Pierre Poilievre Claims He’s Never Heard of ‘Diagolon’. He’s Not Telling the Truth. Here are the Receipts.

The leader of the Conservative Party of Canada is having a hard time keeping his stories straight about a group of far-right extremists.

Over the weekend, Pierre Poilievre left many scratching their heads after claiming he had never heard of a far-right extremist group called “Diagolon” before, even though Poilievre is on the record previously admitting he’s heard of the group.

Diagolon is an online community revolving around a group of far-right influencers. They have been documented displaying neo-Nazi symbols and making antisemitic and anti-Muslim statements. The Emergencies Act Inquiry’s final report notes that law enforcement views the group as a “potentially dangerous organization.”

During an interview with Sudbury.com this weekend, Poilievre was asked about his past interactions with “extreme right-wing” groups, including Diagolon.

Curiously, rather than acknowledge his past run-ins with the group, Poilievre instead claimed he did not know what Diagolon was.

After being told that Diagolon has been labelled “extremist” by law enforcement, Poilievre disputed that characterization and insisted this was “an example of gaslighting by NDP liberal extremists”:

“When Sudbury.com spoke of his interactions with groups that include Diagolon, which was recently in Sudbury, he asked ‘What is that? I don’t know what that is’.”

Sudbury.com

Poilievre’s statement denying any knowledge of Diagolon is demonstrably false.

In a September 2022 statement, Poilievre explicitly stated that he first became aware of Diagolon about one month earlier in August 2022:

“Frankly, like most Canadians, until about a month ago I had never heard of Diagolon and these losers.”

Poilievre’s spokespersons, Sebastian Skamski and Sarah Fischer, did not respond to questions from PressProgress seeking an explanation about how to reconcile the contradiction between Poilievre’s statement in 2022 and his latest statement in 2024.

Pierre Poilievre (Twitter)

Poilievre’s knee-jerk denial is all the more bizarre given that he has no good reason to lie in this situation — other than to dodge talking about the subject altogether so as to avoid alienating a key segment of his base.

Not only is Poilievre regularly mocked and ridiculed by Diagolon influencers, he also released his September 2022 statement after reporting Diagolon’s leader to police for threatening to sexually assault his spouse.

The RCMP later confirmed it had launched an investigation into threats of sexual violence directed at Poilievre’s spouse and a few days later, Mackenzie was arrested on an unrelated Canada-wide warrant. To date, Mackenzie has not been charged for his comments about Poilievre’s spouse.

Poilievre denounces Diagolon ‘losers’ over threat of sexual assault against his wife https://t.co/BeUz9JTNX0 pic.twitter.com/2q2kYkZ7mQ

— Ottawa Sun (@ottawasuncom) September 27, 2022

A month earlier, during his Conservative leadership campaign, Poilievre denied knowing who the leader of Diagolon was after having his photo taken with Mackenzie at a meet-and-greet in Nova Scotia.

At the time, Poilievre’s leadership campaign released a statement claiming Poilievre  did not “know or recognize this particular individual.”

Poilievre’s campaign ignored calls to disavow “Diagolon” even after being presented with a copy of an intelligence report produced by the Integrated Terrorism Assessment Centre that explicitly names Mackenzie as one of the “key individuals” associated with “ideologically motivated violent extremist” groups who were present during the Freedom Convoy’s occupation of Ottawa.

Jeremy Mackenzie (Telegram)

One reason Poilievre is fielding so many questions about Diagolon might be because he keeps bumping into the group’s influencers and supporters in public.

Diagolon influencers have been repeatedly spotted at Poilievre’s events.

And earlier this year, Poilievre once again found himself interacting with Diagolon supporters when he pulled over to the side of a highway and gave a pep talk to a conspiratorial far-right group staging protests at the Nova Scotia–New Brunswick border.

One livestream image shows Poilievre standing next to a Diagolon flag. Members of the conspiratorial far-right group at the Nova Scotia–New Brunswick border had also shared photos of themselves with Diagolon influencers.

At the time, Poilievre’s office ignored questions about why Poilievre would associate with people who endorse this group.

Pierre Poilievre meets with far-right extremist group at Nova Scotia-New Brunswick border.

“Everyone’s happy with what you’re doing,” Poilievre tells conspiratorial fringe group camped out on side of highway.https://t.co/OCHheQLPG3 #cdnpoli

— PressProgress (@pressprogress) April 24, 2024

Over the summer, Diagolon’s leaders have been touring across Canada, attracting concern from local community groups and attention from police.

During their cross-country tour , performers on the Diagolon road show have been spotted wearing clothing with symbols linked to neo-Nazi groups and delivered stand-up comedy routines about the Holocaust.

The group’s event in Sudbury was cancelled last month after volunteers at a local community centre became aware of what the group was all about.

The Emergencies Act Inquiry’s final report notes that “law enforcement and intelligence agencies view Diagolon as a militia-like extremist organization.”

“According to RCMP documents, Diagolon is a militia-like network with supporters who subscribe to accelerationist ideologies — the idea that a civil war or collapse of western governments is inevitable and ought to be sped up.”

The head of intelligence for the Ontario Provincial Police similarly described “Diagolon as an extremist group.”

Earlier this summer, an Ontario judge issued a ruling in a weapons case agreeing with the Commission’s finding that “Diagolon is a militia-like extremist organization consisting of members who are armed and prepared for violence.”

“The evidence before me reasonably supports a valid public safety concern about the activities and members of Diagolon,” the decision states, adding that “law enforcement’s concern about Diagolon is genuine and well-founded.”