U.S. President Donald Trump’s comment about the self-described “Western chauvinist” Proud Boys during Tuesday night’s raucous presidential debate was a significant profile boost to the organization, including its members in Canada, experts on extremist groups say.
The all-male organization was co-founded in 2016 by a Canadian, Gavin McInnes, and it’s known primarily for violent confrontations with anti-fascists. The Proud Boys group says it disavows racism, yet it has been accused of having ties to white nationalists and neo-Nazis.
“This is the best thing that could have happened to Proud Boys and the white supremacist movement in probably half a century,” Bernie Farber, chair of the Canadian Anti-Hate Network, said of Trump’s comments.
He said Trump’s words certainly engaged many Proud Boys supporters on social media.
And Farber has a specific message to Canadians who may be complacent and think this is an American problem: Don’t be too smug.
“They have a proud history here in Canada of defiance,” he said. “Some would argue that they’re actually more white nationalist here than they are in the States.”
History in Canada
In Canada, the group is smaller than in the U.S. and seems less likely to engage in violence than its U.S. counterpart, Farber said.
“Nonetheless, Canada is as susceptible, and the recruitment and radicalization of kids and young people is happening here as much as it’s happening in United States,” he said.
During Tuesday night’s debate, Trump was asked by moderator Chris Wallace of Fox News if he would “be willing tonight to condemn white supremacists and militia groups” and demand that they “stand down” and not add to the violence that has erupted in places such as Portland, Ore., and Kenosha, Wis.
The president said, “Sure,” but did not offer any words of condemnation, instead pivoting to blame the violence on left-wing radicals such as Antifa supporters. When pushed by Wallace, Trump asked for the name of a group to condemn — and Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden suggested Proud Boys.
“Proud Boys, stand back and stand by,” Trump said.
WATCH | ‘Proud Boys, stand back and stand by,’ Trump says in debate:
U.S. presidential debate moderator Chris Wallace asks U.S. President Donald Trump if he will condemn white supremacist groups involved in violent clashes over policing and racism in some U.S. cities. Trump replies, ‘Sure’ and asks ‘Who would you like me to condemn? Who? Proud Boys, stand back and stand by,’ referencing one of the groups involved. 1:30
Members of the organization responded enthusiastically on social media, welcoming Trump’s remarks and posting altered versions of the Proud Boys logo that included the words “Stand Back” and “Stand By.” Some, according to the Washington Post, saw a retail opportunity, pushing $30 shirts and $40 hoodies bearing the group’s logo and the words, “Proud Boys Standing By.”
McInnes, who is no longer a member of the organization, was simulcasting the debate on his website and seemed stunned when Trump made his comments.
“Did he say Proud Boys?” McInnes said.
“I control the Proud Boys, Donald,” he joked. “Do not stand down, do not stand back.”
By Wednesday afternoon, Trump attempted to clarify his remarks, saying he didn’t know who the Proud Boys were, “but whoever they are, they have to stand down and let law enforcement do their work.”
Gavin McInnes, centre, pictured at a rally in Berkeley, Calif., in April 2017, is the Canadian co-founder of the far-right group Proud Boys. He is no longer a member of the group but was surprised when he heard U.S. President Donald Trump mention the Proud Boys during the presidential debate Tuesday. (Marcio Jose Sanchez/Associated Press)
‘Three-step tango’
David Neiwert, author of Alt-America: The Rise of the Radical Right in the Age of Trump, told CBC’s The Current radio programthat Trump has a long history of doing what he called the “three-step tango.”
Trump, he said, will make a statement that clearly encourages white nationalists and right-wing extremists. The next day, Trump walks it back. Then a few days later, he will go back to saying something favourable about them, Neiwert said.
However, white nationalists take that first signal as being the important one, he said.
“The disavowals … they don’t take seriously. In fact, none of them believe it. They say, ‘Oh he’s just doing what he has to do to maintain his political viability.'”
LISTEN | An Edmonton researcher on hate-crimes discusses the Proud Boys’ presence in Canada:
Edmonton AM9:35The presence of hate groups in the province
Who are the proud boys? A hate group researcher will talk about their presence in Canada, and other extremist groups that have gained traction here in Alberta. 9:35
Barbara Perry, director of the Centre on Hate, Bias and Extremism at Ontario Tech University in Oshawa, Ont., agreed that despite Trump walking back comments regarding the Proud Boys, the damage has been done.
“It’s clearly been a boost to their egos and boost to their confidence,” she said. “This doesn’t [just] give the American movement a boost. It also gives the Canadian group a similar boost.”
Their activities are certainly more low key in Canada. Posters for the organization pop up in communities from time to time. Arguably the biggest Canadian headlines for the group came in 2017, when five members, four of them Canadian Forces personnel, disrupted a Mi’kmaw ceremony in Halifax.
‘What an exciting time to be alive’
Still, members linked to Canadian affiliates welcomed Trump’s words.
On Pander, a conservative social media website, Proud Boys Calgary posted a clip of Trump’s comments, adding: “What an exciting time to be alive.”
It’s a pretty comprehensive movement, and all the chapters are connected, Perry said. While it’s difficult to determine the size of the group’s membership in Canada, Perry said her research has found that it maintains a presence in every large city, with potentially a couple dozen members in each, and in several smaller communities, which may just include a few people.
But when talking to law enforcement across Canada about white nationalist organizations, she said, often the first group named is the Proud Boys.
The group has recently clashed with demonstrators in Portland during protests over policing and racism. (Shannon Stapleton/Reuters)
The group has made headlines recently with its clashes with radical left-wing demonstrators, including from the antifa movement, at protests against police violence and racism in Portland.
“What they’re really out there for is to go bash heads,” Neiwert said. “They come pretty heavily armed. They come armoured, and they all come eager to fight.”
The group’s tenets, according to its website, include “closed borders,” “venerating the housewife,” “minimal government,” “pro free speech,” and “anti-racism.”
Perry said some of those positions, particularly those with wide appeal such as anti-racism, are just part of a strategy to lend credibility to the organization.
The Proud Boys have been booted off some social media websites, including Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. And just this week, U.K.-based apparel maker Fred Perry said it was pulling from the U.S. and Canadian markets the Black/Yellow/Yellow twin-tipped shirt that the group has adopted. The shirt won’t return, Fred Perry said, “until we’re satisfied that its association with the Proud Boys has ended.”
Meanwhile, McInnes has denied the group has affiliations with far-right extremist groups that overtly espouse racist and anti-Semitic views.
McInnes sued the Southern Poverty Law Center last year, claiming it defamed him when it designated the Proud Boys as a “hate group.”
GREENBURGH, N.Y. (AP) — New York Rangers defenseman Jacob Trouba said Thursday “there’s no animosity” toward the organization following an offseason in which his name was prominently mentioned in trade rumors.
“It’s part of the business of hockey,” Trouba said following the first day of training camp for the reigning Presidents’ Trophy-winning Rangers.
According to reports, Rangers president and general manager Chris Drury had negotiated a trade that would send New York’s captain to Detroit in late June. The trade fell apart, however, when Trouba submitted his 15-team no-trade list to the Rangers on June 30 and included the Red Wings on it.
“Obviously, had the no-move that turned into the partial no-trade,” said Trouba, whom New York acquired in a trade with Winnipeg in June 2019 and signed to a seven-year, $56 million contract one month later. “That’s life, contracts, hockey business, whatever you want to call it.
“I knew that was coming that summer. It’s not by surprise. It was obviously something that was negotiated at the time.”
The 30-year-old’s insistence that his relationship with Drury is fine echoes what the executive said in a pre-training camp conference call with reporters.
“Jacob and I talk all the time as GM and captain should,” Drury said. “We’ve had a number of different conversations over the course of the summer on a lot of different things. He is very clear as to where he stands with me and what I think of him as a player and as a leader.”
Still, Trouba realizes that the 2024-25 season is likely the last for the current iteration of the Original Six franchise. The Rangers have qualified for the Stanley Cup Playoffs in each of the last three seasons, and have reached the Eastern Conference Finals in 2022 and 2024. Following last spring’s six-game series loss to the eventual Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers, Drury wondered aloud in a conference call with reporters if the Rangers’ core players could lead the franchise to a Stanley Cup.
“(It’s) an opportunity that we have in front of us that in all likelihood will probably be the last crack for this core,” Trouba said. “I don’t think that’s a secret by any means. (A) group that’s kind of grown together, spent some years together here, and there’s something we want to accomplish.”
Veterans Tyson Beukeboom and Karen Paquin will lead Canada at the WXV 1 women’s rugby tournament starting later this month in the Vancouver area.
WXV 1 includes the top three teams from the Women’s Six Nations (England, France and Ireland) and the top three teams from the Pacific Four Series (Canada, New Zealand, and the United States).
Third-ranked Canada faces No. 4 France, No. 7 Ireland and No. 1 England in the elite division of the three-tiered WXV tournament that runs Sept. 29 to Oct. 12 in Vancouver and Langley, B.C. No. 2 New Zealand and the eighth-ranked U.S. make up the six-team WVX 1 field.
“Our preparation time was short but efficient. This will be a strong team,” Canada coach Kevin Rouet said in a statement. “All the players have worked very hard for the last couple of weeks to prepare for WXV and we are excited for these next three matches and for the chance to play on home soil here in Vancouver against the best rugby teams in the world.
“France, Ireland and England will each challenge us in different ways but it’s another opportunity to test ourselves and another step in our journey to the Rugby World Cup next year.”
Beukeboom serves as captain in the injury absence of Sophie de Goede. The 33-year-old from Uxbridge, Ont., earned her Canadian-record 68th international cap in Canada’s first-ever victory over New Zealand in May at the Pacific Four Series.
Twenty three of the 30 Canadian players selected for WXV 1 were part of that Pacific Four Series squad.
Rouet’s roster includes the uncapped Asia Hogan-Rochester, Caroline Crossley and Rori Wood.
Hogan-Rochester and Crossley were part of the Canadian team that won rugby sevens silver at the Paris Olympics, along with WXV teammates Fancy Bermudez, Olivia Apps, Alysha Corrigan and Taylor Perry. Wood is a veteran of five seasons at UBC.
The 37-year-old Paquin, who has 38 caps for Canada including the 2014 Rugby World Cup, returns to the team for the first time since the 2021 World Cup.
Canada opens the tournament Sept. 29 against France at B.C. Place Stadium in Vancouver before facing Ireland on Oct. 5 at Willoughby Stadium at Langley Events Centre, and England on Oct. 12 at B.C. Place.
The second-tier WXV 2 and third-tier WXV 3 are slated to run Sept. 27 to Oct. 12, in South Africa and Dubai, respectively.
WXV 2 features Australia, Italy, Japan, Scotland, South Africa and Wales while WXV 3 is made up of Fiji, Hong Kong, Madagascar, the Netherlands, Samoa and Spain.
The tournament has 2025 World Cup qualification implications, although Canada, New Zealand and France, like host England, had already qualified by reaching the semifinals of the last tournament.
Ireland, South Africa, the U.S., Japan, Fiji and Brazil have also booked their ticket, with the final six berths going to the highest-finishing WXV teams who have not yet qualified through regional tournaments.
Canada’s Women’s Rugby Team WXV 1 Squad
Forwards
Alexandria Ellis, Ottawa, Stade Français Paris (France); Brittany Kassil, Guelph, Ont., Guelph Goats; Caroline Crossley, Victoria, Castaway Wanderers; Courtney Holtkamp, Rimbey, Alta., Red Deer Titans Rugby; DaLeaka Menin, Vulcan, Alta., Exeter Chiefs (England); Emily Tuttosi, Souris, Man., Exeter Chiefs (England); Fabiola Forteza, Quebec City, Stade Bordelais (France); Gabrielle Senft, Regina, Saracens (England); Gillian Boag, Calgary, Gloucester-Hartpury (England); Julia Omokhuale, Calgary, Leicester Tigers (England); Karen Paquin, Quebec City, Club de rugby de Quebec; Laetitia Royer, Loretteville, Que., ASM Romagnat (France); McKinley Hunt, King City, Ont., Saracens (England); Pamphinette Buisa, Gatineau, Que., Ottawa Irish; Rori Wood, Sooke, B.C., College Rifles RFC; Sara Cline, Edmonton, Leprechaun Tigers; Tyson Beukeboom, Uxbridge, Ont., Ealing Trailfinders (England);
Backs
Alexandra Tessier, Sainte-Clotilde-de-Horton, Que., Exeter Chiefs (England); Alysha Corrigan, Charlottetown, P.E.I., CRFC; Asia Hogan-Rochester, Toronto, Toronto Nomads; Claire Gallagher, Caledon, Ont., Leicester Tigers (England); Fancy Bermudez, Edmonton, Saracens (England); Julia Schell, Uxbridge, Ont., Ealing Trailfinders (England); Justine Pelletier, Rivière-du-Loup, Que, Stade Bordelais (France); Mahalia Robinson, Fulford, Que., Town of Mount Royal RFC; Olivia Apps, Lindsay, Ont., Lindsay RFC; Paige Farries, Red Deer, Alta., Saracens (England); Sara Kaljuvee, Ajax, Ont., Westshore RFC; Shoshanah Seumanutafa, White Rock, B.C., Counties Manukau (New Zealand); Taylor Perry, Oakville, Ont., Exeter Chiefs (England).
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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 18, 2024.
PENTICTON, B.C. – Vancouver Canucks goalie Thatcher Demko says he’s been working his way back from a rare lower-body muscle injury since being sidelined in last season’s playoffs.
The 28-year-old all star says the rehabilitation process has been frustrating, but he has made good progress in recent weeks and is confident he’ll be able to return to playing.
He says he and his medical team have spent the last few months talking to specialists around the world, and have not found a single other hockey player who has dealt with the same injury.
Demko missed several weeks of the last season with a knee ailment and played just one game in Vancouver’s playoff run last spring before going down with the current injury.
He was not on the ice with his teammates as the Canucks started training camp in Penticton, B.C., on Thursday, but skated on his own before the sessions began.
Demko posted a 35-14-2 record with a .918 percentage, a 2.45 goals-against average and five shutouts for Vancouver last season.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 19, 2024.
