WHEN Justin Trudeau, Canada’s prime minister, condemned “intolerant, racist demonstrations” by an “angry, frustrated group of racists” on August 20th, he was not referring to events in Charlottesville, Virginia. His remarks were prompted by a protest planned by La Meute (“Wolf Pack”), a far-right group originally created to oppose radical Islamism which has since moved on to illegal immigration. The group had intended to protest against federal and provincial refugee policies near Quebec’s provincial legislature in Quebec City. In the event, La Meute members were contained in a garage to avoid confrontation with counter-protesters outside. How are Canadians dealing with their own far right?

The recent protests were prompted by a surge in irregular immigration from the United States to Quebec. Fearing deportation by Donald Trump’s administration, nearly 7,000 migrants, many of them Haitians, have crossed over to Canada since the start of July in the hope that refugee applications will be treated more fairly north of the border. Action by far-right supporters did not begin with the arrival of the Haitians, however. On July 1st, Canada’s national day, a group of men in Halifax, including two sailors from the Canadian navy, disrupted a ceremony commemorating indigineous people killed during colonial times. The men were members of a group called the “Proud Boys”, a male-chauvinist organisation founded by Gavin McInnes, a co-founder of Vice (the media company cut ties with him in 2008). After the event, they received support from the Rebel, a far-right website led by Ezra Levant, a self-styled “rebel commander”. Mr Levant’s recent posts include a video praising Steve Bannon, Mr Trump’s former chief strategist, and one warning of the dangers of a prospective free-trade agreement with China.

Such events are surprising: Canadian conservatives are generally rather staid. At least outside Quebec, where the maintenance of French-Canadian culture remains a touchy subject, their reliance on the politics of culture war has been limited. They also forgo the strident anti-government rhetoric of their counterparts in America, focusing on balanced budgets and slightly lowered tax rates instead. Aside from occasional complaints about practices such as child marriage, the conservative parties at the federal and provincial levels are more likely to seek immigrants’ votes than to bash them.

So far, Canadians have denounced the actions of the far right. A planned anti-Islam rally in Vancouver attracted thousands of counter-protesters. The Canadian armed forces condemned the Halifax protesters and has placed them under investigation. And though many Canadians oppose granting asylum to the Haitian refugee-seekers, their complaint is mostly limited to the fact that refugees are jumping the queue in an otherwise organised, generous immigration system. Conservative-party leaders have condemned the Rebel website. Indeed, after the events in Charlottesville, Mr Levant has attempted to distance himself from the American alt-right. So far at least, Canadian moderation is holding its own against extremism.