Neo-Nazism in Canada
Neo-Nazism (French: le Néonazisme) is the post World War II ideology that promotes white supremacy and specifically antisemitism.
[2] However, as Adolf Hitler was assuming control of Germany in the 1930s and 1940s, Adrien Arcand’s National Social Christian Party dominated the white supremacist front.
[3] After World War II, racism and Nazism lost popularity, and far-right white supremacist movements faded into the background.
In the 1970s and 1980s, neo-Nazism continued to spread as organizations including the Western Guard Party and Church of the Creator promoted white supremacist ideals.
After the fall of Nazi Germany, Arcand lost popularity and influence, but continued promoting anti-communism and antisemitism and still referred to himself as the "Canadian Führer" until he died.
He also was a witness for the Ernst Zündel trials in the early twenty-first century, and continued to promote white supremacy, but has faded to the background of the neo-Nazi scene.
His father was a member of the Yugoslav Partisans and was killed fighting Nazis in occupied Yugoslavia, and his mother was taken to Germany where after the war she met and married a Canadian and moved to Toronto.
[7] As leader of the Nationalist Party, Andrews has run for public office numerous times including the election for the Mayor of Toronto in 2010.
He and nine others planned to help Patrick John, the previous prime minister, reassume power in trade for permission to use the island as a base for drug trafficking and white supremacy.
However, with the development of the internet and emergence of the information era, Droege's involvement in Heritage Front diminished as he shifted his focus to illicit drug traffic.
[13] Although his parents disapproved, Burdi continued to study neo-Nazi literature and in his first year at college met Ernst Zündel, the man who introduced him to the World Church of the Creator.
They smother your ability to appreciate love and peace.”[13] Burdi subsequently performed in a multicultural band, while his former music continues as an expression of the neo-Nazi movement in Canada.
In the late 2010s, Burdi returned to performing with RaHoWa; Appalachian State University political science professor Nancy S. Love, author of Trendy Fascism, remarked, during a 2018 interview with The Financial Times, that, after having been "silent for almost 20 years but in 2017 resurfaced, emboldened by the Trump presidency and also the turn to the right in Europe”.
The publicity made Zündel an even more influential figure among neo-Nazi organizations and he used his newfound influence to help further white supremacist movements.
[15] Released from prison on March 1, 2010, Ernst Zündel was reminded that he was not welcome in Canada and is believed to be living with relatives in Bad Wildbad, Germany.
[1] A strong supporter of Heritage Front, Metzger has travelled to Canada to speak at rallies and promote neo-Nazism along with Wolfgang Droege and others.
[4] The New Constitution Party is a white supremacist associated, anti-Semitic, and self-described "anti-Marxist" group based in Toronto, led by James Sears.
At first Heritage Front leaders planned to increase its influence and attract following by “soft peddling its racism to garner more support,”[4] but a video released showed a militaristic and radical organization that isolated moderates.
[20] Based on the white supremacist idea of “awakening people to the reality of race”,[4] Heritage Front members believe themselves to be revolutionaries with the duty of creating a new and racially pure society.
And, in addition, it has a presence at international conferences, creates and disseminates racist posters and flyers, mounts White Power concerts, recruits in the schoolyards, brings in speakers like Tom Metzger, meets with white-supremacist and nationalist leaders throughout the world, networks with other groups on the radical right, publishes a magazine, and posts articles and messages on its website.”[4] One of the key goals of Heritage Front is to unite far right organizations and people.
In the fall of 2000 under new leadership of Marc Lemire, Heritage Front once again came to the face of white supremacy in Canada with a vigorous advertising campaign.
