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TOP STORY
A
new Department of Finance report
warns that Canada remains a hub for terrorist financing, with extremist groups capitalizing on everything from charitable fraud to spiking rates of drug trafficking and auto theft.
The Lebanese terrorist group Hezbollah, in particular, was cited as a leading recipient of funds originating in Canada, including from the black market vehicle trade.
“The Port of Montréal is a known link where luxury vehicles are shipped to Lebanon, financially supporting Hezbollah,” reads the 126-page report, entitled Assessment of Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Risks in Canada.
The amount of terrorist financing originating in Canada was still deemed to be relatively low as compared to the much larger problem of conventional money laundering. But the report authors note that given the damage that can be done by a “a lone terrorist actor or terrorist group,” the threat of potential negative consequences are proportionally much higher.
“While the volume of terrorist financing in Canada is assessed to be low, the consequences of enabling deadly and destructive terrorist attacks in Canada and abroad are grave,” the report says.
In addition to Hezbollah, the report also notes that Canadian money had ended up in the hands of the Palestinian terror group Hamas, as well as the extremist Sikh groups Babbar Khalsa International and the International Sikh Youth Federation.
All these organizations “have been observed by law enforcement and intelligence agencies to receive financial support originating from Canada,” it says.
As to where the money is coming from, the Department of Finance cited everything from “crowdfunding,” to cryptocurrencies to “abuse of non-profit organizations.”
“The misuse of the charitable and NPO sectors has been observed as a prominent financing method used by Hamas and Hezbollah,” the report says.
Just four months ago, Toronto resident Khalilullah Yousuf was handed a 12-year sentence for organizing GoFundMe campaigns that were ostensibly raising money for humanitarian purposes in Gaza, but
were actually being funnelled to Islami State affiliates
.
Last October, Canada listed the Vancouver-based anti-Israel group Samidoun as a terror entity.
Although Samidoun had long been active in promoting terrorist ideology both in Canada and abroad, its status as a fundraiser for terror groups was cited as one of the primary reasons it was listed as a terror entity.
In a
with Canada, the U.S. Department of the Treasury called Samidoun a “sham charity” that had served as an international fundraiser for the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, an active terror group.
“Organizations like Samidoun masquerade as charitable actors that claim to provide humanitarian support to those in need, yet in reality divert funds for much-needed assistance to support terrorist groups,” said Treasury spokesman Bradley T. Smith at the time.
Canada’s lucrative illicit drug trade was also cited by the Department of Justice as one in which terrorist groups were likely beneficiaries, either directly or indirectly.
“Hezbollah remains a highly active global player in the cocaine, heroin, fentanyl, and captagon trades with trafficking networks spanning Latin America, Canada, and the U.S.,” the new report says.
As to Hezbollah’s use of the Port of Montreal to ship out luxury cars, it would only be one of several criminal organizations to do the same. In 2022, when rates of auto theft were hitting all-time highs across Canada, industry representatives said it was well-known that many of these stolen cars were leaving the country via Montreal.
“The question is, how serious, or how bad does this situation have to become before the authorities really do something about it,” David Adams, the president and CEO of Global Automakers of Canada,
.
As for terror organizations using Canada as a conduit for money laundering, they would be a drop in the bucket of a Canadian money laundering network that CSIS estimates at between $45 billion and $113 billion each year.
The report also raises the alarm about hostile state actors using those same money laundering networks to finance interference efforts within Canada.
“Foreign states seeking to interfere in Canada often rely on networks of proxies within Canada to carry out their activities,” it read.
“Foreign states seeking to funnel money into foreign interference activities can take advantage of existing networks, often criminal in nature, to co-mingle and launder funds from different sources.”
IN OTHER NEWS
The federal government’s economic development plan currently revolves around greenlighting a series of “major projects” ranging from mines to railways to (maybe) pipelines. But it wasn’t too long ago that Ottawa’s best idea to grow the economy was to approve a series of utterly unprecedented corporate welfare payouts to foreign EV companies. Three firms, Volkswagen, Stellantis and Northvolt, were promised a combined $30 billion in government grants, subsidies and tax credits. But less than two years later, Northvolt is bankrupt and this week the Quebec government announced it was
suspending its funding deal with the Swedish firm
, for which it will be taking a $270 million loss.
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