Poilievre unpopular with Diagolon

Extremist group's leader called Tory leader 'pandering' on recent podcast

- ALEX BOYD

Tory Leader Pierre Poilievre appeared at an anti-carbon tax rally where Diagolon's flag flew.

The question of Pierre Poilievre's ties real or otherwise - to an extremist online group known as Diagolon are back in the spotlight with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau accusing him of welcoming "the support of conspiracy theorists and extremists".

But does Diagolon actually support Poilievre? The loosely organized online group trades in virulently racist and antisemitic rhetoric and has been described as "extremist" by the US. State Department. It is also not shy about expressing its views.

If critics worry Poilievre is merely trying to mine the group for political support after he stopped by an anti-carbon tax rally where the group's flag was sketched on a trailer door, it turns out some members of Diagolon may agree.

"Pandering PP, pandering Pierre, decided to take a stop and pretend to give a damn about the people suffering at the carbon tax protests," was a retort from leader Jeremy MacKenzie on his podcast this week. "Just in the same way that he did with the convoy."

The Conservative leader is actually deeply unpopular with the movement, say experts who follow Diagolon. That's partially due to the fact that the group distrusts all mainstream politicians. But some of the dislike seems personal, and dates back to when Poilievre was vying for the party leadership more than a year ago.

But while the animus complicates any implied relationship between politicians and the alt right, the danger posed by the latter is no less present.

The incident illustrates, particularly heading into an election, the potential for far-right populism to trickle into more mainstream policy debates and how groups like Diagolon use the resulting confusion to spread their message. Here's a look at who they are.

What is Diagolon?