“The Great Right North should be required reading for every academic, policymaker, journalist, law enforcement official, and citizen concerned about the far right. It is a highly nuanced work that makes sense of recent events such as the Freedom Convoy and the Quebec City mosque shooting, and it is sure to be helpful in interpreting future developments as well.”

-Jonathan Montpetit, CBC News

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The Great Right North explores the current state of far-right activism in Canada. Why are you involved in this research and why is the book important at the current moment?

We decided to embark on this research in 2012-2013. We had three main objectives. First, we wanted to approach engagement in radical extremism through an original case study. It should be noted that most studies on radicalization at the time focused on jihadist groups. Next, we wanted to examine the Canadian far-right nebula, which had been little studied. Yet, far-right groups were becoming increasingly visible in various provinces. Finally, by studying this social and political phenomenon, we aimed to open a window into the developments of Canadian society and the challenges faced by Western democracies.

This book comes at a timely moment, as it helps to understand the roots of the Canadian far-right better, but also and most importantly, its most recent developments. In a context marked by the rise of far-right movements in Europe and the United States, it provides an essential framework for understanding the contours of this nebula and its main characteristics. Part of the book includes an overview of the kinds of Canadians who are or have the potential to be drawn to far-right extremism.

Broadly speaking, what does your research tell us about the perpetrators of far-right violence in Canada?

Our findings do not fully answer this question because our book is not just about far-right violence or violent groups. We have, of course, included in our sample people who have been convicted of various crimes. Above all, we conducted fieldwork with people who militate within these groups but who have not committed acts of violence (some even condemn the use of physical violence). So, we mainly focus on symbolic violence, which is primarily contained in the discourses elaborated by these groups and individuals. It is less spectacular but could have deleterious effects on communities and society, as it fuels mistrust of different communities of all levels of government, and creates tensions and even a growing divide.

Another bias worth mentioning is that our sample is almost entirely male. This reflects a certain reality, but women, although less visible in certain groups, still occupy roles that are sometimes important.

We demonstrate that the human extremism experience is highly complex and diverse. We can't draw up profiles. Most of our participants struggled to identify the exact moment they began their journey of involvement and participation in a far-right group. Their engagement results from the interaction of multiple factors: life accidents, encounters and integration into a far-right network that provides new reference points; explicit recruitment by a far-right group; psycho-social vulnerabilities, etc. However, the appeal of far-right ideologies clearly emerges for specific individuals who see them as a response to the social and economic insecurities they may experience directly or perceive. In other words, the seduction potential of specific ideas should not be minimized, especially in times of real crisis (such as the pandemic) or perceived crisis (the feeling of downward social mobility experienced by some who claim to belong to the "silent white majority").

The research spans nearly a decade of extensive work, across a range of virtual and physical spaces. According to your research, what has changed over that period in the far-right scene in Canada?

Let's start with what hasn't changed! The high degree of fragmentation and instability that characterizes Canadian far-right groups, many of which have a limited lifespan. Some indeed change their name to confuse the issue and make surveillance more complex. But most are plagued by internal tensions and personal enmities, leading to dissolutions and schisms. This makes any attempt to follow the evolution of this nebula complex. This also means that, at the time of writing, no single group has the capacity to federate the others.

What we have really seen evolve since we started this research is the visibility that these groups have gained. This is due to several factors: a context (such as the election of Donald Trump in 2016), the rise of the far right and populism in Europe, the Trumpification of the Republican Party in the United States; the emergence of transnational networks spreading to Canada; the rightward shift in public debates that normalize certain topics (such as immigration, the integration of newcomers, law and order, etc.) and make more extreme rhetoric more acceptable; the ability of certain groups to seize on local events (such as the Values Charter in Quebec); the mastery of social media; the Covid-19 pandemic and the opportunity to further criticize governments, so on... Since, these groups and individuals have engaged in a broad effort to “sanitize” their worldview, leaving behind the most extreme and the most recognizable tropes, symbols and language traditionally associated with the far-right.

Given what you’ve learned in your research, where is far-right activism likely to be headed in Canada in the next few years?

It is always extremely difficult to make predictions. However, we can already observe a growing trend, which will only intensify. In the United States (and elsewhere), the implementation of political and social measures rooted in projects anchored in the far-right could serve as a model for certain groups or individuals to follow. This influence could manifest in multiple ways on a wide range of issues (immigration; law and order; self-isolation; questioning of bureaucracy and, by extension, the state; social programs; abortion debates; etc.). It could lead to attempts to imitate or emulate some of the actions promoted by the Trump administration, for example. Without a doubt, it will further legitimize discourses and ideas that will only reinforce the rightward shift of public debates observed in Canada for several years. The rise of populism and the authoritarian drift seen in democratic countries form a backdrop, while political crises and socio-economic tensions create a breeding ground that feeds social and economic insecurities and resentment, on which the far-right, in its various expressions, thrives. The ambiguous actions of states like Russia and China only add to the attacks democracies face from within.

Finally, what should Canadians be most concerned about when it comes to far-right activism in the country today?

When we began this research, we faced widespread skepticism. Many of our interlocutors were surprised by the existence of a far-right nebula in Canada. For many, the far-right is a European or American phenomenon, but by no means Canadian. Although we no longer encounter such comments, this does not mean that everyone can navigate the maze of ideological discourses poured out daily on social media. However, the increasing presence of far-right ideological offerings and the influence of certain groups, individuals, or states threaten our democracy. While these discourses attempt to exploit anger directed at public policies or political directions, they are primarily aimed, in a sanitized version, at ordinary citizens who click, re-click, and progressively learn to think that far-right ideas, conspiracies and actions are palatable. We all need to be aware of this to protect our democratic model from attacks that could severely undermine it. Prevention, indeed, starts with us.

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Excerpt from The Great Right North

In a significant departure from the dominant literature, the main objective of this book is not to discover ways to prevent so-called radicalization, to defuse the far-right expansion, or to block, censor, and de-platform extremists. Though some of us are directly involved in street-level Cve (countering violent extremism) efforts, the present book is motivated by our desire to better understand the group dynamics, the discourse, the logic, the contradictions, and the workings of far-right groups and individuals to provide a big-picture, comprehensive analysis of the Canadian far-right scene and its myriad participants, repertoire of actions, contexts, and technologies. Beyond the multiplication of banners and acronyms, is there a tangible resurgence of the far right in several Canadian provinces and, if so, how can it be explained? Is this process uniform across Canada? How has the Canadian far right evolved since the early 2010s and how have the groups that compose this nebula become visible political actors? Who are the individuals who are active within these groups? Why do far-right discourses seem more attractive than they were in the recent past and how do these organizations garner support? What are the main social and political implications of their rise for Canadian politics? How do various forms of government attention (extremism prevention, censorship, criminalization, surveillance, etc.) interact with the internal organization and the external actions of the groups and their members?

Far-right oppositional groups: what are they?

No consensus exists on the definition of “right-wing” or “far-right” extremism within the literature. The term extremism itself is at the centre of many debates, which too often conflate it with terrorism (Schmid 2014) – not to mention that it is purely relative, with no objective boundaries. What is more, in the public sphere the slightest disagreement routinely gives rise to outbursts of accusations and counteraccusations of “radicalism,” “extremism,” “communism,” “fascism,” etc. In this era of (real and hyped) acute political divides, the field is heavily mined. Finally, since extremism is generally viewed as pejorative and undesirable, any observation of its multiple aspects is always coloured by the imperative of finding ways to neutralize it. Nevertheless, we have elected to proceed with the classic naiveté of the researcher, disregarding the potential political, strategic, or ideological pitfalls.

Leman-Langlois, Stéphane, Campana, Aurélie, and Tanner, Samuel, The Great Right North: Inside Far-Right Activism in Canada, MQUP, 2024. Print and Digital.

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Samuel Tanner is professor in the School of Criminology at Université de Montréal. Aurélie Campana is professor of political science at Université Laval. Stéphane Leman-Langlois is professor of criminology at Université Laval.