Raging Dissident podcaster Jeremy Mackenzie, founder of fictional meme country Diagolon, is taking his "Road Rage Terror Tour" across Canada this summer.
July 10, 2024 - "The leaders of a Canadian organization referred to by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Counterterrorism as a 'far-right extremist group' have scheduled two stops in Saskatchewan during a nationwide tour. Diagolon was founded by Jeremy MacKenzie, a podcaster.... The group’s name refers to a fictional country of provinces and states without COVID-19 mandates, with a diagonal line formed across North America.
"A website and social media postings list dates for 'Road Rage Terror Tour' stops across Canada, including in Calgary (July 13), Vancouver (July 19), Kamloops (July 20), Edmonton (July 24), Saskatoon (July 25), Hamilton (July 31) and Halifax (Aug. 4). Meet-and-greet events were also promoted for Thunder Bay (Tuesday), Regina (July 11), Lethbridge (July 12), Kelowna (July 15), Nanaimo (July 16), Winnipeg (July 26), Quebec City (Aug. 1) and Fredericton (Aug.2).
"According to social media posts promoting the Saskatoon and Regina events, the locations will be shared via email 24 hours in advance to ticket holders in Saskatoon or to those who have expressed interest in attending in Regina.... The Saskatoon event is a potluck and attendees are encouraged to bring food or snacks. Alcohol will not be served.... At the Regina event, which is set to run from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m., alcohol will be available for purchase. It is 'not child friendly,' according to the social media post.
"Organizers said anyone with weapons 'of any kind' at either stop will be removed. 'This is a private event. Phones and recording devices must be disabled and hidden during the venue, left inside your vehicle or at home,' the social media posts say about both Saskatchewan stops. Organizers also said security will 'keep an eye on vehicles and measures have been put in place to avoid Trantifa issues.' Trantifa — a combination of 'transgender' and 'antifa' — is a made-up pejorative term used by right-wing groups, organizers and supporters who perceive a threat from left-wing activists....
"An Ottawa meeting on Saturday was the first stop of the tour. The Ottawa Police Service said it was aware in advance that an event was happening somewhere in the city, but didn’t know exactly where until the day of the event. Officers monitored the event and 'maintained a visible presence,' OPS said in a statement....
"In November 2022, MacKenzie testified at the public inquiry into the government’s use of the Emergencies Act to break up the convoy protest in Ottawa. Speaking before the Public Order Emergency Commission, MacKenzie said of Diagolon: 'There’s an aspect of, you know, firearms, supporting recreational culture and stuff, especially in Western Canada, but there’s certainly not anything resembling a militia.'
"MacKenzie, who is from Nova Scotia, ... was charged in July 2022 with assault, pointing a firearm, using a restricted weapon in a careless manner and mischief after Saskatoon RCMP investigated a report of an assault in November 2021 in the RM of Viscount. The charges were later stayed."
The final outstanding charges against podcaster Jeremy Mackenzie, the creator of Diagolon, have been stayed. All 23 criminal charges against him have now been stayed, dropped, or resolved.
Jeremy MacKenzie, (r) and Morgan Guptill, Tuesday, April 30, 2024, outside provincial courtroom in Dartmouth, N.S.
June 8, 2024 - "Controversial podcaster Jeremy Mackenzie is free and clear after the final outstanding charges against him were stayed. Charges against Mackenzie, a 14-year military veteran who served in Afghanistan, and his girlfriend Morgan Guptill, were stayed by a Nova Scotia judge who found that the 19 months between being charged and the end of the trial was an unreasonable length of time.
"These were the last remaining criminal charges against Mackenzie after charges in Quebec and Saskatchewan and others in Nova Scotia were similarly stayed or dropped.... Each of the 23 charges thrown at Mackenzie across three separate provinces has been dropped, stayed, or resolved, including a series of firearms charges in Saskatchewan.
"In an interview, he told True North that although he is 'relieved' the criminal cases are behind him, he was disappointed that he didn’t get a chance to defend himself in front of the public and a jury. 'In a way we’re relieved and just thankful to have that real estate in our heads back. This is just another problem we don’t have to deal with anymore. But this never should have happened in the first place. And it’s just a travesty of justice and our resources,' Mackenzie said.
"Mackenzie, who testified before the Public Order Emergency Commission remotely from jail in 2022, said the way that he and his girlfriend have been treated by the justice system has been disproportionate....Mackenzie said that on top of having his bail denied, he was placed in solitary confinement multiple times. He also said he faced physical attacks because of the media’s and the Liberal government’s characterization of him.
"Mackenzie and Diagolon were singled out by the Liberal government during the Freedom Convoy as a national security risk, a position partially relied on to justify the use of the Emergencies Act. An investigative report by lawyer Caryma Sa’d, who has represented Mackenzie, alleged that the government knew that Diagolon was not violent....
"Despite being free of criminal charges, Mackenzie still maintains that he was targeted for his political views. 'It lends more weight, not less, to the idea that people in this country who are political dissidents and unhappy with the way our rulers are conducting business are targeted by the state and punished for dissenting,' he said, 'It doesn’t paint a good picture of our legal system and doesn’t do anything to dispel that.'
"Mackenzie also took aim at the relative media silence about his charges being stayed. 'A lot of things were said. Media had printed a lot of out of context things and headlines. They really went to town to slander my reputation,' Mackenzie said. 'Now that it’s all over, they have nothing to say. And there’s no one here to apologize and say "We jumped to conclusions and painted you as this person without getting the facts." None of them showed up.'"
May 3, 2024 - "Exchanges in Parliament’s main theatre, the House of Commons, devolved this week into a mayhem more suited for under a circus big top. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre engaged in a disrespectful partisan slugfest and the degradation was furthered by the clownish stumbling of the Speaker of the House. The Trudeau-Poilievre non sequitur argument and the ensuing sideshows throughout this week sadly reflect the deteriorated state of Canada’s democratic institution and its elected representatives....
"The climax of this tragi-comedy was during a heated exchange in Tuesday’s Question Period, when Speaker Greg Fergus expelled Poilievre for unparliamentary language. Most of the Tory caucus followed their leader out of the House.... Poilievre had asked Trudeau to explain why the federal government had yet to act on a B.C. government’s 'urgent' request to end the federal-provincial pilot program relating to hard drugs decriminalization. In response to this serious issue, Trudeau launched into a series of insults. He excitedly accused Poilievre of 'shameful, spineless leadership' and suggested he was sympathetic to white nationalist groups. (Over the weekend Trudeau had been making great noise in CBC News interviews and in Liberal fundraising appeals about Poilievre courting members of a group from Diagolon – an internet meme country). There was no attempt to address the issue raised by Poilievre....
"The Conservative leader countered the insults by rephrasing his lead question and calling Trudeau a 'wacko.. and the Liberals’ hard drugs policy 'wacko.' Fergus asked Poilievre to withdraw his adjective. Poilievre replaced 'wacko' with the word 'radical.' Fergus rejected this adjective and asked Poilievre to withdraw it. Poilievre replied with the word 'extremist.' Fergus rejected this and it was then that he directed Poilievre to leave the House of Commons. So, ended the centre ring circus act, with Trudeau smiling like a Cheshire Cat and Liberal MPs braying across the floor of the Commons.
"On Wednesday, Fergus rejected formal calls from both the Conservatives and Bloc Quebecois to resign due to his bias[ed], partisan actions. Bloc House leader Alain Therrien commented: 'Mr. Fergus has had difficulty maintaining peace in Parliament for a long time. We think the Speaker should leave. The recent events confirm that position.' Conservative MP Michael Cooper was more pointed in saying: 'He should resign, he’s a disgrace'.... The Liberals took to the airwaves and social media Tuesday and Wednesday to denounce Conservatives as 'conspiracy theorists' unfit to lead given their support for the people of Diagolon. In their excitement over Diagolon, there was also lip service paid in support of the beleaguered Speaker.
"What was lost in this nonsensical episode was a reply to British Columbians about the nightmares they are currently coping with in their streets, playgrounds, and hospitals. In fact, while the Diagolon-wacko standoff has been unfolding, the Trudeau government and much of the legacy media have allowed many serious national issues to go unreported. Trudeau, his ministers, and their sponsored legacy media have been too preoccupied with Diagolon and slurring the Conservatives....
"There are many concerns upstaged by Ottawa’s clown show. Consider these issues that demand answers if we were not all so entranced by Diagolon and whether Fergus will do the honourable thing and resign. Here: ArriveCan scandal, McKinsey sole-sourced contracts, details of the capital gains tax changes, Winnipeg lab security breaches, findings that suggest the Liberals knew and attempted to conceal facts about China’s influence in elections, and the escalation of the anti-Israel, pro-Humas demonstrations tolerated by the government and police on Canadian campuses, on city streets, and, most reprehensible, in known Jewish neighbourhoods.
"And the dread and anguish of British Columbians deserves answers from this government. Last week B.C. Premier David Eby asked the federal government to halt the hard drugs pilot program that is currently in year one of three. It was expressed as an 'urgent' request to alleviate what has become an intolerable situation in B.C. communities – where drugged-up people lay incapacitated in streets, shoot up in kids’ playgrounds and school yards, and cause fear in hospital corridors. It is a crisis that is killing an average of seven people a day.
"Trudeau continues to defend and promote the Liberal policy that has decriminalized possession of small amounts of heroin, fentanyl, cocaine and methamphetamine, among other street drugs. Ya’ara Saks, the federal Addictions Minister is also avoiding the facts.... Why is there not a serious debate in Canada’s parliament about seven British Columbians dying daily as a result of drugs? How do Canadians get a response to this serious issue and the many others when they all seem to get lost in the hurley burley under the big top?"
Jeremy MacKenzie, creator of the internet meme country Diagolon, denies any connection with either Pierre Poilievre or the carbon tax protest at the Nova Scotia border, calling Prime Minister Trudeau's claims about him and Diagolon "malicious fabrications" based on a "fantasy narrative."
May 1, 2024 - "Jeremy Mackenzie, the creator of the internet meme country Diagolon, denied Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s claims that he and the Conservative Party of Canada or its leader Pierre Poilievre are connected in any way. 'The CPC has no connections or affiliations with myself or anyone involved in my circles,' Mackenzie said on his podcast. 'These claims by the Liberals are an outright and deliberately malicious fabrication in a desperate and pathetic attempt to sway support away from the Conservative Party’s momentum that appears overwhelmingly likely to crush the Liberals'...
"The claims, spurred on by Trudeau, came after Poilievre visited a legal carbon-tax protest encampment on the side of a highway in an Atlantic Canada border town. The flag of Mackenzie’s made-up country can be seen on the door of a camper Poilievre entered. The Prime Minister accused Poilievre of meeting with Diagolon, and has since continued to levy accusations of 'courting white supremacists' and 'conspiracy theorists.' The protesters denied any connection to Diagolon and told True North the drawing was made by someone who stopped in one time to get warm at the Freedom Convoy protest in Ottawa and was never seen again.
"Mackenzie confirmed their claims. He said he asked Sam Field, who according to Mackenzie owns the trailer, to remove the drawing 'immediately.' '(The carbon-tax protest Pierre visited) was born out of a small orbit of perennial freedom protesters seemingly cornerbacked by Mr. Sam Fields,' he said. Mackenzie said he has no relationship or recollection of any interaction with Fields.
'My partner Morgan (Guptill) doodled a Diagolon flag on his trailer door over two years ago, during the Ottawa protest action meant as a friendly gesture of support, and nothing more.... There is no connection between myself, Morgan, or any of the more prominent voices in our makeshift loose-knit community than that. Any connections being made are tenuous at best and purely coincidental. There is no involvement whatsoever.
”Poilievre denounced Mackenzie and Diagolon in September 2022.... In an email to True North, Sebastian Skamski, a spokesperson for Poilievre said the Conservative leader stands by his disavowal of Diagolon. 'Frankly, like most Canadians, until about a month ago I never heard of Diagolon and these losers. They are all odious,' Poilievre wrote on Sept. 26, 2022. "Mackenzie said he and the Conservative leader do not see eye to eye, and Mackenzie will remain a 'sharp critic' of ... Poilievre.
It is very clear to my audience as well as the CPC I’m sure and Mr. Poilievre himself that we are not mutual friends. There’s a very deep and I’m sure mutual disdain for one another.... It is my sincere hope that somehow Mr. Poilievre and his team will succeed in proving me to be impressively incorrect in my assessment of their character....
"The government has often alluded to extremist groups operating within the Freedom Convoy to justify its use of the never-before-used Emergencies Act to crack down on protesters. 'At its core, (Diagolon) is a tightly knit group of like-minded folks who enjoy my podcast and commentary. This government used this fantasy narrative painted by the Canadian Anti-Hate Network to enact the Emergency Measures Act in February 2022,' Mackenzie said....
After Pierre Poilievre met with carbon tax protesters camped at the Nova Scotia border, Press Progress reported that some of the protesters had been "at events with 'Diagolon' influencers;" then CTV News claimed that they were "affiliated with ... the far-right group Diagolon;" then Justin Trudeau (see video) began calling them "members of Diagolon." Only one reporter bothered to visit the camp and ask the protesters.
April 26, 2024 - "Despite claims made by Press Progress and CTV News, protesters at the Nova Scotia and New Brunswick border have no connection to podcaster Jeremy Mackenzie’s fictitious meme country Diagolon. Justin Trudeau and some media corporations made the sensational claim after Pierre Poilievre visited a carbon tax protest while in between events in Atlantic Canada.... The protesters have been camped at Fort Lawrence, Nova Scotia, since Justin Trudeau hiked the carbon tax by 23% on April 1....
"Protest organizer Tommy Everett told True North in an interview that none of the approximately ten people who protest overnight at the camp support Mackenzie or have any connection to his fictitious country. 'Us being with Diagolon is just, grasping at soggy paper straws,' Everett said. 'Because they seen a drawing that somebody drew two or three years ago on the inside of a camper with numerous other signatures from people all over Canada.'
"He said the drawing of the flag ... was done in Ottawa during the Freedom Convoy. ''The person that owns the trailer was a mechanic at the Freedom Convoy. He had a diesel heater inside. So everybody (protesters) used that space to get warm while they were strolling up and down the streets,' he said. 'It was kind of a pop-in, you know, warm yourself up, get a cup of coffee, have a cookie, and then after you’re warm, continue on your way.' At the Freedom Convoy, it was popular for people to sign each other’s trucks, trailers, cars and flags....
"'That was the only time that (the person who drew the flag) stepped foot in the camper,' Everett said. 'They haven’t been in the camper since, nor have they been down here at any time. Since this protest has happened, they haven’t even stepped foot on the property nor the highway we’re protesting on.'
"Tommy said he was familiar with Mackenzie but hasn’t wanted 'anything to do with him' since he 'joked' about raping Poilievre’s wife. 'We don’t support the sexual assault of women. We support women being our equal counterparts. Anything that involves any kind of violence against anybody, we do not support,' he said. 'To reiterate, nobody here supports Jeremy. nobody at all.'
"The NDP aligned, Broadbent Institute funded, Press Progress’s report quoted from the Emergencies Act Inquiry which noted that law enforcement viewed Diagolon as a 'potentially dangerous organization.' The reporting did not include information from an 85-page investigative report co-authored by journalists Caryma Sa’d and Elisa Hategan, which found the Trudeau government and the legacy media reports overly relied on the same source of flawed information from the Canadian Anti-Hate Network, which receives funding from the Liberal government.
"Internal communications between Canadian officials showed they did not view Diagolon as an extremist threat or even an organized group were included in their report. The RCMP said Diagolon 'does not pose a criminal or national security threat'.... Canadian national security official Matthew Dejardins said 'Diagolon does not meet dictionary definitions of a group,' on March 16, 2022.
"When asked at the Public Order Emergency Commission, Tom Marazzo said Diagalon is a 'meme.' 'The vice president of Diagolon, being a time-travelling cocaine-addicted goat, that’s just an internet meme that has no meaning at all,' Marazzo said. At the inquiry, Mackenzie testified that the 'demonic goat figurine' is named Philip."
This past week, Justin Trudeau has been crossing the country warning about Pierre Poilievre's ties to something called "Diagolon". (For example, see video below, at 0:43-0:50). But how much do most Canadians know about Diagolon and its founder, Jeremy MacKenzie? Where can we learn more about them? No better place to start than this article....
September 19, 2023 - "The federal government believed Canadian Forces veteran Jeremy MacKenzie posed a threat to national security and media outlets labelled him as the leader of a dangerous militia group. But who is Jeremy MacKenzie, and is he just a comedian as he claims, or a security concern? MacKenzie’s supporters say he is a comedian known for his satirical and humorous takes on social and political issues and his controversial statements and actions are part of his comedic persona, rather than indicative of any real-world threats.
“'He's very good for morale,” said Dr. Matt Tucker, a military doctor who got to know MacKenzie when he was stationed on the same base.... 'He’s what we call a morale raiser. Not everybody's going to understand this kind of humour. Not everybody's going to appreciate it.' Likewise, Peter Kitto, a trauma counsellor for veterans, law enforcement, and emergency responders, and who is one of MacKenzie’s supporters, said his dark humour keeps many from putting a gun in their mouth....
"MacKenzie was a 15-year-old high school student when the airplanes crashed into the World Trade Center buildings in New York on 9/11. As he watched the terror unfold, that’s when he knew he wanted to join the army to protect his country.... At 17 he enlisted and by the age of 20 he was deployed to Afghanistan. He was an infantry non-commissioned officer and was with the elite Canadian Special Operations Forces Command.... Twenty-seven men were killed during MacKenzie’s deployment. Seven of them were his close friends....
"MacKenzie was stationed in Germany and the United Arab Emirates. He trained soldiers in Jamaica and participated in exchange programs with the U.S. Marines.... After 14-and-a-half years, Master Corporal MacKenzie retired from the military, a decorated soldier. He received the Sacrifice Medal, ... a general campaign star from the Afghanistan war and a Canadian Forces decoration for more than 12 years of service with a spotless record....
"After returning from combat, MacKenzie felt betrayed by the Canadian government and the Canadian Armed Forces for their treatment of veterans. That anger and rage is evident in his podcast under the name Raging Dissident. He jokes that listeners have to be f***** up to appreciate his humour.
"In 2020, MacKenzie came to Saskatchewan from Nova Scotia and had only planned on staying a couple of weeks but then COVID-19 lockdowns happened so he ended up living here for two to three years.... It was during this time that MacKenzie came up with the idea of ... 'Diagolon,' a fictitious country in a parallel universe and used it as an analytical commentary on current events and politics.
"He said he had noticed that Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Alaska, along with the Mid-Western states of Texas, Florida, South Dakota, formed a geographical diagonal line of states and provinces that resisted federal government-imposed mandates....'I kind of found it amusing that there was this kind of geographical divide,' he said.
"He then created the “Diagolon” flag on his cell phone and it became a symbol of his podcast. The vice-president of Diagolon was a cocaine-addicted, time-travelling goat named King Phillip. Diagolon was at war with 'Circulon.' Bees were bred to terrorize Diagolon’s enemies and a bee, Jeffrey, died in a kamikaze mission when he was swallowed by Doug Ford during a press conference. Diagolon had capital punishment. During game show hypothetical executions, in 'Dumpster Toss' someone is tossed from a tall building into a dumpster. Then there’s 'Torn Apart by Wolves' where the accused is put on an iceberg with hungry wolves. In 'Gun or Rope,' spectators get to choose between a firing squad or the gallows. The game show portions of MacKenzie’s podcasts ... were soon taken as 'evidence' that MacKenzie and Diagolon were promoting violence. MacKenzie, however, thought it was self-evident that Diagolon was a joke.
"It seems the RCMP didn’t perceive Diagolon as a group, a militia, or a security threat. 'Diagolon does not pose a criminal or national security threat,' said the RCMP. 'The Canadian Anti-Hate Network (CAHN) is cited as the main authority on the group by all mainstream media outlets; due to the fact that all information traces back to one source, triangulation and the verification of facts is almost impossible at the current time.'
"Before long, others not seeing that Diagolon was a joke became the joke, said investigative journalist and Ontario lawyer Caryma Sa’d. MacKenzie ... egged on the media to sensationalize Diagolon – and they took the bait. In November 2021, Jeremy circulated a group photo taken at a family barbecue in Viscount, Saskatchewan. The photo showed masked men with hunting rifles and the Diagolon flag.... MacKenzie posted it to social media and put “redacted” over everyone’s eyes.... He said he thought there was 'an outside chance' that someone in the media would take the photo, which they did and called it a militia training camp. 'No one's really interested in hearing my side of anything,' he said, adding that no media had ever called him to ask for his version. 'They just kind of played this crazy game of telephone. And it just got more and more insane as time went on.'
"And it did get more insane.... On Feb. 14, 2022, the federal government invoked the never-before used Emergencies Act largely because of Diagolon’s perceived threat to national security. After invoking the Emergencies Act, then Minister of Public Safety Marco Mendicino, told reporters: 'Several individuals at Coutts have strong ties to a far-right organization [ie, Diagolon] with leaders who are in Ottawa.'...
"Sa’d had attended the POEC inquiry and said that Diagolon seemed to play a big role in the use of the Emergencies Act. 'There were a number of factors that the commissioner identified as warranting the Emergencies Act but I do think (Diagolon) was a big part of it. Diagolon was a thread that appeared woven throughout.' Sa’d said that MacKenzie had never been to Coutts and wasn’t in communication with any of the accused leading up to their arrest.
"In fact, numerous videos played at the POEC inquiry showed MacKenzie urging all of his Diagolon fans to remain peaceful during the Freedom Convoy protests in Ottawa. At one point during the Freedom Convoy in Ottawa, MacKenzie said he became concerned about some individuals who could potentially become violent and he had called the RCMP to notify them, the inquiry heard. No one followed up on his concerns.
"In September 2022, a Canada-wide warrant was issued for MacKenzie’s arrest. He was arrested in Nova Scotia and flown back to Saskatchewan to face charges of assault, pointing a firearm, using a restricted weapon in a careless manner, and mischief. In August [2023], all of the charges were stayed in Saskatoon Provincial Court. MacKenzie believes that he was targeted and questions the timing of the charges being laid and flown to Saskatchewan on a national warrant. 'A lot of people's eyebrows were raised about that,” he said. 'And I was denied bail. Right? I have no record. And there's no reason to do this'....
"He said when he was arrested, the media acted like they had captured Osama bin Laden.... 'They flew me out to Saskatoon in ankle chains and wrist chains and belly chains on an RCMP flight with four or five cops like I’m Pablo Escobar,' said MacKenzie. 'It was crazy. And, you know, there was a stabbing, or killing at one of the clubs downtown in in Saskatoon where a woman killed another woman and she was out on bail the next day. It really felt like I was being treated a little differently than some other people.' It took two months before MacKenzie was finally granted bail....
"Kitto said that he spoke with MacKenzie several times while he was on remand at the Saskatoon Provincial Correctional Centre.... Kitto said that MacKenzie was falsely targeted as a white supremacist and housed with Indigenous street gangs. Kitto said white supremacy is so foreign to MacKenzie’s knowledge and experience.... Kitto said the term 'racist' is overused in today’s cancel culture and he doesn’t consider MacKenzie a racist. 'Everybody’s a racist. That’s the new tag right? If you have an opinion on something well you’re a racist. It’s just being created to divide'.
"When Dr. Tucker watched as the media portrayed MacKenzie as a terrorist and a security threat, he was flabbergasted. 'I thought it was a bit ridiculous. I was taken aback. I mean, listen, and can I say this? I'll be honest with you because I know you work for the media and I don't mean this to be offensive in any way, but I, like a lot of people who have been in the military, have not been a huge fan necessarily of the media at all times. But I never expected anything like that. You know what I mean? I just thought it was crazy. I was like, this isn't the person that I know'....
"Kitto said the media and the government needed a boogeyman and they found one in MacKenzie. 'It was just laughable,' said Kitto. 'It's just incredible to speculate that all these guys (Diagolon fans) have a hidden agenda, and they're just using humour to cover it up. Like, OK, where's the secret bases? Where's the training facilities? Where's the membership? It's just absolutely laughable. That's a joke in itself.'"
