A Climate for Hate? An Exploration of the Right-Wing Extremist Landscape in Canada

• In Event: International Perspectives on the Other

Abstract

In Canada, we have little contemporary scholarship on the right-wing extremist (RWE) movement and thus there have been few attempts to systematically analyze their ideologies and activities. In light of the fact that internal Canadian Security Intelligence Service’s documents suggest that RWE lone wolves represent a more pressing threat than Islamic extremists in the country, considerable attention continues to be paid to Islamic fundamentalist violence, to the virtual exclusion of the potential threat of the far-right. Drawing on a three-year study involving interviews with Canadian law enforcement officials, community organizations, and right-wing activists, as well as analyses of open source intelligence, we examined the exogenous factors that facilitated and inhibited the RWE movement in Canada. Findings highlight the broader context in which these movement flourish, which includes a political climate of intolerance, media (mis)representations of minority groups, and a normative history of oppression. While we also found a weak law enforcement response to the threat of the far-right, we discovered a strong and visible police response within certain communities, as well as resilient communities and the presence of an anti-racist movement.

Authors

• Barbara Perry, University of Ontario Institute of Technology

• Ryan Scrivens, Simon Fraser University