Resisting the Right: Countering Right-Wing Extremism in Canada

Recent world events seem to have motivated renewed activity of and public attention to right-wing extremism, not only within a global context but in Canada as well. In a national study involving interviews with Canadian law enforcement officials, community organizations, and right-wing activists, paired with analyses of open source intelligence, we observed that the foundations of right-wing extremism are complex and multifaceted, grounded in both individual and social conditions. This suggests that so too must counter-extremist initiatives be multidimensional, building on the strengths and expertise of diverse sectors: law enforcement, certainly, but also education, social services, public health, youth workers, and victim service providers, to name a few. In this article, we suggest strategies intended to directly exploit identified patterns inherent in right-wing extremist groups and their environments to disrupt the growth and sustainability of those groups.