Question Period Note: Ideologically Motivated Violent Extremism (IMVE)

• The Government of Canada remains deeply concerned about the rise of ideologically-motivated violent extremism, or IMVE, across this country. Since 2014, IMVE-related attacks have killed more people across the country than any other form of violent extremism.

• Violent extremists of all motivations tend to exploit crisis situations and capitalize on fear, distrust, and uncertainty to spread their twisted worldviews, recruit others to their cause, and encourage acts of serious violence.

• My Department, working with the national security community is determined to keep Canadians safe from this growing threat in a manner that respects Charter-protected freedoms of thought, belief, opinion and expression, as well as the freedoms to peacefully assemble.

• We continue to closely monitor and respond to the evolving threat posed by IMV extremists and can employ a variety of national security tools, including: investigations that may support criminal charges, including terrorism peace bonds; no-fly listings; the revocation or cancellation of passports; and, listing terrorist entities under the Criminal Code.

• Addressing violent extremism is not just an enforcement issue, but one of prevention as well. Public Safety Canada’s Centre for Community Engagement and Prevention of Violence continues to provide national leadership on Canada’s effort to counter radicalization to violence.

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 attacks 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 2020 and 2021 CSIS Public Reports indicate that COVID-19 has exacerbated the effects of IMVE narratives, in particular those that promote xenophobic and anti-authority sentiment. The Reports note CSIS’ increasing concerns around misinformation and 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 investigates violent extremist threats to Canada’s 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. A listing also provides a clear indicator for service providers that they can remove an entity’s online presence on social media and other associated online platforms for violating their terms and conditions of use. This further constrains their ability to raise funds through activities such as the sale of merchandise online.

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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