There has been a concerning rise in far right extremism in Canada

[inanna]

The Soldiers of Odin.

According to Wiki: Soldiers of Odin (SOO) is an anti-immigrant group founded in Kemi, Finland, in October 2015. The group was established as a response to thousands of migrants arriving in Finland amid the European migrant crisis.[1][2][3]

SOO has denied claims of being a racist or neo-Nazi group in interviews and on their public Facebook page. However, the group's founder, Mika Ranta, has connections to the far-right, neo-Nazi Nordic Resistance Movement and a criminal conviction stemming from a racially motivated assault in 2005. According to the Finnish public broadcaster Yle, a private Facebook page for selected members of SOO shows that racism and Nazi sympathies are rampant among higher-ranking members. The group's nature has raised concerns of anti-immigrant vigilantism.[4][5]

This movement has recently established itself in my country (Canada). And it's spreading:

From the montreal-antifasciste website: "The Soldiers of Odin–Québec is a white supremacist, xenophobic, and Islamophobic identitarian group primarily active in Montréal, with a couple of dozen members and sympathizers elsewhere in Québec. There primary raison d’être and the core of their practice is conducting patrols in working-class neighbourhoods to “protect” the local population from an imagined radical Islamic threat."

There are other chapters (nearly all of them established in 2016) in The Yukon, Vancouver B.C., Edmonton AB, Grande Prairie AB, Winnipeg MN and Sudbury ON. So not only is the movement spreading, it's doing so quite rapidly.

From Vice News:

Alberta Conservative Candidates Took Photos with Soldiers of Odin
Oct 9 2018, 12:50pm

A group of Albertan conservative candidates are in some hot water after taking some photos with easily identifiable members of a far-right group over Thanksgiving weekend.

According to a gloating post on Facebook after the event, there were several far-right groups known for their stance against immigrants in attendance of a conservative meet and greet—the Soldiers of Odin, the militia-like group III% Alberta, the Proud Boys, the Soldiers of Christ, and the Clannsmen (the latter explains away their unfortunate name by saying “2 n's because they are a completely different group.”)

The event was at an Edmonton bar for a United Conservative Party pub night and the happy crew took several photos with the three candidates. The candidates are all vying for the same Edmonton nomination in the upcoming Alberta election. While there were numerous far-right groups in the pub, by far the largest group in attendance were the Soldiers of Odin, who have been operating in Edmonton for over two years now. The anti-Muslim group is best known for their vigilante styled street patrols. A 2017 Canada Border Services Agency Intelligence Bulletin about them stated "some members adhere to extreme right-wing ideology and are not afraid to use violence to achieve objectives."

https://www.vice.com/en_ca/article/9k785p/alberta-conservative-candidates-took-photos-with-soldiers-of-odin

Quebec's Extreme Right Had a Worrisomely Large Rally This Weekend
|Nov 27 2017, 3:52pm

The closeness between ultranationalist groups was evident at the demonstration in Quebec City on Saturday.

Unlike in August, where far right group La Meute solely paraded quietly in the streets of Quebec, several ultranationalist groups agreed to demonstrate together in the capital on Saturday.

By 11 o'clock, a few hundred people were gathered in a park not far from the National Assembly. Some were wearing the colors of Storm Alliance, while others sported the paws of the wolf from La Meute or were wearing the military camo of the III%.

Members of the III% militia were present to ensure, they said, the safety of their colleagues on the far right. "There are far-left groups that come to scrap, as we saw this summer, we are here to protect people who protest," said one III%er.

The closeness between the various ultranationalist groups was obvious.

https://www.vice.com/en_ca/article/qv3gpd/quebecs-extreme-right-had-a-worrisomely-large-rally-this-weekend

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has famously and very publicly insulted far right group La Meute (mentioned in the above Vice article) in January, 2018:

"It's easy to condemn racism, intolerance and discrimination against the Muslim community. We know who is who. It's the racists, it's the other, it's the ‘nonos’ who walk with a dog paw on the t-shirt,” he said in French on Monday night adding that it’s time to confront Islamophobia in Canada.

And just today, this report from the CBC :

Royal Canadian Legion bans branches from affiliating with hate groups
Jun 07, 2019 9:55 PM MT

The Royal Canadian Legion has released a new policy barring any of its chapters from affiliating with hate groups.

The policy comes a month after CBC News revealed a chapter in northwestern Alberta counted members of the far-right group Soldiers of Odin among its ranks.

<snip>

About a half-dozen members of the group signed up with the Legion in Grande Prairie, Alta. The Legion also rented its hall to the group for its community Easter dinner, CBC News found.

Founded by a Finnish white supremacist and neo-Nazi in 2015, the group is known globally as anti-Islam and anti-migrant.

In response, the national Legion said it launched an investigation and would update its policy on hate groups.

...

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/royal-canadian-legion-releases-hate-group-policy-1.5167794?cmp=rss

...

Kudos to Vice News (and PM Trudeau) for staying on top of the issue.

No, Canada is not turning into nazi Germany, and I do not want to sound alarmist.

But it is a concern.

[marylandblue]

1. Right wing extremism is growing all over the world. This isn't the just the Trump effect.

Parallel social conditions in many countries are breeding young, alienated men who are vulnerable to extremist rhetoric.

[inanna]

2. The new Digital Charter may help to some extent.

Canada launches Digital Charter to combat hate speech and fake news
May 21, 2019 1:36 PM PDT

Canada has launched its new Digital Charter, designed to protect its citizens online and enforce rules governing social media platforms.

The charter will target fake news and hate speech online, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Tuesday.

"The platforms are failing their users, and they're failing our citizens," Trudeau said. "They have to step up in a major way to counter disinformation. And if they don't, we will hold them to account and there will be meaningful financial consequences."

...

https://www.cnet.com/news/canada-launches-digital-charter-to-combat-hate-speech-and-fake-news/

No. It's not just the "Trump effect", you're right.

[dustyscamp]

4. We need to deal with this problem soon

[roamer65]

3. Far right white euros had better remember one thing.

You are a minority in this world. If it comes to persecution of you by non-whites, I will certainly look the other way as will many other white people.

[58Sunliner]

5. It is my understanding that they are getting help financially/socially by outside interests.

It isn't Nazi Germany, but Russia now.