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Residents of a small town outside Calgary are shocked to learn that Canada’s most prominent white supremacist group held its second annual national meeting — where masked group members participated in military-style drills — at a volunteer-run community centre in early July.
“My first reaction is: that scares me,” Lou Kuiack, a Millarville-area resident, told a CBC Calgary reporter. “I didn’t think that would come to our small little town, in our backyard.”
Using visual clues in videos posted by the group, Second Sons Canada, CBC’s visual investigations team identified the location of the gathering roughly 70 kilometres southwest of Calgary, near the hamlet of Millarville, Alta.
Second Sons Canada was formed in 2024 and has chapters across the country.
Founded by Jeremy MacKenzie, Second Sons describes itself as a “men’s nationalist club.” But it more closely resembles the “active club”-style model favoured by the global white supremacist movement. Second Sons’ leaders have welcomed neo-Nazis into their ranks, called for mass deportations “at gunpoint” of non-white people from Canada and said Canadian politicians should be executed as traitors.
Second Sons, Canada’s predominant white supremacist group, held a large meeting in July where masked members participated in military-style drills. CBC’s visual investigations team and CBC Calgary uncover the location of the meeting and speak to residents of the small Alberta hamlet of Millarville, shedding light on a recurring strategy for white supremacist groups: booking unsuspecting community centres.
Videos and images from the Alberta event, posted by Second Sons on its social media accounts, show more than 60 members participating in exercises including army crawls and marching with cots. MacKenzie, an Afghanistan veteran, led a military-inspired chant that referenced fighting the Taliban and included a Second Sons slogan: “Our people, our home, our future.”
Group members also wore shirts with the slogan “old stock enforcer” emblazoned with crossed swords behind an old-school goalie mask.
“When they say ‘old stock,’ they mean white and European people,” said Evan Balgord, executive director of the Canadian Anti-Hate Network.
“When they label themselves as enforcers, it’s tied to their belief that they will have to use culture, politics and violence to achieve their goal of a racist mass deportation of people who aren’t old stock Canadian.”
Exposing the location
Second Sons routinely publishes visuals of its exercises but its members are often masked or digitally obscured, and the group does not publish the precise locations of its gatherings. The group did not identify the exact location of its July meetup, only saying that it took place in the “foothills of Alberta.”
In a Telegram post published weeks after the gathering took place, MacKenzie praised the group’s members and said they had spent the weekend in activities that included “friendly combat sports competition, organizational training, promotions, awards, excellent food and social time.”
In a video posted to Telegram recapping the weekend, Second Sons members can be seen holding a banner with the traditional active club slogan “Tribe and train” over an overpass on Highway 2 near Okotoks, Alta., a town about 47 km south of Calgary.
Using that clue as a lead, CBC matched the community centre used by the group that weekend with Square Butte Hall near Millarville, located approximately 43 km from Okotoks.
A distinctive welcome arch belonging to the hall can be seen in shots of Second Sons members arrayed in their ranks outdoors.
Similarly, interior details of a clip showing MacKenzie leading members in a chant related to the war in Afghanistan match photos of the hall that can be seen on the venue’s Facebook page.
Square Butte Hall is a volunteer-run space that hosts community events like dances, recipe exchanges and fire prevention training.
“The organization that booked the hall did not identify itself to us in any way,” said Shanna Dunne, president of the hall’s board of directors, in an emailed statement to CBC.
“The Square Butte Community Association is committed to providing a respectful and inclusive community space, and our volunteers work hard to support the many positive events and activities that bring our community together.”
In a phone call with a CBC Calgary reporter, Dunne said an RCMP officer contacted the hall and asked for information about the Second Sons meetup.
In a statement to CBC, the RCMP said it does not confirm or deny investigations, but that it is “aware of the Second Sons.”
It emphasized it does not “investigate movements or ideologies,” focusing on criminal activities by individuals or groups. But it said it is “actively monitoring the rise of hate-motivated crime and incidents across the country.”
Residents shocked
Millarville residents who spoke to CBC said they didn’t know the Second Sons meetup had taken place, and were concerned about the group’s presence in the community.
Leanna Bridgeman, manager of local coffee shop Miss Marple’s, said she was “absolutely shell-shocked that something like that would happen out here,” calling it “completely disturbing.”
Tim Babey, owner of the Millarville General Store, said he was “really surprised.”
“People out here are pretty accepting, but I think they’d still be quite shocked at seeing something like that going on,” he said.
CBC reached out to the Foothills County reeve — a position similar to mayor — for comment.
“Foothills County recently became aware of activities that are reported to have occurred on private property,” said Reeve Rob Siewert. “At this time, the county has not received any formal complaints and is not aware of any calls having been logged with staff regarding the matter.”
Second Sons Canada’s use of the community hall fits a pattern CBC has observed elsewhere in Canada, where they book spaces like recreation centres without disclosing the full scope of the group’s planned activities or overall aims.
Last September, CBC News tracked a similar meeting in southern Ontario to a Lions Club in Caledonia, Ont. The hall told CBC at the time that if staff had been aware that Second Sons was behind the booking, it would not have been approved.
“Booking community spaces under false pretenses is normal for white nationalist movements, because most spaces wouldn’t agree to hold their events,” said Balgord of the Canadian Anti-Hate network.
Second Sons Canada did not respond to a request for comment from CBC.
