Five members of the Canadian Armed Forces have been suspended and military police are investigating after a video surfaced showing a group of people giving Nazi salutes.
The commander of the army, Lt.-Gen. Michael Wright, called the video’s contents disturbing and said that hate and extremism “have no place in the Canadian Army.”
“I am deeply disturbed and profoundly disappointed with the content of the video — the behaviour is completely unacceptable, and swift action will be taken,” Wright said in a statement provided to media.
The commander said a member of the public shared the video with the military, which shows at least seven individuals, five of whom have been identified as serving members of the Canadian Army.
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The video footage was taken in 2023 and also shows an individual performing drill in front of the Royal 22e Régiment flag and “consuming a substance.”
Wright said he learned about the video on Aug. 6 and quickly referred the matter to military police.
Wright warned that such hateful conduct hurts the military’s ability to “recruit the best of Canada, to maintain credibility to deliver on operations, and it erodes public trust in our institution.”
“Canadian Army members who jeopardize that trust and participate in hateful conduct will face the consequences of their actions,” he said.
Some experts have pointed to a need for the military to step up screening practices to weed out extremists.
Earlier this summer, the RCMP laid terror charges against members of the Canadian Armed Forces in Quebec over an alleged plot to form an anti-government militia and seize land.
The RCMP described that case as one of “ideologically motivated violent extremism.”
The dozens of weapons seized in that case, including explosives, assault rifles and a large stockpile of ammunition, are believed to be the largest weapons cache ever recovered in a terrorism incident in Canada.
RCMP charged two active members, Cpl. Marc-Aurèle Chabot and Cpl. Matthew Forbes, and two former members, Simon Angers-Audet and Raphaël Lagacé.
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