Good morning. This is Sarah Berman.
CBC News has identified martial arts gym owners, coaches and trainers who attended a secretive neo-Nazi event in B.C. this summer. Video of the Vancouver meet-up reviewed by our visual investigations team suggests white supremacists in Canada are organizing around combat training and see themselves as "at war" with society. More on that below.
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MMA gym owners, coaches ID'd at secretive neo-Nazi event in B.C.
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(Exiles of the Golden Age/YouTube/Westshore Boxing Gym)
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Some of the country’s most prominent white supremacist groups gathered in Vancouver this summer for a secretive neo-Nazi conference that also included mixed martial arts gym owners, coaches and trainers.
What's happening: The CBC’s visual investigations team looked into a Vancouver event organized and attended by Canada's most prominent white supremacist organizations in July. Gym owners, coaches and trainers from across B.C. were there. Lane Pommer, seen above, was an organizer and speaker at the event, and was listed as a coach at Westshore Boxing Gym on Vancouver Island.
Why it matters: Researchers have long warned about the “infiltration” of the mixed martial arts community by neo-Nazi and white supremacist movements. Expert observers say MMA has become a common denominator among previously fractured white supremacist groups. CBC News identified a number of gym owners, coaches and trainers who serve a diverse clientele, including children. |
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Barging into office, yelling from Conservative leadership 'sealed the deal' on defection: d'Entremont
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(Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press)
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Nova Scotia MP Chris d’Entremont says the barging into his office and yelling from Conservative Party leadership "sealed the deal" on his choice to cross the floor of the House of Commons to the Liberals this week.
What's happening: After Politico reported d'Entremont was weighing crossing the floor last week, the MP says Conservative House leader Andrew Scheer and party whip Chris Warkentin "barged" into his office and yelled at him about "how much of a snake" he was. The Conservative Party has denied d'Entremont's allegations.
Why it matters: The floor crossing has sparked questions about chaos and discontent in the Conservative caucus — which were only amplified when Edmonton Riverbend MP Matt Jeneroux announced his intentions to resign from politics days later.
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BEHIND THE SCENES
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Brazil’s climate credentials tested by search for oil off Amazon coast
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(Jill English/CBC)
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Jill English and Susan Ormiston, CBC News
➤ Oiapoque, Brazil |
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It's climate negotiation season again, and this time we're in the hot, humid Brazilian Amazon to report on countries' efforts to agree on solutions, survival tools and sources of finance for this intensifying global challenge.
Brazil's President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva was clear at his Belém climate summit on Friday: "Brazil is not afraid to discuss energy transition." But down the river and offshore from the remote city of Oiapoque, his government has just granted state-owned oil company Petrobras a licence to explore for oil.
The small city in Amapa state is in one of the poorest regions of Brazil. But it’s dreaming of oil riches if Petrobras finds vast deposits of oil off its coast, where there could be up to 30 billion barrels under the ocean. Exploration started off Oiapoque as soon as the licence was granted at the end of last month.
Many of the people we spoke with in Oiapoque’s main streets say they have faith the government has done the proper assessments and look forward to the potential for prosperity. But a local Indigenous chief told us he is wary this will actually bring jobs to his people, or improve their communities — his trust already broken by what he says was a lack of consultation on the decision. He’s been pushing back, along with environmental groups and other Indigenous leaders in the state.
We’ll be watching as host country Brazil shepherds COP30 talks under the global spotlight.
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IN LIGHTER NEWS
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The 'lion' filmed roaming the Irish countryside is a Newfoundland dog named Mouse
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