The framing of anti-immigration rhetoric in Canada

The anti-immigration group Soldiers of Odin was founded in Finland in 2015 by a neo-Nazi activist. By their important presence on social media platforms such as Facebook, the group quickly spread through Europe, the United States and Canada. However, the group in Canada claims to be different than their European counterpart. Notably, its mission statement would not be the same. In their formal discourse, the group presents itself as a non-profit organization that helps local communities and accepts members of different races and religions. Yet, many in the media cast doubt on the group’s intents, especially in regard to their attitudes about immigrants. A review of the Soldiers of Odin’s Facebook page suggests that xenophobic rhetoric does remain an important part of its supporters’ discourse. This raises the following questions: To what extent does the official discourse promoted by the Soldiers of Odin differ from the discourse of its private members? And how can we account for these differences? Based on a comparison of the Soldiers of Odin’s official declarations in Canadian newspapers and the group’s supporters in Facebook postings, this article argues that strategic framing accounts for the gap between the Soldiers of Odin’s formal and informal discourses.