military intelligence officers noted that the major actors supporting blm included anti-capitalism and social justice organizations, labour unions such as the public service alliance of canada and anti-racism groups, particularly from the indigenous community. the intelligence report also noted the major actor groups included celebrities, particularly korean pop stars, as well as “politicians at all levels,” including prime minister justin trudeau.
the intelligence team examined “core narratives” circulating on social media sites about blm and noted the protests were peaceful.
hudson questioned whether the actions of the canadian forces were legal. “this says something about how (canada) views black people advocating on behalf of their community; that this is something that is suspicious and something to be tracked by the military.”
two months before the blm report was completed, lt.-gen. mike rouleau, head of the canadian joint operations command, had issued a plan outlining the use of propaganda techniques against canadians during the pandemic. that plan was later rescinded because of concerns it had gone too far.
in addition, this newspaper also reported last year that a canadian military intelligence unit monitored and collected information from people’s social media accounts in ontario, claiming such data-mining was needed to help troops working in ltc homes during the pandemic. negative comments made by the public about premier doug ford’s government were collected by the military.