Canada's Limp Recognition of Terrorist Groups

"By 2011, she [Charlotte Kates] helped to found Samidoun, which boasts chapters around the world and has the stated purpose of seeking “to achieve justice for Palestinian prisoners,” in Israeli detention through demonstrations and other public events. Earlier this year she travelled to Iran to accept a human rights award, where it also has a chapter."

"Many of the prisoners she advocates to be freed have links to “terrorism, assassinations and countless attacks against Israel,” according to Public Safety Canada."

"By listing a group as a terrorist entity, it becomes a crime to provide them with material support. Leading up to its listing, Kates’ organization had long sparked concern from political leaders and companies. One point, she told supporters they could only take paper cheques, in light of the restrictions placed on them."

Stephanie Taylor, National Post 

Almost a year-and-a-half after Samidoun was listed as a designated terrorist group in Canada, no move has yet been made by any government authority to disband their Canadian operations. For that period as well Samidoun retained charitable status with Revenue Canada, continuing to raise funds in Canada to be sent abroad to Hamas and to the PFLP where Samidoun's founder Charlotte Kate's husband, Palestinian Khaled Barakat is a member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. Both husband and wife, incidentally, have Canadian citizenship. 

 

Anti-Israel protesters at a Samidoun-organized rally burn a Canadian flag outside the Vancouver Art Gallery on October 7, 2024. Photo by Jarryd Jaeger/X

 

"[It is completely unacceptable [that Samidoun remained a federally registered not-for-profit]."

"I have therefore directed government officials to urgently look at any and all options to formally dissolve Samidoun as well as any and all listed terrorist entities in Canada."

Melanie Joly, Industry Minister, September 2025  

Oops, big splash, but never carried through. Samidoun remains headquartered in Vancouver. Finally, Corporations Canada pulled Samidoun registration on March 27, stating that Samidoun, accused not only of advocating for violent terrorism, but of helping to fundraise for active Gazan terror groups, took action -- actually no, they did not. A statement on that very same day by the U.S. Department of the Treasury elaborated more fully, accusing Samidoun of exploiting the charitable sector to bankroll extremist violence. A "sham fundraiser whose efforts have supported terrorism".

 

Samidoun, advocating for Palestinian prisoners...Photo: Fatin al-Tamimi

 

Samidoun remained an active listing on Corporations Canada's official database, including a business number and names and addresses of three Samidoun directors. The listing eventually had a note appended to warn observers Corporations Canada was in the process of reviewing details of a terrorist organization, that any contact with the group might risk criminal prosecution. "It is a criminal offence for anyone in Canada ... to directly or indirectly provide property knowing that it will be used by or benefit a terrorist group", they alerted.

 

The registration remained active and only after a technical violation of the Canada Not-for-profit Corporations Act was resolved would their registration be wiped out. That violation seems to have been that Samidoun ceased submitting annual filings, following its terror designation; an oversight that was ultimately responsible for its being "dissolved for non-compliance". Really.

 

Since Samidoun's official federal terrorist designation none of its organizers have faced any charges. Co-founder Charlotte Kates remains free to enter and exit the country as she wishes. Despite the terror designation the Samidoun website and social media accounts remain active. On the website a statement appears that Samidoun intends to ignore the error designation, where Canada is referred to as a "settler-colonial state built on genocide". 

 

A screenshot of the Samidoun-led anti-Israel protest outside the Vancouver Art Gallery where Charlotte Kates was arrested, April 26, 2024. Photo by freepalestinetricitiesbc/Instagram

 

 

 

Islamophobia? REALLY?!!!

"Adopting the religious ideology of the Muslim Brotherhood is not the same thing as supporting the political ideology of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood."

"[The revenue agency 's Review and Analysis Division] conflated two entirely separate concepts."

"[As a registered charity, Muslim Association of Canada understands that it is subject to audit by the revenue agency, but it is] not subject to an audit that holds it to a different standard than audits of other religious charities."

"Put bluntly, the current [revenue agency] audit is so tainted by Charter infringements that is is unsalvageable."

Muslim Association of Canada appeal to Ontario Superior Court of Justice

 

"[The association, known as MAC] has not raised credible evidence that it was unfairly targeted by the Canada Revenue Agency [CRA], nor that in conducting the audit the CRA treated the Muslim Association of Canada [MAC] any differently than it would another charity."

Federal Attorney General submission

The Canada Revenue Agency's Ottawa headquarters. (Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press)

It is the aim of the Muslim Association of Canada [MAC] to persuade the Ontario Superior Court of Justice to put a stop to Canada's revenue agency [CRA] in its audit of the MAC, accusing the CRA of violation of Charter Rights guarantees of equality and freedom of religion, expression and association. The charity accuses Canada Revenue Agency of systematic bias and Islamophobia.

 

The currently registered charity's lawyers plan to argue at a hearing that the audit, initiated in 2015 is discriminatory against Muslims. On the federal government's part, the case should be dismissed on the basis that the revenue agency's selection of the association to undergo an audit and examination to follow do not represent an infringement on Charter rights.

 

The MAC bills itself as a promoter of community service, education and youth empowerment, its mosques, schools and community centres in monthly use by 150,000 Canadians. The Review and Analysis Division of the revenue agency's charities directorate is currently conducting the audit. It is a division that has connections with national security agencies in carrying out such audits. 

 

Revenue Minister Diane Lebouthillier requested of taxpayers; ombudsperson Francois Boileau to conduct a systemic review of the concerns from Muslim-led charities regarding their treatment by the revenue agency. Citing obstacles in accessing relevant information, Boileau was unable to examine the issue "deeply enough" in assessing the existence of bias in application of the revenue agency's processes.

 

The federal attorney general in a written submission to the court, spoke of the revenue agency's preliminary audit findings which identified "several serious issues" relating to the Muslim Association of Canada's non-compliance with its charitable registration obligations, including involvement in political activities of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood, buying considerable real estate, providing support to an organization listed as a terrorist entity, and issuing improper donation receipts.

 

The MAC has initiated the Charter challenge, having provided "a detailed response" to the revenue agency, yet to issue a final decision on the audit. "Realizing that the die is already cast by a severely flawed audit process" led the association to its challenge. Conveniently overlooking the fact that the Muslim Brotherhood is recognized as a terrorist group and outlawed in Egypt itself as well as in Saudi Arabia. The Hamas terrorist group in Gaza developed as an offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood.

 

According to the charity the government is at fault by taking an incorrect approach from the beginning through identifying the risk of terrorist financing with minority groups labelled as foreign, Muslim organizations in particular.  "With such a starting point it is hardly surprising, although deeply disappointing, that Muslim Canadians are all painted with the same brush and an organization like MAC that runs mosques and schools is regarded as inherently suspect because its membership belongs to the same religious group as organizations like al-Qaeda". 

That Old Adage: Where There's Smoke There's Fire

"Our concern was we have been hearing from individuals and groups in the Muslim community, that they've been facing increased audits and several questionable revocations [of charitable status from Canada Revenue Agency]."

"There's a lack of nuance and lack of clarity around who could be accused of supporting terrorism by interacting in complex situations with for example, hospitals, and other government ministries."

"They undertake their own surveillance and monitoring of the charitable sector but they're not upfront about what that entails -- what kind of tools they use, how they verify the information that they're collecting, and what the scope is."

"There's just an overall lack of transparency around where the information is coming [from] that leads to these audits."

Tim McSorley, national coordinator, International Civil Liberties Monitoring Group

 

"The Canada Revenue Agency does not select registered charities for audit based on any particular faith or denomination, nor does it maintain statistics tracking audits based on denominations."

"The CRA is firmly dedicated to diversity, inclusion and anti-racism, aligning with our values of professionalism, integrity, respect and collaboration."

"Being registered as a charity comes with both privileges and obligations under the law: The CRA has a responsibility to protect the integrity of the tax system and the charitable sector by ensuring that all registered charities follow the rules."

"The CRA generally provides a charity with an opportunity to correct non-compliance through education or compliance agreements before resorting to other measures such as sanctions or revocation."

"Only a very small proportion of charity audits conducted by the CRA result in serious consequences such as sanctions or revocation."

Canada Revenue Agency

A sign outside the Canada Revenue Agency on May 10, 2021 in Ottawa.  Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press

The civil-rights group, the International Civil Liberties Monitoring Group has taken it upon itself to complain in a new report it has produced that the Canada Revenue Agency unfairly targets Muslim charities for audits. In so doing, causing a disproportionate number of those charities to lose their charitable status. This, in a government with sensitive antennae tuned to discriminatory practices against Muslims as proof of 'Islamophobia'.

The Monitoring Group looked into the work of the Review and Analysis Division of the CRA, a unit specifically designed for and charged with identifying terrorist financing in connection with the charitable sector. Taking tips from the public and sharing information with the RCMP and Canada's intelligence agency, CSIS in a collaborative effort to identify and root out charities that knowingly or not support terrorist activities overseas, the group obviously fulfills a vital function.

 

It was revealed in the report that between the years 2008 and 2015, 75 percent of the charities that have had their charitable status revoked represented Muslim charities. This, despite Muslim charities being representative of merely 0.47 percent of overall charities. During that period 15 charities were audited by RAD, among them, eight charities lost their status, six were Muslim, staged around mosques or other Islamic organizations. The Muslim community, stated Mr. McSorley, feels targeted.

Some of the charities lost their charitable status, resulting from 'controversial' (as in inciting to violence) speakers invited to mosques, others resulting from funds they provided having found their way to the use of terrorist groups despite that they were originally sent for the provision of aid in Muslim countries. Evidence the CRA uses to determine that a charity's funds are used to support terrorism is not clear, according to Mr. McSorley, to whose group Muslims from the targeted groups complained about their unfair and unequal treatment.

According to Mr. McSorley's understanding, charities have been sanctioned for collected donations they transfer to relief organizations overseas with connections to terrorist groups. Mr. McSorley charged that the CRA is reliant on tips from the public, and as well monitors the sector using unclear methods. Furthermore, though some of the charities had their status revoked for supporting terrorist entities none among them were criminally charged for such offences. The consequences of the charities losing their official status has led to the groups' banking services being suspended.

The CRA, in its defence stressed that charitable status requires organizations adhere to specific rules. When a status is revoked it is a reflection of rules being broken. Revocation of charitable status is used as a last resort. The puzzling part of the issue and the representation by the Civil Liberties Monitoring group is that the clear connection between these charities and their support, whether by deliberation or happenstance, of terrorist groups is known and documented, yet the civil rights group pressed the Agency to 'explain' their decision-making.

General view of the ISNA Mosque on South Sheridan Way, Mississauga Ontario.PHOTO: Fernando Morales-The Globe and Mail. Fernando Morales/The Canadian Press