On Sept. 29 Hamilton's Mohawk College plans to rent space to People's Party of Canada leader Maxime Bernier and YouTube personality Dave Rubin.

Hamilton is a front-line of hate group vs. anti-racist and anti-Fascist action in Canada, and the PPC's decision to have the event at Mohawk during the election is deliberate. Many in their base hate anti-racists and anti-fascists and share fantasies of fighting them and watching them be arrested. By inviting a demonstration against their event the PPC is feeding red meat to their base.

The question is: why is Mohawk College playing along?

President Ron McKerlie said on Twitter: "All Colleges and Universities are covered by a government mandated Freedom of Speech policy that requires us to provide opportunity for anyone to express their views."

The government's policy requires that they don't "obstruct or interfere with the freedom of others to express their views." Nowhere does it say that Mohawk College is required to rent to anyone.

According to Mohawk's policy on facility rentals, there are situations in which they will cancel an event:

"Mohawk College respects the right to freedom of expression and will comply with the Ontario Human Rights Code. Mohawk College reserves the right to ensure that any use of Facilities does not compromise Mohawk College's or the Mohawk College community's activities as well as the safety and security of persons and Facilities."

So many PPC supporters and organizers have been exposed as bigots, members or supporters of hate groups, radical conspiracy theorists, or full-blown neo-Nazis that it's hard to keep count. These are people who were excited about Bernier's anti-multicultural message and got in on the ground floor of the PPC. They are inextricably connected.

Dave Rubin is a far-right YouTube personality and a significant part of a radicalization process ushering people into the neo-Nazi movement, according to a recently published study out of Cornell University which analyzed 79 million comments and over 330,000 videos to track the effect.

Either would be counter-demonstrated in Hamilton, and with the current environment it promises to be tense. Mohawk can expect anti-racists to show up and their own students to demonstrate. They can also expect members of hate groups from around Ontario to come, including militant groups like the Soldiers of Odin and Northern Guard. Assaults, some by supporters of far-right groups, are commonplace at these demonstrations.

Hamilton has become a front-line of hate group activity because their supporters believe the Hamilton Police Service approves of their demonstrations and shares their hate for anti-fascists. They think they will be treated with kid gloves by police. Now, Hamilton's reputation as a battlefield has drawn the PPC.

The Superior Court recently ruled that the Ottawa Library was within its rights to cancel a screening of an Islamophobic movie. Specifically, because the library was renting space it was a private, not public, matter and the library had no obligation to rent that space. This ruling suggests that Mohawk College can't be forced to provide a private space either.

We would argue Mohawk College has every right to cancel this event, and therefore shares responsibility for what happens. We urge them to make a principled decision.

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Evan Balgord is the Executive Director of the Canadian Anti-Hate Network, a nonprofit monitoring, exposing, and countering hate groups in Canada

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