Fascism in Canada (French: Fascisme au Canada) consists of a variety of movements and political parties in Canada during the 20th century. Largely a fringe ideology, Fascism has never commanded a large following in Canada, however it was most popular during the Great Depression.
During the 1930s, the Canadian Union of Fascists (CUF) was founded. Based first in Winnipeg, then in Toronto, it was led by Chuck Crate and modelled on Oswald Mosley's British Union of Fascists. Around the same time, in February 1934 in Quebec, the Parti national social chrétien (transl. National Social Christian Party) was founded by journalist and self-proclaimed "Canadian Führer" Adrien Arcand.[1] The CUF split off of the Winnipeg-based Canadian Nationalist Party (CNP), led by William Whittaker.[2][3] The CNP merged with Arcand's Parti national social chrétien du Canada in 1938, along with fascist groups based in Ontario and Quebec (many of whom were known as "swastika clubs"), to form the National Unity Party of Canada in July 1938.[4]
At the outbreak of World War II, most openly fascist organizations and political parties were banned and most Canadian fascist leaders were interned under the Defence of Canada Regulations. Arcand would spend the war under guard at the Petawawa military base alongside other 'enemy organization' leaders, while other members of the movement would be similarly interned in areas of New Brunswick.[5] In the post-war period, Fascism never recovered its former small influence.[6]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ "Fondation du Parti national social chrétien". bilan.usherbrooke.ca. Retrieved September 21, 2020.
- ^ "PAPER NAZIS DOCUMENTARY EXAMINES 1930s ANTI-SEMITISM IN WINNIPEG".
- ^ Belshaw, John Douglas (August 13, 2020). "6.8 Canadian Fascists".
- ^ "Fascist Meet", Time, July 18, 1938.
- ^ Belshaw, John Douglas (May 17, 2016). "6.8 Canadian Fascists". opentextbc.ca. PressBooks. Retrieved July 6, 2022.
- ^ Lita-Rose Betcherman, The Swastika and the Maple Leaf: Fascist Movements in Canada in the Thirties (Fitzhenry & Whiteside, 1978).
Further reading
edit- Betcherman, Lita-Rose. The Swastika and the Maple Leaf: Fascist Movements in Canada in the Thirties (Fitzhenry & Whiteside, 1978).
- Salvatore, Filippo. Fascism and the Italians of Montreal: An Oral History, 1922–1945 (Guernica Editions, 1998).
External links
edit- Gonick, Cy (January 13, 2015). "Fascism". The Canadian Encyclopedia. Historica Canada.