Well, it went just about as well as you would think:
In further news that shouldn't surprise anyone, Boswick, Storie, Kevin Johnston, and others familiar to readers were also there to video the encounter. Subsequent videos posted by Boswick show their group of Yellow Vest clad conspiracy theorists descend on a police station and threaten the arrest of the arresting police officers.
There will be more on Boswick and Storie in an upcoming article.
Pat King and Jay Riedel have been touring the country under their “Rollin With Pat & Jay” banner, hosting “town halls” in various towns in western Canada and, currently, Ontario. YVCE have largely ignored them, save for one tweetstorm of their Drayton Valley, AB town hall where a number of ridiculous claims were made:
— Yellow Vests Canada Exposed (@VestsCanada) March 31, 2019
We figured they weren’t entirely worth spending much more time on. That is, until one of our Twitter followers started contacting Ontario legions, requesting they review their bookings. Legions in Arnprior, Finch, and Cornwall were canceled, and the good folks behind this campaign began receiving a barrage of messages on their social media accounts from the kids(oh we’ll get to that). So, in true YVCE fashion, we said “fuck these guys” and got busy.
Firstly, King claims that the mainstream media has failed to report on what a success the United We Roll Yellow Vest Convoy to Ottawa was. The media did report on it, extremely favourably given the circumstances (such as Northern Guard, Canadian Combat Coalition, and white nationalist symbolism being present) but I would hardly call 200 people on Parliament Hill a “success.” Beaver Tails on the Rideau have longer lineups. We were there; we know.
Secondly, Pat uses Christy, his new girlfriend that he met on the convoy who has kids of color, as a defense against being racist. Imagine in 2019 still using people of colour in your life as a defense against racism. Except they’re sharing Islamophobic and anti-Muslim memes on their Facebook, which is a more specific racism towards middle eastern, south Asian and black people.
Whether Pat is or isn’t racist is irrelevant for this point, but I find it really disgusting that he’s propping up the children of a woman that he’s only been dating for a short period of time as evidence that he isn’t racist.
In the video Pat and Jay pass a man asking for money. He claims to be a homeless veteran. Pat hugged the man and they gave him some money. Now obviously there is nothing wrong with an interaction like this, however I take issue with the fact that it was live streamed to make Harry and Lloyd look like good guys. This is exploitation, pure and simple and given Pat’s propping up of his girlfriend’s children that seems to be par for the course.
Another thing worth mentioning is the dynamic between Harry and Lloyd and their followers. Many of their followers refer to Pat and Jay as dad, and themselves as kids, which is a little weird, and almost cult-like.
Here are just a few examples but they do this all the time and it’s really creepy.
Harry and LLoyd have claimed that they are trying to create a healthy dialogue and want people to have conversations with them yet are known for blocking people that criticize them. They also want people to show up at their events for discussion, but I have to ask, what difference does that make where the conversation is had if the criticism is valid? Being in a room full of people that are hostile towards dissension is meant to intimidate, but I think the biggest reason for this is that it’s a lot harder to fact check someone in real time.
They attempted to advertise their town hall in a Facebook group called What’s Up Arnprior?, and after receiving a ton of backlash they deleted the post. Sure sounds like they’re interested in a dialog. One of the likely reasons the thread was deleted is that they were caught blatantly lying. It was mentioned that they were a part of the yellow vest movement which they denied.
If they’re so proud, why the lie? Also, why would it be a problem if they were in the yellow vest movement, if YVC aren’t racist?
Harry and Lloyd insist that they’re touring the country to spread the truth and they do their research yet when we research them it’s blatantly obvious that they don’t understand what the truth is. I truly believe Pat King is one of the biggest bullshitters in the yellow vests movement, which is a really high bar, but I stand by that assessment.
If you want a take down of their town halls (specifically Arnprior) that's is better than anything we could write, check out this opinion column from Inside Ottawa Valley. https://tinyurl.com/yyq7c6m7
ARC is pleased to let our readers know that the good folks at Yellow Vests Canada Exposed have joined the blog to write about the reactionary Yellow Vests movement in Canada.
After participating in the United We Roll/Yellow Vest Convoy to Ottawa, Alberta resident Pat King and Saskatchewan resident Jay Riedel decided to embark on a tour they’ve called Rollin’ With Pat & Jay. Traveling across the country, they claim to “educate” Canadians on various issues they find important, however these “town halls” also include UN conspiracies, anti-refugee sentiments, and far-right ideas.
Riedel was the organizer of the Estevan Yellow Vests, although it’s unclear if he is currently. Both are members of the main Yellow Vests Canada page on Facebook. Much of the content shared on their personal and Rollin’ feeds is similar to what is found on various YVC pages and groups.
They’re currently traveling through Ontario, and have been met with some resistance. A largely community based effort was made to notify the legions (and other venues) at which they had planned their town halls. Yellow Vests Canada Exposed has tracked this activity, but has not made any active attempts to stop these town halls from going ahead as planned.
Both legions where the duo had planned to appear - Finch and Cornwall - canceled their reservation. King had previously stated this was due to the fact that they had not paid for the space, and he and Riedel both advised that when you pay for the legion’s space, you are entitled to “say whatever you want.”
Here’s Pat King and Jay Riedel claiming that if they pay for the legion, they’re entitled to talk about whatever they want, and that the reason Arnprior’s legion canceled was because they didn’t pay.
— Yellow Vests Canada Exposed (@VestsCanada) April 22, 2019
On April 25, 2019 King and Riedel spoke with Robyn Miller of CBC Ottawa for a lengthy interview, which they live streamed themselves to Facebook prior to the piece being published. (Source: https://bit.ly/2UWJOFg) Numerous false and misleading claims were made to the CBC while King and Riedel remained largely unchallenged. We feel it’s important to provide accurate information, and context.
Note: The intent of this piece is to challenge just some of the false claims made during the interview, which was live streamed by King and Riedel, and not to debunk or discredit the article published by the CBC.
King claimed that the accusations of xenophobia and racism are “false accusations,” claiming the truth is “absolutely the contrary” and citing his girlfriend, who has African-Canadian children. Both are adamant that this is not true.
However, multiple posts illustrating xenophobic views have been documented from both of their personal social media pages, as well as their Rollin’ With Pat and Jay Facebook page.
Claim #1 - Racism and xenophobia are “false accusations
Claim #2 - Our ancestors were vetted, while present day immigrants and refugees were no/open borders King advised CBC that the ancestors of Canadians were vetted and that currently, immigrants and refugees are not. The historical reality is that immigration was largely unrestricted (except for Chinese people who had to pay the head tax and South Asian people who were barred from landing due to “continuous journey” regulations) until 1919, when the amended Immigration Act imposed restrictions or exclusions on more groups, mostly those involved in the first World War.
At the end of their live feed, the CBC producer advised them that some of their information is incorrect and suggested they speak with individuals responsible for ensuring appropriate vetting of newcomers. King and Riedel responded enthusiastically.
Claim #3 - Drama over King’s girlfriend’s job loss
When a social media user located in Arnprior saw King and Riedel were coming to their town to host an event, they reached out to the various legions they were planning on appearing at. YVCE amplified this message on Twitter, and King and Riedel’s followers soon started to send this individual messages demanding they cease their activity. Including one from Christy Marie Scheff, King’s girlfriend, who he states he met “because of the convoy” to CBC. The recipient confirmed that after the message was sent, Scheff blocked them from further contact.
YVCE shared this message, along with screenshots from Scheff’s Facebook profile. These posts included inflammatory and bigoted remarks about Muslims, and UN conspiracy theories.
Pat King’s girlfriend is threatening people who try and have venues cancel their dumb town halls.
— Yellow Vests Canada Exposed (@VestsCanada) April 22, 2019
An email was sent to Scheff’s employer by another social media user, advising them of the content their employee had posted online, and demanding action on their part. Scheff was fired, as confirmed in Facebook messages between the individual and the employer, however the cause was not specifically confirmed.
During the interview with CBC, King claims he spoke to person who sent the emails, as he had their telephone number and email address. We confirmed with the individual who sent the email that while he has received some calls from strange numbers lately, he did not speak with King, or Riedel. King also claimed that the Ontario Provincial Police is investigating the matter, yet the individual has not been contacted by authorities.
Scheff was allegedly advised her employment was terminated due to “attendance issues,” as told by King to the CBC producer after the interview had concluded.
Claim #4 - “All are welcome”
Both Riedel and King tell CBC that all are welcome to their events. In Pembroke, they identified who they believed to be a “troll” - an individual no one knew, who they claim was on their phone the entire time.
The comments directed toward this person in the live feed comments were not welcoming, and a few were outright threatening, with one referencing a taser (King and Riedel showed a stun baton in a previous live feed, claiming “if anyone starts any trouble, this is what you’re going to see.” source: https://bit.ly/2Pypbce timestamp: 2 min, 15 sec)
It is clear that anyone who may disagree with them may be subject to real-time online harassment, and have their photo shown to their followers. These are intimidation and harassment tactics, and not indicative of a healthy and open dialogue. Note: followers of King and Riedel refer to themselves often as “the kids,” and in turn, to King and Riedel as “dad/s.”
Claim #5 - Radicals are “vetted and kicked out”
In the interview with CBC both King and Riedel claim that radicals are “vetted and kicked out.” They aren’t clear if they are referring to Yellow Vests Canada or their own following, but both are demonstrably false, as heavily documented by YVCE. Riedel himself has made radical posts on social media.
The pair’s own views are radical. In addition to an average of 3 live feeds a day, lasting from an hour or more in length, they also either stream these town halls on Facebook live, or upload them to their YouTube channel. YVCE has previously tweeted the content of a town hall, filmed in Drayton Valley, AB. The event goes into detail about their experience with United We Roll, but also delves into far-right ideologies and conspiracy theories, as well as whitewashing problematic associations:
— Yellow Vests Canada Exposed (@VestsCanada) March 31, 2019
One of the more troubling claims of recent town halls is their propagation of the Rothschild global banking conspiracy, referring to them as an “ethnic group” that controls the World Bank, and claiming they are direct descendants of Hitler:
This is like south park. Pat: Do you know who owns the federal reserve? audience: China? nuh-uh. India? nope. The UN? nope. OK who? Hang on I forget I have to check my copy of The Protocols.. That's right, the Rothchilds, who are direct descendants of Adolph Hitler @VestsCanadapic.twitter.com/PNyoOsItp2
At the Drayton Valley town hall King told the crowd that there is a “flooding of refugees,” which will “abuse and destabilize our banking system,” advising that this is “intentional by the UN, to bankrupt Canada” and to impose Agendas 21 and 23, and a “one world government.” King went on to state that “there is a bigger, darker entity trying to overthrow the world.”
They have hinted that this entity is the spooky RoThScHiLdS family. It's 2019 and the Rothschilds still get blamed for everything, from funding Hitler, to the creation of Israel, to controlling the weather.
The Rothschilds family were a real familybut have been the victim of anti-semitic propaganda for quite some time. The Rothschilds did not benefit from the second world war, like most Jews, they had their assets seized by the Nazis. When did the first rumor start of the evil Rothschilds? In Nazi Germany where a movie called "Die Rothschilds Aktien auf Waterloo" talked about how Nathan Rothschilds had manipulated the market. He didn't, but that is the story the Nazis told their supporters.
The Rothschilds don't own the Bank of Canada, the Canadian government does. In fact, because the government owned the bank and it could only lend to the federal government. This changed in the Basel Committee solution.
These are things that are well documented but Pat and Jay do not know the history of their own country, and would rather get information from people like Glenn Beck. Glenn Beck, who lies for money.
Anecdotal evidence suggests that despite Maxime Bernier's claim to reject the extremists who have been attracted to his new right-wing party, the PPC in fact has been courting those very same people.
Bernier with Georges Massaad
Certainly there are the dog whistles regarding multiculturalism, immigration, and identity politics that Bernier is happy to repeat online and on the stump. There is also some evidence that indicates that some PPC riding associations know that at least some of their supporters hold extremist views and that those members are simply asked to keep those views concealed:
The Canadian Combat Coalition, also known as C3, is a self-described group of "patriots concerned with Canada's future." It has downplayed suggestions it endorses "any racist or hate ideologies," despite Islamophobic and anti-immigrant messages dominating its online community and having members who are known to show up at anti-Islam rallies.
"Let's take their votes, but no publicized cross endorsement of any kind," reads a message sent in February by national co-ordinator Caleb Voskamp in a Facebook group chat for PPC executives and organizers.
On the one hand courting the likes of the Canadian Combat Coalition seems rather futile given the actual membership consists mainly of a very small group of people (mainly in Ontario) who would have difficulty packing an elevator. My guess is that the CCC is simply representative of a number of extremists groups -- Proud Boys, Nouns of Odin, Northern Guard, etc -- whom the PPC may be actively trying to get support from, though even if this is the case the number of actual votes the PPC would receive from actual members, even if every member voted for a PPC candidate, would be minuscule.
More likely, the PPC is appealing to the people who, while not necessarily members of these groups, are active online as supporters. Those numbers, though still relatively small when compared to the rest of the potential electorate, are considerably larger than the core membership. These individuals are present on the social media sites of these hate groups and have become radicalized by the rhetoric of online extremism.
I present this individual as a potentially typical example of such a supporter, however I do so with a significant caveat that will become apparent later on in the article:
While trying to piece together media reports and accounts from ARC supporters of the Your Ward News sentencing hearing this morning, one word keeps coming to mind: circus.
Sears answers media questions outside court, flanked by skinheads and other supporters. April 26, 2019 (Photo submitted by an ARC reader.)
Your Ward News' Editor in Chief, James Sears, and Publisher, LeRoy St. Germaine, were found guilty in January of willfully promoting hatred against Jews and women under S319(2) of the criminal code. In the lead-up to today's hearing, Sears likened himself to Christ and seemed to relish the idea of being led away in cuffs on Greek Orthodox Good Friday. He also claimed he would (checks notes) bring his "posse of black folks" with him, and would attempt to "reason with the Judge."
Spoiler: no "posse" was in attendance, and certainly no successful "reasoning" occurred.
Crown Attorney Erica Whitford presented thorough submissions relying on extensive research of existing case law that referenced many, if not all, hate crimes cases that have resulted in a custodial sentence in Canada. She called for the maximum sentence of 6 months per count, for a total of 1 year, to be served consecutively. In addition, she asked for 3 years probation, with strict conditions that would prohibit Sears from publishing within that period. The sentence, she argued, must serve both as a denunciation of the hate speech that occurred, as well as a deterrent for future incidents of said hate speech. CP24 reported that she also referenced multiple victim and community impact statements that read, in part:
"By delivering Your Ward News to our door, they were saying there was
nowhere to feel safe."
"Hate speech strikes at the heart of Canadian values.
The glorification of violence against women made them feel vulnerable,
retraumatized some, and tended to hurt the cause of equality overall."
Sears' attorney, Dean Embry, conceded that Your Ward News did devolve into hate speech, and called it "repugnant," however, he argued that the publication was not "created with the sole purpose of spreading genocidal thought," and, amazingly, insisted that the Crown had failed to prove that YWN had, in fact, caused any actual harm. According to reports, he insisted that the total sentence should be no more than 2-4 monthscalled for a four-month conditional sentence and added that the Judge cannot sentence based on "theoretical harm." He also claimed that barring Sears from publishing anything for 3 years was too broad.
The proceedings started to go off the rails when Sears was given the opportunity to speak. He had prepared a 62-page "allocution," that he claimed would take at least an hour to deliver. Judge Blouin instructed him, repeatedly, to stick to issues pertaining only to sentencing, however, he still apparently managed to take up 20 minutes of the court's time. Here's a sampling of what he said:
CTV quotes Sears as saying, "I'm approached on a regular basis by angry men, and sometimes women,
that Your Ward News gave them a voice when no one else would. Several men have told me that,
because of our publication, they did not commit violence."
He also apparently brought a blind man to court who he presented before
the Judge as an example of someone who was "saved" from committing an
act of violence against the doctor who blinded him. YWN, he claimed, gave this man a "release valve" for his rage and he now spends his time handing out copies of the publication on street corners.
Perhaps most interestingly, Sears thanked a woman named
"Grace," who is supposedly one of his publication's strongest financial
backers. He said she flew in from Japan to be present at the
sentencing.
UPDATE 1: We have confirmed that "Grace" from Japan is, in fact, Holocaust denier Grace Eki-Oyama, who, at one point, vacationed with Paul Fromm in Cuba.
But wait! There's more:
After calling the Crown racist, he, according to CTV, tried to reason with the Judge, stating that "We're just trying to open a discussion. His Honour cannot
take one side of a religious debate or one side of a political debate."
He then goes on to contradict himself and engage in his trademarked grandstanding:
Despite not having his promised "posse" with him, media have reported that about 15 supporters of the publication were in attendance. So far, ARC has identified the usual suspects, including Paul Fromm, Bahman Yazdanfar, Lawrence McCurry, Arthur Smitherman, and the woman we previously identified as a long-time court attender, dating back to the Zundel trials. We are working to identify some others, and expect to have an updated list soon.
Judge Blouin is taking a month to review the sentencing submissions, including the victim impact statements, which apparently were only delivered to him last night. Sears is expected to be sentenced on May 31st.
St. Germaine has a longer reprieve as the court needs to wait for the submission of his pre-sentencing report. (We assume the press is referring to the Gladue Report). St. Germaine's sentencing is scheduled for July 15th.
UPDATE 1a:
Your Ward News contributor, Lawrence McCurry, uploaded a video of yesterday's media scrum with James Sears and his friend Jonathan, who is the blind man Sears claims his paper "saved" from committing an act of violence. For the sake of transparency, I'll make clear that I edited out the beginning where McCurry tries to get Warren Kinsella and Bernie Farber to comment. He claims they were not present to see justice done, but to "represent the globalist position and ideology to the controlled corporate media who have not been honest in the way they have reported on this story from the very start." He then goes on to show a media clip used by a mainstream news outlet to illustrate how the press manipulates things. The bulk of his video, however, is unedited footage of Sears' media scrum, which is what I've included here. Sears sticks to his talking points from his "allocution" about YWN being a release valve, that he is a law-abiding citizen who was trying to open a discussion, and then digs in to his plans for a constitutional challenge over his conviction and pending sentence. Paul Fromm chimes in and compares Sears to James Joyce! I'll let the rest speak for itself, however, I will add a WARNING that there is some graphic language regarding rape:
So the mantra of the right is that it is "antifa" who are violent and they are victims who are only defending themselves. Aside from the fact at being an anti-fascist is the default for decent human beings, this claim has been proven false time and time and time again.
Which is why this Kijiji ad (I'm not kidding) posted by Tyson Hunt is especially interesting:
Yeah... anti-fascists are the violent ones:
Then again, Hunt is a lot of bark, but not a lot of bite:
Fact is despite their bravado, the far-right know how effective counter-protesters are and are afraid of them:
the reviews are in! in a live video tonight, C3 president said antifa is "effective" & it's "actually spread a genuine fear in the patriots". he was specifically talking about edmonton, so keep up the great work @EdmontonAgainst & other anti-fascists in #yeg! pic.twitter.com/kOf1IP9ObB
— Bob Nesta Makhno mistake ☠🏴 (@GilletteMachNo1) April 17, 2019
Consider this to be your warm and fuzzies of the evening.
Well I have a very good reason for not doing it earlier!
I forgot.
Yeah, it happens.
In any case as a review Pegida Canada was hit with a $10,000 penalty after losing a defamation suit resulting from an earlier rally and the statements subsequently posted to social media. Some reports suggested it was $11,000, though this might have been incorrect or it also took into account other expenses. Not long after they set up a Go Fund Me account to try to pay for the judgement. Among those attempting to help Pegida Canada raise the money was Mary Forrest who has been profiled hear before.... usually foul mouthed, possibly drunk (though she does also claim to have a traumatic brain injury), and joking about killing their political opposition. In a 20+ minute video (posted not long after the campaign began, Forrest appears to be trying to bully and guilt people into supporting the Go Fund Me campaign. Be forewarned that I've edited for length and have included my usual editorial snark:
She eventually gets to the crux of the issue. In short, and to sum up her brilliant legal analysis, Jenny Hill shouldn't have been sued because the social media post wasn't THAT defamatory:
However, the efforts of Hill, Forrest, and others have been for naught. ARC and others let Go Fund Me know that a hate group (and yes, they are a hate group) was attempting to raise money on their platform and.... well....
With this in mind, Pegida is planning on another march on May 4. Perhaps the fine people of Toronto might like to turn out in the same, or greater, numbers that they did on March 23?:
