Walking Radio - Episode 12: Toronto Anti-Hate Rally (Jan. 10, 2026)

Today’s episode begins with a phrase that sounds harmless—even wholesome—until you dig a little deeper.“Canada First” appears in 1868 as the name and slogan of a movement meant to promote Canadian nationalist sentiment.Slogans are not static, and they often get repurposed over time.In the late 20th century, “Canada First” reappears in explicitly far-right organizing under Paul Fromm, who is identified by multiple watchdog and media sources as a Canadian white supremacist and neo-Nazi.More recently, researchers and anti-hate investigators have documented “Canada First” branding in younger, online white-nationalist ecosystems. One 2021 investigation described Tyler L. Russell as running one of Canada’s biggest, youngest, and newest white-supremacist chatrooms under the “Canada First” banner.The slogan shows up again when Pierre Poilievre makes the interesting choice to adopt “Canada First” as his campaign slogan during his 2025 election bid.Which brings us to the current context.On Sept. 13, 2025, a Canada First rally at Christie Pits in Toronto—organized by Joe Anidjar-—called for “mass deportation” and “remigration”—a term that Canadian Anti-Hate Network executive director Evan Balgord describes as “synonymous with ethnic cleansing.”The Canada First rally at Christie Pits ended with the group leaving the park, heavily outnumbered by counter-protesters.In this episode, the Canada First group returns to Nathan Phillips Square in Toronto on Saturday January 10, 2026. One attendee, Ron Bouwmeister, told CBC News that what brought him down to the Square was his fears of an insufficient number of blonde people in Canadian society.Fear no longer, Ron. This blondie is here to represent. As a blonde-haired, blue-eyed Canadian myself I am more than delighted in any moment to push Nazi-inspired eugenics rhetoric, no matter how poorly disguised, back into the garbage dump of history where it will always belong.In today’s episode we chat with the counter-protesters and make new lots of new friends along the way. We explore why standing up against racism, xenophobia and hate is important to them as we strive together for a more caring, insightful, inclusive, and compassionate Canada.We invite you to join us on our walk and to see what new pathways of better understanding we discover together along the way. I’m Patrick Corvyn, and this is Walking Radio.Links:https://www.splcenter.org/resources/extremist-files/paul-fromm/https://www.antihate.ca/canada_first_exposed_tyler_russellhttps://www.antihate.ca/canada_first_campus_friendly_ties_between_conservative_student_group_white_supremacistshttps://www.antihate.ca/former_proud_boys_devolved_neo_nazi_accelerationistshttps://ricochet.media/politics/how-pierre-poilievres-canada-first-slogan-parallels-white-nationalist-ideology/https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/anti-immigration-rally-counter-protest-downtown-toronto-9.7041206https://web.archive.org/web/20260111012230/https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/anti-immigration-rally-counter-protest-downtown-toronto-9.7041206 This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit walkingradio.substack.com