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Goodale said both groups have “a presence in various places across the country,” and said the government has been examining how to respond to white supremacist groups over the past couple of years.

“There has been accelerating public interest in this regard,” he said. “The government is constrained from commenting any further, but what the listing demonstrates is that these two entities have been thoroughly investigated, that the proper police and security reports have been presented to the government, and the evidence is clear that they fall within (the criteria for a terrorist entity).”

Public Safety Canada’s listing says the group was founded in the United Kingdom in 1987 and established branches throughout Europe by the end of the 1990s. It says attacks have occurred in North America and Europe, including a February 2012 firebombing in the Czech Republic that targeted a building occupied by Roma families. It also says four Blood & Honour members in Tampa, Fla., were convicted of murdering two homeless men they considered “inferior.”

Blood and Honour is active in Canada, and its members and events are closely monitored by anti-hate activists. In 2011, two B.C. men identified as Blood and Honour members were charged over an alleged series of attacks on visible minorities, including setting a Filipino man on fire, but the charges were later stayed or resulted in acquittals. In 2012 and 2013 there were numerous court cases in Calgary and Edmonton involving Blood and Honour members, some of whom were convicted on weapons and assault charges.