Question Period Note: Ideologically Motivated Violent Extremism (IMVE) and Terrorist Listings

A U.S. report by MEMRI, a Washington, D.C.-based non-profit terrorism and extremism monitoring organization, highlights recent examples of leadership from Canadian military veterans in extremist movements.

• We are aware of the report, and its findings are concerning. However, we believe that that the views espoused by individuals claiming to be, or who are in fact former members of the Canadian Armed Forces, do not represent the values of our military.

• CSIS is engaged in dialogue with the Department of National Defence and the Canadian Armed Forces on ideologically motivated violent extremism (IMVE) and other threats to the security of Canada.

• The Government of Canada remains deeply concerned about the rise of IMVE which includes a variety of extremist beliefs from across the traditional left-right ideological spectrum, such as anti-authority, xenophobic, gender-driven, and other types of violent extremist views.

• Since 2014, Canadians motivated in whole or in part by extremist ideological views have killed 26 people and wounded 40 others in seven separate events in this country.

• IMV extremists have leveraged the COVID-19 pandemic to push their hateful narratives and divisive conspiracy theories, both online and offline, leading, in some cases, to physical violence.

• Some threat actors leveraged recent events such as the Freedom Convoy in Ottawa and other blockades across the country to promote these hateful narratives and conspiracy theories.

• Public Safety Canada and its Portfolio Agencies continue to closely monitor and respond to the evolving threat posed by IMV extremists and employ a variety of national security tools. These include: investigations that may support criminal charges, terrorism peace bonds; no-fly listings; the revocation of passports; and terrorist listings.

• Canada has listed nine ideologically motivated violet extremist entities including Three Percenters, a decentralized entity within the broader anti-government militia movement, and, the Base, a neo-Nazi organization that has organized training camps in weaponry and military tactics around North America. Canada has also listed one American neo-Nazi, James Mason, who has provided ideological and tactical instruction on how to operate a terrorist group to listed entities.

• The listing of terrorist entities under the Criminal Code sends a strong message that Canada will not tolerate this type of activity, and will do everything in its power to counter the ongoing threat to Canada’s national security and its citizens.

• Addressing IMVE is not just an enforcement issue, but one of prevention as well. Public Safety’s Canada Centre for Community Engagement and Prevention of Violence provides national leadership on efforts to counter radicalization to violence through supporting research and programming prevention initiatives.

IMVE:
IMVE draws from a complex range of grievances and ideas from across the traditional “left-right” ideological spectrum. Canada’s national security and intelligence community breaks IMVE down into the following four subcategories: xenophobic violence, anti-authority violence, gender-driven violence and other grievance-driven and ideologically motivated violence.

Over the past six years, there has been a significant increase in attacks inspired by IMVE narratives worldwide. Canadians motivated in whole or in part by IMVE include: 2014 Moncton shooter (Justin Bourque), 2017 Quebec mosque shooter (Alexandre Bissonette) and 2018 Toronto van attacker (Alek Minassian). Additionally, the alleged perpetrator of the February 2020 Toronto Massage Parlor attack is currently charged with terrorism offences under the Criminal Code because of his connection to the involuntary celibate (incel) movement. This is the first terrorism charge laid against an IMV extremist in Canada and the world’s first terrorism charge given to an incel. Further, the alleged perpetrator of the vehicular attack that killed four members of a Muslim family and seriously injured another in London, Ontario in June 2021 has also been charged with terrorism offences.

The CSIS Public Report 2020 highlights the innovative and critical work CSIS has conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic to keep Canadians safe. The Report indicates that COVID-19 has exacerbated the effects of IMVE narratives, in particular those that promote xenophobic and anti-authority sentiment. The Report notes CSIS’ increasing concerns around violent conspiracy theory rhetoric calling for the arrest and execution of specific individuals.

More broadly, Canada continues to utilize existing national security tools to combat violent extremism, including criminal investigations, with a view to supporting criminal charges where appropriate. Where criminal charges cannot be laid, the Government has a number of other public safety tools, policies and programs available to respond to the IMVE threat, including:

• CSIS investigations into terrorist and violent extremist threats to Canadian national security as defined in s. 2(c) of the CSIS Act. CSIS may also take measures to reduce these threats, within defined legal parameters.
• In instances where an IMVE threat meets the national security threshold as laid out in s. 2(c) of the CSIS Act, RCMP Federal Policing becomes the police force of jurisdiction and will investigate national security-related criminal offences.
• Countering radicalization to violence (CRV) efforts, namely those undertaken by the RCMP with regard to standard community outreach activities and those by Public Safety Canada’s Centre for Community Engagement and Prevention of Violence (Canada Centre).
• Through the Community Resilience Fund, the Canada Centre provides financial assistance to support the efforts of researchers, front-line practitioners, and community-based organizations to prevent and counter radicalization to violence in Canada. For example, the Ontario Tech University is leading analysis of the beliefs and activities that characterize right-wing extremist movements in Canada, covering most of the IMVE space. As part of this project funded by the Canada Centre, the Ontario Tech University is partnering with the Institute for Strategic Dialogue to conduct an analysis of online content. The first interim report of the online scan was published in June 2020, and found significant IMVE activity in Canada on both mainstream and fringe channels.

Terrorist Listings:
The Criminal Code terrorist listings regime helps prevent the use of Canada’s financial system from furthering terrorist activity, and can assist in the investigation and prosecution of terrorist offences. Listing an entity carries significant consequences. Banks and financial institutions must freeze the assets of a listed terrorist entity and all persons in Canada, as well as Canadians abroad, are prohibited from knowingly dealing with such assets. Once listed, certain criminal offences related to terrorist financing, terrorist-related travel and terrorist recruitment may then apply. This strengthens law enforcement’s ability to take action against domestic members and supporters of listed terrorist entities. A listing can also lead to the deregistration of a charity or the refusal to register an organization as a charity, if there is an affiliation with a listed entity.

The recommendation to list an entity is based on a security or intelligence report prepared by either the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) or Public Safety Canada, or a criminal intelligence report prepared by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP). There are several safeguards built into the regime to ensure that the Criminal Code listing process is balanced and fair.

There are currently 77 terrorist entities listed pursuant to the Criminal Code. In 2019, the Government of Canada, for the first time, added two IMVE groups to the list, Combat 18 and Blood and Honour. In 2021, the Government placed 17 new groups on the list, including six IMVE groups: the Proud Boys, Atomwaffen Division, the Base, Russian Imperial Movement, Aryan Strike Force, Three Percenters, and one IMVE individual—James Mason. Atomwaffen Division, the Base, Proud Boys and Aryan Strike Force advocate for violent action against racial, religious and ethnic groups, and the state. Atomwaffen Division and the Base have provided their members with weapons training. The Russian Imperial Movement also provides paramilitary training and is known to have provided this to two individuals, who in 2016 and 2017, carried out a series of bombings that included targeting refugees in Sweden. Three Percenters participated in a plot to kidnap the Governor of Michigan that involved the violent overthrow of certain government and law-enforcement components. James Mason provides tactical direction on how to operate a terror group and ideological grounding for Atomwaffen Division and the Base.

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