This one I sent you just today, Taylor, and I
feel like it's fitting for a mini. This one is
from the CBC, Canada's news outlet. I don't know
that it speaks for everyone, but it's good. And
this one is from November 10th, 2025. Luckily,
not last, not any other year. And who wrote it?
Christian Pasling, Avi Angelovski, Peter Pearson,
and Eric Sesto. That's a lot of people that wrote
that. I know. I'm also gonna say you shouldn't
say luckily from this year. I don't think this
is good news. No, I'm just saying luckily for
us it's recent news. Is all that. See, I still
don't think it's lucky. It's just that I'm on
the recent news for once. Usually it's like years
past. Anyhow, this one's titled, MMM Gym Owners
Coaches ID'd at Secretive Neo -Nazi Event in
BC, British Columbia, for those who are not Canadian
or Canadian and don't know what BC means. They
exist. They're in the East. Yep. It's true. Some
of the country's most prominent white supremacist
groups gathered in Vancouver this summer for
a secretive neo -Nazi conference that also included
martial arts gym owners, coaches, and troops.
In Vancouver? Yep. How is it secretive if it's
in one of the three biggest cities in Canada?
You can still do secret things here. I guess
it's probably easier than in small towns. Like
what we wanted to do has clearly shown. Yeah,
that's very true. Held at the Scottish Cultural
Centre in the, wow, Scottish Cultural Centre,
that sucks for them, in the city's south end,
the event, I've never heard of the south end
of Vancouver. Well, yeah, it's secret. The event
was organized by a group called Exiles of the
Golden Age and discussed the formation of manner
buns on the group's social media accounts. They
describe these as disciplined groups of men who
can rebuild our world amidst the coming wreckage.
It really bothers me, Chelsea, that they chose
German for that. Like, the Bunds. It's a friendship.
Oh, is that what that means? How do you know
that? During World War II, there was a very famous
group called the German -American Bund, which
was people who were pro -Nazi. And they had a
rally at Madison Square Garden for them. Oh.
And yeah, it was like 30 ,000 people went to
Madison Square Garden to cheer on the Nazis and
had like full -on Nazi gear. We've talked about
that, I think. It's the German -American Bund,
which means they're using German because they
use Bund. Yeah, okay. CBC News' Visual Investigations
Unit obtained video of attendees and organizers
entering the event. The video was gathered by
the non -profit Canadian Anti -Hate Network,
CAHN, which studies far -right extremism in Canada.
One conference speaker, a founding member of
the white nationalist group Wolves of Vinland,
talked of an ongoing war in society that is both
cultural and physical. Another speaker said the
Matterbund formations be based on the principles
that are ethnically exclusive. Can I just add
a little bit of context? The Wolves of Vinland
would be a throwback to the original Viking colony
that came across in like the 1200s from Greenland
and Iceland because they called the east coast
of Canada Vinland. So that's what they're thrown
back to. Okay, well thank you for that insight
because I had no idea. Yeah, it's weird how much
lore you need to know for a lot of white supremacy
and Nazi adjacent things. Well then I don't feel
so bad for not knowing it. The CAHN video reveals
the gathering included individuals with long
-standing ties to the neo -Nazi movement and
members of white supremacist nationalist group
Second Sons Canada, an example of an active club
previously reported on by CBC News. Chelsea,
I'm just curious. Second Sons, like a child or
the thing in the sky? The child. Okay. I just
need to make it clear. I'm not sure because there's
so much figurativity in their wording and metaphors
that I never know whether or not they're like
using straightforward things or like metaphors
of really good things. Active clubs are white
supremacist groups that organize combat training
often in public parks and privately owned gyms.
You know I'm gonna look at every kind of gym
suspiciously now. Especially if it has the word
active in it. Or children in it. Because of the
sons, right? Any second children. Not that this
is funny. Quote, I find it extremely alarming
that there would be any extremist group or, you
know, fascist fighting club showing up in Vancouver.
End quote. City Councillor Rebecca Bly told CBC.
I mean. You guys don't have a great mayor, so
it's not that surprising. No, we don't have it.
Well, it's not my mayor. I'm not officially in
Vancouver. You don't get to vote on it. I'm just
close by enough for it to kind of affect me.
I don't know. Quote, any group whose foundational
premise is violence against others based on race
or dot dot dot ethnicity is not welcome in Vancouver.
End quote. I'm not sure what those dot dot dots
were in there for. It just means there was things
in the middle, but it didn't impact the exiles.
I thought they were just taking a pause. Evan
Balgord, executive director of the Canadian Anti
-Hate Network, said it was significant that exiles
were able to bring together so many different
individuals and groups in a unique event that
was heavy on philosophy. Quote, the white nationalist
movement used to be very fragmented and had a
lot of in -fighting. End quote. Belgord said.
Requote, the reason that we've been warning about
the size and the threat of the white nationalist
movement in Canada right now is because they
have managed to sort of figure out a unified
and coherent strategy and they are successfully
recruiting large numbers of people doing it.
End quote. Sorry I kept talking while you were
trying to. No and that's perfect because that
made a lot of sense because they're saying they
have a coherent trajectory or plan that they
want to execute. That makes a lot of sense with
that quote he gave, where did you hear that?
Like it sounds like they were discussing philosophy.
Yeah. at the white nationalist event. They very
clearly are obfuscating what the actual event
is about. No, it is on purpose, I would believe.
Experts say exiles of the golden age is an example
of a quote, folkish group, philosophy that incorporates
Germanic or Norse pagan traditions with white
supremacists and neo -Nazi elements. That might
have to do with what you were saying about the...
They weirdly all bring themselves back to Norse
and pagan. There's not a lot of like people bring
it back to like i don't know 1800s bordeaux under
the napoleonic rule weird actually not good imagery
around that the exiles of the golden age name
appears in a passage from the lightning and the
sun a 1958 book by civitry Devi, a notorious
neo -Nazi writer who espoused a cyclical view
of history where humanity will once again enter
a golden age after going through a period of
darkness and decay. The lightning and the sun
is dedicated to Adolf Hitler whom Devi describes
as quote the man against time end quote and the
godlike individual of our times. An advertisement
for another conference organized by Exiles last
year invited all men against time. The group's
Telegram channel also features pictures of a
pagan ceremony to mark the changing of the seasons
that include swastikas. Quote, if you see a swastika
in the middle of a picture at that point, that's
Nazism, end quote, said Catherine Tobaldy, a
post -doctoral researcher at the University of
Luxembourg who specializes in modern white supremacist
movements. Quote, many symbols have multiple
meanings and different interpretations, but some
of them just become very regimented, very fixed,
and this is one of them, end quote. In a speech
at the Vancouver event, a conference organizer
identified by CAHN and verified by CBC as BC
-based boxing coach Lane Palmer discussed Indo
-European first principles. He said those principles
are ethnically exclusive, both biologically and
spiritually. He also said we need an ethnic religion.
Amarnath Amarsingam, an associate professor of
religion at Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario
and an expert in extremism, said folkish groups
like the Exiles see a fusion between their religious
sense and their racial sense. In a statement
to CBC News, Vancouver's Scottish Cultural Centre,
where the event was held, said it had been told
the event was a book release gathering. Quote,
we do not and would not knowingly rent our venue
to any group or individual that promotes reprehensible
ideologies like hate in any form, including white
supremacist organizations. End quote, said Daryl
Carrature, the centre's executive Did he actually
say that or did they just assume it because they
couldn't really understand what he was saying?
That could very well be the issue as well. He
said the center was reviewing its booking policies.
You might have to sign off on not being a neo
-nazi now. Do you think they're adding that to
the questions they ask? How many people do you
have? Are you a neo -nazi group? The event also
featured a display of books and a talk from the
owner of Imperium Press which describes itself
as an illiberal and folkish press? That's what
it says. Yeah, that sounds about right. I've
never heard that. Like the opposite of liberal,
like hate liberals. The company publishes a number
of controversial far -right texts including owner
Mike Maxwell's The Cultured Thug, a guide to
radical right -wing thought and a book by Martin
Sellner, a prominent white nationalist activist
from Austria. In previous reporting on Second
Sons and active clubs in Canada, I believe we've
read an article from CBC on that and the rise
on it? Yeah we have and that's where active clubs
came from in my mind. CBC News spoke with gym
owners whose facilities had been used by the
groups for training. Those gym owners said they
had no idea of the ideology espoused by the groups
booking their spaces. Researchers have long warned
about the infiltration of the martial arts community
by neo -nazi and white supremacist movements.
Among the attendees at the exiles event, CAHN
identified a number of gym owners, and trainers
who serve a diverse clientele including children.
CBC's visual investigations team used social
media profiles, open source information and resources
such as Darkside and OSINT industries. Searchable
databases that include information pulled from
the open web and past data breaches to corroborate
the findings. Lane Palmer, who was an organizer
and speaker at the event, was listed as a coach
at West Shore Boxing Gym at Vancouver Island.
Soon after CBC reached Palmer, for comment, his
profile was taken down from the gym's website.
Reach via text for comment, an owner of the West
Shore Boxing Gym said they weren't aware of Palmer's
background and that he is no longer part of the
gym. Quote, our gym promotes an inclusive and
respectful environment that welcomes people of
all backgrounds who respect others in our code
of conduct, said co -owner Alexandra Strickland.
There's an end quote in there. Ron Pierce, who
owns the Marshall Arts Club Foundry Combat Sports
and Dunkin' in BC was also at the event. Pierce
hung up on the CBC journalist after being asked
about his attendance and didn't respond to other
requests for comments. In a statement posted
to its Instagram page following a publication
on Monday, Foundry Combat Sports said, quote,
participation in the event by any individual
was personal, peaceful, and fully compliant with
Canadian law. Sounds like anybody going to that
gym should probably stop going to that gym. Unless
you're a neo -Nazi. Oh god, that's bad. Also,
I don't know if everybody knows this, it's not
illegal to be a Nazi. Like, that's... Yeah. Ethically,
it's a little bit... Technically, he's correct.
No, it is correct. Ethically, though, it's something
else. I don't think most people would like to...
I mean, legally, yes, yes, he is right. Quote,
we unequivocally reject any attempt to link our
facility, its ownership, or its members with
hate, extremism, or unlawful conduct. End quote,
the company said. sounds like they're Nazis too.
Another attendee was Karl Stornis Bliss. Another
attendee, you know what this is going on, but
I think we should be saying this. Another attendee
was Carl Stornis Bliss, co -owner of strength
training company Broker Strength Systems. He
frequently trains out of Mission BJJ, a gym in
Mission BC that opened in 2023 where he used
to be an assistant children's coach. We should
probably end it here. I was just enjoying reading.
Let's link this article up in the note. Maybe
we'll post it on Blue Sky as well. But yeah,
comments I have three big things I want to talk
about the first is I was surprised about the
martial arts portion of it just because white
nationalists and the idea of using combats that
evolved through centuries or at least were brought
to us from different cultures seems counterintuitive
like even That last one, like the one they actually
got comment from was a Brazilian jujitsu place.
So that seems really weird. The second thing
I wanted to mention is I find it very hard to
believe you don't know as a gym owner that you
are hosting a white supremacy rally in your confines.
It's not great. And I just can't really accept
you didn't know. See, I could see maybe if you
hired somebody and it's like they're attending
something, I could see something like that, not
where you're hosting it. Yeah, no at your gym.
Yeah, and you're gonna find it really weird when
you see this group show up to every one of these
events Yeah, you would know something was off
wouldn't you even if you're like totally? Turning
a blind eye to it. You'd know you'd know even
if they're using coded language Acting nice because
everybody's around it's still the group you are
seeing is not going to be representative of Canada
and then the last thing I just want to mention
just because there's so much Norse mythology
nods going on with this it should be pointed
out Norse people have not always considered themselves
all Norse people and in fact hated each other
and their neighbors for a long time to the point
that until very recently Finns were called China
Swedes as like a derogatory slur. So just something
to keep in mind that like even though we think
about what the whites is group as a thing, it's
not a real thing because there are always in
groups within a group and out groups that need
to be made. It's more so like specific groups
of Europeans other than white nationalists. If
you want to find pride in something, give you
something directed to if you need to direct it
to something in that way. I mean, it's a super,
super concerning uprise of it. I think at least
in the United States and Canada right now. And
something that I actually... Oh, and the UK too.
What's his name? Tommy Robinson? Yeah. And I
guess Europe. But something that has come up
on my list of episodes to do on a completely
different kind of topic than this, but I think
might link back to it somehow. And it might be
something to do in that episode is Odinism, which
is some type of like occult Yes, white nationalists
love ode. Yeah So that's when it said that it's
on my list because it was linked to actually
a crime that I've been following Which I can't
think of it because you're putting me on the
spot right now I would otherwise be able to tell
you and it sounded like an intriguing Like it's
going through like the prison system right now
really big where in the states So I thought it'd
be it like it sounded like right up this alley
for what? ties that you're making without knowing
much about it and our listeners have 48 hours
to look this up so I mean all power to them your
detective skills are put to the test and I guess
you'll be rewarded when you see the episode and
if you're renting out your space probably double
check that they're not neo -nazis yeah I think
that just goes without saying anyhow bye