Canadian Anti-Hate Network

Last updated
Canadian Anti-Hate Network
Formation2018
TypeNonprofit
PurposeHate crime monitoring
Headquarters Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Chair
 Sue Gardner [1]
Founding Chair Emeritus
 Bernie Farber [1]
Executive Director
Evan Balgord
Website www.antihate.ca

The Canadian Anti-Hate Network (CAHN) is a Canadian nonprofit organization that monitors hate crime and far-right groups. [2] [3] [4] [5] It was formed in 2018 in Toronto, Ontario [3] and has received funding from the Government of Canada. [6] [7] CAHN provides information to journalists and the media, researchers, law enforcement, policy makers, and community organizations. [2] [3] The organization is modelled after and supported by the American Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC). [2] [3] Its chair is Sue Gardner, former executive director of the Wikimedia Foundation. [1]

Contents

History

CAHN was formed in 2018 in Toronto, Ontario by more than fifteen journalists, community leaders, academics, and legal experts. [3] In its first public statement in 2018, CAHN called for criminal charges to be brought against Montreal IT consultant and Neo-Nazi Gabriel Sohier Chaput, who goes by the pseudonym Charles Zeiger. [3]

In 2019, white nationalist Kevin Goudreau was served with a peace bond obliging him to stay away from CAHN staff, after he encouraged violence towards staff. [8] [9]

On November 1, 2020, Chris Vanderweide, known as 'Helmet Guy' for participating in violence at Hamilton Pride 2019, was arrested by the York Regional Police (YRP) and charged with uttering threats against CAHN chair Bernie Farber and CAHN executive director Evan Balgord in a private Facebook group. [10] [11] Before contacting the YRP, CAHN had contacted the Hamilton Police Service (HPS) about the threats, but HPS declined to investigate the threats due to their wording. [10] [11] Afterwards, Farber called for an internal investigation into the HPS and for Hamilton Mayor Fred Eisenberger to look into why the threats were not further investigated. [11] In response, Constable Jerome Stewart said that "The matter is before the court system in York Region and as such Hamilton Police will not provide any further comments at this time". [11]

In the aftermath of the 2021 United States Capitol Attack, a team from CAHN was attempting to identify three people seen at the riot, one of whom was holding a Canadian flag. [4]

On April 15, 2021, CAHN filed a complaint with the Law Society of Ontario against criminal lawyer Colin A. Browne for reciting the oath of the far-right Proud Boys organization in a video posted on Telegram. [12]

In a September 9, 2021 CTV News interview, CAHN deputy director Elizabeth Simons described people "at the heart of" COVID-19 protests in Canada, including "anti-lockdown, anti-mask and anti-vaccine protests", as part of a "far-right", "anti-democratic", and "pro-insurrectionist" movement who hold extreme views on a number of issues. [13]

In late June 2022, the CAHN published an online booklet with the goal of educating teachers, students, and parents on how to identify and confront forms of hate in school and online. [14]

In October 2022, the Government of Saskatchewan said that it would discourage teachers from using an anti-hate toolkit created by the CAHN, adding that "The toolkit does not meet criteria such as being high quality, free from bias as reasonably possible, and having appropriate and significant Saskatchewan context". [15]

CAHN board member Richard Warman sued columnists Jonathan Kay and Barbara Kay in small claims court for posting what he claimed were defamatory tweets alleging links between CAHN and the antifa movement in the United States. The court dismissed the lawsuit in November 2022, stating that "CAHN did in fact assist Antifa and that the movement has been violent,” and ruling that it would be reasonable to state that it is not a "good look" for a human rights organization to support a violent movement. [16]

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This timeline includes entries on the spread of COVID-19 misinformation and conspiracy theories related to the COVID-19 pandemic in Canada. This includes investigations into the origin of COVID-19, and the prevention and treatment of COVID-19 which is caused by the virus SARS-CoV-2. Social media apps and platforms, including Facebook, TikTok, Telegram, and YouTube, have contributed to the spread of misinformation. The Canadian Anti-Hate Network (CAHN) reported that conspiracy theories related to COVID-19 began on "day one". CAHN reported on March 16, 2020, that far-right groups in Canada were taking advantage of the climate of anxiety and fear surrounding COVID, to recycle variations of conspiracies from the 1990s, that people had shared over shortwave radio. COVID-19 disinformation is intentional and seeks to create uncertainty and confusion. But most of the misinformation is shared online unintentionally by enthusiastic participants who are politically active.

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References

  1. 1 2 3 "THE CANADIAN ANTI-HATE NETWORK HAS A NEW CHAIR". Canadian Anti-Hate Network. December 24, 2023. Retrieved November 3, 2023.
  2. 1 2 3 "Members of the Standing Committee on Public Safety and National Security" (PDF). Parliament of Canada . Archived (PDF) from the original on 2018-08-26. Retrieved 2021-08-07.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Draaisma, Muriel (2018-05-08). "New anti-hate group aims to monitor 'growing threat' of far-right extremists in Canada". CBC News . Retrieved 2021-08-07.
  4. 1 2 Pierce, Matthew (2021-01-12). "Canadian internet sleuths, anti-hate group helping to identify Capitol rioters". CBC News. Retrieved 2021-08-07.
  5. ↑ Kestler-D'Amours, Jillian (2021-09-08). "'What next?': Experts in Canada alarmed by anti-Trudeau protests". Al Jazeera . Archived from the original on 2021-09-08. Retrieved 2022-01-04.
  6. ↑ "Building a More Inclusive Canada: Government of Canada Announces Funding for Anti-Racism Projects Across the Country". Government of Canada . Department of Canadian Heritage. 2020-10-15. Archived from the original on 2022-08-31. Retrieved 2022-01-01.
  7. ↑ "Exposing and stopping hate". Canadian Anti-Hate Network. Retrieved 2023-09-19.
  8. ↑ "White nationalist leader Kevin Goudreau accused of uttering threats: Peterborough police | Globalnews.ca". Global News. Retrieved 2022-12-24.
  9. ↑ kawarthaNOW (2022-04-25). "Peterborough police charge neo-Nazi Kevin Goudreau in hate bias crime". kawarthaNOW. Retrieved 2022-12-24.
  10. 1 2 "Canadian Anti-Hate Network says 'helmet guy' Chris Vanderweide threatened its leaders". CBC News. 2020-11-04. Retrieved 2021-08-07.
  11. 1 2 3 4 Polewski, Lisa (2020-11-03). "'Helmet guy' charged with uttering threats against Canadian Anti-Hate Network executives". Global News . Archived from the original on 2020-11-03. Retrieved 2021-08-07.
  12. ↑ Bell, Stewart (2021-04-16). "Anti-hate group says it filed complaint against Ontario lawyer seen in video reciting Proud Boys oath". Global News. Archived from the original on 2021-04-16. Retrieved 2021-08-07.
  13. ↑ Bogart, Nicole (September 9, 2021). "Known white nationalists, far-right groups among election protest organizers, expert says". CTV News . Retrieved February 7, 2022.
  14. ↑ Baig, Fakiha (2022-06-30). "Group releases online booklet to help schools counter hate among young people". Canada's National Observer . Retrieved 2022-07-04.
  15. ↑ Sciarpelletti, Laura (2022-10-23). "Sask. gov't discourages use of federally funded Canadian Anti-Hate Network toolkit in classrooms". CBC News. Retrieved 2022-10-25.
  16. ↑ "Jon Kay's legal victory exposes Canadian Anti-Hate Network's anti-conservative agenda". National post. Retrieved 2023-09-19.
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