Protests at Trudeau rallies an evolution of far-right ideology, says expert – By Jason Vermes (CBC News) / Sept 12 2021
Violent incidents at political campaign stops worrying to those who track extremism in Canada
The protests that have dogged Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau’s election campaign for weeks shouldn’t come as a surprise after months of demonstrations against COVID-19 restrictions, says one extremism researcher.
“These people have been protesting against COVID for a long time. People were kind of shocked at the vitriol and the violent rhetoric — and the violence itself — that these people are bringing to the campaign trail,” said Evan Balgord, executive director of the Canadian Anti-Hate Network.
“We’re not surprised by it because these people, these COVID conspiracy types, have been very violent for months.”
Balgord believes those showing up to protest against government COVID-19 restrictions, and what they see as Trudeau’s role in them, are individuals steeped in far-right ideology or those who are sympathetic to it.
