Pierre Poilievre has called on the federal government to label Samidoun a terrorist group.His announcement came following a night of anti-Israel protests across Canada on the one year anniversary of the October 7 attack, including in Vancouver, where the Western Standard caught attendees openly saying "we are Hamas" and burning Canadian flags.."What has happened to our country," Poilievre lamented, pointing out that division and hate has reached new highs under the Trudeau government. He dispelled the notion that the violent rhetoric espoused by protest-goers was simply in reaction to the conflict in the Middle East, pointing out that hate crimes were up 100% before October 7, and that other wars have not generated such a reaction in Canada."We never saw that violence spill onto our streets," he said. "We didn't see people bring those hatreds into Canada ... but today we see the organization Samidoun, which is a front for the PFLP, has been fomenting these violent and horrific protests and mob actions."Poilievre explained that the PFLP is already banned as a terrorist group in Canada, thus Samidoun, and its PFLP-affiliated founder Khaled Barakat is in violation of Section 83.5 of the Criminal Code, which prohibits knowingly acting on behalf, at the direction of, or in association with a terrorist entity."This is a terrorist organization," he declared. "Common sense Conservatives are calling for the government under Section 83.03 of the Criminal Code to ban Samidoun now."In British Columbia, provincial Conservative leader John Rustad also demanded Ottawa take action to designate the group a terrorist entity..Both he and Poilievre slammed those who took part in the hate-filled rally in Vancouver..During Question Period, Justice Minister Arif Virani brought up the protest in Vancouver, declaring that the Liberals "unequivocally condemn those events and those actions.""It is absolutely unacceptable to burn the Canadian flag and to chant 'death to Canada'," he said. "It is also unacceptable to deny and celebrate the events of October 7, and to champion the acts of a terrorist group."
