Community centre in Jarvis, Ont., says far-right group Diagolon misled venue when it booked event

The management board of a community centre in Jarvis, Ont., says it was misled by a far-right group that held an event in its space on Wednesday evening.

Ian Cooper, a management board member of the Jarvis Lions Community Centre, said in a Facebook post on Thursday that there was a booking described as a “family and friends get-together” and no one knew it was by Diagolon. The group was named in a 2022 House of Commons report as an example of “ideologically motivated violent extremism.”

“We were [misled] as to the purpose and nature of the event that was planned, by the person who booked the hall and signed the contract,” Cooper said, adding the board has contacted the building’s owner and Haldimand County to “prevent this from happening again.”

CBC Hamilton contacted Cooper and other members of the board for comment but didn’t receive a response.

CBC also spoke to at least three people who were in Jarvis on Wednesday night and were upset the event was taking place. 

Josh Parsons, who lives in nearby Port Dover, said he was walking by the community centre and saw a full parking lot and people wearing Diagolon shirts.

“I was enraged … them being so present in the community,” he said, adding a children’s softball game was taking place nearby.

Groups such as Diagolon who allegedly promote violence and racism are not welcome in the Haldimand community.– Mayor Shelley Ann Bentley

Jarvis is within Haldimand County, about 50 kilometres southwest of Hamilton. 

The county issued a media release Thursday afternoon that also said the “suspected alt-right extremist group” was “misrepresenting the event nature and intended facility use.”

“Groups such as Diagolon who allegedly promote violence and racism are not welcome in the Haldimand community,” Mayor Shelley Ann Bentley said.

County chief administrative officer Cathy Case said staff and volunteers will work together to try to prevent future cases, but it can be hard to do so when people aren’t honest when booking.

Ontario Provincial Police told CBC Hamilton in an email on Thursday it didn’t “have any information” to confirm the event.

CBC Hamilton also reached out to Diagolon about the intended use of the facility and how it booked it, and to seek a response to the mayor’s statement. The group responded but did not address those specific questions. It told CBC Hamilton in an email before the event that it was “sold out.”

What is Diagolon?

Diagolon was founded by podcaster Jeremy MacKenzie.

The RCMP has described the group as a “militia-like network with members who are armed and prepared for violence.”

In a past interview with CBC Hamilton, Barbara Perry, director of the Centre on Hate, Bias and Extremism at Ontario Tech University, called Diagolon an “accelerationist” and “white supremacist” group. 

According to Perry, “they wish to accelerate what they see as a civil war” that will restore a white, Christian ethno-state.

She said the group became widely known during the 2022 Freedom Convoy — a big tent protest movement against the federal government and pandemic public health measures.

MacKenzie and his followers have denied this characterization, saying onlookers are misunderstanding what they call jokes. They appear to play into the image of themselves as villains, using a demonic goat as a mascot and calling their upcoming travels the Road Rage Terror Tour. 

“They’re gonna say it was all tongue in cheek,” Perry said, noting other far-right groups, such as the Proud Boys, followed the path of couching their message in irony before becoming more hard line.

In early June, a Nova Scotia judge threw out charges, including criminal harassment, against MacKenzie and his partner, Morgan Guptill, who the Crown had accused of harassing the province’s chief medical officer of health in 2022. The judge said the couple’s rights had been violated because it took too long for them to stand trial. 

Leslyn Lewis, the Conservative MP for Haldimand—Norfolk, said in an email to CBC she hopes people booking events would be “honest and forthcoming,” adding she has “nothing to do with the group in question.”

She also pointed to a past social media post from Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre, who described Diagolon as “losers” and “dirtbags.”

‘We don’t need this in small communities’

The event in Jarvis on Wednesday — a town of roughly 1,000 people that is nestled deep in southern Ontario —was advertised in advance as taking place in Hamilton.

In July, community groups such as the Hamilton Centre for Civic Inclusion, Hamilton Anti-Racism Resource Centre and Disability Justice Network of Ontario asked venues to shut their doors to Diagolon. Hamilton Mayor Andrea Horwath also condemned the event in the lead-up. 

On Thursday, people in Jarvis also told CBC Hamilton they weren’t happy to hear Diagolon held an event in the community.

Parsons, 34, who was walking by, said he was in town to play disc golf with his dad when he stumbled upon the event.

He said he noticed the parking lot was full, which was unusual. 

Parsons said he asked people he saw if they were with Diagolon, told them they weren’t welcome and walked away after a verbal exchange.

“I never imagined encountering something like this,” he said. 

Betty Reu has lived near the community centre for over 70 years.

The 90-year-old said she couldn’t tell exactly how many people attended the event, but there were a lot because she saw parked vehicles outside her home — something that happens when the centre’s parking area is full. 

After hearing how the group has been described as wanting to speed up what it sees as a civil war, among other messages, Reu said Diagolon isn’t welcome.

It’s troublesome that we have groups like this organizing events in small towns and small communities which have the potential of creating trouble within a small, quiet community.– Kristina Meade, visitor to Jarvis

“We don’t need that type of person here at all … I don’t need a civil war on my doorstep,” she said. “Somebody should stop them, but I don’t know who’s going to do it.”

Kristina Meade said she was in Jarvis visiting family when Diagolon came to town and told CBC she’s opposed to the group.

“It’s troublesome that we have groups like this organizing events in small towns and small communities which have the potential of creating trouble within a small, quiet community,” she said.

She said she hopes Diagolon’s visit to Jarvis is a learning experience for people in other small communities so they aren’t misled when the group tries to book a venue.

“There is this element out there and we have to be careful, especially small communities need to be careful of who they’re allowing to use their facilities and what the purpose of these events are,” she said.

“We don’t need this in small communities in Ontario.”