1. I've been trying to think of a witty way to start this, but to hell with it.
Let's talk about the Red Ensign and whether the far right have appropriated the symbol in a way the people should be offended by.
Spoiler, they have.
vice.com/en/article/exk…
2. About a week or two, @antihateca published an incredible resource for schools on how to deal with extremism. As a teacher myself I know many don't have the knowledge base to effectively approach the issue when they come across it so this will be a very effective tool.
3. I would urge readers to take a good look at the resource as it can be used by anyone who struggled to deal with extremism when they encounter it..
assets.nationbuilder.com/antihate/pages…
4. the folks with CAHN put a lot of incredible hard work into this resource, however right now it is being attacked primarily because of this inclusion in the symbols section.
5. Among those who are attacking the resource are a Breitbart "journalist" and two of Canada's premier disseminators of right-wing propaganda.
6. Journalists from more mainstream publications such as "That National Post" have also taken a swing at it.
7. In fact, it even resulted in an article that made the front page of the print copy as well as online edition.
nationalpost.com/opinion/jamie-…
8. And it didn't take long before one of the candidates in the Conservative leadership race decided to make this an issue as well; I don't doubt more will also chime in eventually.
9. Here is where it gets a little more interesting as the use of the Red Ensign as a symbol co-opted by the far-right isn't an original CAHN perspective. Where we discuss the Red Ensign we provided a handy link to back up what we have written.
Wanna guess where the link lead?
10. If you guessed that the link leads to "The National Post" from 2017 you win a prize!
nationalpost.com/news/canada/fo…
11. The Red Ensign in and of itself isn't a racist symbol (though our FNMI friends can certainly point to it being a symbol of colonialism). It is the flag that Canadian soldiers fought under against the Axis powers. In short, the flag at your Legion isn't inherently hateful.
12. However, it has been adopted by the far right as a symbol of what Canada "used to be" which is perpetuating a racist myth.
But don't take my word for it. Here is someone who will happily admit this is the case.
13. But I suppose people will still want proof that what we have said is true so buckle up folks!
Also, if you think this will be overkill, believe me when I tell you that I am only posting a tiny fraction of what I have.
14. We begin with John Beattie, the 1960s founder of the Canadian Nazi Party and later the British Peoples' League. Here he is hanging out with two members of the Hammerskins on one of his more recent YouTube videos.
16. What to talk about the Canadian Nationalist Party, because we can talk about the Canadian Nationalist Party.
17. There are quite a few articles I could share, but let's go with this one.
antihate.ca/leader_canadia…
18. Generation Identity Canada/ID Canada?
Here are some members an an anti-immigrant rally organized by the Worldwide Coalition Against Islam in Calgary.
19. Again, there are a lot of articles I could post but you all might find this one rather interesting.
cbc.ca/news/canada/ca…
20. We can't talk about ID Canada without also talking about Faith Goldy as ID Canada helped run her mayoral campaign.
22. Along with Goldy, Kevin Goudreau was also banned from Facebook permanently.
23.
24. There are more recent articles (you can do a search) but since I started with a "National Post" article I might as well continue (this one written by the awesome @StewGlobal).
nationalpost.com/news/canada/a-…
25. As there is of course a 25 tweet limit I have to stop momentarily, but I have a lot more to post.
I mean, a LOT more.
Back shortly.
26. Let's keep going shall we?
A little more old school we have some former members of the Heritage Front (Steve Dumas and Louis Morin who is posing with Malcolm Ross).
29. Speaking of Marc Lemire, here is the last leader of what was once Canada's most "successful" hate groups prior to learning there was a mole in it and Lemire running it into the ground.
30. FYI, Lemire tried to deny he was actively involved in the HF so I wrote a series of articles explaining why he was a lying liar who lies.
anti-racistcanada.blogspot.com/2012/01/marc-l…
31. If you knew of the Heritage Front you knew of the band Rahowa (Racial Holy War), a contemporary racist music group fronted by George Burdi with Jon Latvis on guitar.
Latvis continued his... er... music after the band broke up.
32. He also made news a few years back in Toronto. It involved a Ford of course.
toronto.ctvnews.ca/rob-ford-s-off…
33. You have to be wondering by now, "Kurt, no Proud Boys? They seem a likely candidate to debase the Red Ensign."
Oh, patience is a virtue my friends.
35. My article on the blog that highlighted this incident first was the first time I went, as the kids say, viral.
anti-racistcanada.blogspot.com/2017/07/milita…
36. By this point you have likely been seeing a lot of one person. That is Paul Fromm and I'll talk more about him later. In the meantime here he is with the splinter "Proud Goys" who weren't actually a splinter.
38. Now we head back to the late 1990s and early 2000s as members of the Northern Guard and the Canadian Heritage Alliance protested in support of Ernst Zundel and Brad Love.
39. Among the folks in this one are Tomasz Winnicki and Jason Ouwendyk who was the head of the Northern Alliance.
40. Melissa Guille on the other hand was the leader of the Canadian Heritage Alliance.
41. You might be wondering if there was a mech page.
There was indeed a merch page.
42. And if you are wondering why you have never heard of the Northern Alliance, the Canadian Heritage Alliance, and Tomasz Winnicki, you have CAHN board member Richard Warman to thank for that.
richardwarman.ca/legal-work/
43. I have a lot on the Southern Ontario Skinheads, but I think this one should suffice.
44. SOS leader Max Hynes had a dispute with Calgary-based Aryan Guard/Blood & Honour leader that ended... poorly.
therecord.com/news/waterloo-…
45. So that brings us to the Aryan Guard/Blood & Honour and the splinter WEB. They used the Red Ensign frequently during their annual "White Pride" days.
46.
47.
48. Paul Fromm gave them a shoutout about their fancy new clubhouse too.
49. The Aryan Guard was featured frequently on the blog.
anti-racistcanada.blogspot.com/search/label/A…
50. WEB (Western European Brotherhood) was, if it can be believed, was a more violent offshoot of the AG.
51. And what happened to Robert Reitmeier and Tyler Sturrup who founded WEB?
calgaryherald.com/news/crime/neo…
53. Volksfront was also fond of the Red Ensign.
55. Anyone remember Terry Tremaine?
Again, you have Richard Warman to thank for that if you don't as well.
56. Now I've mentioned Paul Fromm a great deal. Fromm has been a part of every far-right movement since the 1960s as a member of the Edmund Burke Society through the anti-mask movement today.
splcenter.org/fighting-hate/…
57. Perhaps no other person has "popularized" the Red Ensign as a far-right symbol than Fromm whose use of the flag is very much a way he tries to appeal to his supporters sense of a world lost that they want back.
58. So how ubiquitous is Fromm's use and debasement of the Red Ensign?
Here he is at a KKK event in the US.
59. With former KKK leader and current owner of the hate site Stormfront Don Black.
60. Meeting with former KKK leader David Duke.
61. Speaking at an American Front event.
63. Protesting as a member of the Yellow Vests.
64. And, well, I could go on and on and on and on.
65. This one is interesting due to the presence of Michelle Erstikaitis.
66. Yeah... torontosun.com/news/provincia…
67. So I know what you are thinking.
"This is overkill."
68. "We get it. You've made your point."
69. "Maybe there are some people who use the Red Ensign as a far-right symbol, but they are fringe. Nothing to worry about.
Right?"
70. So here is my answer to CAHN's critics upset that we included the Red Ensign in our section detailing far-right symbols.
71. You seem more upset that we told you something that is accurate than the fact that it is happening and you would rather stick your head in the sand and pretend it isn't real or serious.
72. If you don't want hate groups co-opting symbols that you seem to cherish, then perhaps do something about that rather than criticizing those who provide you with an unpleasant truth you don't want to believe.
73. Thank you for attending my TED Talk.
74. Okay, anyone remember the series "Columbo"?
75. Going back to the old school boneheads, a very dear friend @onemooreliz reminded me that the Red Ensign was often prominently displayed during Heritage Front speeches as it is here, along with the HF flag, behind Grant Bristow.
76. Of note, @onemooreliz also did a very similar thread from a very unique perspective. Please give it a read as well.
77.
78. And how could I forget Tyler Russell and the Canada First dweebs?
80. So there's a fun story with these photos.
One of the CF dorks, Richard Carmichael, broke his arm climbing a statue of Sir. JAM to hang a Red Ensign on it.
They used the Red Ensign as a sling because, well, they are clumsy idiots.
81. The Red Ensign was also carried into the #OttawaOccupation/"trucker" convoy event in Ottawa this past February, one of which carried by a CF member.
82. That CF member was Shane Marshall (sons.Of.liberty)
83. Marshall is this fella.
antihate.ca/ppc_riding_dir…
84. And Marshall is also this guy.
antihate.ca/white_national…
85. Marshall often flies a variation of the Red Ensign - a camo version - that seems to be increasingly popular with this crowd.
86. Finally! I think we are done for now.
Oh... wait.
87. You know that "National Post" article from 2017 that discussed the appropriation by the far-right of the Red Ensign?
nationalpost.com/news/canada/fo…
88. So full disclosure, I was interviewed for it at the time under my nom de plume.
89. What can I say? Christopher Lee is awesome and I had a bit of a theme going at the time.
90. This seems the best way to end this.
thetyee.ca/Opinion/2022/0…
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