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The signs appear innocuous, just text without images or symbols, but send a disturbing message to communities who’ve been targeted by the extreme right, Wiseman said.

“There’s a reason why we’ve had vigils at synagogues and community centres all across Canada this week,” he said. “Unfortunately, it’s always in the back of people’s head that something like this could happen in Canada.

“The words on it are what worries me. These things start small.”

On Thursday, similar signs were also reported in Halifax, at Tufts University in Boston and in Adelaide, Australia, where a senator who spotted them on the street and responded that “pro-Nazi slogans like this are not welcome.”

An Ottawa graduate student had a similar reaction to the posters.

“Nothing like coming across a bunch of ‘It’s okay to be white’ posters (in) downtown Ottawa on your way to work to ruin your morning,” tweeted Sarah Harney, an Anishinaabekwe.

“This poster campaign was created by specific hateful groups with the intent to stir up media backlash and lead people to the far alt-right,” she added.

A year ago, “it’s okay to be white” posters turned up on campuses including the University of Regina, University of Alberta and the University of Toronto. Former Ku Klux Klan Grand Wizard David Duke tweeted that the reaction proved “ubiquitous anti-white hate (and) racism!”

Mina Cohn, the director of the Centre for Holocaust Education and Scholarship (CHES) at Carleton University, called them “alarming” and a “chilling reminder of alt-right activity.”

When mainstream political leaders make “xenophobic” ideologies are promulgated by mainstream leaders, it gives license to victimize minorities, she said.

“We must guard against it and speak out,” Cohn said.

https://twitter.com/stewartwiseman/status/1057985737524531200