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Canada’s right-wing extremist movement is a motley crew of white supremacists, anti-government “sovereignists” and pro-militia crusaders who, despite being disorganized and prone to booze-fuelled in-fighting, are “more extensive and more active” than most people think, says a new study.

While some members have tried to create a “façade of legitimacy” by toning down their rhetoric, running in municipal elections and joining military ranks, others remain a public threat, aligning themselves with organized crime groups and exploiting hate-filled white power music and Internet chat rooms, it found.

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“They’re very prevalent in a number of communities. They’re very unpredictable. You don’t know when they’re going to lash out,” said Barbara Perry, the lead author, a criminology professor at the University of Ontario Institute of Technology.

Perry and Ryan Scrivens, a PhD student at B.C.’s Simon Fraser University, talked to law enforcement officials and community activists, as well as current and former hate group members. They also scoured court records and media reports to create one of the few comprehensive portraits of the movement in Canada. Their findings were published in the journal, Studies in Conflict & Terrorism.