A senior federal prosecutor has rejected an attempt to privately prosecute the leader of a listed terrorist entity, concluding there was "no reasonable prospect of conviction" despite allegations that she publicly promoted terrorist organizations, praised the October 7 Hamas attack and encouraged support for extremist groups.

In a decision issued on behalf of the Public Prosecution Service of Canada (PPSC), Senior General Counsel Sharon Steele refused to authorize a private prosecution brought by British Columbia MLA Dallas Brodie against Charlotte Kates, the Vancouver-based international coordinator of Samidoun, an organization listed as a terrorist entity by both Canada and the United States in 2024.

Brodie filed the private prosecution in August 2025 after B.C. prosecutors declined to pursue hate-related charges arising from a speech Kates delivered at the Vancouver Art Gallery in April 2024. Instead of hate speech offences, Brodie alleged Kates had committed multiple terrorism offences under the Criminal Code.

Her information alleged offences including participating in the activities of a terrorist group, facilitating terrorist activity, instructing terrorist activity, counselling terrorism offences and other terrorism-related provisions.

The evidentiary package submitted to federal prosecutors included speeches, social media posts and public appearances in which Kates allegedly praised Hamas, Hezbollah, Palestinian Islamic Jihad and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), called for those organizations to be removed from Canada's list of terrorist entities, celebrated the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack on Israel and attended the funeral of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in Lebanon.

Brodie also pointed to an event where pamphlets describing methods of sabotaging "Zionist" infrastructure were allegedly distributed.

After reviewing the material, Steele concluded the case did not meet the federal prosecution standard, as reported by The Canadian Jewish News.

"Having carefully reviewed the evidence against the requisite burden of proof and jurisprudence, we have concluded that the evidence and allegations do not reach the prosecutorial threshold set out by the Public Prosecution Service of Canada Deskbook for all criminal offences, namely, there does not exist a reasonable prospect of conviction," Steele wrote. Because of that conclusion, prosecutors did not go on to consider whether pursuing the case would be in the public interest.

The PPSC said it has forwarded Brodie's evidentiary package to the RCMP for any follow-up the national police force considers appropriate.

Brodie sharply criticized the decision.

"Samidoun is a listed terrorist entity in Canada. If we are not going to prosecute terrorists or founders of terrorist organizations, I really wonder why bother having listed terrorist organizations," she said.

The ruling also drew criticism from Jewish advocacy groups.

The Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs said the failure to prosecute contributes to a perception of impunity, while B'nai Brith Canada questioned the practical value of listing organizations as terrorist entities if their leaders are still able to publicly advocate on their behalf without facing criminal prosecution.

Criminal lawyer Mark Sandler, chair of the Alliance of Canadians Combatting Antisemitism, said he believed there was already a compelling case under Canada's hate propaganda laws. He also called for Parliament to create a new Criminal Code offence of willful promotion of terrorism, arguing it would eliminate legal uncertainty surrounding the public glorification of listed terrorist organizations.

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