On Sept. 30, the Canadian Coalition of Concerned Citizens (CCCC), a far-right advocacy group, hosted a rally on Parliament Hill in order to air various grievances, including “failing border policies,” “costly immigration strategies,” and general issues with Justin Trudeau and the Liberal government.
This rally was met by counter-protestors, organized by the group, Ottawa Against Fascism (OAF), a left-leaning, anti-fascist group “organized around countering the emerging cohesion and organization of formally disparate far right groups and their capacity to carry out acts of reactionary violence.”
Also in attendance were members of the Antifa, another extreme-left, anti-fascist group.
I attended the rally in support of OAF. I do not agree with the CCCC’s message or the message of the various other right-leaning groups that attended with them. As was the case with a rally at the United States Embassy in August, I assumed that the event would be rather tame in terms of cross-protestor interaction.
At the beginning of the rally, two members of the Proud Boys, a libertarian, right-leaning fraternal organization, were surrounded by counter-protesters while attempting to assemble with the CCCC group. A heated debate occurred for a few minutes, before masked members of Antifa began to engage in subtle and overt violence. One would kneel behind a Proud Boy, while another would walk them backwards, attempting to trip them. This escalated to water bottles being thrown and dumped on the Proud Boys, and a shoving match which seemed moments away from a fist fight. At this point, a handful of other people and I pulled Antifa members away, and the Proud Boys left to join the CCCC.
Immediately after this encounter, I was approached by a man who began to ask me if I was a Nazi, and why I wasn’t over “with all the other fascists.” By virtue of being in proximity to a right-leaning person, and stopping them from being assaulted, I was automatically labelled as “one of them.” Despite explaining who I was and my liberal beliefs, I was accused of being a spy, and was quickly surrounded by a half-dozen masked Antifa members. I left the situation, but stayed at the rally, keeping to the edges of the larger group. Other people who had stepped in to stop the escalating violence received the same treatment, and for the rest of the rally, the gaze of at least one masked person could be felt on us at all times.
The OAF group Facebook page makes the vague statement of “smashing fascism by any means,” but by interacting with their supporters, it becomes very clear that “the means” are a mixture of intimidation and violence. The issue with this is twofold: at what point is political belief, criticism or dissent labelled to be “fascism?” And is violence actually solving anything?
I have no doubt that there were protestors on the CCCC side that hold fascist beliefs. But do overt, Swastika-carrying racists really hold the same status as those who may just have uneducated beliefs, or people who have valid criticisms of the current government and their policies? At the protest, I watched as a member of Antifa crossed the protest line, shoved a 10-year-old boy present with the CCCC, and stole his sign. Is violence against children now an acceptable way to “smash fascism by any means?” Can that child really be held accountable? What about myself and others, who simply disagree with Antifa violence? Is it fair that we are now labelled as fascists?
The aspect of violence itself does not solve any of the underlying issues. Violence does not change the beliefs of a person or provide them with information which may change their views. It only serves to justify far-right beliefs that the left is inherently violent, pushes moderate right-leaning sympathizers to agree with the far-right’s propaganda, and pushes away support from left-leaning individuals who do not accept the violence, and think that debate and discussion is the best way to deal with these ideologies.
Ideological hypocrisy also taints the message of defeating fascism. OAF is endorsed and endorses many Communist political organizations, and is “an initiative of the Revolutionary Communist Party Ottawa.” Communist flags flew on the OAF protest line. Communist regimes, such as those under Stalin and Mao, were responsible for the deaths of millions, through starvation, or violent oppression against political dissidents, as well as ethnic and religious minorities. To oppose right-wing fascism, yet enthusiastically support a political ideology that matches and exceeds the horrors of even the worst fascist governments, is pure hypocrisy.
The message of diversity, protecting minority groups, and addressing institutional and societal injustices is something that a majority of Canadians and I believe in. However, from experience with debating people of various political beliefs, the best way to change someone’s ignorant views is to confront them with the logical fallacies and issues with their opinions.
The tactics of Ottawa Against Fascism, and of Antifa as a whole, risk alienating their supporters, and cementing already held prejudices against them.
