The Genocidal Mindset of the Canadian Left

How the divided culture in Canada is characteristic of many stages of genocide

Photo by Jr Korpa on Unsplash

Zachary R.J. Strong is a scholar, educator, and author dancing happily at the intersection of science, religion, history, and media ecology. Deeply moved as a child by the news of the Rwandan and Yugoslavian genocides, he studies, among other things, the psychological processes involved in radicalization on all sides of the political spectrum.

The Canadian political left constantly affirms its commitment to “tolerance” and “love”, however a comparison of their rhetoric and behaviour with accepted models of genocidal aggression reveals that their true motives may well entail the annihilation of people that do not subscribe to their worldview. While this “annihilation” is unlikely to result in the mass graves that we typically associate with genocide, the threat posed by the leftist mindset could lead to organized violence and represents an existential risk to the social fabric of Canada.

The model we shall use for comparison comes from the work of Genocide Watch, an organization that purports to monitor genocidal behaviour around the world. Based on historical precedent, they see genocide as being comprised of ten stages, with each stage encompassing a process that contributes – and leads – to outright genocide. As we shall see, Canada is at the eighth stage of this model, with the ninth being the physical elimination of undesirables. This requires immediate attention and nuanced strategies to effectively address.

Stage 1: Classification

The first and most fundamental process that contributes to genocide is the act of dividing people up according to group status. In a diverse society, there will always be necessary demarcations of some kind for official and unofficial reasons, but when classification invades how people interact with each other on a day-to-day basis, this becomes a problem. The manifestations of this process are plainly obvious to see, particularly in the obsession with leftists regarding the classification of their own genders, in the division of people along racial lines for purposes of “equity”, and in the growing popularity of referring to Caucasians as “white” instead of by their country of origin. Additionally, the growing demarcation of certain groups of society as “far-right extremists” is the first step in distancing and othering them.

Stage 2: Symbolization

Although it is natural and positive for people from different cultures and groups to dress and act differently, when we create stereotypes or caricatures of others, or use certain names to refer to people from that group, it can lead to dehumanization and division. This type of rhetoric has become commonplace on the political left, from simplistic caricatures of “whiteness” to political cartoons that explicitly caricature the enemies of the left. The use of the terms “freedumbers” to describe blue-collar workers resisting vaccine mandates, as well as “PeePees” to refer to supporters of Pierre Poilievre, are another manifestation of this process.

Stage 3: Discrimination

When a dominant group, or the state, uses law and political power to deny or suppress the rights of a less powerful group, that is discrimination. This is accomplished by legitimizing the actions for some reason – usually protective (residential schools), preventative (Japanese internment camps), or punitive (Nuremburg Laws).

In the case of the political left, the vaccine issue is one of the clearest examples of discrimination, as people – many of them conservative or religious – were and are explicitly denied their Charter rights for the “protection” of society. Furthermore, the Canadian media – overwhelmingly leftist and funded in part, by the Liberal government – has become openly hostile to conservative views and flatly refuses to publish coherent and thoughtful critiques of the status quo. Notably, the case of Jessica Yaniv, whose lawsuits against religious estheticians who refused to wax “her” testicles, is another example of how seemingly-innocuous “human rights” legislation can and has been weaponized against non-leftists.

Stage 4: Dehumanization

This happens when one group denies the humanity of the other group, comparing them to vermin, pests, insects, diseases, or parasites. At this stage, propaganda in media begins to appear vilifying the targeted group. Genocide Watch notes that dehumanization overcomes the normal human revulsion against violence and is a key contributor to genocidal aggression. In Canada, the first signs of this appeared in Black Lives Matter Toronto, a founder of which described Caucasians as “subhumxn” in social media posts. The characterization of unvaccinated people as public health risks or potential disease carriers is an extremely sophisticated version of this type of thinking, mobilizing a public health emergency against the political enemies of the leftist mainstream. This also manifests in the Canadian media, particularly the Toronto Star’s infamous front-page screed against unvaccinated people and political cartoons portraying truckers as disease carriers.

Stage 5: Organization

In genuinely genocidal situations, the state often sponsors independent militias and other non-military aggressors to plan and carry out attacks on the hated group. Although this isn’t happening explicitly in the form of militias, it is notable that the educational complex uses tax dollars to fund student groups that have violently protested against perceived enemies of leftist causes, from the feminist deplatforming of Warren Farrell at the University of Toronto in 2012, to the quasi-violent protests against Jordan Peterson at McMaster University in 2017. Indeed, although Canadian leftists are generally too timid to engage in outright violence for now, their behavior in this regard shows a willingness to force their views on others and is very troubling.

Stage 6: Polarization

At this stage, extremists begin driving groups apart and the media narrative reinforces division. People stop interacting with, intermarrying, befriending, or doing business with people from the hated group. Laws are passed that erode fundamental rights and liberties. 

Much of the sophisticated academic thinking influencing the Canadian left has come from American authors such as Robin DiAngelo, Delgado & Stefanic, and Ibram X. Kendi, however it is plainly obvious to even average Canadians that we are more divided than ever – particularly in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, which was used as a wedge to divide Canadians into “us” and “them”.

Stage 7: Preparation

In order to prepare the populace for coming atrocities, the state and the media create a defensive narrative. The hated group is dangerous, plotting to undermine or destroy the rest of society, and so on. Proactive measures are painted as a necessary prevention. Although this is most obvious in the case of the trucker protests, which triggered the use of emergency measures for reasons of “national security”, a cursory look at the #cdnpoli hashtag on Twitter will reveal that many rank-and-file leftists in Canada genuinely view conservatives as threats to the country, to democracy itself, as extremists, and so on, an issue that has been exacerbated by a leftist echo chamber in the media, educational sector, and intellectual class.

Stage 8: Persecution

During this process, people are rounded up and separated based on their group identity. Members of hated groups may be forced to wear identifying symbols. Forced sterilization programs may be enacted to prevent the hated group from procreating. Violence also begins to break out at this stage. Although we are not facing widespread political violence – perhaps not yet – it is important to note that measures like vaccine-related QR codes, the ArriveCAN app, and other identifying markers to delineate between unvaccinated and vaccinated people have served to separate a significant portion of the population based on a private medical decision.

Stage 9: Extermination

This is the stage where concentration camps, re-education facilities, and other things typically associated with genocide appear. Given the high level of transparency Canadian society has through social media and ubiquitous camera phones, it is very unlikely that we will be facing outright genocide, however it is notable that Canadian leftists have progressed almost to this point and likely that they would physically annihilate their perceived opponents if given the chance. Again, although we are not looking at the prospect of mass graves, it is conceivable that protests and counter-protests could lead to violence, injury, and even the loss of innocent life.

Why is this happening? What can be done?

Fundamentally, the average leftist is incredibly insecure and possibly suffering from various forms of mental illness as a result of industrialization and corrupt psychological doctrine. Their rhetoric and behavior must be not seen as intentionally malicious, but as a natural consequence of life circumstances which cause them to lash out at others. People who are hurt, hurt people.

Adherence to an ideology that takes untenable positions on gender, sexuality, the efficacy of recent public health measures, and a myriad of other politicized issues creates a level of cognitive dissonance that can only be addressed through honest reflection or the violent pushing-away of those that disagree. Given that leftism is now instantiated in academia, education, and the media, it seems like it is easier to aggressively “other” opposing viewpoints rather than engage in the type of dialogue that characterizes a functioning democracy. This is extremely unfortunate and poses significant challenges for the nation moving forward.

Although the approach of many anti-woke activists has been to engage in the so-called “culture war” through traditional methods, it seems increasingly clear that addressing the threat of far-left activism will require sophisticated methods derived from the kinds of deradicalization techniques typically associated with the rehabilitation of Islamic extremists and cult members. Seeking to debate leftists or defeat them politically, which contributes to the “us versus them” dynamic that the ideology thrives off of, has proven to be ineffective and only worsens the problem. What seems to be required instead is the careful nurturing of existing relationships to provide – ironically – safe spaces for leftists to examine their own behavior, explore different ways of thinking and being, and come to more reasonable conclusions about themselves and others.

Unfortunately, given that things in Canada have progressed almost to the point of actual genocide, it is likely that national endeavours reminiscent of the reconciliation processes in Rwanda and South Africa will be required to heal this fractured nation. However, such processes cannot begin until all sides – conservative, liberal, unvaccinated, vaccinated, indigenous, Caucasian, black, feminist, atheist, religious – are willing to come to the table and talk with their neighbour once again.

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Thanks for reading. For more from Zachary Strong read - The Antisemitism of the Canadian Left (substack.com)