HateGate, Part 3: Why The Final Report Is Misleading

This continues the series on “Diagolon”. This is a so-called “meme” organization that shows the signs of being a honeypot run by either law enforcement or intelligence. Even if the members themselves aren’t connected directly, they function as “useful idiots” for the Government.

Parts 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 of the Schill gun grab are here.
Parts 1 and 2 of the HateGate Scam are available as well.

Back in the Fall of 2023, this 85 page document was written by Caryma Sa’d and Elisa Hategan, and released by Crier Media. It supposedly proved the Emergencies Act had been invoked because of shoddy intelligence and poor research. Authorities engaged in a clownish series of acts and panicked over an edgy podcast.

This is in no way an attempt to justify the loss of freedoms that had been going on since 2020. That said, there are questions to ask about this report.

The strongest evidence is said to be the 1,802 page FOIPIP document. It’s comprised of emails, letters and memos between Government officials and law enforcement.

Interestingly, the massive FOIPIP released from the RCMP is quoted, but never linked. Nor was it included by any of the “media” outlets who covered the expose. Was was this receipt left out?

Here are just a few points to consider:

What Data Did FOIPIP Request Actually Ask For?

Any and All records, files (etc), documents, memos, e-mails, communication records, and reports on the subject of “Diagolon” or in relation or reference to the subject of Diagolon. Search term: Diagolon Also referred to as the Diagolon Network or Diagolon Militia.
Timeframe: January 01 2021 to August 15 2022

From this, Sa’d and Hategan went on to draw the conclusion that police are taking their information primarily from the media. After that, the police would feed this data — primarily from the Canadian Anti-Hate Network — to politicians, who (among other things) invoked the Emergencies Act. They apparently all fed off of each other, which was referred to many times as the “circle jerk”.

However, Sa’d and Hategan — in their FOIPIP request — didn’t ask for all “records, files (etc), documents, memos, e-mails, communication records, and reports” that resulted in the EA being invoked. Instead, the request was specific to the group, Diagolon. They then decided that these records were sufficient. It’s worth noting that the FOIPIP didn’t inquire about any other (alleged) extremists.

Nor did the FOIPIP request to obtain any “records, files (etc), documents, memos, e-mails, communication records, and reports” about how so-called violent extremists groups are defined, surveilled and dealt with.

Nor did the FOIPIP request to obtain any “records, files (etc), documents, memos, e-mails, communication records, and reports” about what information and evidence had been gathered on Diagolon. They didn’t ask to see anything from law enforcement directly. Granted, this would likely have been withheld, if investigations were ongoing.

The documents included here do have significant redactions, so there’s a lot of information that’s being withheld. Nonetheless, Sa’d and Hategan can apparently still piece together what was going on.

Point is, a lot of conclusions were drawn on a very incomplete record.

Authors Interviewed No Witnesses To Draw Conclusions

Pages 57 to 62 of the HateGate report quote some emails between various law enforcement and Government. From this, the authors conclude that the RCMP was working blindly to fulfill demands to dig up dirt on various extremist groups.

Problem is: going through their report, it doesn’t look like they interviewed a single witness, or even attempted to. Since the FOIPIP only asked about “Diagolon”, most likely there are many other emails not included. Given the gaps in the record (see previous section), one would think they would try to contact at least a few of the officers involved. After all, their email addresses were listed.

This isn’t to justify — in any way — the heavy handed approach that was used on peaceful protesters. Far from it. But these are very serious allegations to make, and it’s very speculative.

RCMP Expressed Doubt About Reliability Of CAHN Articles

Pages 16 through 26 of the 2nd FOIPIP package are worth a read. The RCMP does discuss Diagolon at length, and admits that a lot of the information they get came from CAHN. However, they also admit that it’s almost impossible to verify any of it, and that it’s unclear how CAHN can make these assertions with any level of confidence.

The RCMP also expresses doubts about a University of New Brunswick Professor named David Hofmann. They don’t know how he can state that Diagolon is an “American-style militia movement”.

They conclude that “operational information” would be needed to build any profile, since none of the open source claims can be verified.

Is this self serving? Maybe, but these are the same FOIPIP documents that are being used to make them look incompetent and dishonest. Yes, the RCMP does monitor the content CAHN puts out — that’s obvious — but they have doubts about its reliability.

MacKenzie’s Stream From February 15th, 2022

Starting at page 47 of the 6th FOIPIP package, MacKenzie’s video is mentioned, along with several quotes. He refers to himself (presumably sarcastically) as the Neo-Nazi Militia Commander. He mentions the patches that were found in Coutts, but suggests they were planted. He also goes on about the “country” being a meme.

It’s baffling to understand what kind of idiot would post a video with such a title. If authorities aren’t understanding what’s satire v.s. reality, why give them this kind of bait? And it’s hardly the first time he’s done something like this.

MacKenzie either doesn’t know — or pretends not to know — that posting this content can have serious consequences. Hard to claim he’s being smeared by CAHN when this is how he describes himself.

There are also remarks in various streams about “hunting circs”, which police take to mean “hunting circulons”, or people who subscribe to different ideologies. While this is likely in jest, authorities take them at their word.

Part of the reason authorities had such difficulty understanding what Diagolon was likely had to do with the endless mixed messages. MacKenzie and his friends routinely said things that would be considered fed-posting, only to follow it up with “it’s all just a joke”. Comments about “gun or rope” and the like are also just jokes.

Yeah. The majority of the content was – especially considering the time, it was very anti-COVID, anti-vaccine, anti-government material. There was a lot of conspiracy theory material in that. There was a lot of what I would define as White nationalists, White supremacy ideology existing within that space. There was also a lot of what I would define as militia-type discussions. There was a lot of talk of acquiring weaponry, body armour, ammunition, planning meet-ups, organizing community events, and then also articulating the purpose of these events beyond simply….

Going back to the Schill gun grab of May 2024, Carmichael testified that there were meet-ups in person. There were also conversations around weapons, ammnition, and body armour.

He also testified that the in-person meetings were surveilled.

One has to wonder how long this has been going on for. How extensive it the information that has been gathered? This is another reason to think that more information should have been asked for with the FOIPIP request.

Are MacKenzie, Harrison, Vriend and the others completely oblivious to what’s being set in motion? All of this talk about being a militia, going shooting, etc… is being taken at face value. And now with the hard anti-immigration push, it looks even worse.

RCMP Has Their “Talking Points” Available For The Media

Back in April 2022, the RCMP had their “talking points” ready for media inquiries. This is from the beginning of the 1st FOIPIP package. In essence, there were scripts already prepared, including what to say if pressed further.

Page 31 of the 9th FOIPIP package has a similar script, dated February 20th, 2022. No specifics can be given, but there’s a “trust us” response.

Far from being unique, it seems likely that most (or all) press conferences are structured this way. There’s the set script, and then the “extra information” to be released if there’s any pushback.

Diagolon is mentioned in the context that body armour from Coutts, AB had their markings on it. Yes, it is labelled a “militia” in this memo. Can’t figure out why.

Authors Insert Themselves Greatly Into Report

The HateGate report is 85 pages, or less, if covers, table of contents, etc… are removed. Pages 10 and 11 are about Caryma Sa’d, and 31 to 44 are about Elisa Hategan. 16 pages, or approximately 20% of the report’s content is information on the authors and their experiences. There’s about as much detail on them as there is on MacKenzie. And that leads to another concern….

Other Agendas From The Authors?

As an aside, it’s comical how the “independent” media who broke HateGate never bothered to do the slightest bit of due diligence into the people writing the report.

Part 1 of this series covered Elisa Hategan, one of the co-authors. She had been involved with a group called Heritage Front back in the 1990’s. She later acted as an “asset” for the Ontario Provincial Police, helping to bring them down. Hategan’s story is widely available, and she even published a book titled: “Race Traitor”.

Heritage Front turned out to be a CSIS operation, quite literally. It was co-founded by Grant Bristow, who was at one point the second-in-command of the group. This means the group was created, at least in part, by CSIS. Who’s to say that Diagolon isn’t the next iteration?

Part 2 covered Hategan’s lawfare against Bernie Farber, and Elizabeth (Moore) Frederiksen. Justice Ferguson found that Hategan had engaged in doxing, stalking, harassment, and invading privacy. Not content to lose in Court, she kept it going in Appellate Court for another 2 years.

Hategan’s involvement in writing the HateGate report is suspicious because: (a) she glosses over the “honeypot” possibility; and (b) given her recent history with Farber, this looks like revenge.

Thoughts On The FOIPIP And HateGate Report?

The claim has been going around since September 2023 that this was “proof” that an intelligence failure around Diagolon and MacKenzie led to the EA being invoked. But the request only asks for information on Diagolon, and is structured in a way that ensures such proof won’t be included. It would have been far more productive to request all records related to the declaration of emergency in the first place.

Alternatively, multiple FOIPIP requests could have been made, even if there would be overlap in the disclosure.

While the FOIPIP package is over 1,000 pages, there’s very little in there. Many of the emails are chains, so the same content keeps coming up. A lot of pages have little to no content on them.

Sa’d and Hategan fill in the blanks with their own assumptions. Without talking to witnesses, they speculate and give their views about what was going on. If this was clearly explained to be opinion, that would be one thing, but people interpret this as fact.

Taking the FOIPIP documents at face value, it’s clear that the RCMP (and presumably CSIS too) do in fact monitor the news in general. They also have looked at what CAHN has said about others, including Diagolon. However, while these articles are quoted, and shared, there’s no hard proof that it led to anything, let alone the invocation of the Emergencies Act.

Yes, other countries (such as New Zealand) have been contacted about Diagolon. However, given the kinds of comments MacKenzie and his followers routinely make, this doesn’t seem outrageous.

The HateGate report comes across much more as an advocacy piece that something objective. MacKenzie’s take on things is always given deference. People like Bernie Farber are always pushing ideological agendas. The authors (in particular Hategan) use their own experiences as material and for reference points.

Overall, this is nowhere near the “breaking story” that had been portrayed.

It’s interesting, but that’s about it.

Again, this is in no way to justify the declaration of emergency, or the crackdown on protesters, or the freezing of bank accounts. None of that was called for.

SCHILL HEARING:
(1) https://www.canlii.org/en/on/oncj/doc/2024/2024oncj249/2024oncj249.html
(2) Evidence Of Officer Ernest Carmichael, Day 1
(3) Evidence Of Officer Ernest Carmichael, Day 2, Cross Examination

CARMICHAEL ASSAULTING A PRISONER:
(1) Ernest Carmichael Disciplinary Hearing Penalty Decision 25.07.2014
(2) https://toronto.ctvnews.ca/siu-lays-assault-charge-against-york-region-police-officer-1.1392108
(3) https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/york-police-officer-charged-with-assault/article_d1b43f97-a077-59b4-8603-747a94b76170.html

HATEGAN STALKING CIVIL CASE:
(1) https://www.canlii.org/en/on/onsc/doc/2021/2021onsc874/2021onsc874.html
(2) https://www.canlii.org/en/on/onca/doc/2022/2022onca217/2022onca217.html
(3) https://www.canlii.org/en/on/onca/doc/2022/2022onca715/2022onca715.html
(4) https://www.canlii.org/en/on/onca/doc/2023/2023onca57/2023onca57.html

PEOC HEARINGS:
(1) https://publicorderemergencycommission.ca/
(2) PEOC Report, Volume 1: Overview
(3) Public Order Emergency Report Volume 1 Overview
(4) PEOC Report, Volume 2: Analysis (Part 1)
(5) Public Order Emergency Report Volume 2 Analysis Part 1
(6) PEOC Report, Volume 3: Analysis (Part 2)
(7) Public Order Emergency Report Volume 3 Analysis Part 2 Recommendations
(8) PEOC Report, Volume 4: Process and Appendices
(9) Public Order Emergency Report Volume 4 Process And Appendices
(10) PEOC Report, Part 5: Policy Papers
(11) Public Order Emergency Report Volume 5 Policy Papers

MOSLEY DECISION:
(1) https://www.canlii.org/en/ca/fct/doc/2024/2024fc42/2024fc42.html#par41

CASELAW ON REVOKING FIREARMS PERMITS:
(1) R. v. Zeolkowski, 1989 CanLII 72 (SCC), [1989] S.C.J. No. 50, at para 12, 16, 17, 18
(2) British Columbia (Chief Firearms Officer) v. Fahlman, 2004 BCCA 343, at para 25.
(3) R. v. Christiansen, 2006 BCCA 189, at para 7.
(4) R. v. Bokhari, 2009 ONCJ 691, at para 10, relying on R. v. Day, [2006] O.J. No. 3187 (S.C.J.) and R. v. Morgan, [1995] O.J. No. 18 (Ont.Ct.(Prov.Div.)).
(5) R. v. Peacock-McDonald, 2007 ONCA 128, at para 40
(6) R. v. Douglas, 2013 ONCJ 649, at paras 45, 57.
(7) R. v. Mourtzis, 2015 ONCJ 74, at para 25.
(8) R. v. Roman, 2018 ONCJ 344, at para 89.
(9) R. v. Hurrell, 2002 CanLII 45007 (ON CA), [2002] O.J. No. 2819, at para 48.
(10) R. v. Christiansen, supra, at para 7.
(11) Fahlman, supra, at para 25.
(12) R. v. Peacock-Macdonald, supra, at para 40.
(13) R. v. Roman, supra, at para 89.
(14) R. v. Wiles, 2005 SCC 84, at para 9.

HateGate, Part 3: Why The Final Report Is Misleading

What Data Did FOIPIP Request Actually Ask For?

Authors Interviewed No Witnesses To Draw Conclusions

RCMP Expressed Doubt About Reliability Of CAHN Articles

MacKenzie’s Stream From February 15th, 2022

RCMP Has Their “Talking Points” Available For The Media

Authors Insert Themselves Greatly Into Report

Other Agendas From The Authors?

Thoughts On The FOIPIP And HateGate Report?

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What Data Did FOIPIP Request Actually Ask For?

Authors Interviewed No Witnesses To Draw Conclusions

RCMP Expressed Doubt About Reliability Of CAHN Articles

MacKenzie’s Stream From February 15th, 2022

RCMP Has Their “Talking Points” Available For The Media

Authors Insert Themselves Greatly Into Report

Other Agendas From The Authors?

Thoughts On The FOIPIP And HateGate Report?

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