Canada, the kind country that has not been able to escape the radicals

Canada It has always cultivated an image of tolerance and its multiculturalism, a “friendly” country that, however, according to experts, has not escaped the extreme right and you are seeing how a growing number of citizens are becoming radicalized.

One year after the serious protests that took place in downtown Ottawa, which was busy for weeks with hundreds of trucks and other vehicles stationed at the gates of Parliament, the authorities in the Canadian capital are preparing for a conflictive weekend.

Various groups have announced rallies in Ottawa over the weekend to commemorate the anniversary of the arrival of the call “Freedom Convoy”.

But this time, unlike what happened in 2022, the Ottawa Police warned that dozens of police officers will patrol the streets adjacent to the Canadian Parliament and assured that they will not allow the presence of vehicles or protesters in the center of the capital. that violate the regulations.

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The strong security measures will thus seek to prevent a repetition of scenes like those of a year ago, when the protests were aggravated by the unexpected ability of radical right-wing groups to mobilize thousands of people throughout the country and the slow response of The authorities.

And although the Canadian authorities were taken by surprise by the scale and organization of the protest, pundits had long warned of the rise of the extreme right in Canada.

Kayla Preston, an expert on extremism at the University of Toronto, explained that for years those who study radical right-wing movements have been aware of their rise in the country, although she admits that the Canadian case has not been publicly discussed as much as what is happening. in Europe or the United States.

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“It’s probably because Canada is seen as a friendly, multicultural country, where far-right ideas don’t exist.”said.

“But it’s not like that. In fact, we have seen a significant rise of the far right in recent years, at least since 2014.”he added.

According to a study by the Canadian Anti-Hate Network organization released last fall, between 10 and 15% of the Canadian population defends or professes far-right ideas: xenophobia, authoritarianism, anti-Semitism, anti-democratic, anti-immigration and anti-government ideas.

Preston believes that the “Freedom Convoy” It was the first occasion that these groups had to emerge with all virulence in Canada.

The protest began on January 28, 2022, when the members of the convoy began to arrive at the gates of the Canadian Parliament, in Ottawa.

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The convoy, which had started in the province of Alberta, thousands of kilometers west of the Canadian capital, was a protest by a small group of truckers against the measures adopted by Canada and the United States so that carriers crossing the border They were vaccinated against covid.

But a variety of groups and individuals, mostly linked to the extreme right and radical ideas, began to join the convoy until they “hijacked” the protest.

“What started as an alleged peaceful protest against vaccination mandates for truckers ended up being hijacked by individuals associated with what we consider to be far-right organizations”Preston explained.

Now, the fear of the experts is that if between 10 and 15% of the Canadian population defend ideas of the extreme right, that supposes around 4 million people.

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“If these data are correct, we have to worry about the state of democracy”said Preston.

For now, the peculiarities of the Canadian electoral system have meant that there are no representatives of extreme right-wing groups in the Canadian Parliament.

Although in the last elections of 2021, the People’s Party of Canada, a newly minted formation that supported the “Freedom Convoy”, it obtained 4.9% of the total votes, more than double that of the Green Party which won two seats.

“If these numbers are maintained, we will have to worry about the security of the Government”warned

Source: EFE