The government has, for the first time, placed right-wing extremist groups on its list of outlawed terrorist organizations, adding the names of Blood & Honour and Combat 18//Stewart Bell,
Announced in the government’s Canada Gazette, the action came after the Canadian Security Intelligence Service said in a report on Friday it had increased its “posture” on the far right.
Blood & Honour was described by the government as “an international neo-Nazi network whose ideology is derived from the National Socialist doctrine of Nazi Germany.”
Combat 18 is the armed branch of Blood & Honour and has conducted murders and bombings, the government said in the description of the group on the Public Safety Canada website.
Canadian Anti-Hate Network chair Bernie Farber called the groups “extremely violent neo-Nazi organizations” and said he hoped other far right groups would be criminalized as well.
“I’m hoping this is just the beginning and that there will be more, but this is a really good first start for Canada,” he said.
Also placed on the terrorist list Wednesday were three Shia militant groups supported by Iran: the Al-Ashtar Brigades, Harakat al-Sabireen and the Fatemiyoun Division.
According to the government, the Al-Ashtar Brigades “aims to overthrow Bahrain’s Sunni monarchy.” Harakat al-Sabireen has operated in the Gaza Strip since 2014, the government said