A few days ago I read an article written by the amazing Caroline Orr concerning the "weaponization" hate propaganda targeting especially Muslims under the guise of a "conservative news" source:
While none of this is a surprise to readers of ARC, it does highlight the concern of the growing polarization that exists in Canada and elsewhere as well as the tribalism that is resulting in the impossibility of finding common ground.
There is a temptation to cry out, "a pox on both their houses" however if one is to be honest one would have to recognize that this is a growing tendency on the right. In the past mainstream conservatives might have called out the conspiracy nutbars as William F. Buckley did the Birchers more than 50 years ago. Now it seems that too many are seeing the mob as a means to win political power.
Take for example the People's Party of Canada:
It seems that the founder and leader of the PPC has decided that promoting a QAnon conspiracy proponent is good politics:
Recently, this story about a PPC regional coordinator in BC has been making the rounds:
When the story from Ricochet came out concerning an email accidentally sent to a former member, now critic, that the executive was attempting to bar people of colour, it was hard not to believe it for reasons that I will explain soon. For a lot of people it didn't quite pass the smell test. Sure enough, evidence came out indicating that the message was fraudulent:
On person suggested to me that the email may have been a plant by the PPC who immediately attacked Ricochet for their report to prove the "fake news" narrative when negative stories have been published about them, however there isn't any evidence for this speculation.
Still, one doesn't need emails to see how the PPC is copying up to the far-right:
The Tweets above claim to be from the Burlington Peoples Party of Canada constituency office. If this is true then acting as an apologist for Hitler and engaging in antisemitic tropes isn't a good look for a party claiming to be moderate conservative. Nor is it a good look for a PPC candidate to be disseminating racist propaganda from a recently retired (and I'll believe that when I see it) Lauren Southern:
The party claims that the views of the Burlington PPC riding association doesn't reflect their views. Maybe, but given how Mr. Bernier seems quite comfortable with this crowd, I have a hard time believing this claim:
Yeah, seems like a feature and not a bug to me.
It should be noted that the PPC isn't the only party that appears to be making nice with the far-right for political purposes:
More on Mr. Scheer's Conservative Party in another article.
By hiding behind the facade of a "news network," this Facebook page managed to stay active for 3 years and amassed a following of 200,000+ people — all while peddling virulent anti-Muslim hate speech and disinformation.— Caroline Orr (@RVAwonk) June 3, 2019
My latest for @NatObserver:https://t.co/TBeMdwC0fl
While none of this is a surprise to readers of ARC, it does highlight the concern of the growing polarization that exists in Canada and elsewhere as well as the tribalism that is resulting in the impossibility of finding common ground.
There is a temptation to cry out, "a pox on both their houses" however if one is to be honest one would have to recognize that this is a growing tendency on the right. In the past mainstream conservatives might have called out the conspiracy nutbars as William F. Buckley did the Birchers more than 50 years ago. Now it seems that too many are seeing the mob as a means to win political power.
Take for example the People's Party of Canada:
It seems that the founder and leader of the PPC has decided that promoting a QAnon conspiracy proponent is good politics:
That's @MaximeBernier, leader of a Canadian political party, sharing a video by a QAnon conspiracy theorist, in which she claims that white supremacist murderers were leftists & that Muslims are thinking up ways to destroy Canadian culture, then endorses @MaximeBernier. *perfect* https://t.co/WUdbRibGtw— Michael Bueckert (@mbueckert) June 7, 2019
from February https://t.co/afhzdZYmwk— Michael Bueckert (@mbueckert) June 6, 2019
In the video that Maxime Bernier shared, 'Amazing Polly' also attacks @Your_AMPAC, saying that "their whole gig is to sit around all day dreaming of ways to undermine Canadian culture"; and thinking "how can we poke holes in Canadian culture" pic.twitter.com/r5mN7TaLZX— Michael Bueckert (@mbueckert) June 7, 2019
'Amazing Polly' liked and pinned a comment from a fan who says that we should blame Jack Layton for the Quebec Mosque shooting pic.twitter.com/5uSnP5auxh— Michael Bueckert (@mbueckert) June 7, 2019
Here are a few of the more.... shall we say interesting Tweets made by Ms. Polly during the past 24 hours:
She also seems to think that this is perfectly okay and that the arrest of the ass clown proves Canada is a totalitarian state:
Not surprisingly, her support for free speech only goes as far as the speech she personally finds acceptable:
Yep, this is the person whom Max Bernier thinks is a "must watch."
And of course there's more.
A former People's Party of Canada organizer claims he accidentally received a racist email from a party exec. The PPC claims it’s a forgery. It's a bizarre twist in an ongoing party feud. FULL STORY: https://t.co/Fb9xh86PV8 #cdnpoli #bcpoli— Ricochet (@ricochet_en) June 1, 2019
When the story from Ricochet came out concerning an email accidentally sent to a former member, now critic, that the executive was attempting to bar people of colour, it was hard not to believe it for reasons that I will explain soon. For a lot of people it didn't quite pass the smell test. Sure enough, evidence came out indicating that the message was fraudulent:
Important update on this story: https://t.co/mCFMfL7vAJ— Ricochet (@ricochet_en) June 2, 2019
On person suggested to me that the email may have been a plant by the PPC who immediately attacked Ricochet for their report to prove the "fake news" narrative when negative stories have been published about them, however there isn't any evidence for this speculation.
Still, one doesn't need emails to see how the PPC is copying up to the far-right:
The Tweets above claim to be from the Burlington Peoples Party of Canada constituency office. If this is true then acting as an apologist for Hitler and engaging in antisemitic tropes isn't a good look for a party claiming to be moderate conservative. Nor is it a good look for a PPC candidate to be disseminating racist propaganda from a recently retired (and I'll believe that when I see it) Lauren Southern:
The party claims that the views of the Burlington PPC riding association doesn't reflect their views. Maybe, but given how Mr. Bernier seems quite comfortable with this crowd, I have a hard time believing this claim:
If Lauren Southern were the only example of a Bernier making nice with the far-right, then it might be chalked up to being an anomaly. However, this isn't an isolated incident.
Here he is with a white supremacist and supporter of the hate group Right Wing Resistance:
A member of the far-right Proud Boys:
A one-time Toronto leader of Generation Identity Canada, now rebranded as ID Canada:
Alexander Van Hamme of the alt-right Free Bird Media:
George Massaad, associate of the Proud Boys, Northern Guard, and other far-right hate groups (and who was involved in harassing refugees based on a salacious and false story by Sue-Ann Levy):
Fellow white nationalist Ronny Cameron is also a fan of Bernier, btw:
Then there's the pop philosopher embraced by much of the far-right:
And finally the Yellow Vest movement (including individuals such as Rick Boswick and Derek Storie) that our friends at YVCE have systematically exposed:
Yeah, seems like a feature and not a bug to me.
It should be noted that the PPC isn't the only party that appears to be making nice with the far-right for political purposes:
More on Mr. Scheer's Conservative Party in another article.
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