OTTAWA – Canada’s Conservative leader is calling on Ottawa to designate an Iran-backed militant group as a terrorist entity after one of its members was accused of contributing to an attack on a Canadian synagogue, as well as the March shooting at the U.S. consulate in Toronto.
Pierre Poilievre says in a letter to Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree that American authorities have found that Kata’ib Hezbollah and its alleged commander directed attacks on Canadian soil.
Mohammad Baqer Saad Dawood Al-Saadi, an Iraqi man who U.S. authorities have called a commander of the group, appeared in a Federal Court in Manhattan in May on allegations he plotted at least 18 terror attacks in Europe and North America in retaliation for the U.S. and Israel war with Iran.
Court heard two of those attacks took place in Canada — one against a synagogue and the other the shooting at the U.S. consulate in Toronto in March.
Al-Saadi is also charged with conspiracy to provide material support to Kata’ib Hezbollah and Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, both of which have been designated by the U.S. government as foreign terrorist organizations.
Poilievre says Kata’ib Hezbollah needs to be designated as a terrorist entity because Canadians deserve a government that stops terrorists before they attack.
“Listing Kata’ib Hezbollah would make it illegal to knowingly deal in its property or finances, allow authorities to restrain or seize its assets and strengthen Canada’s ability to prevent its members from entering or remaining in the country,” his letter said.
“Canada should not wait for another synagogue to be shot or another foreign consulate to be attacked before shutting down the terrorist organization allegedly directing these attacks.”
The Centre for Israeli and Jewish Affairs issued a statement Sunday welcoming Poilievre’s letter, saying the organization requested the government make this designation in May.
“The warning signs are clear,” the Jewish advocacy organization said in its statement. “It’s time to get tough on politically motivated violence and terror.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 2, 2026.
—With files from The Associated Press
