La Meute

La Meute
Website
www.lameute-officiel.org

La Meute (French pronunciation: [la møt], "The Pack") is a Québécois nationalist^[1] pressure group and identitarian movement^[2] fighting against illegal immigration and radical Islam.^[3][4][5][6] The group was founded in September 2015 in Quebec by two former Canadian Armed Forces members, Éric Venne and Patrick Beaudry.^[7] Neither are members of the group anymore.^[8][9] In 2018 the goal of La Meute was to prevent the Quebec Liberal Party from winning the 2018 Quebec general election (Which the Liberal party did lose).^[10][11] La Meute does not plan to become a political party, but rather "to become large enough and organized enough to constitute a force that can't be ignored".^[12]

Most political observers identify La Meute as far-right.^[13][14] The group rejects this.^[15][16] As of April 2018, the group has more than 41,000 members in its private Facebook group, although some journalists believe there are only 4,000 to 5,000 members based on reports of numbers inflation by ex-members.^[17]

In 2019, La Meute supported the New Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ) government Bill 21 which bars civil servants in ‘authority’, such as judges, prosecutors, police officers, teachers and school administrators from wearing religious symbols at work. The leader of CAQ sought to distance himself from the group.^[18][19]

Political position

Police officers,^[3] experts,^[20] and the majority of journalists identify La Meute as far-right. The group is considered islamophobic,^[21][22] supremacist,^[23] ultranationalist, or even populist by some.

La Meute is, according to Maxime Fiset, "on the limit of the spectrum of what is far-right"^[24] and corresponds to, according to David Morin, a "populist and nationalistic-identitarian far-right fringe".^[25] David Morin hesitates between the terms "identitarian far-right" and "right-wing populism", and notes there are "communicating vessels" between more radical groups, like Atalante and, sometimes, Storm Alliance.^[26]

The group is often differentiated from racist, supremacist, neo-Nazis and neo-fascists groups by observers,^[27][28] experts,^{[25][24][26][29]} and journalists. Quebec police do not consider La Meute to be a threat.^[30] There is debate over whether "far-right" is the best descriptor for La Meute.^{[31][32][33][27]} Some believe we call them far-right "a bit foolishly",^[34] declaring "it's difficult to find anything to condemn this group".^[35] Finally, some journalists oppose La Meute's public image to its private Facebook group.^[36]

La Meute rejects the "far-right" label^[15][16] and is known to regularly delete overtly racist comments,^[12] or comments inciting violence.^[7] Some journalists doubt this, arguing that the Facebook group shows "numerous references to Muhammad as a pedophile or rapist" and that it can be invalidated "by simply typing "pig" in the search bar".^[36] La Meute is known to expel its members who are overtly racist.^[24] La Meute's spokesperson, Sylvain Brouillette, identifies La Meute as center left.^[33]

See also

• Religious intolerance
• Identitarian movement
• Illegal immigration to Canada
• Radical Islam
• Roxham Road
• Islamophobia
• Far-right politics

References

1. ICI.Radio-Canada.ca, Zone Société - (17 August 2017). "Extrême droite, populisme, néonazisme... petit guide pour éviter les amalgames" [The Extreme Right, Populism, Neo-Nazism... A short guide to avoiding mixing]. Radio-Canada.ca (in Canadian French). Retrieved 2018-05-24.
2. Labranche, Michaël. "Quand La Meute résonne dans le New York Times" [When La Meute echos in the New York Times]. Le Journal de Québec (in Canadian French). Retrieved 2018-05-24.
3. ICI.Radio-Canada.ca, Zone Société -. "La mouvance de l'extrême droite plus visible au Québec". Radio-Canada.ca (in Canadian French). Retrieved 2018-05-24.
4. ""La Meute" contre l'islam radical gagne du terrain". TVA Nouvelles (in Canadian French). Retrieved 2018-05-24.
5. "La Meute présente ses dix-sept revendications" [La Meute presents its 17 demands]. le-peuple.ca (in French). Retrieved 2018-05-24.
6. "Promotion d'un groupe contre " l'islam radical " : un cadre de Saguenay rappelé à l'ordre" [Promotion of a group against "radical Islam": a Saguenay executive called to order]. Radio-Canada (in French). Retrieved 2018-05-24.
7. ICI.Radio-Canada.ca, Zone Société - (6 December 2016). "43 000 membres pour le groupe d'extrême droite la Meute" [43,000 members for the extreme right La Meute]. Radio-Canada.ca (in Canadian French). Retrieved 2018-05-24.
8. "Le chef de La Meute démissionne" [La Meute's Leader sacked]. Vice (in Canadian French). 2017-01-16. Retrieved 2018-05-24.
9. "Divisions au sein de La Meute". Le Soleil (in Canadian French). 2017-09-16. Retrieved 2018-05-24.
10. "La Meute présente son manifeste". TVA Nouvelles (in Canadian French). Retrieved 2018-05-24.
11. Grondin, Marie-Renée. "[AUDIO] La Meute lancera un manifeste la semaine prochaine" [[Audio] La Meute will launch its manifesto next week]. Le Journal de Québec (in Canadian French). Retrieved 2018-05-24.
12. "Inside Quebec's far right: A secretive online group steps into the real world | CBC News". CBC. Retrieved 2018-05-24.
13. "The Canadian far right". The Economist. Retrieved 2018-05-24.
14. "Out of the Shadows: Inside La Meute | CBC News". CBC. Retrieved 2018-05-24.
15. ICI.Radio-Canada.ca, Zone Société - (5 February 2017). "La Meute se défend d'être un groupe d'extrême droite" [La Meute refutes far-right claims]. Radio-Canada.ca (in Canadian French). Retrieved 2018-05-24.
16. "Entrevue avec un chef de Meute" [Interview with a La Meute leader]. L'Avantage Rimouski (in French). Retrieved 2018-05-24.
17. "Les illusions et désillusions de La Meute, le "plus grand groupe d'extrême droite au Québec"" [The truth and lies of La Meute- "Quebec's largest extreme right group"]. Vice (in Canadian French). 2017-01-04. Retrieved 2018-05-24.
18. "La CAQ, la Meute and Bill 21".
19. https://ici-radio--canada-ca.translate.goog/nouvelle/1161800/laicite-projet-de-loi-caq-reaction-la-meute?_x_tr_sl=fr&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en&_x_tr_pto=sc
20. "La Meute et les Soldiers of Odin chahutent un colloque sur l'extrême droite" [La Meute and the Soldiers of Odin heckle a conference on the extreme right]. Le Soleil (in Canadian French). 2018-03-21. Retrieved 2018-05-24.
21. Patriquin, Martin (2017-11-17). "Inside The Secret Facebook Group Of Quebec's Far-Right "Wolf Pack"". Buzzfeed News. Retrieved 2019-05-06.
22. Montpetit, Jonathan (2017-08-21). "How Quebec's largest far-right group tries to win friends, influence people". CBC. Retrieved 2019-05-06.
23. Shihipar, Abdullah (2018-01-24). "Opinion | The deadly consequences of Islamophobia in Canada". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2018-05-24.
24. "Pas islamophobe, La Meute?" [La Meute, Not Islamophobic?]. Le Soleil (in Canadian French). 2017-07-19. Retrieved 2018-05-24.
25. ICI.Radio-Canada.ca, Zone Société - (20 August 2017). "Démystifier l'extrême droite" [Demystifying the Extreme Right]. Radio-Canada.ca (in Canadian French). Retrieved 2018-05-24.
26. "La Meute à Granby: les citoyens appelés à l'ouverture et à la vigilance" [La Meute in Granby: Citizens call for openness and vigilance]. Le Granby Express (in French). 2018-01-31. Archived from the original on 2018-05-23. Retrieved 2018-05-24.
27. Meunier, Hugo. "Je suis membre de La Meute depuis le début et c'est plate" [I've been a member of La Meute from the start, and it's boring]. Le Journal de Montréal (in Canadian French). Archived from the original on 2018-06-12. Retrieved 2018-05-24.
28. Paré, Étienne. "Le jour où j'ai été d'extrême-droite" [The day I was extreme right]. Le Journal de Montréal (in Canadian French). Archived from the original on 2018-06-12. Retrieved 2018-05-24.
29. "Extrême droite au Québec: un phénomène social et politique en croissance?" [The Extreme right in Quebec, a growing social phenomenon] (in French). 2018-05-01. Archived from the original on 2018-05-23. Retrieved 2018-05-24.
30. "Québec : montée des groupes d'extrême droite" [Quebec: Rise in far-right groups]. TV5MONDE (in French). 2017-09-26. Retrieved 2018-05-24.
31. ICI.Radio-Canada.ca, Zone Société -. "Après les affrontements à Québec, La Meute marche dans le silence" [After demonstrations in Quebec, La Meute walks in silence]. Radio-Canada.ca (in Canadian French). Retrieved 2018-05-25.
32. "As Canada Transforms, an Anti-Immigrant Fringe Stirs". The New York Times. 2017-01-31. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2018-05-24.
33. Ravary, Lise. "La Meute en crise de croissance (1re partie)" [La Meute in growth crisis]. Le Journal de Montréal (in Canadian French). Retrieved 2018-05-25.
34. Paré, Étienne. "Le jour où j'ai été d'extrême-droite". Le Journal de Montréal (in Canadian French). Archived from the original on 2018-06-12. Retrieved 2018-05-25.
35. Facal, Joseph. ""La Meute"?". Le Journal de Montréal (in Canadian French). Retrieved 2018-05-25.
36. "How a far-right movement is getting a free ride in Quebec media - iPolitics". iPolitics. 2017-11-28. Retrieved 2018-05-24.