U of T blocks campus rally of white nationalist group

In response to event page, counter-protest organized to ‘silence white supremacy’

The University of Toronto has told a group espousing white nationalist views that it won’t be allowed to hold a rally on campus next month.

“We reached out to them (Tuesday) to indicate that we’ve been made aware of their Facebook event . . . and that they do not have permission to hold it on our grounds,” said Althea Blackburn-Evans, a university spokesperson.

The Canadian Nationalist Party, which intends to “discuss the nationalist movement in Canada,” said on a Facebook page this week that it was going to hold a rally Sept. 14 at the university.

Travis Patron, the party’s founder, told the Star on Tuesday that he will choose an alternative location if his group was denied a permit for its Toronto Nationalist Rally. Patron was not immediately available for comment Wednesday.

News of the event emerged after a woman was killed Saturday when a car rammed into a crowd of counter- protesters at a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Va.

In response to the proposed rally on U of T campus, a counter-protest called “Unity Rally to Silence White Supremacy in Toronto” was created.

More than 4,200 people were listed as attending the event on Facebook as of Wednesday afternoon, compared with 61 people saying they would go to the nationalist rally.

“When I stumbled across the event listing for a Toronto Nationalist Party rally on campus on the heels of Charlottesville, (it) made me absolutely sick,” said Shannon McDeez, an organizer of the counter-protest. “I am aware that this type of hate does exist in Canada, regardless of how we are perceived.”

McDeez said the counter-protest will go ahead in light of the university’s decision.

“I am happy with the news that U of T does not support or condone this type of gathering and propagation of white supremacist messages,” she said.

“White supremacists will never exist comfortably in our city as long as we maintain the momentum of individuals who have united against hatred.”