PV Manitoba Bureau
Mainstream media in Canada is glossing over the role of far-right Ukrainian groups in acts of hate. Specifically, coverage of the recent appearance of swastikas on a southwest Winnipeg community centre have failed to acknowledge the presence and significance of the spraypainted “M.K.Y.” next to the hate symbols. MKY (or MKU) is an extreme-right accelerationist Ukrainian group that recruits online and encourages acts of racist acts of violence.
In fact, not only does the CBC fail to mention the group, the two images of the vandalism that appear in their article seem to obscure the initials that have nonetheless appeared prominently and consistently alongside the hate symbols. CTV’s coverage similarly fails to include photographs or mention of the group, even though such attacks have been ongoing.
But obscuring the existence of a Ukrainian far-right group on Canadian soil has been common practice for Canada’s ruling class. Such an acknowledgement would necessitate our looking more closely at Canada’s current involvement in Ukraine, and history of Nazi collaboration.
Additionally, mainstream media’s ongoing failure to differentiate between antisemitism and anti-Zionism proves highly dangerous as Zionists continue equate the two, putting Palestine activists and others opposing the Zionist genocide of Palestinians at risk of false accusations and criminalization. The reality that the hate graffiti in Winnipeg is in fact explicitly fascist and antisemitic, and not anti-Zionist, and that it likely comes from a far-right Ukrainian group cannot be ignored.
It is not insignificant that since the 1930s, Canada has used the far right as a tool to suppress the left and has gone through periods of banning and criminalizing left-wing organizations including the Ukrainian Social Democratic Party. Canada also went to great pains not only to suppress organizations like the Ukrainian Labour Farmer Temple Association (now the Association of United Ukrainian Canadians, AUUC) but to hand their assets over to the far-right. At one point, for example, the government seized the Temple’s printing press in Winnipeg and turned it over to the Ukrainian National Federation (UNF) to print pro-Nazi material. Then again in 1945, the government of Canada welcomed Nazis for the express purpose of helping to crush communist and leftist activity in unions, with disastrous results for working-class people.
This is a history that needs to be more openly discussed. The recent incidents in Winnipeg make explicit the very real risk of a far-right resurgence. We also need to be asking whether, considering its track record, the Canadian government has been engaged in a repeat of their earlier tactics of welcoming the far-right in order to halt and crush the rise of the left.
Left-wing Ukrainians can boast a powerful history of fighting against Nazism and for workers’ rights. And fortunately, once-banned left-wing Ukrainian organizations like the AUUC have survived earlier eras of attacks. But the public awareness of the differences within the Ukrainian community, and the historical and current risks and realities of the far-right, remain dangerously hidden.
People in Canada should know for instance, that the federal government acknowledges and has ongoing relations with the right-wing Ukrainian Canadian Congress and erroneously treats that organization as if it speaks for all Ukrainian Canadians. The far-right UNF, traditional publisher of pro-Hitler propaganda, is also still very active. Many people are unaware that the trident symbol the UNF uses has long been associated with far-right Ukrainian nationalism. These organizations are presumed to simply be benign resources and support networks for the Ukrainian community.
As evidence of the lack of awareness, that same trident symbol’s appearance on a Winnipeg Jets’ logo in the fall of 2024 seems to have caused little to no public concern in Manitoba, and several recent cultural events in support of the Nazi Azov battalion –including one hosted at the Forks, a major Winnipeg tourist hub – have been celebrated with their far-right implications flying entirely under the radar.
Support working-class media!
If you found this article useful, please consider donating to People’s Voice or purchasing a subscription so that you get every issue of Canada’s leading socialist publication delivered to your door or inbox!
