BREAKING: Canada to list Proud Boys as a terrorist organization

The Canadian government is expected to announce today that the Proud Boys will be added to a list of designated terrorist groups.

The move comes after the NDP proposed a motion to designate the organization as such. The motion was supported by MPs from all parties. The formal designation would list the Proud Boys alongside groups such as Hamas, Hezbollah, and al-Qaeda.

"We're very mindful of ideologically-motivated violent extremists, including groups like the Proud Boys. They are white supremacists, anti-Semitics, Islamophobic, misogynist groups. They're all hateful, they're all dangerous," said Public Safety Minister Bill Blair.

Blair noted, however, that designating a group as a terrorist organization is not a political decision, but is "based on the evidence, it's based on the intelligence, and it's based on the law."

The idea of designating the Proud Boys as a terrorist organization has raised concern among both civil rights and anti-extremism groups, however.

The Canadian Anti-Hate Network, which doxes and "exposes" right-wing extremists, said in a Facebook post last month that they are "wary of definitions being loosened, power being misused, and eroding civil liberties or the criminalization of legitimate protest that would likely rebound on BIPOC and anti-racist groups."

The Ottawa-based Civil Liberties Monitoring Group also expressed concern with the potential listing, suggesting that while the government must take steps to fight hate and extremism, such a designation would be "deeply problematic" for civil liberties.

"Groups who are added are not informed in advance, nor given the chance to address the accusations levelled against them," the group stated.

"Only once a group is added does the listing become public, and they are in a position to challenge their listing."

They further suggested that there are other pathways within the criminal code to deal with groups like the Proud Boys without resorting to a terrorism designation.