As far-right extremists in the U.S. make headlines for acts of shocking violence, a small group of supposed reactionaries in Sudbury are quietly going about doing good deeds.

Local members of the Soldiers of Odin — an anti-immigration movement launched in Finland — could be found on this week pitching in at the Blue Door Soup Kitchen, as they do most Mondays and Tuesdays.

Earlier this month they were on hand at a Lorne Street park to help raise a monument for organ donors — something very different than a Confederate statue — and this Sunday they’ll be supporting Cruisin’ For Organ Donors during New Sudbury Days.

"We like helping out, and we’re trying to get away from the racist stigma we’re getting from overseas," says David MacKinnon, who not only heads up the local chapter of Soldiers of Odin, but serves as Ontario president. "We don’t associate with Finland at all anymore."

MacKinnon says there are 15-20 members in Sudbury, making it the biggest chapter in Northern Ontario. Province-wide, there are about 100 members.

While the parent organization in Europe has become associated with anti-Islamic vigilantism, MacKinnon says his group welcomes ethnic diversity and doesn’t patrol the streets.

"I know a lot of Muslims who are awesome people," he says. "My stepsister is from Lebanon, and she’s everything to me."

MacKinnon says the Sudbury group formed a little more than a year ago after hearing through the media about a young girl on Louis Street who was pricked by a discarded drug needle.

"That was heartbreaking," he says. "Two days later we had a crew together, out collecting needles."

Members have continued to conduct needle sweeps since. "This year alone we found 6,000 needles," says MacKinnon.

On one occasion they had just finished cleaning up syringes at a picnic table near the old diocese building on Ste. Anne Road, when "we saw a little girl playing with her mom, running around in flip-flops," he says.

The Soldiers of Odin will also "try to volunteer with clothing and food drives if someone has a fire," he says.

Sometimes they are mistaken for bikers, because of their black vests and insignia, but they don’t set out to intimidate anyone, says MacKinnon, and are not opposed to newcomers per se.

"We’re not anti-immigration," he says. "We just want it slowed down a bit, with proper vetting, because you can have a bad apple slip through."

He admits his own group contained a few bad apples at first — members who were more extreme in their views and more confrontational in temperament — but says they have been weeded out now.

Racist views are also not tolerated at the group’s Facebook page, he says. "If anyone makes the odd remark, we stop that right away."

He says the group debated changing its name to make the distinction clear between its goals and that of its European model, but the consensus was to keep it.

"We did a vote across Canada and the majority wanted to keep the name," he says. "I am sure everyone has their different reasons as to why they want to keep it, from proving people wrong about us, to all the patches and clothing costing so much money."

Group being scrutinized

Ronnie Boisvert, a social justice activist in Sudbury, says the local SOO group doesn’t seem to pose a threat to minority groups, but he still finds the branding unnerving.

"Their origins in Finland are as a white-supremacist and ultra-nationalist group," he says. "We know what their affiliate chapters do, so why not just change the name if they’re not affiliated?"

Boisvert says it’s also likely that a strong presence of left-leaning people in Sudbury has helped keep the local version of the Soldiers of Odin more moderate.

"We have a lot of groups that come out very vocally against groups like the Soldiers of Odin, and that public pressure and scrutiny could have a lot to do with it," he says. "They’ve undergone multiple membership changes."

Boisvert says he doesn’t anticipate any clashes in Sudbury — and certainly nothing of the scope that has occurred recently in the U.S. — but neither does he feel the Soldiers of Odin should simply be taken at their word.

"They claim to be in the service of the community, but rhetoric and practice are two different things," he says. "So far the rhetoric and practice seem to be in line, but I think that’s mostly due to the public’s response."

Michael Johns, a professor of political science with Laurentian University, says he is not surprised that a group aligned with the far right would emerge in Sudbury.

"Sudbury is not that different from other places around Canada," he says. "There are groups forming on the East Coast and across Ontario. They’re still pretty small and not as organized as what you see in the U.S., but we did see on Canada Day a group of white supremacists trying to interfere with an Indigenous ceremony in Halifax."

Some groups are more extreme than the Soldiers of Odin, such as the Three Percenters, whose name references the portion of the population that made up the military at the time of the American Revolution.

Boisvert also points to a group called the Proud Boys, "who are self-proclaimed Western chauvinists."

Canada has always had people on the far right of the spectrum. What seems to have changed — in part because the views of white nationalists and bigots have been legitimized, to some extent, by the current U.S. president — "is they are becoming more confident to appear in public," says Johns.

"We are not immune to racism in all its forms," he says. "But we’re now seeing a more public display of that in the U.S., and to a lesser extent in Canada."

The political scientist says ultra-conservative, anti-immigrant views tend to grow out of challenging economic times.

"There is an economic shift in Canada, where jobs that used to exist don’t exist anymore," he says. "So there’s a tendency to look for scapegoats in minority groups."

Street brawls unlikely

Claude Torma, who started the Northern Ontario version of the Soldiers of Odin from his home in Sault Ste. Marie and helped launch the Sudbury chapter, says he "didn’t start it to be a racist."

Like the group in Sudbury, the Sault contingent of the Soldiers of Odin — Torma has since changed the name to the Canadian Brotherhood of Patriots — has been focused on good works.

"There’s nothing racist about picking needles off the ground and donating to the soup kitchen," Torma says. "But we changed the name in the Sault because of all the negativity."

The Sault group contains "all creeds and colours," he says. "I want to help Canadians — you don’t have to be white."

At the same time, Torma says he is "bummed out that there are a lot of people coming in and taking away jobs."

His own experience, he says, is an example — he’s currently working in Grande Prairie, Alta., because he can’t find a job in the Sault.

"It sounds a bit selfish, but I think we should be helping the people who are already here," he says. "Me, I have to move 3,600 kilometres away from my family."

Questioning the pace of immigration, however, doesn’t mean taking to the streets to shout racist slogans and spar with inclusivity advocates.

Both Torma and MacKinnon say their followers aren’t inclined to demonstrate in public and prefer to fly below the radar, quietly making a difference in the community.

MacKinnon says he met with members of the Greater Sudbury Police — including Chief Paul Pedersen — during the recent ceremony to recognize organ donors, and feels there is a good understanding between them. "They’re well aware of what we’re doing."

A photograph that circulated on social media this past week depicting SOO members with Pedersen did cause some controversy, however, prompting the police chief to issue an explanation.

"As a non-partisan public official I am often asked to be photographed with members of the community or attendees at events," he wrote. "When such requests are made, they are on the spot, and unless there is an obvious reason why I would respectfully decline, I do agree to such photographing."

He noted the individuals in the picture were soup kitchen volunteers and "were on hand at this event assisting with the various activities. There was nothing more to their involvement there, nor my picture having been taken."

In retrospect, though, Pedersen seemed to regret the decision.

"Recognizing that there are those that associate the Soldiers of Odin with far-right views, especially with current events being what they are globally, I could have and should have politely declined this request," he wrote. "This photo should in no way be interpreted as support for this group."

Boisvert says Sudbury has its share of racism, but most of that, in his experience, is directed at Aboriginal people.

"I think the majority of racism in this country is against First Nations people," he says. "And there is absolutely a streak of prejudice against Muslims."

Sudbury also boasts a strong counter-wave to those kind of sentiments, however, with groups like the Sudbury Peace Council and Sudbury Against Fascism always ready to speak out.

Many of those people were present for a vigil last weekend to mourn the protester killed in Charlottesville, Va., and to stand up for human rights.

But Boisvert doesn’t anticipate scuffles in the streets of Sudbury between progressives and members of the so-called alt right.

"Groups like the Soldiers of Odin aren’t coming to the socialist rallies like in other cities," he says. "And I see a harder time rallying people behind white nationalism here."

Sudbury was built by immigration, he notes, and people tend to be more tolerant toward different cultures than might be the case in less historically diverse communities.

When a small group of right-wing demonstrators came to Tom Davies Square in March, as part of a movement called the Canadian Coalition of Concerned Citizens, they were far outnumbered by folks defending refugees and human rights.

"There were four or five of them, and 40 to 50 of us," says Boisvert. "Most of them were Christian fundamentalists afraid of losing their religion in this country."

While the two groups had different points of view, Boisvert says he spoke with several of the Canadian Coalition members, and there was no tension or suggestion of violence.

"I don’t think Sudbury has the conditions to see street brawls," he says.

jmoodie@postmedia.com

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