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There has been a lot of concern raised over Parliament voting on terrorism listings in Canada. I have a few thoughts on this and made a thread. First, and I think most importantly, it is GOOD that Parliament is paying attention and condemning far-right violence. #cdnnatsec
I mean, it has been 4 years since the Quebec Mosque shooting and almost 2 years since Christchurch. And we really are seeing gradual shifts to address this rather than sudden action. In this sense, it is GOOD that Parliament condemns violence & stands with affected communities.
So, to be clear, those of us that have raised concerns are worried about PROCESS, not the Proud Boys. The terrorism listings process is a legal one. And yes, Cabinet makes a decision based on the advice of the Minister of Public Safety. But...
this means the decision can be held to account, politically. (Which is good!) It does not mean the process itself is politicized (which is bad.) Voting on which groups should be listed moves us a bit closer to the later.
I worry about this in the context of comments made throughout 2020 by politicians that Indigenous Protestors, Extinction Rebellion, Antifa (which is not a group) or even BLM should be listed as violent extremists or terrorist groups. They could be voted on in the future
We need to be extremely careful when we expand our understanding and concept of terrorism. Because it can lead to a lot of unfortunate "both sides-ism" and a lot of democratic movements being caught up in the mix - which is something we do not want.
That said, there IS a role for Parliament in taking on far-right violence. First, condemning it and standing in solidarity with affected communities. Second, questioning the heads of security services what they are doing about this issue. Why is it taking so long relative to AQ?
Third, healthy communities are resilient and strong communities. Pass measures that will contribute to helping communities deal with the trauma of being targeted, helping them resist extremism and promote trust and mental health. Or at least investigate this at committees.
In the end, terrorist listings can have significant impacts on individuals and groups, especially financially. (Good luck opening a bank account.) But we see few terrorism financing charges in Canada. And listing a group does little to actually support communities or make them...
...more resilient from this kind of activity in the future. The government needs to widen our tool kit for countering extremism - and Parliament can play an important role here. *FIN* #cdnnatsec
