Apprehended Insurrection

"They took part in military-style training, as well as shooting, ambush, survival, and navigation exercises. They also conducted a scouting operation."

"A variety of firearms, some prohibited, as well as high-capacity magazines and tactical equipment were allegedly used in these activities."

Royal Canadian Mounted Police statement

 

"The main point of the ideology was that they're anti-government, anti-authority."

"Quite often that will be mixed with racism, misogyny, and then personal grievances. And there's nihilism that we're seeing now ... violence becomes the ideology so some people mix that up and then create whatever ideology they want."

"It's a major issue. It's really a society problem, not just a police issue."

"The recruiting is done quite often online. So, then, who's online the most is our young teenagers and children, so it's something that is worrisome."

"Also and then we saw with these guys, they also did a lot of recruiting with their Instagram account."

RCMP Staff Sgt. Camille Habel 

Military-style training in which the accused took part.   RCMP

 

Four people are facing terrorism charges in Quebec for their alleged actions plotting an anti-government militia; among them are active members of the Canadian Armed Forces. Three of the four stand accused of taking "concrete actions to facilitate terrorist activity", including a plot "to forcibly take possession of land in the Quebec City area". The land in question was ostensibly required as property that could be utilized as a base where they could plan to build and train their group.

 

The RCMP investigation was launched in March of 2023, although the group had been active back to 2021. Three arrested young men face a charge of knowingly facilitating a terrorist activity. If convicted they stand a chance of being awarded a charge of knowingly facilitating a terrorist activity, with a minimum sentence of 14 years in prison. Charges are inclusive of possession of firearms, prohibited devices and explosives and possession of controlled items. Heavily armed members of police emergency response teams arrested the men on Tuesday.

 

Searches throughout the course of a year for what the RCMP considers a case of ideologically motivated violent extremism, included searches in the Quebec City area where 15 explosive devices, 83 firearms and accessories, about 11,000 rounds of ammunition, close to 130 magazines, four pairs of night vision goggles, and military equipment were seized, according to the RCMP. The military equipment, though not expressly stated, would have been purloined over time from Canadian Armed Forces stock. Presumably the missing equipment would have sparked an investigation, leading to suspicion of Armed Forces members. 

Numerous firearms were seized by police officers during searches in January 2024.   RCMP

 

Military-style rifles were also among the weapons seized by the RCMP. Photographs used as evidence by the RCMP show a small group of people dressed in military camouflage armed with rifles in a training exercise staged in a rock quarry. An Instagram account was created and administered by one of the accused with the purpose of recruiting new members to their militia. The Instagram account is being dismantled: "It was used for the members to promote training sessions and exercises and they were having these exercises in different regions in Quebec and Ontario. And we know also that the online group was really aimed at recruiting individuals that already had an interest in or knowledge of firearms", explained St. Habel.

 

Additional charges against the group accused include the possession of prohibited devices, transfer of firearms and ammunition, careless storage of firearms, possession of explosives and possession of controlled items.The Integrated National Security Enforcement Team (INSET), formed to fight domestic extremism and terrorism led the investigation. Canada's natural security and intelligence community has its focus on xenophobic violence, gender-driven violence, and other grievance-driven and ideologically motivated violence. 

"Given the kinds of materials seized, including explosives, it would appear to have been a very serious plot that was pre-empted. The authorities will try to determine whether the individuals charged had connections with others in Canada, had any cross-border connections with far-right groups in the U.S., and the nature of their social media interactions, including sources of inspiration."

"The plot sounds to me like it might have been inspired by the activities of U.S. militia groups. Frightening to see such a thing manifest itself in Canada. It shows that the military has a lot to do to root out potential extremists in their midst."

Wesley Wark, intelligence specialist/national security issues, senior fellow, Centre for International Governance Innovation 

One of the accused allegedly created and administered an Instagram account with the aim of recruiting new members to the anti-government militia.  RCMP

 

"The fact that we could charge [them] with facilitating a terrorist activity, it means that people were actually preparing, were taking actions that led us to believe they wanted to actually achieve something and wanted to commit this violent terrorist act. Of course, it was very serious and dangerous."

"We don’t know exactly what could have been done, but when someone is at the point of wanting to seize property, then the plan is really ongoing and we needed to make the arrest and ensure public safety and make sure the plan was stopped and everyone was secure."

Staff Sgt. Camille Habel of the RCMP national security team in Quebec