St. Albert Mayor Cathy Heron said she was in "a state of shock" on Saturday afternoon when she became aware of an anti-immigration protest along St. Albert Trail on Saturday.
"That's why I wrote 'This amazes me,'" Heron said in an interview, referring to her Facebook post on Saturday afternoon. "I think if I had posted it a few minutes later or a half hour later when I was honestly comprehending what was happening, I probably would have been a little bit more vocal in my disgust and disappointment that that was happening."
"It's disheartening and I would have hoped that St. Albert was above it, but Saturday showed us that maybe we need to do a little bit more," she said.
The three individuals were photographed holding up signs with anti-immigration sentiments like "Deport them all" and "import 3rd world, welcome 3rd world," and "white lives matter." At least one of them also threw up a Nazi salute. The Gazette has identified one of the protesters, who is not from St. Albert but from Southern Alberta. The protester was involved in a similar demonstration in Calgary on Jan.12, according to his social media.
According to at least one member of the Canadian Anti-Hate Network, this isn't an isolated incident and demonstrations like this have been popping up in Canada more recently.
"These protests calling for mass deportations have been going on, using that type of language in Canada, for probably the last year," said Peter Smith, a researcher and reporter with the Canadian Anti-Hate Network.
Smith used to join hate organizations to understand their activities and report on them, giving him unique insight into how they work and coordinate. He said there were demonstrations with similar anti-immigration sentiments held around the world over the weekend.
"In one sense, they're using language that is really common among a few kind of global far-right protest movements that are going on right now. Specifically, there's an Australian group called the National Socialist Network, which also held protests this weekend," Smith said, noting that they used similar language in their protest in Southern Australia.
He also said there was a protest with similar "mass deportations now" signs held in Kitchener, Ont. He can't be certain, but guesses "there would have been some type of coordination" between the group in Kitchener and the group in St. Albert.
The events in St. Albert come following a troubling rise in hate in recent years. According to Statistics Canada, reported hate crimes nearly doubled in Alberta between 2019 and 2023. And although Smith said he wouldn't tie the events over the weekend to any specific political event, he does think that they help these groups feel more emboldened to demonstrate publicly.
"Over the past year there have been some significant political victories for the far-right kind of across the spectrum," he said. Recently Elon Musk made a gesture that was likened to a Nazi salute at President Trump's inauguration.
"I also think that immigration is becoming a much more mainstream talking point," Smith said. "It's something that's being discussed and so they're kind of capitalizing on the attention or they're seeking to capitalize on the attention."
Nina Saini, executive director of Stop Hate AB, said that instances like these popping up could indicate something deeper happening within the community.
"When an incident like this happens in a community it's often not a one-off," Saini said. "It should be an alarm of being knowledgeable that there is presence potentially of an organized hate group that has influence. Or even just these individuals that have some collective support. So, it's not something that should be looked at as a one and done."
Smith says the best way to deal with instances of hate like these is at the community level, especially when these demonstrations fall into a category he called "lawful but awful," where the protests aren't explicitly advocating for any kind of violence but are meant to be provocative.
"If people feel unsafe then perhaps it's time to get law enforcement involved, but generally working within your communities, building strong systems and connections," were some things Smith listed that can go a long way in "preventing these people from gaining any kind of footholds."
Heron said that city council will continue work to educate the public on hate and how to fight against it.
"We already have tons of resources at the Family and Community Support Services and at the library about teaching about hate and anti-hate," she said. "So, what I think council can do is support that and if anything pops up in the way of a grassroots counter protest, we can be there to support that."
A small counter protest happened Monday evening, when St. Albert mother Ashley Winnington held up pro-diversity signs with her two children along St. Albert trail.
In a statement, Public Interest Alberta called on Premier Danielle Smith to condemn the protest. They shared a community letter that reads in part "We, the undersigned individuals and organizations, formally express our collective request for you to urgently denounce the recent hate crimes expressed by several individuals in the community of St. Albert on Saturday, January 25th."
The St. Albert RCMP said they received reports of the incident at 11:45 a.m. on Saturday and responded immediately. They spoke with the three participants and the group then dispersed. No arrests were made. They are still investigating and working with the Hate Crimes Coordinator.
The police ask if members of the public have images of the individuals and the signs they carried to contact the St. Albert RCMP detachment at 780-458-7700.
