Canadian intelligence monitoring far-right activities after Charlottesville

August 23, 2017 by Ian Allen

Canadian spy organizations are working with domestic and international agencies in response to reports that several Canadian far-right activists attended the “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, earlier this month. The rally drew the attention of the world’s media after violent clashes between protesters and counter-protesters left a woman dead. Two Virginia State Police officers were also killed when a helicopter used in crowd control in Charlottesville crashed near the site of the demonstrations. The rally, which took place on August 11 and 12, drew members of various white supremacist, white nationalist, neo-Nazi and neo-Confederate groups. There were also heavily armed members of a self-styled militia at Emancipation Park, where a soon-to-be-removed statue of the late Confederate General Robert E. Lee became the focal point of the far-right demonstrators.

Canadian news watchers were surprised to find out that several Canadian citizens traveled to the United States to participate in the “Unite the Right” rally. At least two were identified on social media after appearing in a Vice News documentary about the rally. One Canadian participant is believed to be an activist with Le Meute (The Wolf Pack), a far-right group that appeared in Quebec in 2015 and today boasts 43,000 registered members. The stated position of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS), Canada’s primary national intelligence agency, is that far-right extremism is not a major problem in Canada. In 2014, the agency said that rightwing extremism was not “as significant a problem in Canada in recent years”. The statement added that Canadians who held far-right extremist views “have tended to be isolated and ineffective figures”.

Speaking to the Canadian online newspaper The National Observer, the CSIS declined to comment specifically about the events in Charlottesville. It also did not respond to a question about whether it monitors the international travels of Canadian far-right activists. A CSIS spokeswoman, Tahera Mufti, told the newspaper that the agency was unable to discuss details about its ongoing investigations into Charlottesville “due to national security reasons”. But she added that CSIS was working “with its Canadian and international partners” to combat the activities of “those who support right-wing extremism”.

► Author: Ian Allen | Date: 23 August 2017 | Permalink