Notorious antisemites are fuelling the far right's anti-lockdown protests

Ahead of today's election, the People's Party of Canada is polling at around 10 per cent nationally. Much of their rise can be attributed to leader Maxime Bernier, whose presence at large-scale anti-lockdown rallies across Canada has sparked a grassroots populist movement grounded in distrust of governments, health care systems and public institutions.

But working within that same movement have been infamous Canadian antisemites, white supremacists and Holocaust deniers. Figures such as Chris Sky, Brian Ruhe and Paul Fromm have been driving across the country to attend anti-lockdown rallies and events, where they can easily and quickly spread their dangerous messages. The People's Party, with its stated intent to scrap laws that party members believe hamper free speech, has proven to be fertile ground for this kind of hateful agenda.

On today's episode of The CJN Daily podcast, Evan Balgord, executive director of the Canadian Anti-Hate Network, joins to discuss his group's findings and the connections between this far-right network.

What we talked about:

• Learn more about the Canadian Anti-Hate Network at antihate.ca
• Read why The CJN won't be reporting on the election until Thursday at thecjn.ca/news/election-out-of-office/

Credits

The CJN Daily is written and hosted by Ellin Bessner (@ebessner on Twitter). Victoria Redden is the producer. Michael Fraiman is the executive producer. Our theme music is by Dov Beck-Levine. Our title sponsor is Metropia. We're a member of The CJN Podcast Network; find more great Jewish podcasts at thecjn.ca.