A Story of Small-Scale Activism

How a handful of activists have fought against a growing anti-science movement in the small town of Aylmer, Ontario.

During the past few weeks, an activist from Ontario reached out to The Left Gazette to discuss a COVID-19-related battle being waged in the small town of Aylmer. Here is part of the conversation we had, which contains details about the events which have taken place in Aylmer. I will use the pseudonym ‘John’ to protect his identity, although he has not requested that I do so.

So, what ultimately is the anti-scientific chaos within Ontario right now? How would you say that differs from the anti-intellectualism within a lot of other provinces — namely, Alberta?

“I would say that anti-intellectualism hasn’t led to violence, threats of physical violence and genuine tyranny against your fellow citizens. Both have similar traits but I feel that the anti-science crowd is being led by people who want to win at any cost. Read any story coming out of Aylmer and you’ll see that they’re wanting a civil war in this town. A group of us are going to protest tomorrow in the safety of our cars and they’ve called in thugs from Toronto. I’ve had death threats myself this week and the police refuse to investigate.”

Can you break down the situation in Aylmer in more detail? There are anti-mask and general anti-scientific rallies all over the country during the past few months. What is unique about Aylmer in general, and the anti-scientific situation there in particular, which create and perpetuate the tension and threats of violence?

“I can certainly do that. […] So the man who is the ‘leader’ of the Aylmer anti-COVID [i.e. anti-lockdown and anti-mask], anti-science movement is cult leader and pastor Henry Hildebrandt. Whats unique about this situation is that the town of Aylmer has long had problems with the Hildebrandt’s and the COGR [Church of God Restoration]. From child abuse scandals to police investigations to heretical teachings blaspheming the Bible.

Back when the original lockdown came on March 17th all churches were asked to shut their doors. The COGR refused. It set off a war within the community, with the church on one side and the police and majority of residents on the other. […] The police decided not to lay charges originally [for violating lockdown measures] but the Hildebrandts kicked up a fuss because the police and community were demanding it be shut down. At the end of April, however, they decided to place charges.

Then, over the summer, far-right groups led by Chris Sky, Suzanne Robertson, Kelly Anne Wolfe, Kimberly Charlton Neudorf, Vladislav Sobolev, and others formed two major groups: Hugs Over Masks led by Vlad, Kelly Anne and others, and The Line led by Lamont Daigle (an anti-vaccine/mask & science group that led a 2,000 man march in Aylmer during November, which caused an uproar). Suzanne Robertson came from Toronto and threatened a PSW [Personal Support Worker] named Kyle Tomlin during the protest. Over the Fall, the Line and Hugs Over Masks associated themselves with Laura-Lynn Tyler Thompson and Maxime Bernier of the People’s Party of Canada [a far-right political party]. All of these groups started backing COGR. These people started having rallies in London, Hamilton, Woodstock, St. Thomas, Aylmer, Toronto, Waterloo, and other cities across Southwest Ontario.

[…] Anyway, during November the police finally decided to start ticketing individuals for organizing these rallies. The charges have been adding up for Vlad, Kelly Anne, Kimberly, Lamont, Chris and others.

Then, in early December, a group calling themselves Aylmer Anonymous released two videos targeting the ‘Plague Pastor’ (Hildebrandt) and ‘Plague Princess’ (Neudorf). In the aftermath of those videos, the police started weekly ticketing Hildebrandt for his illegal church services that contravene the Reopening Ontario Act.

Following the release of the videos from Aylmer Anonymous, Herbert Hildebrandt (Henry’s son) assaulted an 84-year-old man and broke several of his ribs. This resulted in assault charges. The man lives in the vicinity of COGR, [and he] was pushed to the ground, and had his ribs cracked, over a pro-mask sign saying ‘be kind wear a mask.’

Part of his bail conditions was to stay away from the church. [Yet, on a following Sunday] the police visited the church again and ticketed Herbert for holding an illegal church gathering, as dozens of people were outside of their cars. Some of the thugs Henry brought from other groups in Toronto came and are charged alongside Herbert for intimidation of a police officer and intimidation of a journalist.

In a nutshell, the Hildebrandts have been dissing the Queen, dissing law enforcement, committing crimes, disbelieving in the science behind lockdowns, vaccines, masks and social distancing, and have been working towards a war of sorts within the town of Aylmer. While we see demonstrations across the country rarely do we see the ‘plague rats’ (anti-science crowd) actually using violence to make their point. Aylmer is the exception.

I’ve followed along for months, I was semi-involved until December when I put up a status stating how Henry was preaching blasphemy and was going against biblical principles. In the aftermath of that post, Suzanne Robertson came to my personal page (never heard of her before this) threatened to kill me, posted a photo of my front door, and promised a ‘drive by shooting.’

I made a decision after police refused to locate her to not stay silent any longer. I founded End The Chaos to find a non-confrontational, non-violent way to pressure the government, police, and public health to finally investigate this church, and hopefully shut down their church — forcing them to go online. I’m currently working with a few elected officials to bring legislation to parliament and the Ontario legislature, to deal with the tyranny and to close loopholes in legislation in order to stamp out this rebellion. These people aren’t only anti-science, they’re anti-government and police. When Herbert dissed the Queen it really struck a chord realizing he’s an immigrant who swore an oath to ‘bear true allegiance to her Majesty the Queen and her heirs.’

I would say the anti-intellectualism in Alberta and other provinces is way different than what I’ve laid out. In Alberta, their frustrations lie more with Trudeau and the Federal Government. They don’t trust their scientists, the public health officials and the like but they aren’t violent. Kenney and his government cater to their wishes and until recently had refused to take actions to protect their citizens.”

At a larger scale, what do you think we as a country should be doing to prevent groups like this from forming in the first place, and prevent them from propagating anti-intellectualism and violence?

“I think we should be putting in place further restrictions on protesting, taking away their ability to use Go Fund Me to pay their legal bills, and the fines need to increase. I also think the government could do a better job of battling misinformation.”

As someone who describes himself as, for the most part, a political centrist, the fact that John has become such a target for threats of violence should be alarming. His positions in general, and on public health measures in particular, appear to me as far from being radical in any sense. John’s only aim seems to be the well-being of his community, the stability of Canada at large, and justice against those who spread violence.

I pressed John to send me screenshots to corroborate some of his claims of being threatened with violence. The screenshots he sent me, taken from Facebook, show Suzanne Robertson threatening him with a drive-by shooting. I won’t share the screenshots here for John’s privacy, but I will quote Robertson’s message to John: “You call yourself an activist. Oh, honey — you haven’t even got a clue. You just wait to see what’s coming your way. ‘Plague rat tour’ alright… but this time we’re coming to your house and I’m bringing all of my patriot friends with me. You see — when you fuck with my pastor friend, you fuck with a lot of people. Now it’s your turn, sweetheart — now it’s your turn. And if you think I don’t know where you live…” She then shared a photo of John’s front door.

The harassment doesn’t end here, unfortunately. Within a press release John forwarded to The Left Gazette, he details the harassment he’s had to deal with at work:

“Our priority from the beginning has been to educate people, expose the lies, potential criminal activity, reckless actions & by-law/provincial law offences. In doing this, I have opened myself up to a lot of attention from the people we are working to expose.

This week, I was notified by my employer Toyota Boshoku Canada in Woodstock, Ontario that several people including Julie Corneman of the anti-mask group Project Phoenix have been calling my place of employment demanding that they fire me because I allegedly ‘harassed’ her 13 year old daughter Phoenix Scott.

Julie, Phoenix and their organization Project Phoenix are responsible for anti-mask rallies in Woodstock, Hamilton, Montreal, Toronto and Brockville. At which they’ve violated the law and have been ticketed for it.

Upon investigation by my workplace, they have determined that I’m not getting fired nor will I be facing any disciplinary action against me for my activities in relation to End the Chaos as it has nothing to do with my employment.

This comes on the heels of a vicious slander campaign on December 28th, 2020 by Suzanne Robertson of Toronto, Ontario who doxxed my address, posted it online alongside photos of my private residence and threatening my life with a threat of a drive-by shooting.

Suzanne is responsible for the protests at the home of Ontario Premier Doug Ford and has been charged under the Reopening Ontario Act.

Suzanne commented on a Facebook post I made with the death threats posted below an opinion piece I published on my personal page on December 23rd, 2020 about how I felt about the Church of God Restoration’s consistent violations of COVID-19 regulations and how it doesn’t line up with how the Bible tells us Christians to respond to governments.

Both Suzanne and Julie have repetitively made defamatory statements about me allegedly giving an STD to an ex-boyfriend (nobody has had contact with her), that I took photos off her Facebook of her family (I had never heard of Suzanne before December 28th), and that I’m harassing Phoenix Scott despite the fact that as previously stated, I’ve never had any direct contact with this individuals.

For both instances, I called the Woodstock Police Service and was told there’s nothing they can do for me. It’s a violation of my right to live my life free of harassment and I am disappointed that the police are refusing to take the necessary steps to investigate and protect myself and my family.

I will not be silenced, bullied or harassed by anyone under any circumstances. What’s laughable is that I’ve never spoken to Julie, her daughter or her family. Anybody that we’ve covered on this page I have no personal connection to, nor do I have any information about them except for what they choose to post online. I’ve never met, spoken to, or messaged Julie or her family. As a gay man, I’m used to bigots trying to silence myself, & those in my community from seeking justice & equality under the law. In this country, we’re all entitled to the same rights to live without being harassed for who are, what we believe in & for who we love. The slanderous lies that are being spread about me are completely false & I am in the process of attaining legal counsel to ensure that the harassment of myself, my family & my employer stops immediately. This will not deter me from continuing to fight against lies, propaganda, misinformation and delusional individuals who are stoking the flames of division and hate. I take the harassment of myself seriously as they’re putting my ability to feed my family at risk. This needs to stop. It’s pretty simple, if you want us to stop talking about you, your movement and your criminal activities then you can simply go back to your lives, and leave EVERYONE alone. Stop protesting. Stop spreading lies and start following the law. Including our COVID-19 regulations. Death threats, threats of violence, threats against myself or anyone who knows me will not be tolerated. The ‘harassment’ that Julie & her friends think I’m engaging in is nothing more than me expressing my right to freedom of speech. For people who seem to be so concerned about their rights, they don’t seem to give a damn about mine.”

People such as John are a big part of the reason why I founded The Left Gazette. Apart from the large scale organizing which the left-oriented engage in, small or individual activism is often entirely ignored by large media organizations. The voices of people such as John need to be heard. We must not forget or ignore smaller battles such as this, lest those who would otherwise join our larger battles be left in the dark.

Originally published on theleftgazette.com.