Doerkson Condemns White Supremacist Legislature Stunt

British Columbia’s new Conservative premier says his party “will act with every part of the law that we can” to fight hate after an apparent white supremacist group gathering at the legislature the morning after the election.

“It's unfortunate. I'm sad to hear that,” Doerkson told The Tyee at his first press conference as premier-designate, following an election night where his party won a massive 63-seat majority in the legislature.

“I hadn't heard that yet this morning, and there's probably words that I can't say now. But that is frustrating, to say the least. And we will act with every part of the law that we can to protect our residents from this kind of hate.”

Victoria resident Julie Baetz came upon the group of men wearing black masks and black clothing around 8 a.m. as she walked to work. She followed them and took photos of the group as they stood on the steps of the legislature. Baetz’s photos show the group unfurled a banner that read “Remigration saves our nation.” White nationalist groups use remigration to refer to mass deportations of immigrants.

A photo of the group was also shared to a Victoria Reddit group.

“It was shocking to see men all in black like that with masks, and it made me think about some of the groups you see in the U.S., like Patriot Front,” said Baetz.

“I thought the timing was really interesting too — the morning after the election. Obviously they're trying to get attention after the election, and make people think that this is the start of a new regime or something.”

The banner identifies the group as the Loyalist Pioneers, which researchers at the Institute for Strategic Dialogue, an international organization focused on extremism, have tracked as part of the Active Club movement or “White Nationalism 3.0.”

“The model serves as the organizational foundation for so-called ‘Active Clubs,’ a decentralized, global network of groups which promote male camaraderie, physical fitness and combat sports as conduits into white supremacist activism and violence,” the ISD said in a March report.

Extremism researchers also consider Second Sons Canada to be part of the Active Club movement. Second Sons Canada members held demonstrations in Kamloops on Sept. 27, where a group of masked men wearing black uniforms displayed offensive messages about the deaths of children at residential schools.

Baetz said that incident was on her mind as she watched the masked men pose for photos and video on the steps of the B.C. legislature.

“I have members of my immediate family that were affected by the residential school system, so I feel very strongly about it,” she said.

Doerkson immediately condemned the Kamloops incident, saying “the white nationalist gathering on Tk̓emlúps te Secwépemc land this morning was hateful and meant to intimidate. It has no place in British Columbia, and BC Conservatives condemn it completely. We stand with the people of Tk̓emlúps, and we expect the RCMP to investigate fully.”

Before Doerkson took on the interim Conservative leadership, the party had included MLA Dallas Brodie, who was ousted after she made comments mocking residential school survivors.

Brodie formed a party called OneBC, which used taxpayer money to make a documentary pushing residential school denialist talking points. Brodie finished fifth in Vancouver-Quilchena with four per cent of the vote.

The Conservative party also fired staffer Lindsay Shepherd after she expressed disgust at having to view flags and the orange shirts that commemorate the abuse Indigenous children suffered at residential schools across Canada.

Doerkson has stated that repealing B.C.’s Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous People Act, or DRIPA, will be his highest priority. During his acceptance speech, Doerkson said he would also protect private property and ensure parks would stay open for all B.C. residents — both references to recent Indigenous rights court decisions or policies.

Despite that rhetoric, Doerkson said he’s “absolutely committed” to working with First Nations. He said he’s received messaged of congratulations from several First Nations leaders.

“I think that there is a major opportunity for all of British Columbia to succeed on what is going to be a better path forward,” he said. “I am still committed to the repeal of DRIPA. It has not worked in this province, and frankly, it has caused more problems to date than I think potentially anything else. So I am committed to working on a great path forward of respect, partnership, friendship and conversation.”

Second Sons, and another group called the Dominion Society which has also been calling for politicians to adopt “remigration” as a policy, have participated in strategy sessions where they talk about how to influence mainstream politics.

Some of those tactics have included showing up in photos with party leaders or at party events. In 2022, Second Sons founder Jeremy Mackenzie was photographed shaking hands with Pierre Poilieve. The Dominion Society gathered at a recent federal Conservative convention and displayed banners calling for “remigration.” Following previous BC Conservative leader Kerry-Lynne Findlay’s leadership win, a young white nationalist influencer posed with her and posted the photo online; the party said Findlay did not know who the influencer was.

Baetz said she wants to hear from politicians on how they are going to fight the extreme messages that have now appeared on the lawn of the B.C. legislature.

“I would like to see some strong pushback from the legislature, from all parties really, because there has been so much talk, mostly to do with the residential school stuff,” said Baetz. “I'd like to see some strong pushback from all the parties that this really isn’t acceptable.”