U of M students call for ban on far-right group

Some University of Manitoba students are calling on their school to ban a far-right group from campus after posters promoting mass deportations were found during the summer break.

More than 50 people rallied on Wednesday, the first day of classes, to make known their concerns about a group called the Dominion Society of Canada.

The protest was organized after a supporter of the self-described nationalist group posted a video over the Labour Day weekend that shows him putting up flyers in Fort Garry.

“Canada is a really beautiful country and I have been welcomed here by a lot of beautiful people and it’s been amazing, but when I see harmful rhetoric online and now, on campus, it gives me a lot of anxiety,” said Ela Ancheta, an arts major at U of M.

The 22-year-old student, who is a permanent resident, emigrated from the Philippines about five years ago.

Ancheta said she’s felt uneasy and compelled to protest since learning school security had to remove unauthorized signage advertising the group.

The Canadian Anti-Hate Network defines the Ottawa-based entity as a white nationalist organization.

Established as a national not-for-profit last fall, the group touts an 11-step plan “to preserve the Canadian nation.” Its members are in favour of policy changes to facilitate mass deportation, revoke permanent residency and repeal all legislation outlining Canada’s commitment to multiculturalism.

Its website calls for a legislation “that affirms Canada’s founding as a historically European, Christian and bicultural (English and French) nation with a common civic identity.”

Heaven Kaur, president of the University of Manitoba Students’ Union, said many of her peers want senior administration to issue a statement condemning the group.

“It’s concerning for folks. If our institution isn’t taking a stance on it and isn’t pushing back on organizations that are spreading hate, what are they doing to protect us?” said Kaur, who represents about 27,000 undergraduate students.

International students — a label that excludes permanent residents and many other first-generation immigrants — account for roughly 20 per cent of U of M’s population.

The Dominion Society’s views should worry everyone who values multiculturalism, Kaur said, noting she received upwards of 50 messages on social media in recent days from concerned community members.

In the 26-second video posted to Instagram, a man wearing the group’s merchandise — a green baseball cap with “Long Live Canada” in white lettering — tapes up a poster outside the U of M’s University Centre calling for mass deportation.

“Racial nationalism, white supremacy and anti-immigrant rhetoric are not just abstract ideas. They have real consequences,” Roheemat Ajayi-Raheem, a biology student and member of the U of M Black Students’ Community group, told the rally.

“They can make students question whether they are welcome. They can make students hesitant when participating in campus events, wearing their cultural clothing or speaking their languages here. They can create fear, isolation and exhaustion.”

U of M’s Black Students’ Community, Students for Justice in Palestine and other campus groups collaborated to put on the event.

Attendees held up signs declaring “No tolerance for intolerance,” “No one is illegal on stolen land” and “Migration is natural.”

The Dominion Society’s founder, Daniel Tyrie, accused the protesters of demanding censorship.

“Universities are a crucial battleground for ideological debate in our society… Every attempt to cancel us only makes us more popular,” Tyrie said in an email Wednesday.

A U of M spokesperson confirmed posters that had been put up “without institutional approval” ahead of the start of the fall term have been removed.

“At this time, we do not intend to pursue a campus ban,” the spokesperson said in a statement, promising the school is committed to “fostering a respectful and inclusive environment.”

maggie.macintosh@freepress.mb.ca