A gathering of Canada's largest white supremacist group has been tracked down by CBC's Visual Investigations Unit, which pieced together where the secretive summer meet-up took place. The group, known as Second Sons Canada, held a major event where members carried out army-style drills and military-inspired chants, offering a rare look at how such organizations operate in the country.
Second Sons styles itself as a men's nationalist club, but the group holds extreme beliefs. Footage from the gathering captured members voicing openly extremist views, including the claim that the Nazis were right to support their own people, underlining the ideology behind what is presented publicly as a fraternal club.
The group went to lengths to keep the location of its gathering secret, saying only that the event had taken place in the foothills of Alberta. That secrecy set up the challenge for investigators, who set out to identify exactly where dozens of members had assembled to eat, spar and train together.
To pin down the site, CBC started with an image of an overpass on a major highway that showed a sign reading Exit to Calgary. By matching the sign and other distinctive features in the footage, the team established that the gathering had taken place near the town of Okotoks, south of Calgary.
The investigators then turned to the building where the group had gathered. Drawing on a pattern they had seen before, of white supremacist groups renting community centres whose operators are unaware of their true purpose, they searched for halls in the area and identified the Square Butte Community Hall in Millarville, Alberta. A distinctive gate and the building itself matched the group's own footage, and the hall's website showed a three-day booking that fit the timeline.
Working with colleagues at CBC Calgary, the team travelled to Millarville to gauge the reaction of locals, who were stunned to learn what had happened in their community. Residents described being shell-shocked and called the news completely disturbing. The venue told CBC that Second Sons did not identify itself when it booked the hall.
The case points to a wider concern about how such groups exploit unsuspecting community venues. The worry is not confined to Alberta. In Ontario this week, Hamilton's mayor sent letters to local businesses warning them that another white nationalist group was advertising a conference in the area, a sign that communities elsewhere are being urged to stay alert.