November 2, 2022

Clearing a New Path™ and Clearing a New Path Podcast™ are products of Radar Media, located in Dorchester, Ontario on the traditional territory of the Anishinaabe, Haudenosaunee and Neutral peoples who once used this land as their traditional beaver hunting grounds.  As a settler here I’m committed to deepening understanding of Indigenous communities and reframing responsibilities to land and community. I am grateful to Mother Earth for the opportunity for love and connection and to the spirits of the Elders and the Medicine People who still walk the Earth.

NOVEMBER 2, 2022

I come to this work as a white woman of privilege; a vulnerable allyship student.I get things wrong often and I am open to, and welcome opportunities to be called in about the content in this newsletter, in order to create safe, brave spaces for all. The purpose is to unite people in rural Canada.I am grateful to walk along this journey in grace, love and empathy together.Simply hit 'reply' to contribute, suggest and

Please support our work. We can't do this without the support of rural folks like you.

EXTREMIST GROUPS YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT IN RURAL CANADA

Hello Amazing Humans,Today's episode is the second of a two-part series on Bias, Hate and Extremism, specifically as it relates to rural and small Canadian communities. If you missed the first one, I was joined by Dr. Barbara Perry, Director at the Centre on Hate, Bias and Extremism at the Ontario Tech University and Etienne Quintal, Manager of the Online Hate Research and Education Project with the Toronto Holocaust Education Centre.

You can listen to part one here.Last week I talked a bit about confirmation bias and that social media algorithms make it much easier once you click on a biased report and/or story, to continue to get fed more information that aligns with that bias. This week, I speak with Kurt Phillips, who started doing anonymous online research into hate groups in Canada, but he was doxed in recent years, losing his anonymity. He’s a board member of the Canadian Anti-Hate Network and also a high school teacher in rural Alberta.

RESOURCES

One of the organizations mentioned in both part one and part two of Bias, Hate and Extremism in Rural Canada is Diagolon. This group is actually a movement that came together and gained a foothold in Ottawa during the convoy. During the protest, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) foiled an alleged plot to kill police officers at the Coutts border. Included among the alleged conspirators were adherents of the Diagolon movement.

The current leader, Jeremy MacKenzie, is a podcaster and former Afghanistan combat veteran. He's one of the founding members of the People's Party of Canada (PPC). He's currently facing four charges

in Saskatchewan

including assault and pointing a firearm. His name was all over the internet last month when he alluded to raping Pierre Polliviere's wife in a now viral video. I need to give a TRIGGER WARNING on this, there is mention of sexual assault. I am publishing because I need folks to realize how heinous these conversations are.

Polliviere then denounced MacKenzie and the group in a statement:

Then pictures surfaced of MacKenzie and Polliviere shaking hands, with Polliviere saying he has literally shaken hands with tens of thousands of people across Canada.

From the Anti-Hate Network:

"A handful of individuals have risen to become informal thought leaders within the movement, but two of them, MacKenzie and Alex Vriend, best exemplify this uniquely Canadian strain of militant accelerationism – a characterization both men adamantly deny. During a May 2022 live stream, MacKenzie mockingly stated, “I’m an accelerationist,” and proceeded to seriously echo a core tenant of accelerationism:“This is the entire collapse of civilization and you have multiple generations – mine, the one under me, in some cases, the one before mine – of people who are essentially fighting off the very real feeling of hopelessness.” 'What is Militant Accelerationism? (Again from the Anti-Hate Network)"Militant accelerationism is defined as a set of tactics and strategies designed to put pressure on and exacerbate latent social divisions, often through violence, thus hastening societal collapse. Unlike the explicit militant accelerationism of The Base and Atomwaffen Division, the Diagolon movement attempts to downplay its inherent accelerationism with memes, denials, and humour."What constitutes a 'hate group'? (defined by the Canadian Anti-Hate Network - and the law)

"A hate group is a group which, as demonstrated by statements by its leaders or its activities, is overtly hateful towards, or creates an environment of overt hatred towards, an identifiable group as defined in the Criminal Code, the Canadian Human Rights Act, and/or the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

“. . . identifiable group means any section of the public distinguished by colour, race, religion, national or ethnic origin, age, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or mental or physical disability.”Criminal Code (R.S.C., 1985, c. C-46) 318 (4)

“ . . . the prohibited grounds of discrimination are race, national or ethnic origin, colour, religion, age, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression . . .”Canadian Human Rights Act R.S.C., 1985, c. H-6 3 (1)

“Every individual is equal before and under the law and has the right to the equal protection and equal benefit of the law without discrimination and, in particular, without discrimination based on race, national or ethnic origin, colour, religion, sex, age or mental or physical disability.”Constitution Act, 1982 15 (1)Right-Wing Extremism is an academic term that’s been used for decades. It’s basically a synonym for hate group, but also includes anti-government and anti-law groups like the Freeman on the Land and other extremist sovereign citizen type movements. Government of Canada's list of terrorism groups.Here's a resource called Hate in Canada: A short guide to far-right extremist movements from the Organization for the Prevention of Violence.You can find a number of interesting papers from the Global Network on Extremism and Technology including how White Nationalists are Driving the Critical Race Theory (CRT) Conversation Online.

Here's a resource for teachers, students and parents on what to look for related to hate and extremist views:Canadian Anti-Hate Network's Educational Toolkit, which is a Government of Canada-funded resource and aims to give teachers and students the tools to address displays of hate on campus.The Toronto Holocaust Education Centre is developing its own educational portal. Right now, it contains Canada's Hate Symbols List, which currently has 90 symbols listed and they’re working towards around 250. They will soon be uploading reports, educational resources, and translating the Symbols list into French in the coming months. It's similar to the Anti-Defamation League ADL's symbol list. What about flags? What happens if you fly a Confederate flag in Canada is by rabble.ca I urge you to ask your municipal council if there is a by-law banning hate group flags and if there isn't, encourage one be introduced, especially if you have new leadership at the municipal level.I'm interested to know your thoughts. What are the rural-specific issues you are facing where you are today? Please drop me a line here. Better yet, record a voice message below.

One year ago, the first episode of Clearing a New Path™ podcast launched with Tina Sheridan.

As the daughter of a Residential School survivor and a Sixties Scoop survivor herself, Tina Sheridan didn’t want to become another statistic and she wanted to leave a different legacy for her own family.

At the age of 33, she got her high school diploma and turned her side-gig catering jobs into a mining camp services empire called Cree Quest Corporation. She has cited hunger and poverty as the driving force behind her ambition.

But it took a decade and it was by no means easy.

Tina hasn’t spoken about her struggles much in the past, because she was ashamed and feared it would affect her credibility. But she shared some of them with me and with you, in this episode.

OPEN SUNDAY CIRCLE

I'm continuing to host a standing open Zoom circle on Sundays. This week, we'll focus on a topic: What's wrong with health care in rural Canada?The key here is RESPECTFUL conversations, with deep listening, care and understanding, holding space for others. There is no way we'll heal divisiveness without listening and being present for folks who don't hold our own views. Bring your stories of what you're facing.

Please join if you can!

Join Zoom Meeting (it's the same link every week)

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86517066544

Sunday, November 6, 20221:30 p.m. NT1:00 p.m. AT12:00 p.m. ET 11:00 a.m. CT10:00 a.m. MT9:00 a.m. PT

Want a link to add this to your calendar? Click below.

Can't make it and want to leave us a voice message? Click the link below!

THANK YOUto so many of you that continue to support the podcast and newsletter!.Your encouragement is so greatly appreciated.Want to help fund original stories focused on rural Canada?Every donation helps!

SUPPORTERS

This newsletter and the Clearing a New Path™ podcast are supported by Xplore Business, formerly Xplornet Enterprise Solutions.