At the end of the last article, I mentioned the provincial consultation on systemic racism that Storm Alliance and La Meute were mobilizing against. So now I think it’s time to talk about what that is, and what has been happening in mainstream politics for the past 10 or so
Continue readingTag: Pegida
Anti-Racist Canada: The ARC Collective: PEGIDA Canada Protest in London, ON Routed…. Again
This is becoming common place whenever PEGIDA Canada protests. They had moved their protests out of Toronto since they were routinely outnumbered. Seems the change of location hasn’t helped: Another anti-Islam protest by Pegida Canada results in assault charge
Continue readingAnti-Racist Canada: The ARC Collective: Guest Article: What’s Going on in Québec? (Part 1)
As we saw on September 30, many far-right groups across Canada tried to rally against “illegal” immigration but ended up gathering only a handful of protesters, largely outnumbered by anti-racist activists. Everywhere except in Québec. In Québec, the groups gathered at Saint-Bernard-de-Lacolle, at the border between Canada and the US,
Continue readingAnti-Racist Canada: The ARC Collective: Former PEGIDA Canada Supporter and RISE Canada Iraj Gardner Speaks to ARC
When ARC reported on the PEGIDA Canada rally in London, ON which was again dwarfed in number by comparison by counter-protesters this weekend, I also included information that was sent to me by someone who at one time had intimate knowledge about how PEGIDA functioned. She had that knowledge because
Continue readingAnti-Racist Canada: The ARC Collective: PEGIDA Canada Rally in London, ON Today: Outnumbered Again
Before getting into the news of today's PEGIDA event in London, ARC would like to direct readers' attention to this article detailing the history of far-right racist activism that has been present in the city for longer than this blog has been active. PEGIDA Canada in that context is merely
Continue readingAnti-Racist Canada: The ARC Collective: PEGIDA Canada Rally in London, ON
As a result of their first public rally where they were swamped by those who opposed them PEGIDA Canada had been until today very quiet about their protests, instead opting for “flash protests” where the time and location was never announced and disseminated only among participants. They decided to change
Continue readingAnti-Racist Canada: The ARC Collective: Infighting Amongst Canadian Islamophobes: Part 3
This is as much a bit of a PSA to Anti-Racist Canada's allies as it is a spotlight on Islamophobic bigots. I'm going to post the screen shot of a fake Facebook group: Whoever created this group has no affiliation with anti-fascists in the city of Calgary. It is in
Continue readingAnti-Racist Canada: The ARC Collective: Aftermath of Anti-Muslim Rallies on March 4
We spent much of the day compiling reports about the protests that took place in a number of cities across the country. In the vast majority of the cases, anti-Muslim protesters were outnumbered considerably by counter protesters who favored M-103. In some cases the anti-Muslim protesters decided to leave when
Continue readingAnti-Racist Canada: The ARC Collective: Aftermath of Anti-Muslim Rallies on March 4
We spent much of the day compiling reports about the protests that took place in a number of cities across the country. In the vast majority of the cases, anti-Muslim protesters were outnumbered considerably by counter protesters who favored M-103. In some cases the anti-Muslim protesters decided to leave when
Continue readingAnti-Racist Canada: The ARC Collective: M103 Protests and Counter-Protests
We’re in the process of collecting information about the Islamophobic protests that took place across the country today, paying particular attention to the counter-protests that opposed them. Thus far it would appear that in most cities, those who came out to support Muslim-Canadians and oppose the Islamophobes were in significant
Continue readingAnti-Racist Canada: The ARC Collective: Andrew Benson Reappears With Interesting Friends
It seems that in addition to the Goudreau, who recently came to our attention after a lengthy absence, another character whom we had once been keeping close tabs on but whom we lost track of has reappeared on our radar: Andrew Benson has been somewhat of a political chameleon over the
Continue readingAnti-Racist Canada: The ARC Collective: Trump Train Derailed: Canadian Supporters Respond
You would have to be living under a rock to not be aware of what has become known as the "Trump Tape" in which Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks about sexually assaulting women on a hot mic: In part as a result of the tape and, perhaps, his crude
Continue readingAnti-Racist Canada: The ARC Collective: Anti-Immigration Rally Featuring Soldiers of Odin, PEGIDA, and Atalante Québec Yesterday
Yesterday an anti-immigrant rally took place in Quebec City featuring some groups we are well aware of and a few that are knew to us (yes, our Quebec intel still sucks): Anti-immigration groups are heard in QuebecPUBLISHED Saturday, October 15, 2016 13 H 38 About 75 protesters marched in Old
Continue readingAnti-Racist Canada: The ARC Collective: Kellie Leitch’s Canadian Values And Dog Whistle Politics
Days after the attacks occurred many politicians came together and in an example of non-partisanship that, since then have become increasingly rare, proclaimed in unison that these attacks would not change our fundamental nature as a society or our commitment to liberal democratic values which included freedom, pluralism, and tolerance.
But of course our fundamental nature and commitment to those values did change.
In the years since September 11, 2001, we’ve allowed governments to pass laws which violated our civil liberties — the PATRIOT Act, the Anti-Terrorism Act, the Civil Contingencies Act 2004, Loi Renseignement — because of fear.
Hate groups have used social media to effectively disseminate propaganda targeting immigrants, religious and ethnic minorities, and those who subscribe to progressive political positions. Some of these groups, such as PEGIDA which originated in Germany and the Soldiers of Odin which originated in Finland have created chapters in other countries, including Canada (and which have lately been prominently featured on this blog) and have moved off of social media and onto the streets of the country. Incidents of anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim vandalism, arson, death threats, and assaults are not unusual occurrences and are often celebrated by people who support anti-immigrant/anti-Muslim groups, some of whom (such as these posts on III% Canada) actually desire the genocide of a people:
We’ve witnessed the demonization of an entire faith group because of the actions of a few leading to attacks against members of the Muslim faith as well as the passing of illiberal laws in ostensibly liberal democracies.
Demagogues have arisen and attempt to gain power in their respective countries through identity politics. In the United States Donald Trump has closed the the gap between himself and Hilary Clinton running on an overtly racist campaign targeting immigrants and Muslims among others while promising “law and order” to oppose what he claims as increased lawlessness in a country where crime has actually been in decline for two decades. In Europe, the AfD finished ahead of the Christian Democrats in Mecklenburg-West Pomerania on a single-issue platform: no refugees. Geert Wilders of the Netherlands, Marine Le Pen of France, Viktor Orbán of Hungary, Norbert Hofer’s Freedom Party in Austria, Jaroslaw Kaczynski and the governing party of Poland, and Sweden Democrats among other individuals and far-right parties who have been able to ride a wave of anti-immigrant/anti-Muslim sentiments and either form national governments or have a serious chance of doing so. Even old relics like Pauline Hanson of Australia, once consigned to the dustbin of history, have re-emerged and now holds the balance of power along with three other members of One Nation in the Australian senate.
Canada isn’t immune from this same demagoguery and identity politics.
During the last federal election and in what turned out to be a failed Hail Mary pass by the former Prime Minister, the Conservative Party floated the idea of creating a hotline in which Canadian citizens could call in to report suspicions that their neighbors were engaging in “barbaric cultural practices.” Aside from the fact that most people are able to call 911 when a crime is being committed, there might be a bit of irony in a conservative political party suggesting a Stasi-style program in which neighbors are asked to inform on each other. Though the Conservative Party denied it the proposed program, which came hot on the heels of the court ruling allowing a woman to take the Oath of Citizenship while wearing a niqab, was targeted towards a specific cultural group. And though ultimately unsuccessful as a means of turning the election in the Conservative’s favor, the genie was let out of the bottle giving rise to a significant Conservative constituency who not only don’t believe Muslim citizens share the values of other Canadians, but who often subscribe to the belief there is a vast conspiracy to enact Islamic Sharia law by the Muslim Brotherhood who have infiltrated our government. It’s not unusual to see people claim that Justin Trudeau himself is a Muslim bent on destroying Canada and paving the way for an Islamic caliphate.
To most Canadians, even those who aren’t happy with the Liberal victory last October, these sentiments are the ridiculous conspiracies of fearful and gullible people. To others though, it constitutes a political constituency.
Kellie Leitch was Mr. Harper’s point person on the barbaric cultural practices tip line proposal during the election. At the time she stated that the Conservative Party was, “not afraid to defend Canadian values” though she never quite spelled out what those values actually were. After the election, Ms. Leitch seemed to apologize (sort of) for her role in the proposed tip line:
Leitch, who is also a pediatric orthopedic surgeon, said her intention was to ensure that if women and children needed to “pick up the phone” to call for help that someone would answer, but admits that “the message was lost.”
“We weren’t talking about race, we were talking about kids … but that message was completely overtaken and I regret that, and I regret that it occurred, and it shouldn’t have been done,” she said.
Now as a candidate for the leadership of the Conservative Party however, Ms. Leitch has decided that identity politics is a reasonable policy position once again:
Kellie Leitch defends ‘anti-Canadian values’ survey questionHer campaign asks if immigrants should be screened to determine their values
By Catharine Tunney, CBC News Posted: Sep 02, 2016 3:42 PM ET Last Updated: Sep 02, 2016 5:12 PM ETConservative leadership candidate Kellie Leitch is defending a contentious survey question from her campaign team that asked supporters what they think about vetting would-be immigrants and refugees for “anti-Canadian values.”
….
“Canadians can expect to hear more, not less from me, on this topic in the coming months,” Leitch wrote in an emailed statement….
Ms. Leitch this time provided a vague understanding of what she believes to be Canadian values:
“Screening potential immigrants for anti-Canadian values that include intolerance towards other religions, cultures and sexual orientations, violent and/or misogynist behaviour and/or a lack of acceptance of our Canadian tradition of personal and economic freedoms is a policy proposal that I feel very strongly about.”
Besides the claim that “economic freedoms” constitute a Canadian value (social democrats might not agree with a Conservative Party member over exactly what this value constitutes for example), one has to wonder how many of the Conservative base would pass the tests themselves, at least the, “intolerance towards other religions, cultures and sexual orientations, violent and/or misogynist behaviour” part of it.
Because, you see, while Ms. Leitch argues her proposed values test has nothing to do with identity politics and that comparing her to Donald Trump “isn’t fair,” those who’s ears are tuned to dog whistles will hear exactly what she wants that particular constituency to hear:
For example the reaction by members of both Canadians Against Justin Trudeau and PEGIDA Canada were both generally favorable to Ms. Leitch’s position, other than those who believe Muslims would lie and thus support a blanket ban on Muslim immigration. From Canadians Against Justin Trudeau….
Anti-Racist Canada: The ARC Collective: PEGIDA Canada Comments on Republican National Convention and Black Lives Matter
Watching the dumpster fire/hate fest that is the Republican National Convention, this writer decided to check in on one of the groups being monitored by ARC. Since we haven't looked at PEGIDA Canada in a while, we figured we'd take a gander to …
Continue readingAnti-Racist Canada: The ARC Collective: PEGIDA Canada Comments on Republican National Convention and Black Lives Matter
No, they openly called for his murder:
Anti-Racist Canada: The ARC Collective: PEGIDA Canada Hate Speech Challenge
When we last wrote about PEGIDA Canada, it was in relation to their reaction to the mass shooting that took place in Orlando. In a post discussing the tragedy, they implicated the Quran in the murders as an example of hate speech against LGBTQ. One ind…
Continue readingAnti-Racist Canada: The ARC Collective: PEGIDA Canada Hate Speech Challenge
Even if this were true (and it isn’t), the PEGIDA Canada Facebook administrator doesn’t appear to realize that he or she is throwing Jews under the bus since the Torah is comprised of what Christians regard as the first five books of the Old Testament. But then, like Christians and Muslims, most Jews don’t follow every single tenant of their faith either.
We should note that PEGIDA Canada later seems to have removed this thread on their page as well as kicking off those individuals who joined to challenge them. Had such a purge have occurred to PEGIDA Canada members and supporters on another Facebook page, no doubt they would be crying, “censorship!” proving that they don’t understand that word as well. Since it is their site, they are free to have whomever they wish participating, just as they banned this writer when she provided evidence that active neo-Nazis were members; the neo-Nazis are still members in good standing.
One part of PEGIDA Canada’s response we really failed to address though was this second part:
Secondly ,[sic]what do you consider exactly hate speech in our posts .[sic]
Well, where would they like us to start?
How about this one as a first example?
This was one of several PEGIDA Canada posts we took screenshots of that were related to the Syrian refugee crisis. And though Ron Baker wasn’t referring to specific individuals when he called for the genocide of people based on their religion (where have we heard that call being made again?), we think it would be appropriate to put a human face on those he would like to murder:
It’s very easy to call for the death of other human beings on line or in response to a news article. It might be harder when you put a face to those people:
Now having collected these screenshots, we decided to do just that. We would put faces to the people whom PEGIDA Canada members and supporters dehumanize and who’s deaths they seem to eagerly desire:
What now follows is a little art project we decided to engage in combining the hate rhetoric of PEGIDA Canada supporters with the targets of their hatred:
Anti-Racist Canada: The ARC Collective: PEGIDA Canada Reaction To Orlando
It goes without saying that the mass murder that took place in Orlando last week horrified all decent people. Whether the murder was motivated by an extremist interpretation of Islam, homophobia, or a combination of all of the above and aided by a gun …
Continue readingAnti-Racist Canada: The ARC Collective: PEGIDA Canada Reaction To Orlando
Of course, there are those out there who would use the tragedy to further their own agenda.
It’s sort of hard to take Ron Banerjee seriously in light of a long history of homophobic statements and online post (see here, here, and here as only a few examples). It’s even less believable when, only a day before he posted on Twitter attempting to promote himself as a fighter for LGBTQ rights, he emailed the following to Gerry Lincoln (yes, THAT Gerry Lincoln) who forwarded the exchange to us:
Not to be outdone, fellow Trump supporter Paul Fromm also offered his $0.02 which also includes Southern Ontario Skinhead member Dan Hall also contributing his thought…. if it could be characterized as such:
And then, there’s PEGIDA Canada.