Politicians, academics worry where extremist behaviour in Canada could lead

Federal Immigration Minister Sean Fraser says no one should be surprised by extremist behaviour making its way to Nova Scotia, including outside the doors of his Pictou County constituency office.

Unmasked protesters gathered Thursday in New Glasgow, N.S., and attempted to enter the locked office after promoting the event with a reference to the Nuremberg trials, the tribunals held in the wake of the Second World War for the war crimes of Nazi officials.

People don't have to share his opinions or agree with everything — or even anything — his government does related to the COVID-19 pandemic or other issues, said Fraser, but there is a line of civility that more and more people seem comfortable crossing, and that causes him concern.

"There is no place for comparisons between public health measures and the Holocaust," the Central Nova MP said in an interview from Ottawa.

"There is no place in our democratic discourse to threaten elected officials with violence because you don't agree with them, particularly when they were elected in a democratic way by your friends and neighbours who may not share your point of view."

The incident at Fraser's office comes during a week when multiple federal and provincial politicians in Nova Scotia received suspicious packages, some of which contained chemical irritants. Most of the envelopes were left sealed, but at least one that was opened included disturbing images of politicians being hanged. Province House was closed to the public Friday following threats against it and other nearby government buildings in Halifax.

The incidents follow protests that have shut down the Canada-U.S. border crossing and taken over parts of downtown Ottawa. While they're touted as opposing public health measures, such as vaccines mandates, the protests have also included people waving Nazi and Confederate flags, while others have intimidated people in communities and danced on the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

Fraser said he's not just worried about where things could lead, but the immediate threat of physical violence.

"Let's not forget that people who are in Ottawa today have been threatening journalists and elected officials," he said.

Lori Turnbull, the director of Dalhousie University's school of public administration and an associate professor of political science, said right-wing extremism is having an effect on mainstream conversations as frustrations about public health measures mount and there is a breakdown of trust for institutions among some people.

"It's not all explainable by one thing, but we have a serious far-right presence in Canada that is starting to kind of become more visible to the mainstream," she said.

Nelson Wiseman, professor emeritus in the University of Toronto's political science department, said what's playing out in Canada is a proliferation of something that's been developing for a few years.

"It's become very common in the United States," he said. "The United States always shows Canada its future in all kinds of areas — in consumer trends, cultural trends, politics — and so you have spillage, and that's what's going on."

Wiseman said the overt anger and public expressions of racism, misogyny, anti-Semitism and other forms of bigotry that emerged during the time of Donald Trump's presidency in the U.S. are spreading.