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MPs unanimously support call to designate 'Proud Boys' as terrorist organization

Jagmeet Singh and the NDP launched a petition earlier this month to designate the group as a terrorist organization
Elana Shepert
Elana Shepert
ndp-jagmeet-singh-proud-boys.jpg
A motion to designate the Proud Boys as a terrorist organization in Canada passed unanimously in the House of Commons Monday night. Photo via New Democratic Party

A motion to designate the Proud Boys as a terrorist organization in Canada passed unanimously in the House of Commons Monday night. 

The motion, which was put forth by the New Democratic Party party leader Jagmeet Singh, calls on the Trudeau government to immediately ban and designate the Proud Boys as a terrorist organization. 

On Jan. 7, Singh first took to Twitter to share the petition, which he continues to encourage Canadians to sign and share, too. 

According to BBC, the Proud Boys are a far-right, anti-immigrant and male-only organization that promotes and engages in political violence. 

"Alarmingly, their founder is from Canada."

The petition states how "Earlier this year, the Proud Boys, a right-wing extremist group that promotes white supremacist views made international headlines after being bolstered by Donald Trump."

Earlier this month, members of the Proud Boys joined a group armed with deadly weapons as they stormed the U.S. Capitol, which "was an act of domestic terrorism," explains the NDP.

The petition also notes that "Alarmingly, their founder is from Canada."

Singh says that the website crashed at one point "Due to overwhelming support" from people signing the petition. 

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who over the course of the last four years has studiously avoided calling out the president by name, stopped pulling his punches after the storming of the U.S. Capitol.  

"What we witnessed was an assault on democracy by violent rioters, incited by the current president and other politicians," Trudeau said in a prepared statement during a news conference outside his Rideau Cottage residence.

"Unpopular opinion": Activist/writer weighs in on NDP petition  

Harsha Walia, executive director of the BC Civil Liberties Association, took to Twitter to express why she thinks the Proud Boys shouldn't be designated a terrorist group. 

The activist/writer argues that the terrorist designation negatively impacts minority groups--and that expanding the term to include white supremacists simply "won't work."

"It is fundamentally regressive law and targets Black, Indigenous, Muslim, Sikh, left communities by design," she writes. 

"There is no "appropriate" left reason for more criminalizing or securitizing laws. Global war on terror and its ongoing aftermath must be dismantled, not bolstered."

Moving forward: Proud Boys terrorist designation 

Singh has shared the petition on Twitter a few more times over the past couple of days. While the motion passed Monday, he notes that "the work isn't done" and that it is up to the Trudeau government to "follow through on the unanimous will of Parliament."

He adds that "millions of Canadians" want to see the designation applied, too.