While the pundits quibble about who won or who lost in this federal election, we can all agree the biggest loser was Maxime Bernier and his People’s Party of Canada. That’s a win for all of Canada.

While the party made a lot of noise in seeking to attract those who oppose so-called “mass immigration,” and who feared an “Islamist takeover” of government, it failed to make signifiant gains to capture even one seat.

Yet, it is disturbing to note that close to 300,000 people voted for Bernier’s party and that the party claims a membership of 40,000 people. And, only a year ago, we saw 25,000 voters actually cast ballots, for far-right figures like Faith Goldy and others running in mayoral races in the GTA.

And let us not forget, that in this election cycle, for the first time in postwar Canadian history, a party that espouses neo-Nazi rhetoric, the Canadian Nationalist Party, was given full political party status.

The sad truth is, these forces aren’t going away anytime soon and will continue to gnaw at our democratic freedoms and Canada’s multicultural character.

Canada’s new Parliament must unite toward addressing the underlying symptoms that push some people toward alt-right and white supremacist movements. Not only has the Liberal government already made significant headway with its anti-racism strategy, almost all the political parties have committed towards confronting racism in this country. Surely, they can work together on this.

Furthermore, new research by Ryan Scrivens, Vivek Venkatesh, Maxime Bérubé, and Tiana Gaudette provide some important hints on how elected representatives can work across party lines, and in co-operation with all other levels of government to make change.

The researchers interviewed 10 former right-wing extremists about the path they took and what might have prevented their descent into hate. Their answers provide insight on efforts that could be undertaken.

Education proved to be a key issue. Families could have better information and tools to spot the warning signs and schools could do more to provide anti-racism curriculum and better explain the harms of violent extremist movements.

“If only I had had some education beforehand about, you know, what a hate group was [and how] it just … it profoundly alters you as a person and not in any good way, and it can put yourself and your family in danger, and there’s huge personal risks involved,” said one participant in the study.

While education is a provincial jurisdiction, the federal government could still provide educators with valuable tools and resources on racism, white supremacy, immigration and more. Around this time, each year, for instance, Veterans Affairs provides a host of resources for teachers in commemoration of Veteran’s Week, which runs from Nov. 5 to Nov. 11. Why not have similar initiatives around a national anti-racism strategy in all schools, colleges, and universities?

The study participants also talked about the role of law enforcement in potentially preventing violent extremism. Hate crime units should play a key role. The NDP’s platform made specific commitments around ensuring that all police forces have such units in place. The Liberals pledged to do more to gather better data on hate crimes which should ultimately lead to better policies to address the rising numbers.

Former members of hate groups, but who had eventually rejected their ideologies, are also key in any community efforts to counter such extremism. Yet, very few, if any, programs in Canada provide a bridge between former violent extremists and current ones. On the contrary, the shame and stigma associated with ever having held such views often mean people do not easily come forward to offer lessons on how to combat this scourge.

Governments could also provide programming that would help people transition away from these movements, and educate vulnerable populations — often young people — about the risks.

Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading...

There is an estimated 300 hate groups in this country, some of whom may be active in our military, or in other institutions. Hate groups online proliferate with very little consequence, even though Canada is a recent signatory of the Christchurch Call to Action. The government could further follow New Zealand’s lead and create a special investigative unit to track down and prosecute those disseminating extremist material.

Countering these dark forces must be a priority, even if their influence proved limited at the ballot box.