Canadian Nationalist Party

The Canadian Nationalist Party (CNP) was founded on June 1, 2017[11] by incumbent leader Travis Patron.[12] He ran under the party banner during the 2019 federal election in Souris—Moose Mountain, the electoral district containing his home town of Redvers[13] in Saskatchewan.[14]

The CNP's stated purpose is "to improve the social and economic conditions of an ethnocentric Canada"[15] by maintaining the demographic majority status of white Canadians[3] whose interests would be prioritized by the party over that of ethnic minorities.[16] The party proposes discontinuing public funding for pride parades,[17] restricting abortion access, establishing a mandatory national curriculum based on "European and Christian values," and repealing the Canadian Multiculturalism Act.[18]

On September 15, 2019, the CNP achieved registered federal party status from Elections Canada.[19][20]

The party unsuccessfully ran three candidates in the 2019 federal election in the ridings of Souris—Moose Mountain, Lac-Saint-Louis and Scarborough—Guildwood.

On August 9, 2017, coinciding with the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia,[21] the CNP organized the Toronto Nationalist Rally at the University of Toronto's St. George campus. The event's Facebook page described the rally as an opportunity to "discuss the nationalist movement in Canada,"[22] and to protest Canada's immigration policy.[23] A counter-protest was organized in response to the rally,[23] and the University of Toronto denied the party the opportunity to organize on campus grounds.[24]

In November 2017, party leader Travis Patron announced his intent to officially register the CNP as a federal political party and field candidates for the 2019 federal election. On November 26, Patron started a cross-country tour in Toronto.[8] During the tour, the party's meeting at the Belgian Club in Winnipeg, Manitoba was cancelled following protests. The club's treasurer subsequently resigned,[25] and the organization voluntarily withdrew from Folklorama, the city's multicultural festival.[26] In early September 2018, Patron reached out to People's Party of Canada leader Maxime Bernier "to see if there would be any interest in possibly co-operating with the Canadian Nationalist Party."[27] Bernier declined any further discussions with Patron.

In June 2019, CNP members were among several far-right groups protesting against Pride parades alongside Yellow Vest demonstrators in Hamilton, Ontario,[28][29] and Pegida in downtown Toronto.[30] Both protests resulted in violence against counter-protesters,[31] with the latter demonstration resulting in a violent altercation between anti-fascist counter-protesters inside the Eaton Centre. The RCMP launched a hate crime investigation against Patron after Ottawa-based human rights lawyer Richard Warman filed a formal criminal complaint about a video Patron uploaded to YouTube warning of a "parasitic tribe" controlling Canadian institutions and calling for their permanent removal from Canada.[28] During the investigation, the RCMP pursued intellectual property violations against the CNP for using RCMP trademarks without permission.[32] On August 23, the party lost their registered virtual office location in the Toronto Star Building after Telsec revoked their services.[9]

The CNP gained registered federal political party status on September 15, 2019.

Shortly after the 2019 election, party leader Travis Patron was charged with aggravated assault, assault causing bodily harm and breach of probation, after attacking two women in Regina, Saskatchewan,[33] who were sent to hospital for their injuries.[34] The matter remains before the courts.[35]

A complaint was filed by the Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center with the RCMP on July 15, 2020, against Travis Patron. In their complaint they claim that a post on the party's Facebook page constitutes hate speech. The RCMP had investigated the party in 2019 for a similar claim.[36]

• Official website