EDMONTON—Alberta has a disproportionate representation of extremist groups compared to the rest of Canada — and must fight the threat from all ideological angles, according to a new report.

The report, titled Extremism and Hate Motivated Violence in Alberta, was completed by the Organization for the Prevention of Violence, an Alberta-based group that researches hate-motivated violence. It conducted more than 360 interviews with law enforcement, service providers, and friends and family of people who have engaged in violent extremism.

The first of its kind in Alberta, the report splits extremist groups into five main categories: patriot or militia groups (such as Soldiers of Odin); Al Qaeda, affiliates and splinter groups (including Daesh, also known as ISIS); anti-government groups (such as Freeman of the Land); left-wing extremism (such as Antifa); and white supremacy groups (such as Calgary-based Aryan Guard).

It found that Alberta, in particular, had a disproportionate number of foreign fighters leaving the province to join forces such as ISIS, and has also seen “startling” growth in patriot groups.

John McCoy, executive director of the Organization for the Prevention of Violence, said the biggest takeaway from the report is that Alberta faces a “diversity of threats” despite intelligence and law enforcement agencies dedicating most of their resources to the threat of radical Islamic terrorism.

“The biggest problem when it comes down to our approach to this issue since Sept. 11, 2001, is this fixation on one problem … It’s important that we’re willing to look at everything,” McCoy said.

One of the most prominent trends in Alberta is the growth of so-called patriot and militia groups, such as Soldiers of Odin and Northern Guard, which have heightened their presence in Edmonton recently. The total membership for all these groups in Alberta peaked in 2017, hovering around the 600 to 700 mark. They have since declined.

“Now they’re probably around the 500 mark. But at one stage, they were significantly larger. And we haven’t seen that kind of growth in hate-based groups since the growth of the Ku Klux Klan in the ’20s and ’30s in Alberta,” McCoy said,

The surge in those groups is a relatively new phenomenon, which grew in the wake of Alberta’s economic recession, the report says. McCoy suggested they saw a boost in membership due to labourers being laid off in 2015 and looking for people who shared their frustrations.

The report notes that Alberta hosted fundraising, money-laundering and propaganda/promotion for Al Qaeda, affiliates and splinter groups from the late 1990s to the mid-2000s. It cites the case of Faruq Khalil Muhammad ‘Isa, an Iraqi-Canadian who pleaded guilty in Edmonton to U.S. charges of providing money to Tunisian terrorists in 2018, as an example of how local residents can support terrorism remotely.

The report says from 2012 on, Alberta saw a significant increase in groups calling for westerners to travel to conflict areas, including Somalia, Syria, Iraq, and Libya. During that period, about 30 to 40 Canadians left Alberta to fight overseas.

Individuals who left the country to serve as foreign fighters were “overwhelmingly” connected to someone who had already been radicalized. More people were radicalized in Calgary than in Edmonton, likely due to stronger family networks there.

“Out of all the examples of Albertans who have been involved … the cohort of foreign fighters that left Calgary between 2012-2013 is arguably of the most unique and of the greatest importance,” the report says, estimating that 20 people with a connection to Calgary travelled to fight in Syria and Iraq. Of those 20, roughly 10 attended a specific mosque in the city’s downtown.

Anti-authority and anti-government groups such as Freeman of the Land, which made news in Edmonton when Edmonton Police Service Const. Daniel Woodall was shot and killed by a person who was suspected of having sympathies with the group, are overall on the decline, McCoy said. But individual threats to government officials are seeing an uptick.

The report says far-left groups such as Antifa, an anti-fascist group that has been known to resort to violence, is not currently a significant threat based on their “current tactics and behaviour,” which is largely in reaction to far-right groups.

Meanwhile, more traditional white supremacist groups, such as Calgary-based Aryan Guard, are also on the decline. But there is some crossover between those groups and the patriots.

“You’ve got this white nationalist … sort of sanitized version of white supremacism, where there’s a lot of talk about heritage and pride,” McCoy noted.

“That’s something, where there’s definitely a lot less visibility on, even for us,” he added.

One theme that ties all the groups together is their use of the internet for organizing and recruiting. But people are also self-radicalizing online by finding forums and chat rooms that validate their extreme views.

The individuals who are most likely to resort violence are lone actors who are not firmly a member of any organization, but are “floating around” to find a group that provides them some sense of purpose. McCoy cited Michael Zehaf-Bibeau, who shot and killed Cpl. Nathan Cirillo on Parliament Hill in 2014, as an example. Zehaf-Bibeau had expressed sympathy for ISIS.

“All these guys have something in common. They’re on the margins of these movements, often they’re not detected as being part of a formal group,” McCoy said.

One online trend that is gaining traction and needs more attention is the involuntarily celibate movement, an online community of men who engage in self-pity and misogyny due to their inability to find a sexual partner. They also encourage violence against women.

“That movement has grown a lot, it’s attracted an online community and it’s an online community that really celebrates these guys as sort of martyrs or heroes for the cause,” McCoy said.

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“That’s something that is definitely of concern.”

McCoy suggested one reason Alberta may have a disproportionate presence of extremist groups is because of the province’s younger population, and there is evidence that young people are more likely to embrace radical beliefs, especially online.

The report will be released publicly next month.

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