Today's Edition
By: Imam Mohammad Tawhidi*
The expected designation of the Brotherhood by the United States as a foreign terrorist organisation marks a turning point in North American security policy. Once Washington finalises this step, Canada will stand before an unavoidable question: will it protect its national security and align with its most important ally, or will it allow a dangerous ideological network to continue operating freely within its borders?
What the United States is preparing to do is not symbolic and not partisan. It is a strategic security action rooted in decades of evidence showing the Brotherhood’s direct ideological, financial, and organisational influence on extremist groups worldwide. Canada cannot afford to delay the moment the US makes its move.
This issue transcends party politics. It is not about whether a Liberal or Conservative government benefits or suffers. It is about the long-term safety of Canadians, the protection of national institutions, and the integrity of the country’s democratic system.
The Brotherhood has mastered the art of building organisations that appear civil, charitable, or community-oriented while quietly advancing a rigid extremist Islamist ideology that undermines social cohesion and exploits democratic freedoms for ideological gain. Their model is sophisticated, gradual, and intentionally disguised.
Several Western intelligence assessments have already shown how Brotherhood-linked networks incubate radicalisation, create parallel societies, and act as feeders into more violent extremist movements.
The United States’ decision reflects exactly this reality, and Canada will be forced to confront it the moment Washington leads.
Canada’s national security environment is deeply interconnected with that of the United States. Shared borders, intelligence cooperation, counterterrorism frameworks, and integrated law-enforcement mechanisms mean that any organisation designated in the US but tolerated in Canada becomes an immediate vulnerability. It would allow Brotherhood entities to redirect their fundraising, influence operations, and recruitment activities northward.
Canada would become the soft entry point, the loophole in continental security, and the operational safe space for a network already identified as dangerous by major partners in the Middle East, Europe, and soon Washington itself. Canadian security services have warned for years about ideologically motivated extremism exploiting democratic institutions, yet policy has lagged behind the intelligence.
When the United States designates the Brotherhood, Canada must act without hesitation. Doing otherwise would undermine continental security, strain intelligence cooperation, and leave Canadians exposed to a movement whose ideological framework has inspired some of the world’s most violent terrorist groups.
Canada cannot afford to become the weak link in North America’s counter-extremism strategy, nor can it allow outdated political sensitivities to overshadow hard security realities. This is not a moment for neutrality or delay. It is a moment for clarity, courage, and alignment with empirical evidence.
The designation of the Brotherhood must be treated as a national security requirement. It must not be influenced by political calculations, community pressure, or rhetorical fearmongering about civil liberties that misrepresents the nature of the organisation.
Classifying the Brotherhood as a terrorist entity does not target Muslims, mosques, charities, or civil society. It targets an ideological movement that has spent nearly a century embedding itself within institutions, manipulating democratic systems, and promoting a worldview fundamentally incompatible with pluralism, gender equality, minority rights, and the Canadian social contract.
Canada has previously designated white supremacist groups, far-right cells, and foreign terrorist organisations without hesitation. The same standards must apply here.
Once the United States moves forward, Canada will be tested. The response will demonstrate whether the country prioritises national security or allows political discomfort to override intelligence assessments and international alignment.
The stakes are too high, and the consequences of inaction are too dangerous. Canada must be prepared to designate the Brotherhood immediately, decisively, and with the understanding that this is an essential step to safeguard the nation’s democratic future.
*The writer is a Parliamentary Adviser and research partner with TRENDS Research & Advisory
