For years now, progressives have been warning that neo-fascism represents a growing cancer within Canada. Since the riot at the Capitol, in particular, the Toronto Star has instructed us that “white supremacy” — not just everyday racism, but the real deal — is now an overt presence in public life. The NDP has jumped on board hard as well. Under the banner, “Take Action: Dismantle White Supremacist and Neo-Nazi Groups in Canada,” Jagmeet Singh’s party informs us that “there are 300 active far-right extremist groups operating across the country.”
But here’s where it gets awkward. I phoned around, and no one at the NDP offices seems to have that list. Instead, they referred me to Barbara Perry, Director of the Centre on Hate, Bias and Extremism at Ontario Tech University. The 300 figure appeared in a 2019 interview with Perry published in a sponsored-content outlet funded by the Ontario government and labour unions.
In that interview, Perry claimed that, even by 2015, she’d identified “more than 100 active far-right groups across Canada.” Then in the intervening four years, she apparently discovered another 200. The new 300 estimate is cited in a March, 2019 Star interview— though, oddly, several months later, Perry was heard telling the CBC that the number is closer to 130. More recently, in August, 2020,
she repeated the 300 figure to an Oshawa Express reporter.
