Bernier Continues To Make Bad Choices?

Or he is reaching out to his natural base?

Time will tell.

In any case, remember this?

Yeah, this looked bad, especially considering it seems that Bernier (or at least his handlers) knew exactly what kind of people the Proud Boys were.

At least his judgement couldn't be worse, right?

Well, funny story....

pic.twitter.com/7rUKp6yaUe

— (((57ing54ot))) (@alexhundert) March 5, 2019

Hey look, its @MaximeBernier campaigning with a #nazi.#cdnpoli #ppc #whitesupremacy #election2019 pic.twitter.com/oKiFm4ZqPm

— (((57ing54ot))) (@alexhundert) March 5, 2019

Sigh....

Oh hey, it's @MaximeBernier smiling and glad-handing with a skinhead. https://t.co/jNNmKsVQW4

Alex Brisson, neo-Nazi. #cdnpoli

That shirt? https://t.co/5PczzoCXV0 

Final pic, with another skinhead Tom Samson. pic.twitter.com/n8WPTDns2x

— Alheli Picazo (@a_picazo) March 5, 2019

His Likes are fun, too.

Subtle! pic.twitter.com/4B9NMIsBCb

— Alheli Picazo (@a_picazo) March 6, 2019

Note: All original organizational pages were changed to 'unofficial' once EDAs started to formalize and such. pic.twitter.com/Yi8RybLZHu

— Alheli Picazo (@a_picazo) March 6, 2019

GEE, I WONDER LIKE WHAT pic.twitter.com/FlVZ8op2rS

— Yellow Vests Canada Exposed (@VestsCanada) March 5, 2019

The past week there has been a great deal of political discussion regarding the judgement of party leaders.

Consider this to in the effort to further that discussion.

Major Media White Washes Yellow Vests Movement and Convoy to Ottawa: Ignores Racism, Antisemitism, Islamophobia, Homophobia, and Misogyny Endemic to Reactionary Movement

On Tuesday last week, "The National" on CBC uncritically profiled the Yellow Vests movement and provided a forum for overt hate groups such as the former Nouns of Odin now going by the name the Clann. There was little to no mention of the racism rife within the movement and no mention of the violent threats directed towards political figures on the left (or at least those the reactionaries consider to be on the left). As bad as this coverage was, news papers including the "Calgary Herald" and "Toronto Star" provided even worse coverage.

Story: Yesterday CBC The National aired a segment misrepresenting the Yellow Vests Canada movement and it makes no mention of the extent of hate & death threats which characterize the Canada movement. Factcheck: https://t.co/BtB9L6k7m8 #cdnpoli h/t @VestsCanada @ARCCollective

— Canadian Anti-Hate Network (@antihateca) February 14, 2019

Reporting on hate movements and hate groups that misrepresent themselves is difficult. It requires deep research/observation of less public-facing spaces, and/or building on the investigative work of orgs (happy to help) like @VestsCanada @ARCCollective. That didn't happen here.

— Canadian Anti-Hate Network (@antihateca) February 14, 2019

While we have concerns about how The National reported on the Yellow Vests Canada mvmt convoy, both the Calgary Herald and Star have published stories with zero reference to the overt racism & death threats which have come to characterize Yellow Vests Canada. Do better. #cdnpoli

— Canadian Anti-Hate Network (@antihateca) February 14, 2019

Visit the Yellow Vests Canada Facebook page. It's self-evident their main concern isn't oil and gas, but Muslims, Trudeau, leftists and conspiracies. For the overt racism, death threats, and conspiracy theories about how the Fort Mac fire was done by Muslims, see @VestsCanada.

— Canadian Anti-Hate Network (@antihateca) February 14, 2019

FYI @TorontoStar @calgaryherald @CBCTheNational @goldsbie @JesseBrown @CANADALAND.

Here are the articles in question: https://t.co/17Lus3A7HKhttps://t.co/aD0Lm7TL0u

Also see: https://t.co/7pMgfj1wibhttps://t.co/BtB9L6k7m8

— Canadian Anti-Hate Network (@antihateca) February 14, 2019

Several outlets have reported on the Yellow Vests Canada convoy without making reference to the overt racism and death threats which have come to characterize the movement. In response, we sent a press release with the facts to every newsroom in Canada. We hope it helps. #cdnpoli pic.twitter.com/z0RKK1EVla

— Canadian Anti-Hate Network (@antihateca) February 15, 2019

I rarely ascribe intentions to bad reporting. Few news orgs set-out to mislead the public. But a CBC radio report just described a convoy of trucks heading to Ottawa as a movement "with one simple message..Pipelines". Not 1 mention of #YellowVestsCanada or anti-immigrant activism

— Jesse Brown (@JesseBrown) February 15, 2019

It was so bad, even Faith Goldy was angry, though I somehow suspect she was angry for different reasons:

The articles however provided cover for right-wing politicians to be able to support the event since they could now claim, citing these news sources, that the Yellow Vest sponsored convoy to Ottawa is solely about oil pipe lines despite what they themselves know to be true:

Jason Kenney and Doug Ford just endorsed the far-right, anti-immigrant United We Roll/Yellow Vests Convoy https://t.co/dCgOijoUr0 #cdnpoli #abpoli #onpoli

— North99 (@wearenorth99) February 17, 2019

ARC and especially Yellow Vests Canada Exposed and the Canadian Anti-Hate Network have been exposing the racism and violent rhetoric behind the reactionary Yellow Vests movement in Canada for more than two months. We've done what the major media hasn't done; critically examine the ideology underlying this movement and bring to light the people behind it. Those include people like this guy:

Dave Selvers is the organizer for the Yellow Vest Convoy in Sault Ste. Marie:

In a "Sault This Week" article from early January, members of the local Yellow Vest group which included Selvers stated:

George Brown, an active member of the Yellow Vests wants to make clear that he and fellow Yellow Vests are not against immigration. 

It just needs to be “done legally and fulfil needs for Canadians”, to help Canada’s homeless and destitute, Canada’s veterans and first nations, Brown said. 

Yellow Vesters are not against helping those who must flee their countries because of violence and corruption, he added. 

“Those in the middle east both Christian and Muslim need to be looked after”.

Given his association with the paranoid M103 protests though, one might pause to question Selvers' own (as well as the movement in general) commitment to protecting refugees and supporting immigration:

In fact the Canadian Anti-Hate Network has reported that this Yellow Vest Convoy supporter and local organizer has a long history of posting racist, Islamophobic, and misogynistic comments on social media:

NEW: Sault Ste. Marie Yellow Vests organizer Dave Selvers calls immigration minister @HonAhmedHussen an “ugly n***** . . . responsible for flooding Canada with useless n***** muslim terrorists.” #YellowVestsCanada convoy to arrive there imminently #cdnpoli https://t.co/ZOV2VN8i8l pic.twitter.com/gZ0r1OTnb0

— Canadian Anti-Hate Network (@antihateca) February 17, 2019

My own dive into his Facebook profile found a gun-obsessed, conspiracy-minded individual who revels in his hatred of Muslims and "non-white" Canadians and who has called for the execution of Canadian politicians:

Robert Jones Embraces Fascism

During the years I've been working on the blog there have been a few characters that have stuck out not only for their racist, antisemitic, homophobic, and/or Islamophobic views, but also for being bloody odd.

One such figure is Robert Jones:

Jones has been a frequent participant in a number of far-right protests in Ontario as well as at least one in Quebec. An American from Virginia living in Canada (I'm not sure if he's a permanent resident or a naturalized citizen), he appears to be married and may have adult children living in the United States, but other than that I admit that I haven't done a great deal of research into his personal biography. One thing that seems evident though is that he has an overarching need to belong to a group, but always seems to eventually alienate himself from the other members and gets himself kicked out.

He has been a member of the Soldiers of Odin.... before getting kicked out:

A Proud Boy from which he was also turfed:

He is a long time supporter of the JDL, though a now deleted post that I didn't think to save suggests tension with that group now:

A member of Ukip AND the French National Front:

He's currently a member of the far-right white nationalist group the Northern Guard:

And finally, he has grasped onto the Yellow Vests:

In short, he seems to view far-right white nationalist groups as a game of Pokemon and is trying to collect them all.

Finally, he quite literally worships Donald Trump:

You may think his over the top expression of love for Trump is at least a bit of a joke. It isn't.

Given his attraction to both authoritarianism....

.... and cults of personality, it probably shouldn't be a surprise that Robert Jones would embrace fascism:

Jones has embraced fascism, specifically Italian fascism, as a "solution" to what he considers the problem of liberalism. He in part justifies this by suggesting that fascism is distinct an anathema to National Socialism despite, you know, actual history:

At the same time he attempts to rehabilitate and defend the actions of some of the great monsters of history and suggests that they are models that the current occupant of the White House might emulate:

Note Travis Patron "liked" this particular post

Almost all of these posts have been deleted from Robert Jones' Facebook profile, but I figure that collecting them might prove to be useful at a later date.