Readers are responding to a Globe investigation into Canada’s new far right: A trove of private chat room messages reveals an extremist subculture. An analysis of 150,000 chat room messages paints a picture of a group that is actively recruiting new members, buying weapons and trying to influence political parties
They come from all walks of life: tradesmen, soldiers, a student teacher, a financial analyst, an aspiring lawyer, among others. And they are in every province, in communities large and small. They gather on the internet to strategize and seek pathways into mainstream politics. They are anti-Semitic, anti-immigrant, Islamophobic, sexist and racist. They are young and radicalized. They are the new far right in Canada.The Globe and Mail
Some on the right are taking umbrage with the way they think they’re being painted with the same brush. I have no doubt that most of you are not in anyway supportive of the alt right, but when you lash out at the left, it comes across as sympathetic to their cause. The alt right is not part of your team in the same way Antifa is not part of ours. These are extreme groups that should be denounced by all. Don’t lose sight that the article is addressing a growing trend of the scourge that is racism. Don’t take it personally, and realize the alt right is part of nobody’s team.
Just excellent journalism. We must stop being so naive in Canada and take the thread of this antisocial behaviour more seriously. Our government must take the harshest measures required by law to stop this cancer from growing in our country.
Fortunately, hate-based ideologies ultimately fail because they are morally vacuous and unintelligent. The account of the white nationalist student teacher is troubling. I myself work in education and have been doing so for a quarter century; I work against racism, bigotry and homophobia and have been shaping young minds for more than a generation to value diversity, inclusivity and acceptance of others and more than anything a responsibility to speak out and act against the forces of hatred and division.
Anyone who thinks these guys have anything to do with the Liberals, Conservatives, NDP, Greens, or the Leprechauns is wrong. They're in a league of their own.
The Far side of either political stripe is a threat to the safety and security of the nations they inhabit. Increasingly, they are seeking and finding palatable public faces, like Donald J. Trump for the Right, so they can chip away at the system of governance from within and phase-out human decency one falsehood at a time.
The most concerning part of this article was reading how these types of people are infiltrating key institutions like the Armed Forces and our education systems. People need to see beyond partisan lines and work together to counter these hate groups before they go on a shooting rampage and do more damage in numbers. Side note: It's appalling to note all the "whataboutism" in the comments below. Since when did dehumanization and advocating violence towards women, LGBTQ, minority groups, etc. become a contest of whose party did worse?
People are going to have different opinions no matter what. From what I read in the article, none of the people interviewed are actually proven guilty of criminal behavior. We don't even know if their stories told are are true.Talk to them further and you will find that their arguments are neither informed, well founded or logical. We don't teach that very well in school, but guaranteed that those opinions will change over time. Let's hope that we don't start making having a bad opinion into some sort of crime in Canada.
Andrew Scheer: Canada looks to you for leadership in speaking up about this danger to our democracy and our society. Stop sidling up to these people - you're doing your country no favours.
If these people are infiltrating the forces, we could be in very serious danger.
My views lean more libertarian in general. I believe as long as these people aren’t breaking any laws against hate speech or plotting physical violence then they should be allowed to freely associate and hopefully blow each other’s heads off accidentally while intoxicated. As disturbing as this story is, these groups are still fringe and social media should not police their ignorance, stupidity, hatred and bigotry. Social media need not take sides. Shine a bright light on their moronic activities and the mob of the reasonable will easily overpower these people. That said, I would love to see stricter laws on the books to make it illegal to deny the Holocaust or any other universally accepted atrocities. There’s no room in a civilized society for this kind of behaviour.
Most of our families lost members not so long ago to stop people with Goldy's views from enslaving the planet. Supporting them steps on their graves.
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