Canadian politicians unanimously support call to label Proud Boys a terrorist group
Canadian politicians have unanimously supported a motion calling on Justin Trudeau’s Liberal government to label the Proud Boys a terrorist organization.
The far-right group was founded by Canadian Gavin McInnes. Some of its members participated in the Capitol Riot in Washington, DC when Trump supporters stormed government buildings while law-makers were affirming US President Joe Biden’s win.
New Democrat leader Jagmeet Singh introduced the motion, and it received support from the other political parties.
By unanimous consent, the #HoC adopted a motion regarding the proliferation of white supremacist and hate groups and the designation of the Proud Boys as a terrorist entity.
— In the Chamber (@HoCChamber) January 25, 2021
Our motion calling on the Liberal govt to designate Proud Boys as a Terrorist Org has passed!
But, Justin Trudeau has a habit of breaking his promises.
Sadly, we can’t trust him to follow through.
We need to the pressure on, sign here to keep it going:https://t.co/KBzMGqQqpX
— Jagmeet Singh (@theJagmeetSingh) January 25, 2021
The NDP started an online petition asking the government to label the Proud Boys a terrorist group earlier this month, and it became so popular the site hosting it briefly went down.
“Members of the Proud Boys joined a group armed with deadly weapons as they led an assault on the U.S. Capitol – this was an act of domestic terrorism,” the NDP’s petition says.
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However, not everyone is in favour of adding the Proud Boys to Canada’s list of recognized terrorist organizations. Vancouver-based author and activist Harsha Walia called anti-terror legal infrastructure “rotten by design” on Twitter.
“It is fundamentally regressive law and targets Black, Indigenous, Muslim, Sikh, left communities by design,” Walia said, referring to Canada’s anti-terror framework.
Having organized w/security certificate detainees, west coast warriors raided, land defenders targeted by Sitka, countless refugees & permanent residents facing deportation & admissibility hearings on security grounds, I know anti-terror legal infrastructure is rotten by design.
— Harsha Walia (@HarshaWalia) January 7, 2021