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Fringey Mini: Active Clubs are organizing · Journey to the Fringe

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