{"id":154248,"date":"2026-08-03T16:45:11","date_gmt":"2026-08-03T16:45:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/154248\/"},"modified":"2026-08-03T16:45:11","modified_gmt":"2026-08-03T16:45:11","slug":"canadian-opposition-calls-to-proscribe-kataib-hezbollah","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/154248\/","title":{"rendered":"Canadian opposition calls to proscribe Kataib Hezbollah"},"content":{"rendered":"

Canadian opposition leader Pierre Poilievre has called on the federal government to immediately designate Kataib Hezbollah as a terrorist entity on Sunday, urging authorities in an open letter to Minister of Public Safety Gary Anandasangaree to \u201cimmediately recommend that the government of Canada<\/a> list Kataib Hezbollah as a terrorist entity under the Criminal Code.\u201d<\/p>\n

The push follows a recent US legal filing detailing the actions of Mohammad Baqer Saad Dawood al-Saadi<\/a>, an alleged senior commander of Kataib Hezbollah and operative of Iran\u2019s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).<\/p>\n

According to the US criminal complaint, Saadi helped plan and coordinate, and claimed responsibility for, \u201cnearly 20 terrorist attacks and attempted attacks across Europe and North America,\u201d including two specific incidents<\/a> in Canada.<\/p>\n

The complaint cites the March 10 shooting at the United States consulate in Toronto as well as an attack against a Canadian synagogue.<\/p>\n

During recorded conversations cited in the legal filings, Saadi allegedly confirmed that his \u201cpeople were behind the attacks against the consulate and the Knesset,\u201d which investigators understood to refer to the Toronto consulate and a synagogue.<\/p>\n

\"MohammadMohammad Baqer Saad Dawood Al-Saadi, an Iraqi man accused of helping Iran-backed militia’s plans for attacks in the United States and Europe, stands before U.S. District Judge Colleen McMahon during his arraignment in Manhattan federal court in New York City, US, June 1, 2026 in a courtroom sketch (credit: JANE ROSENBERG\/REUTERS)<\/p>\n

The documents further state that Saadi \u201cwas running multiple teams and sought help carrying out further attacks against Jewish and other targets in Canada and the United States.\u201d<\/p>\n

Poilievre argues that Canada should not wait for further attacks before acting<\/p>\n

Poilievre argued in his letter that \u201cCanada should not wait for another synagogue or another foreign consulate to be attacked before shutting down the terrorist organization allegedly directing these attacks.\u201d<\/p>\n

Noting that Kataib Hezbollah has been listed as a foreign terrorist organization by the US since 2009, the letter emphasized that listing the group would make it illegal to \u201cknowingly deal in its property or finances, allow authorities to restrain or seize its assets, and strengthen Canada\u2019s ability to prevent its members from entering or remaining in the country.\u201d<\/p>\n

The open letter explicitly calls on the government to take five key actions: investigate whether the group\u2019s members, operatives, facilitators, or financial networks are operating in Canada; disclose how many individuals connected to the Iranian regime and its proxies have been identified, denied entry, investigated, detained, or removed; investigate and disclose any known links between Iranian terrorist proxies and organized crime in Canada; and explain what action Canadian authorities are taking in response to the alleged Kataib Hezbollah-directed attacks in Toronto.<\/p>\n

The letter also highlights broader domestic safety concerns, stating that \u201cJewish Canadians have watched their synagogues, schools and businesses targeted by shootings, vandalism, firebombings and threats.\u201d Poilievre added that the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) was finally listed as a terrorist entity only \u201cafter years of pressure from Conservatives,\u201d while asking the government to \u201cdisclose how many individuals connected to the Iranian regime and its proxies have been identified, denied entry, investigated, detained, or removed.\u201d<\/p>\n

Alongside the official correspondence, the Conservative Party of Canada launched a public petition stating that \u201cCanadians deserve protection from terrorism, foreign intimidation, and violent extremist activity on Canadian soil.\u201d The petition notes that while the US listed Kataib Hezbollah as a terrorist organization in 2009, \u201cthe Liberal government has still failed to do so in Canada.\u201d<\/p>\n

Center for Israel and Jewish Affairs welcomes Poilievre\u2019s letter<\/p>\n

In a statement posted on social media, The Center for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA) wrote that it welcomed Poilievre\u2019s \u201ccall to list Kataib Hezbollah as a terrorist entity\u201d and noted that it had urged the government in May to take the same step to ensure terrorist organizations and their proxies cannot operate in Canada.<\/p>\n

CIJA emphasized that \u201cthe warning signs are clear,\u201d pointing to Toronto Police Chief Myron Demkiw identifying a \u201csimilar modus operandi\u201d as that of criminals-for-hire targeting the Jewish community and diplomatic sites, alongside warnings from Canada\u2019s Integrated Terrorism Assessment Center of a \u201crealistic possibility\u201d that the Iranian regime is directing local criminal elements to target Canada\u2019s Jewish community.<\/p>\n

The urgent call comes amid escalating threats and violence directed at Jewish institutions across the country, marked by incidents such as the recent suspicious arson that gutted N\u00f6am, a popular kosher restaurant in Montreal, as well as a series of targeted attacks in Toronto where gunfire struck a branch of Kiva\u2019s Bagel Bar \u2013 while another location had its windows smashed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Canadian opposition leader Pierre Poilievre has called on the federal government to immediately designate Kataib Hezbollah as a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":154249,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[17,49905,12445,21654,12384],"class_list":["post-154248","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-canada","tag-canada","tag-extremism","tag-irgc","tag-kataib-hezbollah","tag-terrorism"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/154248","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=154248"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/154248\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/154249"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=154248"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=154248"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=154248"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}