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The RCMP has charged four Quebec individuals, including active members of the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF), with terrorism and weapons-related offences in relation to “anti-government militia” activity.
Three individuals are facing charges of facilitating terrorist activity following an investigation led by the Integrated National Security Enforcement Team (INSET), the RCMP said in a July 8 news release.
Marc-Aurèle Chabot, 24, of Québec City, Simon Angers-Audet, 24, of Neuville, and Raphaël Lagacé, 25, of Québec City, were allegedly planning to create an “anti-government militia” and engaged in military-style training including ambush, survival, and navigation exercises, police said. The three individuals also allegedly conducted a scouting operation, and the activities involved a variety of firearms, high-capacity magazines, and tactical equipment.
The activities were intended to “forcibly take possession of land in the Québec City area,” the release said.
Another individual, Matthew Forbes, 33, of Pont-Rouge, is facing charges including possession of firearms, prohibited devices, and explosives, and possession of controlled items.
Police say other charges were laid in the case, including possession of prohibited devices, transfer of firearms and ammunition, careless storage of firearms, possession of explosives, and possession of controlled items.
Police conducted searches in January 2024 within the Quebec City area, which the RCMP said led to the seizure of 16 explosive devices, 83 firearms and accessories, around 11,000 rounds of ammunition, nearly 130 magazines, four pairs of night vision goggles, as well as military equipment.
The four individuals are expected to appear at the Quebec City courthouse on July 8.
The RCMP says INSET worked collaboratively with the Canadian Armed Forces throughout the investigation.
Canadian Forces Provost Marshal Brigadier-General Vanessa Hanrahan told The Epoch Times that the CAF is aware of the arrests and subsequent laying of charges by the RCMP against four individuals, including two currently serving CAF members, one former member, and one former civilian instructor with the Royal Canadian Air Cadets.
The two currently serving members are Cpl Marc-Aurèle Chabot and Cpl Matthew Forbes of CFB Valcartier, Hanrahan said via email.
“Violent extremism remains a serious concern within Canadian and international society,” Hanrahan said. “CAF members are prohibited from participating in an activity, or being a member of a group or organization, that relates to hate related criminal activities, and/or promotes hatred, violence, discrimination, or harassment.”
There have been other instances in recent years of CAF members being involved in extremist activities, including an instance of a member involved in an extremist group in 2019.
Former CAF member Patrik Jordan Mathews fled Manitoba in 2019 after a Winnipeg Free Press article said he was recruiting for the white supremacist group The Base. He was arrested in the United States four days before a pro-gun rally in Virginia in January 2020. Surveillance equipment installed in his Delaware apartment captured Mathews and fellow Base member Brian Mark Lemley Jr. discussing an attack at the rally at Virginia’s Capitol in Richmond.
FBI agents arrested Mathews and Lemley for firearms and “alien-rated” charges. The two men were sentenced each to nine years in federal prison, followed by three years of supervised release, according to an Oct. 28, 2021, news release from the U.S. Attorney’s office.
