One of those experts says research shows millions of Canadians have been drawn to the far right during the pandemic, some of whom have been indoctrinated by misinformation and lies then reinforced by the Freedom Convoy.
Evan Balgord, executive director of the Canadian Network Against Hate, says the march organizers were able to successfully use the February protest to recruit vaccine-hesitant people into their movement.
“Now they were rubbing shoulders with, you know, racists and bigots and people who would want to use violence to overthrow the government.  A portion of these people are further radicalized.”

COVERAGE FOR EXTREMISTS

Balgord was one of more than a dozen experts who spoke at “Hate Among Us,” an international conference held in Ottawa on Tuesday discussing solutions to rising extremism.
Although some of Convoy’s leadership now face criminal charges, Balgord says the movement’s ideas are entrenched in the mainstream.
Balgord, whose organization monitors right-wing groups and monitors their activities and influence, claims that six years ago there were about 20,000 white supremacists in Canada.  That’s no longer the case, says Balgord.
Balgord estimates that there are now 10 to 15 per cent of Canadians who hold far-right views, which include a wide range of extremist views, including anti-government and anti-science perspectives along with racist and homophobic beliefs.  Some of them may not consider themselves racist, but they cover for extremists, he says.
A recent Abacus Data survey found that 44 percent of the Canadian population, or 13 million Canadian adults, believe in at least one conspiracy theory.  These theories include racist beliefs that political elites are trying to replace native-born Canadians with immigrants who support them, or that the World Economic Forum has a secret strategy to impose its economic plans around the world.

CONQUEST OF POLITICAL POWER

Meanwhile, polling data released earlier this month by EKOS Research showed that 25 per cent of Canadians support the anti-vaccination views espoused by Convoy organizers.
In addition, Frank Graves, president of EKOS Research, says at least 10 percent, or more than three million Canadians, view the current government as illegitimate.  The supporters are mainly men and under 50 years old, with a high school diploma.  Graves says this group has become a political force in Canada and is leaning toward parties on the right of the spectrum.

Conservative Party leadership candidate Pierre Poilievre marches with Canadian veteran James Topp as Canada’s March to Freedom march arrives in Ottawa. (Jeremie Charron/CTV News Ottawa)
The new leader of the Conservative Party of Canada, Pierre Poilievre, embraced supporters of the convoy and marched with a Canadian soldier who refused to be vaccinated. Graves says the convoy’s dedicated supporters could be a new source of political success. “But what you need then is to just find another 10 percent of the voters who are sick to death of the current government … And I think that would provide a successful run to power. I’m not saying it’s certain, but it’s certainly not unlikely.” Far-right figures in the 10 percent of voters who see the government as illegitimate can, in extreme cases, be dangerous or delusional, anti-hate experts say. This was evident in Coutts, Alta., where RCMP seized weapons and tactical equipment from a group involved in the border blockade. Some members may have had ties to the neo-fascist group Diagolon. Court documents showed the RCMP feared extremists would shoot to kill officers. A convoy of truckloads of protestors with a COVID-19 vaccine mandate continues to block the highway at the busy U.S. border crossing in Coutts, Alta., Wednesday, Feb. 2, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh In August, followers of Q-Anon Queen Romana Didulo, who do not recognize the rule of law, attempted to station police officers in Peterborough, Ont. under citizen’s arrest. Then, two weeks later, Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland was ambushed by a Freedom Convoy supporter who verbally attacked her. Stephanie Carvin, a former national security analyst for the Canadian government, says that before the pandemic, police were concerned about terrorist attacks by foreign players like al-Qaeda. But as the US learned on January 6 last year during the attack on the Capitol, the threat picture has changed – the dominant threats here are domestic. Stephanie Carvin, of Carleton University, says national security risks in Canada have shifted from large-scale threats to buildings to targeted personal attacks on politicians.
“Jan. 6 things changed in Canada. Now we don’t worry so much about bombs. We are concerned about a mob armed with hockey sticks and fire extinguishers attacking the historic parliament buildings,” Carvin said. In June, the parliamentary protection service issued panic buttons to MPs, some of whom received death threats. Since the pandemic, threats have become more pervasive, personal and tougher to protect against, says Carvin, who now teaches at Carleton University in Ottawa. “It’s a much more dangerous situation when people see politicians as legitimate targets of violence.”

POLITICAL AND PUBLIC SOLUTIONS

To counter this growing threat to democracy, Heidi Beirich of the US-based Global Project Against Hate and Extremism says extremists are exploring real grievances such as job losses and the rising cost of living that policy makers must face. policy.  He says Canada should pass a digital accountability law that would force social media companies to curb the misinformation they share on their platforms.
Bierich says community groups can organize to counter the hate movement.  One example is Ottawa’s “Battle of the Billings Bridge” in February of this year, where restless residents blocked a road for hours, preventing a convoy of vehicles from joining the truckers’ protest that occupied Parliament.

Heidi Beirich works with the Global Project Against Hate and Extremism. It investigates the terrorism of White Supremacy. “This is a situation where we have a growing far-right movement that is a threat to many things: climate change, racial injustice, and sound immigration policies. The list could go on,” Bierich said. Beirich added that it is important for the media to continue reporting on the far right and its views. “It’s not about giving them oxygen. They have the oxygen. The question now is whether they are properly scrutinized and questioned by the press about their beliefs and ideas so that other people can be inoculated by their views.”