Ezra Levant's "Rebel Media" Event Provides Media Pass To Hate Group

Hey, so you know how Maxime Bernier wanted to have ridding officials for his new party sign a pledge not to embarrass him and his new People's Party of Canada? I wonder if that applies to far-right media outlets who provide press passes to hate groups who's founder was recently convicted of domestic violence?

More on that in a moment.

Since publishing the story on Keean Bexte yesterday, the media outlet "Ricochet" picked up the story and provided further details:

NEW: A Ricochet investigation has revealed that Keean Bexte, a Rebel Media reporter, former CPC staffer and UCP member, is the pseudonymous "Anton" who worked for white supremacist web store Fireforce Ventures. https://t.co/VmHKeNF8AL #cdnpoli #ableg

— Ricochet (@ricochet_en) November 13, 2018

Mr. Bexte acted as I had anticipated:

Now this weekend Bexte was one of the speakers at a "Rebel Media" event in Calgary that was headlined by Maxime Bernier. Also speaking at the event was John Carpay whose presentation was.... let's just say not well received by decent and not bigoted people:

Speaking at #TheRebelLive, John Carpay of @JCCFCanada just compared the rainbow flag to a swastika, and said that protecting LGBTQ rights is totalitarianism. In case you were wondering if they were bigots. #cdnpoli pic.twitter.com/jMdezFWUBs

— Michael Bueckert (@mbueckert) November 10, 2018

Though he was roundly condemned, Carplay found support in young Bexte....

.... as well as one other person folks who read this blog are familiar with:

Ryan Dean, a man who has been kicked out of every single racist and Islamophobic group he has joined including one he actually founded, has decided to chime in.

The last time ARC wrote about Dean was when he was kicked out of an NDP-sponsored anti-racism event. ARC also wrote about the ejection and made fun of Dean's over-the-top cries of victimization which he responded to eventually on Twitter:

Keep in mind, Ryan says he isn't a racist:

That's right, not a racist.

And certainly not an unapologetic, unrepentant, and violent misogynist who just served a sentence for domestic assault:

Yeah, he's a charmer.

He's also not a fan of the police as our readers are already well aware:

Well you see, we already know that he isn't law abiding since he quite literally did not abide by the law and was convicted of domestic assault for his attack on a former girlfriend whom he continues to publicly malign.

But to tie this all back to the "Rebel Media" event this past weekend, Dean also posted this:

Yep, Ryan Dean and a +1 attended the event:

Dean also made it out as if his new "group" (and I use the term "group" in the loosest sense of its meaning) was a sponsor of the event:

This is typical of Ryan Dean's delusions of grandeur and self-importance, however in this case there's a bit of a twist.

It appears that Ezra Levant granted Ryan Dean a press pass:

Oh, Lanny! Not you too?

University of Calgary Conservative Club Members Linked To FireForce Ventures

UPDATE 2: Just learned that there is currently a warrant for the arrest of Gabriel Sohier Chaput (aka "Zeiger":

BREAKING: Arrest warrant issued for alt-right neo-Nazi propagandist Zeiger, aka Gabriel Sohier Chaput of Montreal, according to B'nai Brith press release. Chaput has been quiet since being exposed and may have moved. https://t.co/xJO3JQs1pI

— Canadian Anti-Hate Network (@antihateca) November 12, 2018

More will be posted in another article as more information becomes available.

So, about that break I said I was taking.... it seems that there have been some updates on the FireForce Ventures front:

Nice to see Canadian Armed Forces take prompt action.

"Four military members suspended over alleged connection to racist website" https://t.co/WeRrUhJAiZ

— Mark Pitcavage (@egavactip) November 12, 2018

Earlier, we learned that former executive on the UofC Conservative Club Adam Strashok was also identified as having been associated with FireForce Ventures. Strashok participated in the racist Worldwide Coalition Against Islam rally on June 3, 2017 and ran Jason Kenney's call center during his UCP leadership campaign had joined Bernier's PPC, though he appears to have been a member for a very short time before being kicked out of that party as well.

It turns out though that Strashok isn't the only person associated with the University of Calgary Conservative Club who had some association with FireForce Ventures:

ARC first learned about Jake Findell when he and another man were caught in the act of flyering for the hate group ID Canada (formerly Generation Identity Canada) on the main campus of the University of Calgary. 

He also was somewhat active on the ID Canada Facebook page:

Like Strashok, Findell also participated in the WCAI rally (along with three other individuals who may very well be making an appearance on this blog in a short time):

Before shutting down his Facebook page (or perhaps just making it difficult to find) Findell had "liked" FireForce Ventures along with a number of hate groups:

This however is FAR from the most interesting connection to conservative politics on the University of Calgary campus:

A number of people had been trying to figure out who this is. Sure, the face was mostly whited-out, but I figured there were a number of identifying features that could still lead to a definitive identification; the hair (color and cut), glasses, and especially the ear which is very distinctive in it's shape. As the photo was taken on the subject's laptop, it would likely be a flipped image.

Yesterday I received an email from someone who provided a picture of who this person is:

 

Taking A Short Break

That last post was made prior to the midterm elections in the United States. I watched the results and initially was pleased, though not ecstatic. The Democrats did a little better in the House races and the Republicans took a seat more than I had anticipated (Florida) in the Senate. At the state level, I had thought the Democrats would pick up six governorship and they ended up with seven, though not Florida where I thought it was a near certainty until I realized that is the state where hope goes to die.

In the days since though, the numbers continue to improve. As absentee and mail-in votes continue to be counted, more House seats are going to the Democrats. In Arizona the Democratic candidate has just leap frogged over the Republican and is now in the lead. I learned of a number of applet courts in Texas that were flipped. And even Florida MIGHT reverse itself as more votes are counted but as it is Florida I'm going to wait and see.

Watching the Canadian far-right Trump fans has been interesting. Some are claiming the vote was rigged and that Soros stole the election (because of course). Others who have no concept of the American political system -- not a surprise since they don't understand the Canadian system either -- believe that the Senate has veto power over the House so this was really a "red wave" despite.... you know.... reality. And, of course, there are predictions of a civil war where Canadian militia-loving gun nuts will help the American right kill off all the nasty lefties before coming up to Canada and doing the same thing thus ushering in an right-wing Age of Aquarius where the ammunition is unlimited, the Pilsner flows like water, and people can burn tires in their front yards with impunity.

I thought for a while that I might post some of these comments. I still might eventually. However, I decided instead that I was going to take a break for a week or two. I realize that I've been sort of focused on the blog for two straight years with the rise of far-right populism and that this might be a good time to take a bit of a breather.

Now, I am somewhat notorious for ignoring my own good sense and may very well, should something significant occur, start posting and researching tomorrow. And I'll likely still be active on Twitter. Still, I decided that I've earned some "me" time.

See ya'll in a week or two.... or tomorrow. Suffice it to say I'll be back eventually.

Election Eve in United States: What Will Not Happen Immediately If Democratic Party Wins

To write that I was gutted as a result of the November 8, 2016 presidential election really undersells how I felt about it. Then again I suppose there were a lot of like minded people in North America and the world who felt the same way. I knew that the ugly, authoritarian, populism of Donald Trump would infect every aspect of political discourse throughout the world but as bad as I thought it would be, the reality turned out to be even worse. Other authoritarian regimes, the most recent being Brazil, have followed the Trump model of fear, scapegoating, overt racism, and division to political success. In Canada we had a candidate for a major political party propose a "Canadian values test" to screen new immigrants despite herself not being able to articulate what those "Canadian values" were. She was defeated, though the current leader of the Conservative Party has adopted the same anti-migrant rhetoric and the new governments of Ontario and especially Quebec have embraced ethnic nationalism.

Then there have been the killings. Alexandre Bissonnette, James Jackson, Sean Urbanski, Jeremy Christian, Lane Davis, James Fields, William Atchison, Matthew Riehl, Samuel Woodward, and most recently Robert Bowers. All partly products of a toxic political environment of dehumanization and perceived victimization by "the Other" which in many cases echoed Trump's own rhetoric:

On November 6, 2018, midterm elections are being held in the United States. At this point it looks good for the Democrats who look like they may retake the House of Representatives and do very well at the state level in the governor races, though the Republicans seem likely to retain the Senate.

While I am cautiously optimistic, it would be wrong to be over confident. Over confidence resulted in November 6, 2016.

But should the Democratic Party retake even part of the legislative branch, it will not be an end to the toxicity that pervades political discourse. In fact I expect things to get a lot worse before things start to improve. 

To "fix" this will not occur as a result of one election, or two, or five, or more. I think this will take at least a generation and it will be a long, hard, slog every step of the way.

The hatred the likes of Trump has unleashed was always there. It wasn't anything new he discovered. Unlike others though he had no shame in nakedly and constantly stoking resentment for his own purposes. Others have done this as well, but in most cases there were lines they didn't cross even if they toed right up. Trump never had similar moral restraints and neither will those who decide to follow his example because there is a subset within the population that craves authoritarian control.

And don't for a moment think that Canada is immune to this kind of authoritarianism:

Failed Mayoral Candidate Faith Goldy Returns To Her Default Position

Last week one of the big stories I was following involved the removal of the Proud Boys on Facebook, both group pages and personal profiles. Now one can still find a few there still, but of those that have been removed Proud Boys Canada and Ontario member Tim Kelly are among those that had been removed:

There was the usual histrionics from the usual suspects. For example, the Alberta III% militia started anticipating their own deplatforming:

The award for most over the top reaction to a private company making the decision to remove groups and individuals violating the terms of service though goes to Faith Goldy:

Ms. Goldy has been on a bit of a roll lately when it comes to hyperbole. For example she seems genuinely angry that she didn't win the mayoral election in Toronto and has decided to blame both the media and Toronto voters for not being sufficiently "red pilled":

Then again she might be a bit angry because she could very well be on the hook for close to $100,000:

Bell Media seeking costs of $43,000 against Faith Goldy after her lawsuit against them was tossed out, according to a video FG posted earlier today. If that happens, our work (and yours) will have cost her and her alt-right neo-Nazi supporters $93,000+. Boo! Happy Halloween!

— Canadian Anti-Hate Network (@antihateca) November 1, 2018

Aside from the rather breathtaking arrogance of her post, coming so soon after the tragedy in Pittsburgh it is especially interesting that she has decided to continue to parrot the talking points of the current American president who has used the murders to sow more fear and mine grievances for political purposes:

I suppose this really marks Goldy's return to the white nationalist, conspiracy promoting, fold after a brief and superficial flirtation with "civic nationalism" in her effort to win votes in perhaps the most ethnically diverse city on the planet. For example, while she made a point to hype Meir Weinstein's and the Jewish Defence League's endorsement of her, the only things she had to say about the murder of 11 men and women in a synagogue by a white supremacist was to suggest it might have been a conspiracy to make Trump and the Republicans look bad, complain about her (and ally's) own victimization, and use the opportunity to promote her own political views:

To put this comment in perspective, I suggest readers
take look at this article concerning homicides in Canada.

And despite her efforts to ingratiate herself to, among other communities, the Toronto Chinese-Canadian community, Goldy has once again started to express the ethnic nationalist views that have become her calling card since at least August 2017, echoing both the synagogue shooter and Trump in promoting dehumanization of migrants and refugees:

Finally she has started once again to promote overtly fascist political figures and "alt-right" AstroTurf efforts including the recent flyering campaign that took place in some Canadian cities:

So as Goldy attempts to reassert her white nationalist bona fides one has to wonder if she'll be accepted back into the fold. Time will tell I suppose.

a decade ago, faith goldy and i starred in a high school production of 'the laramie project' together. now, she's a white nationalist internet celebrity who hangs out on daily stormer podcasts. so... what the fuck happened to her? listen: https://t.co/s2J3WV8xtH

— Anna Silman (@annaesilman) October 30, 2018