Groups
Designated Terrorist Organizations Governance of Police Powers Does Not Protect Rights or Democratic Values - Steve Rutchinski and Pauline Easton -
Canada's Public Safety Minister Bill Blair has announced that the Proud
Boys and 12 other groups are to be designated as "terrorist entities."
Such a decision is made, we are told, on the recommendation of Canadian
security and intelligence agencies after an "extremely rigorous" probe
has found "reasonable grounds to believe that an entity has knowingly
participated in or facilitated a terrorist activity."[1] What
criminal, terrorist activity the individual or group engaged in is not
disclosed. In fact, since 9/11 even what constitutes a terrorist act
has remained undefined. In the process the Government of Canada has
adopted, anyone named a "terrorist entity" has to plead their case in a
Star Chamber-type court which dispenses with due process.[2] Full disclosure
of the allegations made and who is making them are dispensed with "for
security reasons." It is a complete travesty of justice which
underscores that the exercise of police powers does not protect
anyone's rights, or democratic values, or society itself from the
danger of extremist terrorist violence or racist, homophobic and
misogynist acts.  Should
extremist, racist, homophobic, misogynist acts be prosecuted and
punished? Absolutely! But who is designating organizations "terrorist"
and by what process are they being outlawed? And on the basis of what
criteria? That is the issue, not whether they should be prosecuted if
they engage in criminal acts. It is beyond absurd to suggest that rule
of law is strengthened by use of police powers over which the people do
not exercise control. To suggest that the police powers which rule the
civil power have the consent of the governed is a travesty. It defies
logic and common sense. In Canada, the civil power is itself the
expression at any time and in various forms of racist, homophobic,
misogynist, anti-communist, anti-worker and terrorist values.
The FBI in the United States has decided that extremist
organizations are the new terrorists posing danger domestically. The
Five Eyes intelligence agencies, to which Canada belongs, seem to have
adopted that definition. The role these police powers are playing in
the polity reveals that what is called civil society is in fact
subordinate to the police powers, and governed by them. Rule of law is
the rule of these police powers, both the prerogative powers in the
hands of the head of state and cabinet, as well as the police and
intelligence agencies themselves and the "civilian review agencies" and
so-called democratic media which have become agents of disinformation.
What is referred to as rule of law is actually subordinate to
the police powers which routinely act behind closed doors in the name
of national interest and national security. Those who wield the police
powers tell the legislature what to do and the legislature and members
of the legislature, sworn to protect these police powers, rubber stamp
it. The irony is that -- as in the example of the FBI agent who is
president of Proud Boys in the U.S. -- Canadian experience confirms
that when a group with extremist views has engaged in terrorist acts,
it is incited by the police, who are leading those organizations or
have infiltrated them or, indeed, comprise them holus bolus.[3]  The Canadian
state and its "security and intelligence agencies" are responsible for
organizing and funding racist, white supremacist groups in Canada,
including in the 1970s and '80s the KKK cross burnings on the front
lawns of East Indians in BC in which the son of the Surrey Police Chief
was subsequently arrested, as well as the Heritage Front and other such
groups. The police agencies have either directly engaged in or
instigated individual acts of terrorist violence. The list of acts of
state violence, including fomenting hate and acts of violence against
migrant workers, people of colour and Indigenous peoples' legitimate
defence of their hereditary and treaty rights is endless!
This
long-established fact should not need to be stated. However, given the
way the cartel parties in Parliament are carrying on, each trying to
outdo the other saying that the Liberal government has not gone far
enough, it requires repeating. The decision to
designate the Proud Boys, in particular, and 12 others as terrorist
groups follows the report of the U.S. intelligence agencies. The
January 6 events in Washington, DC was to provide proof positive. But
then it became public knowledge that the leader and organizer of the
Proud Boys in the U.S. has been a "prolific police informant" working
for the FBI for years. Are we to believe that the police agencies
advising the government of Canada cannot put two and two together to
make four? Of course they can. And herein lies the problem the polity
faces! Taking again the example of current events
in the United States, U.S. law provides for harsh penalties for anyone
convicted of the kind of violence that occurred on January 6 in
Washington, DC, but those arrested have been charged with offences on
par with trespassing. They are freed on bail to return to their
everyday lives pending trial. One woman was granted permission to
vacation in Mexico because it was a pre-arranged trip! Oh that the
victims of police impunity in the U.S. and Canada were treated with
such kindness! Despite the facts and experience of
the Canadian people, what we see and hear from the cartel parties in
Canada and the U.S. is that more police powers are needed to stamp out
the culture and organization of extremist violence, which they
themselves are responsible for perpetrating both at home and abroad. It
is brutal disinformation of the public while expanding police powers.
 All of it is used
to make sure no discussion takes place within the polity on what it
means to defend freedom of speech and conscience while not permitting
acts of violence against the people. The cartel parties which are
crowing that they are the champions of rights should be seriously put
in their place. Which people of colour in Canada, Indigenous persons,
or persons of various faiths can say they feel safer when under "police
protection?" Victims of hate and terrorist acts are supposed to accept
a "trade-off" between security and rights. It is irrational.
How
to deal with the police powers in Canada, including their incitement of
extremist, racist, homophobic and misogynist acts is a serious matter
facing the polity. To have these matters relegated to behind the scenes
processes carried out in the name of national security, while keeping
the mass of the people -- the polity itself -- in the dark as to
criteria and depriving them of information is not the way to go. The
obscene haste with which Canada is acting to outdo the U.S. by
declaring the Proud Boys a terrorist group, which would not exist
without the support of the police forces in the United States and the
presidential powers themselves, does not prove that Canada is a law
abiding safe country. It merely shows that the liberal democratic
institutions are in serious trouble, laying the grounds for public
opinion to be impotent in the face of actions the police
powers deem fit to take in the name of national interest and national
security. It has always been the modus operandi of
the liberal institutions to legalize a course of action by initiating
it against Nazis or right-wing extremists, then in fact
letting them off the hook, but targeting the people's legitimate
resistance fighters. The state and its agencies, including the cartel
political parties, are determined to keep the decision-making power in
their hands in the name of all sorts of high ideals, to keep the people
without a voice or any means of expression. It is not just the Proud
Boys the ruling class is making illegal. Besides the 12 others it has
designated to be a danger, the state regularly targets unions, workers'
collectives and Indigenous peoples. Spokespersons of the cartel
parties, such as Justin Trudeau and his Ministers, take every
opportunity to extend this practice to small political parties as well
which are branded as fringe, extremist and so forth. Beware
of measures the Government and cartel parties are taking and advocating
in the name of national security and defending rights. The verdict
coming out of the Second World War was indeed that racists and fascists
have no right to speak. But this was never applied by the
Anglo-American powers that called themselves democratic. On the
contrary, they launched the Cold War to protect "the English-speaking
peoples" and their values and way of life and no crime was too great
for them, all in the name of the high ideals of democracy, liberty and
peace. Today it is only by affirming the people's
right to conscience and expression and making sure they can participate
in making the decisions which affect their lives that the well-being of
the polity can be secured. We are on the eve of the
30th anniversary of the demand for justice of the families of missing
and murdered Indigenous women and girls. Where is the prosecution of
those who have committed racist, misogynist and terrorist crimes
against them, beginning with those entrusted to defend them -- from the
top echelons of power to the lowliest police officer trained by them to
emulate their spirit and "values"?
Where are police held to account for targeting people of colour, youth,
the homeless, and Indigenous peoples, especially women and girls?
So long as self-serving criteria define what is a crime and
what constitutes terrorism, and who decides is kept in the hands of the
police powers themselves, there will be no accountability of any kind.
Shame on the cartel parties which claim to champion minority
rights! Notes 1. The 13 new groups
added to the Criminal Code list of terrorist
entities include four that fall into the category of what the
government calls "ideologically motivated violent extremist groups"
(Atomwaffen Division, the Base, Russian Imperial Movement and Proud
Boys). The government describes the other organizations added as "Al
Qaida affiliates" (Jama'at Nusrat Al-Islam Wal-Muslimin, Front de
Libération du Macina, and Ansar Dine), and "Daesh
affiliates" (Islamic State West Africa Province, Islamic State in the
Greater Sahara, Islamic State in Libya, Islamic State East Asia, and
Islamic State -- Bangladesh), as well as "Hizbul Mujahideen."
The announcement came right after the House of
Commons unanimously adopted a motion put forward by the NDP on January
25 which reads: "That
the House call upon the government to use all available tools to
address the proliferation of white supremacist and hate groups,
starting with immediately designating the Proud Boys as a terrorist
entity." The statement
issued by Public Safety Canada announcing the addition of the groups to
the list of terrorist entities says, in part: "Canadians
expect their government to take all necessary steps to keep them safe,
while safeguarding their values, their rights and freedoms and the
open, inclusive character of our country. The Criminal Code
listing regime is an important tool for countering terrorism in Canada
and globally, and is part of that commitment." Bill
Blair, Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness said:
"Violent acts of terrorism have no place in Canadian society or abroad.
Today's additions to the Criminal Code list of
terrorist entities are an important step in our effort to combat
violent extremism in all forms. Canadians expect their Government to
keep them safe and to keep pace with evolving threats and global
trends, such as the growing threat of ideologically motivated violent
extremism. The Government of Canada will continue to take appropriate
actions to counter terrorist threats to Canada, its citizens and its
interests around the world." According
to the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS):
"Ideologically motivated violent extremism (IMVE)
is often driven by a range of grievances and ideas from across the
traditional ideological spectrum. The resulting worldview consists of a
personalized narrative which centres on an extremist's willingness to
incite, enable and or mobilize to violence. Extremists draw inspiration
from a variety of sources including books, images, lectures, music,
online discussions, videos and conversations. Given the diverse
combination of motivations and personalized worldviews of recent
mass-casualty attackers, the use of such terms as 'right-wing' and
'left-wing' is not only subjective, but inaccurate in describing the
complexity of motivations of IMVE attacks in Canada and abroad."
At the press conference when the announcement was
made, Blair said: "No
matter the ideological motivation, they're all hateful, intolerant and,
as we've seen, they can be highly dangerous." He said he hopes
expanding the terrorist list will send a message to groups intent on
sowing division and hate and causing harm, that their actions will not
be tolerated by law enforcement, CBC reported. "Their
violent actions and rhetoric are fuelled by white supremacy,
anti-Semitism, racism, homophobia, Islamophobia and misogyny, and
unfortunately, often in combination of all of the above. On several
different occasions we have seen the tragic results that this type of
extremism can bring to Canadian soil," Blair said referencing the 2017
Quebec City mosque attack and the 2018 Toronto van attack.
As required, the listing of the 13 groups was
published in the Canada Gazette: "Whereas, the
Administrator in Council, on the recommendation of the Minister of
Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness, is satisfied that there are
reasonable grounds to believe that each entity listed in the annexed
Regulations Amending the Regulations Establishing a List of Entities
has knowingly carried out, attempted to carry out, participated in or
facilitated a terrorist activity or has knowingly acted on behalf of,
at the direction of or in association with such an entity; Therefore,
His Excellency the Administrator of the Government of Canada in
Council, on the recommendation of the Minister of Public Safety and
Emergency Preparedness, pursuant to subsection 83.05(1) of the Criminal Code makes
the annexed Regulations Amending the Regulations Establishing a List of
Entities." The
"Administrator in Council" is Richard Wagner, Chief Justice of the
Supreme Court of Canada, who currently serves as the statutorily
determined replacement for former Governor General Payette.
The announcement in the Gazette serves
notice that the property of those listed "can be the subject of
seizure/restraint and/or forfeiture. In addition, institutions, such as
banks and brokerages, are subject to reporting requirements with
respect to an entity's property and must not allow those entities to
access the property nor may these institutions deal with or otherwise
dispose of the property." The notice in the Gazette also states
that a "listed entity is included in the definition of terrorist group
in the Criminal Code
so offences applicable to terrorist groups apply to these entities.
However, unlike terrorist groups that are not listed, a prosecution
related to a listed entity does not require the Crown to demonstrate
that the entity has, as one of its purposes or activities, facilitated
or carried out a terrorist activity." Further, it states that "the
listing of terrorist entities facilitates the prosecution of
perpetrators and supporters of terrorism." Currently
there are 73 groups designated as terrorist entities. Interestingly
enough, the KKK and extremist Ukrainian groups like Azov Battalion and
others are not. The full list is available here.
2. The
Star Chamber was an English court which sat from the late 15th century
to the mid-17th century to prosecute those deemed to be the King's
enemies. Created by King Henry VII in 1487, it was named for a room
with stars painted on the ceiling in the royal palace of Westminster
where the court sat. The Star Chamber was an instrument of the monarch
and consisted of royal councillors and two royal judges. The court
dispensed with "due process" as it was then understood.
3. One
of the first
public activities of Proud Boys in Canada took place July 1, 2017 when
members of the Canadian Armed Forces self-identifying as Proud Boys
disrupted a ceremony organized by Indigenous activists in Halifax to
mourn atrocities committed against Indigenous peoples. It was held
around the statue of Edward Cornwallis, the first Lieutenant Governor
of Nova Scotia, known for his violent actions against the Indigenous
peoples.
This article was published in
Volume 51 Number 2 - February 7, 2021
Article Link:
Governance of Police Powers Does Not Protect Rights or Democratic Values
Website: www.cpcml.ca
Email: editor@cpcml.ca
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