1/ On March 8, 2023, John Rustad spoke to a group of people in Abbotsford, many from local far-right movements. Rustad joined the BC Cons on February 16. Kari Simpson, a notorious anti-2SLGBTQ+ Christofascist, was there to hype up the fledgling party. #bcpoli #BCElxn2024 2/ For more on Kari Simpson⬇️

https://x.com/windward_afa/status/1612521855172378625

1/ On Feb 3, 2024, a small podcaster in the Peace posted an interview with John Rustad that included a section on climate change. Here, Rustad claims hydrocarbons reduce climate deaths because people can use gas-powered cars to drive away from hurricanes. So I looked at his data. 2/ The idea that declining deaths due to climate events disprove the concept of climate change as a threat seems to start with a right-wing libertarian think tank called Reason, which takes a profoundly denialist approach to climate change.

Oh, and the article came out in 2011.

1/ On Oct 1, BC Conservative candidate David Splett (North Van-Lonsdale) asked supporters to gather at Keith & Brooksbank later that day to meet John Rustad. I was curious about the location, so I stopped by & posted what I heard. Then the BC Conservatives started to lie. #bcpoli 2/ Rustad's event was across the street from the E Keith supportive housing project approved by the District of North Vancouver in February. I previously heard a Conservative supporter brag that they would get it shut down & knew Sam Chandola (North Van-Seymour) wanted it gone.

1/ On August 18, Elenore Sturko spoke at Freedom House, a space in Vancouver for far-right organizing. The event was called Into the Abyss: A Solution Orientated Discussion on the Drug Crisis and included a viewing of Aaron Gunn's Vancouver Is Dying.

2/ Freedom House is a project of Rick Thomas and Maria Bose, who jumped into the anti-mask & antivaxx scene that became the Freedom movement in April 2020. The organized with Sky Walkers, the group that harassed people wearing masks on transit.

1/ Another @Conservative_BC member has links to white nationalism & neo-N-zism.

Here is BC Conservative Party's Director at Large Lindsay Shepherd with George Hutcheson of the white nationalist Students for Western Civilization. 2/ Shepherd rose to fame in late 2017 when, as a TA for a course at Wilfred Laurier University, showed a clip of Jordan Peterson attacking Bill C-16, which added “gender identity or expression” to the Canadian Human Rights Act. Some people complained & WLU investigated.

1/ A short roundup on Diagolon over the last few days.

Diagolon was in Vancouver on Friday--or more specifically, Langley. They sent ticketholders to the parking lot of The Grove Church, then directed them down the street to the Langley Lions Society West Langley Hall. 2/ As the name suggests, the West Langley Hall is owned by the Langley @lionsclubs. If you aren't familiar, the Lions Club is an international service organization.

The hall is also managed in partnership with the municipality: the Township of Langley (@LangleyTownship).

1/ A conference featuring a white nationalist that inspired terrorist attacks in New Zealand starts on June 21 in Victoria at the @CityOfVictoria Victoria Conference Centre.

BC Conservative leader John Rustad was a keynote speaker at the 2023 conference. From his presentation ⬇️ 2/ Rustad says he felt inspired by the Freedom Convoy & thought it was just like the 2010 Vancouver Olympics, bringing Canadians together.

This is the sort of discourse that was taking place in Freedom Convoy channels in early February 2022. Sounds super warm and fuzzy, right?

1/ SD 57's (Prince George) Board of Education dealt with significant upheaval when Chair Rachael Weber failed to shut down transphobic statements at a meeting, then just didn't talk to media. For months.

Look who's running for the notably anti-2SLGBTQ+ Conservative Party of BC. 2/ The CPBC promotes the re-emerging Parental Rights movement, which now focuses almost exclusively on sexual orientation & gender identity (SOGI) policies & resources at schools. The movement seeks to restrict diversity & inclusion at schools (though cis & hetero lessons fine).

1/ New Brunswick schools are now obligated to notify parents if a child requests a new name or pronouns.

This is an enormous threat to their safety. You cannot say you care about kids when your policies result in kids losing their homes.

cbc.ca/news/canada/ne… 2/ According to @homelesshub, an estimated 25-40% of unhoused youth identify as 2SLGBTQ+. This is likely underestimated because many young people don't feel safe disclosing gender identity or sexual orientation--if they're asked at all. cbc.ca/news/canada/no…

1/ Wildfire safety is somehow now in the realm antifascist resistance. There were horrible far-right conspiracy theories when Lytton burned down in 2021. The conspiracies have grown exponentially this fire season, starting with the AB fires last month.

https://twitter.com/COCVancouver/status/1654908365016043521

2/ The real problems are the resource companies, forest management practices that prioritize profits over fire mitigation & government inaction.

But we all have to get through the summer alive & well, so here are some resources to share with your friends & neighbours.

1🧵What happens when Board of Education trustees don’t act on anti-2SLGBTQ+ speech in a meeting? The Prince George District Teachers' Association (@PGTeachers) has been at an impasse with the SD57 Board of Education for over three months with no resolution in sight. 2/ In Dec 2022, Josh Silva spoke at a Board meeting, stating that children “confused about their gender” are on the rise in schools while complaining about “woke agendas.” Silva ran for trustee in the Oct 2022 elections & was part of the notably anti-2SLGBTQ+ PG Freedom group.

1/ A🧵on the antivaxx "film festival" touring Vancouver Island. What's Up, Doc? will be in Nanaimo on Feb 1 & Victoria on Feb 4. Wash that F🍁ck Trudeau shirt & put on your nicest MAGA hat because we're about to play fast and loose with the definitions of "science" and "fact." 2/ First film: Uninformed Consent, produced by Ted Kuntz (Vaccine Choice Canada) & Odessa Orlewicz (Librti). VCC is a long-standing vaccine & political disinformation org. Librti is a platform for people that were kicked off Facebook for posting memes about hanging Trudeau.

1/20 A 🧵on Culture Guard's Kari Simpson & transphobia in BC's Convoy movement. It's no surprise that Convoyers attack drag events & rally against LGBTQ2S+ communities because the movement continues to be influenced by transphobic Christofascist "activists" like Kari. #bcpoli 2/ BC has many well-funded fundamentalist churches, spaces that voraciously defend traditional family values while they rally against progressives & the LGBTQ2S+ community. For orgs already in that space--like Culture Guard & Action4Canada--COVID is an opportunity to radicalize.

1/ Hey BC, did you know a bunch of antivaxxers & far-right extremists are trying to certify a class action lawsuit on your behalf? It starts today! Since this is being foisted upon all BCers, BCers have a right to see the twisted motivations and extremism behind the case. #bcpoli 2/ The Canadian Society for the Advancement of Science in Public Policy (CSASPP) aka SueBonnie[dot]ca is led by 911 Truther Kip Warner. He thinks a cabal of bankers, likely the Rothschilds, are responsible for 9/11. (Jews. He's talking about Jews. This is straight anti-Semitism.)

1/ Today was the much-anticipated Trudeau Must Go rally at Vancouver Art Gallery. Our Freedumb Fighter regulars made an appearance and participated in a march. The march was led by an individual in blackface chanting "Hang Trudeau." The crowd joined in enthusiastically. 2/ The march leader used their boa to mime someone hanging in a noose.

1/ On Wednesday, the Croatian Cultural Centre is hosting Let Freedom Reign with Christian nationalist Laura-Lynn Tyler Thompson. The event is a mess of bigotries and Convoys, but let's look at anti-LGBTQ2S+ "activist" and friend to neo-Nazis Laura-Lynn Tyler Thompson! #vanpoli 2/ This story is a bit dark and depressing, so a warning that this thread features neo-Nazis, trans- and homophobia, racism, and a whole lot of hate. As a palate cleanser, here is the time Laura-Lynn was felled by, um, a single sign at @SportChek.

1/ A long thread on memes, extremism, #Diagalon, and the proliferation of hate across Convoy circles. At the #POEC, Jeremy Mackenzie claimed that Diagalon was a meme, as he has for months. The implication is that Diagalon is EITHER a threat OR a meme--memes aren't a threat. 2/ #Diagalon is both a meme country AND a threat. Meme-ifying extremism is not new--it really took off around 2014 with GamerGate and Trump. And the absurdity to those on the outside is what insulates memes. Silly cartoon frogs and clowns and baby talk can’t be serious, right?