Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.
Good afternoon, committee members. Thank you for the invitation to appear today to discuss ideologically motivated violent extremism in Canada.
My name is Dominic Rochon. I'm the senior assistant deputy minister of the national and cybersecurity branch here at Public Safety Canada. I'm pleased to be joined today by my colleagues Tim Hahlweg from CSIS; Michael Duheme and Mark Flynn from the RCMP; Artur Wilczynski from the Communications Security Establishment; and Jill Wherrett, assistant deputy minister at Public Safety Canada, joining us in her role representing the Canada Centre for Community Engagement and Prevention of Violence.
Preventing and countering violent extremism in all its forms is a complex and ever-evolving issue. Effective and sustainable efforts require a comprehensive approach, combining domestic and international efforts, and involving a range of stakeholders.
Public Safety Canada, its portfolio agencies and partners such as the Communications Security Establishment have distinct but complementary roles as they relate to violent extremism, the terrorist listings process and related enforcement measures, which we will be pleased to discuss with you today.
Ideologically motivated violent extremism, or IMVE, is the term that Canada has adopted to describe what was previously referred to as right-wing and left-wing extremism. My colleague from CSIS will expand on this in a moment, but in brief, the violent actions and rhetoric of IMVE actors are fuelled by white supremacy, anti-Semitism, Islamophobia, violent misogyny, anti-authority and, often, all of the above, making IMVE one of the most serious threats we are facing today.
The listing of terrorist entities is one tool that is available to the Government of Canada.
In 2019, as you may recall, the Government of Canada added the international neo-Nazi network Blood & Honour and its armed affiliate Combat 18 to the list.