Anti-immigration group Soldiers of Odin expanding in B.C., MLA says
Credit to Author: Kim Bolan| Date: Fri, 13 Sep 2019 01:13:17 +0000
A Metro Vancouver MLA says he is concerned that the anti-immigration group Soldiers of Odin appears to be expanding around the province.
Ravi Kahlon, the NDP MLA for Delta North, said he heard from concerned residents in various communities he visited during the summer about the Soldiers establishing branches of their controversial organization.
“I am troubled about the Soldiers of Odin, not only here, but throughout the province,” he said Thursday.
“As I was … listening to community groups, it would consistently come up that the Soldiers of Odin are organizing in communities, showing up at rallies, showing up at rallies with other organizations to try to support and build some connections, and all the while, with their messages of hate and intolerance. I am very concerned.”
Some members of the Soldiers’ Fraser Valley chapter recently tried to rent the gym at Surrey’s Lord Tweedsmuir Secondary for a memorial service for an associate named Reece Russell.
As of this week, they were still advertising that the service would be held at the school on Sept. 14.
But Doug Strachan, spokesman for the Surrey School District, said the potential renters withdrew their application.
Strachan said the connection to Soldiers of Odin “emerged after the request to use the gym” was made.
He said the district didn’t have to assess whether it was suitable to rent to the anti-immigration group because they hadn’t made the initial request properly and were therefore willing to withdraw it.
“We didn’t have to get to the point of considering the implications of that because it wasn’t correctly requested to begin with,” he said.
Strachan said someone who worked for the school district initially booked the gym, making it an “internal” rental. But he said it was determined that the memorial service was in fact a third-party rental, requiring additional “fees or deposits, potentially security, as well as janitorial fees.”
“And when this was discussed, the rental was pulled,” he said.
Strachan said the district can refuse rentals of property due to “the potential for protest or other demonstrations.”
“That has come into play before. It didn’t really get to that point where we were looking at that policy,” he said. “We would be concerned about any group that would be considered extremist or that there would be the potential for a demonstration or protest.”
A GoFundMe page that raised over $13,000 for Russell’s funeral expenses is now advertising the service at Shannon Hall in Cloverdale.
One of the page’s co-sponsors is Tyler “Grizzly” Herrewynen, who has photos on his Facebook page of him wearing Soldiers of Odin clothing. Russell is beside him in at least one of the pictures.
Several known Soldiers members, including Vancouver Island president Conrad Peach, contributed to the GoFundMe page. There are no details about how Russell died. Herrewynen did not respond to requests for comment.
Kahlon said the public needs to be more aware of anti-immigration and hate groups forming in B.C.
“I had folks raise it with me in Dawson Creek. I had folks raise it with through social media in other communities. In some places, it is the yellow vesters popping up. In other places, it is Soldiers of Odin showing up. There clearly seems to be a shift and a deliberate effort to organize,” he said. “I find that very concerning and people in communities are scared when they see this happening along with the hate crime numbers that continue to rise.”
Strategies to tackle the groups need to be developed “community by community,” he said.
“It will require us as a province to be more active. It will require city councils to be more active, and school boards and local police to be fully engaged on the things that are happening in their communities,” Kahlon said. “I think it is going to require first an acknowledgment of the problem, and second to figure out what the best steps are for each community.”
The sons of odin are against illegal unvetted migration not legal immigration at all. What a crock of shit. I know one member years and he’s the farthest thing from racist or anit immigration i know. SMH. The only thing dangerous about the sons of odin is the lying full of shit propaganda spread by the liberal globalist scum puppets media. And fyi i’m an immigrant u freaking lying bastards. So if your article is true why are they this immigrants friend? Bull shit n lies is an understatement for this POS article.