Anti-immigrant speaker blocked from entering Canada in time for Hamilton event

OTTAWA — Austrian anti-immigrant speaker Martin Sellner says he was not granted an electronic travel authorization in time for a trip to Hamilton to speak at a nationalist conference. In a video posted on X, Sellner says Canada not granting him permission to enter the country is political persecution, and said Canada is engaging in “silent, ethnic replacement” of its population. He was scheduled to speak this weekend at a conference in the Hamilton area held by the Dominion Society, an organization advocating for a policy called remigration.

The organization’s website describes its policy objectives as wanting to strip upwards of two million people of permanent residency and deporting five to nine million immigrants. Jewish advocacy organization B’nai Brith Canada urged the government to deny Sellner’s entry, noting a youth conviction of defacing a synagogue, past neo-Nazi affiliations and promotion of “extremist rhetoric and racism.” In a website post, Hamilton Police say they are aware the Dominion Society is still seeking venues to hold the event and encourages any venue to “consider the impact” it would have on the Hamilton community before deciding whether to host it.