Conspiracies! They’re out there… and Vice Canada‘s Mack Lamoureux is getting to the bottom of them. You name it, he’s covered it: The Berenst(a)ein Bears. Hollow Earth Theory. Iraq Stargate… But what happens when these twisted narratives stop being just kooky, and start getting scary? As extremist right-wing groups grow their presence in Canada, and around the world, there’s a personal cost to covering conspiracists. Mack’s eight-months-long investigation into Canada’s armed, anti-Islamic “patriot” group — ‘the III%ers’— is alarming: “Connected to the anti-Islam sentiment is a sense of paranoia in the group, one that is reinforced by the sharing of debunked news stories and far-right wing commentary from sites like Rebel Media or Infowars. The members of the group, like their counterparts worldwide, are distrustful of mainstream news and often stray into extreme conspiratorial territory.” Mack Lamoureux joins guest host Omar Mouallem.  For more on extremist right-wing groups in Canada, check out COMMONS’ deep dive from this past July. Photo by Mack Lamoureux. — This episode of CANADALAND is brought to you by PayTM.

On the final episode of the season, the Commons team digs into the rise of the fringe right in Canada. Journalist Evan Balgord has been covering organizations like the Proud Boys, Soldiers of Odin, and the Three Percenters for the better part of the past year. He joins us to discuss the ongoing street protests and what’s driving these groups’ discontent. — In exploring the rise of the right, Commons also interviewed two other people who are closely monitoring this movement. Dr. Barbara Perry, a professor of Social Science and Humanities at the University of Ontario Institute of Technology, is the author of In The Name of Hate: Understanding Hate Crimes. Sarah Ali is a member of the Organizing Committee Against Islamophobia. The group, alongside a diverse set of other organizations have been demonstrating against the fringe right on a regular basis. Unfortunately, these interviews were cut from the podcast due to time constraints, but are available as web exclusive downloads here: Dr. Barbara Perry (interviewed by Hadiya Roderique) Sarah Ali (interviewed by Ashley Csanady)