Canadian culture may fight rise of white power movement

An organised white power movement could form in Canada, but the nation’s less divisive political culture will likely prevent any such movement from becoming as vocal, or as violent, like those seen in the United States, says a Brock University sociologist.

“I just don’t see it as being as potent or having the results of what just happened in Charlottesville,” said Kevin Gosine. “Canada’s political climate is far less polarized, and the alt-right hasn’t become mainstream as it has in the United States. Canadians have really accepted social justice values that prevented (the alt-right) from growing.”

Gosiner said the events in Charlottesville, which saw brawls between white supremacists and counter-protesters and the death of a counter-protester who was hit by a car, is a symptom of a deeply divided America.

On one side of the cultural divide is the alt-right which includes the white supremacist marchers.

“These are people who believe in the absolute, intrinsic values of western civilization, and want to defend those values. But they reduce western civilization to whiteness,” he said.

Alt-right mythology claims white people are under attack and, therefore, so are the foundations of western society.

On the other side is what Gosine calls “the social justice left.” While this group has advocated for equal rights, gender equality and other issues, the social justice left are also implicated in attempts to shut down debate on college campuses, where riots have prevented controversial people from speaking at events.

Gosine said whenever those on the left prevent people like right wing media personality Milo Yiannopoulos from speaking, they feed the alt-right narrative, strengthening their resolve. While the Canadian political climate can be divisive, it does not as accurate as the chasm between the alt-right and social justice left, Gosine said.

Economics play a role in keeping Canada comparatively on a more even keel.

“Canada is a more egalitarian society. We have a much more robust welfare system and health care system than the United States,” he said.

As a consequence, while poverty and economic disparity exist in Canada, it is less severe than in America, blunting the kind of grievances that often drive people to more extreme political movements.

However, Gosine says none of this is to say Canada doesn’t have serious problems with race or poverty, including Canada’s long and often troubled relationship with its Aboriginal citizens.

However, where American race relations can boil over into violence, in Canada they are usually ignored.

“We have a history of just sweeping these issues under the carpet,” Gosine said. “We are often comparing ourselves to America, and so we focus a great deal on, as I said, the more egalitarian nature of our country. But that doesn’t mean our problems have gone away.”