Canada puts extremist Proud Boys on terror list

CANADA named the far-right Proud Boys a terrorist entity on Wednesday, saying it posed an active security threat and played a “pivotal role” in last month’s attack on the US Capitol that left five people dead.

Although the Proud Boys have never mounted an attack in Canada, Public Safety Minister Bill Blair said domestic intelligence forces had become increasingly worried about the group.

“There has been a serious and concerning escalation of violence — not just rhetoric but activity and planning — and that is why we have responded as we have today,” he said, without giving details.

The group’s assets can now be frozen by banks and financial institutions, and it is a crime for Canadians to knowingly deal with assets of a listed entity.

Anyone belonging to the group can be blocked from entering Canada. The group’s founder, Gavin McInnes, is Canadian who lives in the United States.

US authorities have charged several members of the Proud Boys in connection with the January 6 attack in Washington.

Blair said Canadian intelligence agencies had been working for months and in some cases years to gather evidence needed to list the groups. “Canada will not tolerate ideological, religious or politically motivated acts of violence.”

Founded in 2016, the Proud Boys began as an organization protesting political correctness and perceived constraints on masculinity in the US and Canada, and grew into a violent group.

Former US President Donald Trump, asked last September whether he would denounce white supremacists and militia groups, called on the Proud Boys to “stand back and stand by.”

(Reuters)