A quarter of Canadians believe in online conspiracy theories, an expert on radicalization and terrorism told a parliamentary committee Thursday.
David Morin, a professor at the Université de Sherbrooke, said a poll conducted for an upcoming report he is preparing for the Quebec government found that 9 to 10 per cent of Canadians strongly believe in conspiracy theories, while another 15 per cent moderately believe them.
Morin told members of the public safety and national security committee that some of those who believe conspiracy theories — “but not all” — have “a sympathy towards violence.”
The poll, run by the Léger marketing firm, was conducted online from May 19 to June 6, 2021 with 4,500 respondents over the age of 14. A comparable margin of error for a probability sample of the same size would be +/- 1.5 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.
The poll asked 33 questions, including questions about pandemic conspiracy theories.
The report is to be delivered to the Quebec government in the coming weeks.
Morin’s testimony came as the committee continued its study Thursday of Ideologically Motivated Violent Extremism (IMVE) in Canada.
Morin, who was named last month to a federal government advisory group on rules to address harmful content online, said IMVE is a complex phenomenon driven by factors that converge and diverge, including far-right extremism, anti-government movements, misogyny and conspiracy theories.
Morin said there has been a 250 per cent increase in violent demonstrations in Western countries over the past five years. Canada saw a 25 per cent increase in hate crimes in 2020.
The changing nature of far-right extremism
Morin said there are a number of reasons for the increase in polarization: a loss of confidence in institutions and the effect of social media and alternative media, as well as local and global contexts such as the pandemic, economic crises, migrant crises and climate change.
The nature of right-wing extremism has also changed over time, Morin said. Decades ago, he added, far-right extremists might have been neo-Nazis.
“The far-right has evolved,” said Morin. “The far-right today is also people in suits and ties.”
The far-right has also adopted a populist tone, presenting itself as a movement defending ordinary people from the elites, Morin said.
Police hold back far-right protesters during a demonstration in Montreal on March 4, 2017. (Graham Hughes/Canadian Press)
Morin said it would be a mistake to underestimate the risk of IMVE or to take the health of Canadian democracy for granted.
“Doing nothing is no longer an option,” Morin told MPs. “What to do is another problem. History teaches us that it is majorities and not minorities which topple democratic regimes.”
Morin also warned politicians about the dangers of partisanship and attempts to score political points over the threat of extremism.
“It is like walking around with matches in a dynamite warehouse,” Morin warned.
Intelligence agencies should infiltrate the far-right: Morin
Morin said misinformation and disinformation are a major problem and countries looking to interfere with rival nations use social media to exacerbate existing divisions in society.
He said regulations are needed and while the government has monitored potential foreign interference in elections, Morin said it should also extend that monitoring to the period between elections and do more to educate Canadians.
Morin also recommended that Canada’s intelligence agencies reinvest in infiltrating far-right extremist groups.
Carmen Celestini, a post-doctoral fellow with Simon Fraser University’s Disinformation Project, told the committee that conspiracy theories play an integral role in social political movements and the spread of extremism.
“QAnon has leapt from the online world to violence in the real world and is, at present, a global phenomenon,” Celestini told MPs.
“The conspiracy is spread predominantly through social media platforms. Adherents of QAnon conspiracy are not limited to a geographic range, with adherents and supporters found globally, including Canada.”
VANCOUVER – Contract negotiations resume today in Vancouver in a labour dispute that has paralyzed container cargo shipping at British Columbia’s ports since Monday.
The BC Maritime Employers Association and International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 514 are scheduled to meet for the next three days in mediated talks to try to break a deadlock in negotiations.
The union, which represents more than 700 longshore supervisors at ports, including Vancouver, Prince Rupert and Nanaimo, has been without a contract since March last year.
The latest talks come after employers locked out workers in response to what it said was “strike activity” by union members.
The start of the lockout was then followed by several days of no engagement between the two parties, prompting federal Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon to speak with leaders on both sides, asking them to restart talks.
MacKinnon had said that the talks were “progressing at an insufficient pace, indicating a concerning absence of urgency from the parties involved” — a sentiment echoed by several business groups across Canada.
In a joint letter, more than 100 organizations, including the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, Business Council of Canada and associations representing industries from automotive and fertilizer to retail and mining, urged the government to do whatever it takes to end the work stoppage.
“While we acknowledge efforts to continue with mediation, parties have not been able to come to a negotiated agreement,” the letter says. “So, the federal government must take decisive action, using every tool at its disposal to resolve this dispute and limit the damage caused by this disruption.
“We simply cannot afford to once again put Canadian businesses at risk, which in turn puts Canadian livelihoods at risk.”
In the meantime, the union says it has filed a complaint to the Canada Industrial Relations Board against the employers, alleging the association threatened to pull existing conditions out of the last contract in direct contact with its members.
“The BCMEA is trying to undermine the union by attempting to turn members against its democratically elected leadership and bargaining committee — despite the fact that the BCMEA knows full well we received a 96 per cent mandate to take job action if needed,” union president Frank Morena said in a statement.
The employers have responded by calling the complaint “another meritless claim,” adding the final offer to the union that includes a 19.2 per cent wage increase over a four-year term remains on the table.
“The final offer has been on the table for over a week and represents a fair and balanced proposal for employees, and if accepted would end this dispute,” the employers’ statement says. “The offer does not require any concessions from the union.”
The union says the offer does not address the key issue of staffing requirement at the terminals as the port introduces more automation to cargo loading and unloading, which could potentially require fewer workers to operate than older systems.
The Port of Vancouver is the largest in Canada and has seen a number of labour disruptions, including two instances involving the rail and grain storage sectors earlier this year.
A 13-day strike by another group of workers at the port last year resulted in the disruption of a significant amount of shipping and trade.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 9, 2024.
The Royal Canadian Legion says a new partnership with e-commerce giant Amazon is helping boost its veterans’ fund, and will hopefully expand its donor base in the digital world.
Since the Oct. 25 launch of its Amazon.ca storefront, the legion says it has received nearly 10,000 orders for poppies.
Online shoppers can order lapel poppies on Amazon in exchange for donations or buy items such as “We Remember” lawn signs, Remembrance Day pins and other accessories, with all proceeds going to the legion’s Poppy Trust Fund for Canadian veterans and their families.
Nujma Bond, the legion’s national spokesperson, said the organization sees this move as keeping up with modern purchasing habits.
“As the world around us evolves we have been looking at different ways to distribute poppies and to make it easier for people to access them,” she said in an interview.
“This is definitely a way to reach a wider number of Canadians of all ages. And certainly younger Canadians are much more active on the web, on social media in general, so we’re also engaging in that way.”
Al Plume, a member of a legion branch in Trenton, Ont., said the online store can also help with outreach to veterans who are far from home.
“For veterans that are overseas and are away, (or) can’t get to a store they can order them online, it’s Amazon.” Plume said.
Plume spent 35 years in the military with the Royal Engineers, and retired eight years ago. He said making sure veterans are looked after is his passion.
“I’ve seen the struggles that our veterans have had with Veterans Affairs … and that’s why I got involved, with making sure that the people get to them and help the veterans with their paperwork.”
But the message about the Amazon storefront didn’t appear to reach all of the legion’s locations, with volunteers at Branch 179 on Vancouver’s Commercial Drive saying they hadn’t heard about the online push.
Holly Paddon, the branch’s poppy campaign co-ordinator and bartender, said the Amazon partnership never came up in meetings with other legion volunteers and officials.
“I work at the legion, I work with the Vancouver poppy office and I go to the meetings for the Vancouver poppy campaign — which includes all the legions in Vancouver — and not once has this been mentioned,” she said.
Paddon said the initiative is a great idea, but she would like to have known more about it.
The legion also sells a larger collection of items at poppystore.ca.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 9, 2024.
