Questions are being raised after the
CBC and political commentator Rachel Gilmore published articles on Canada’s “active club” movement on the same day, with both stories citing the involvement of the Canadian Anti-Hate Network (CAHN) and one drawing on an internal Public Safety Canada brief that has not yet been publicly released.
On March 3,
CBC published a story by Eric Szeto that described “white nationalist fight clubs,” citing an internal Public Safety Canada brief warning that the movement poses a risk of “extreme violence” in Canada.
That same day, Gilmore
published an article in
The Tyee focusing on an active club in Montreal involving individuals tied to Second Sons Canada — a group that in the past has been accused of being “ethno-nationalists” and “neo-Nazis.”
Alexander Vriend, vice-president of Second Sons, says the timing of the articles and the limited public release of the government brief raise questions about how the story was developed and who had access to the information.
“I think the intention behind it was specifically only to give it to certain actors so that they could create the narrative that they wanted,” Vriend told the
Western Standard, noting the
CBC article said the outlet obtained the brief but did not specify how.
The
CBC article stated that Public Safety Canada shared the brief with all levels of government and law enforcement and that it was prepared by the Canada Centre for Community Engagement and Prevention of Violence.
The report is said to call the active clubs “ideologically motivated violent extremism that rationalizes violence against Jewish, racialized and 2SLGBTQ+ people.”
The piece also quoted CAHN executive director Evan Balgord, who said the report should prompt government action.
“White nationalism is the biggest threat it’s ever been,” Balgord said.
CAHN describes itself as an organization that monitors and counters hate groups across Canada.
However, a 2022 Ontario court decision in a libel suit involving journalist Jonathan Kay spotlighted the organization’s connections to Antifa.
Wiretap Media has reported that CAHN has received more than $900,000 in federal funding since 2020, including a $200,000 grant in October 2025 from Public Safety Canada’s Community Resilience Fund, administered through the Canada Centre for Community Engagement and Prevention of Violence.
“You’re seeing all of these hate researchers combining into one big network,” Vriend said, suggesting the timing of the recent reporting could help create a call for additional funding.
“I think part of that is because the funding for anti-hate initiatives isn’t what it used to be… Part of what they’re doing right now is trying to create a mandate and justification for additional funding for these groups.”
The Second Sons vice-president said he believes the federal government or its partners selectively provided a summary of the report to outlets and researchers likely to reinforce a particular narrative.
