Content warning: white-supremacy, nationalism and xenophobia.
On September 16, in a Facebook post, The Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU) External Affairs warned the McGill community about posters and stickers around campus posted by the far-right, white supremacist group, Generation Identity.
Also known as Identity Canada, Generation Identity is a Eurocentric, white-nationalist group whose mission is to “re-instill the traditional western values that our ancestors worked so hard to create and protect. To remind ethnic Euro-Canadians of our ancestor’s sacrifices.” They are against “third world immigration” and “the prevalence of anti-European sentiments” in Canada.
The group is the Canadian subsidiary of the European Identitarianism movement which advocates for white supremacy and the expulsion of migrants and refugees from the subsidiary’s prospective country. The movement was sparked in France but has spread throughout Europe and North America and members have been charged with a variety of criminal offences including hate speech, property damage, and more.
The post urged students to safely remove Generation Identity’s advertisements, advising: “Use caution when removing stickers and posters though, as these groups sometimes stick razor blades behind them – use your keys or another implement to scratch them out, not your hands.”
Another identitarian group, La Meute, or “The Pack” has recently vandalized College of Maisonneuve, and Cégep Édouard-Montpetit and was denounced by the latter. Though not anti-immigration, the Pack opposes the idea of “multiculturalism” and believes it leads to the erosion of the society in which it takes place.
They have tried to get me fired by filing complaints and have threatened to demonstrate in front of my cégep, not to mention [making] physical threats
In February 2018, identitarians interrupted a symposium given by cégep teacher, Xavier Camus. Camus, who teaches philosophy at Collège Ahuntsic told The Bull & Bear that he believes that “[l’]extrême droite est minoritaire, mais le discours identitaire en général… trouvent un écho dans des journaux mainstream.”
“The extreme right is a minority, but identitarian discourse in general… has found an echo chamber in mainstream journals.” Despite their minority status, he believes there is increasing reason to worry.
He shared his experience with the identitarian movement, describing an incident where they disrupted a symposium he gave: “En tant que blogueur sur les questions d’extrême droite, je subis beaucoup de pression de la part de militants identitaires. On essaie de me faire perdre mon emploi en portant des plaintes, il y a même eu des menaces de manifester devant mon cégep, sans compter les menaces physiques.”
“As a blogger on questions pertaining to the extreme right, I am under a lot of pressure from identitarian activists. They have tried to get me fired by filing complaints and have threatened to demonstrate in front of my cégep, not to mention [making] physical threats.”
If you see posters or advertisements from any of these groups you are urged to report them to campus security at campus.security@mcgill.ca or 514 398-4556.
A previous version of this article mischaracterized the severity of the group’s policies. It has since been updated to more accurately reflect this.
