player Wissam Ben Yedder will stay free ahead of his trial on charges of sexual assault while intoxicated, one of his lawyers told The Associated Press on Wednesday.
Marie Roumiantseva said Ben Yedder will remain under strict judicial supervision after a woman filed a lawsuit for sexual assault earlier this month.
The 34-year-old Ben Yedder, a prolific striker in the French league, was briefly detained then released after the alleged incident in his car on the French Riviera. Ben Yedder had been stopped by police after he first refused to do so. He was then put in a jail cell.
After he was summoned to appear in court on Oct. 15 and placed under judicial supervision, the Nice prosecutor’s office appealed the decision not to remand the player in custody. The investigative chamber of the Court of Appeal of Aix-en-Provence did not grant this request and kept Ben Yedder under judicial supervision.
Ben Yedder attended a hearing Tuesday during which he offered to go to rehab. He has admitted he drove while under the influence of alcohol but has denied any sexual assault.
In a separate legal case last year, Ben Yedder was charged with “rape, attempted rape and sexual assault” over another alleged incident in the south of France.
Ben Yedder has been without a club since his contract with Monaco expired at the end of last season.
