A candidate for one of Guelph’s seats on the Wellington Catholic District School Board has posted opinions that a researcher on extremism could prove dangerous, especially if elected.

Robert Higgins, who is running for one of Guelph’s four Catholic school board trustee positions, has published writings espousing beliefs very similar to a conspiracy theory known as the Great Replacement or White Replacement.

First popularized in Europe a decade ago, the replacement grand conspiracy theory falsely asserts that whites are systematically replaced by non-whites – often Muslims.

In an email to Mercury GrandstandHiggins said he still stands by his expressed opinions.

“My opinions in several areas are not politically correct,” he added.

“One area is the education system, from kindergarten to university, which I believe has been taken over by liberal socialist ideology. Some things children are taught and the age at which they are taught are highly questionable. As an administrator, I intend to examine what is taught in each age group.”

Amarnath Amarasingam, an assistant professor at Queen’s University who has researched radicalization and extremism, online communities and terrorism, said Higgins’ comments “come very overtly close to the grand replacement theory without use those exact words,” and said, “it’s quite disturbing.

“The main difference between big replacement stuff and what you might call a legitimate or rationally grounded argument on immigration policy or political debates is the addition of a sinister motive behind immigration,” Amarasingam said. .

“It’s not just about criticizing Trudeau’s immigration policy…but the fact that the policy itself is being orchestrated by someone with a sinister motive to replace the majority culture in the country, to bring in people to bring about demographic change at the expense of the majority of white people in Canada.”

In a September 2020 letter to Erin O’Toole, then leader of the Conservative Party, posted on his website, Higgins accused Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of “attempting to destroy white hegemony in Canada.”

“When he became Prime Minister, he went on vacation with his family to an island belonging to the leader of a Muslim sect. Upon his return, he appointed a black Muslim man as Minister of Immigration. Since then, a high proportion of immigrants have dark skin. Can you connect the dots? ” he wrote.

“It looks like Mr. Trudeau is trying to destroy white hegemony in Canada. Someone should ask him, ‘what’s wrong with white Canadians that they need to be replaced?’ »

In December 2016, more than a year after becoming prime minister, Trudeau and his family spent eight days at the private residence of the Aga Khan, spiritual leader of the Ismaili Shiites, in the Bahamas. It was later discovered that Trudeau had violated several parts of federal conflict of interest law during this visit, as the Aga Khan Foundation had received millions of dollars in funds from the federal government.

In Governance for a New Era, a self-published 2020 book, Higgins wrote that “the mixing of groups will likely lead to social problems and economic stratification.”

“Besides these practical considerations, it is suspected that the campaigns of the liberal socialist establishment to create diverse societies in Europe and America are part of a plan to destroy the hegemony of white European populations even in their own country.”

A grand replacement theory has also been cited by perpetrators of numerous racially motivated mass shootings, including at a Buffalo supermarket earlier this year that left 10 dead, the 2019 Christchurch shooting that killed 51, the 2018 Tree of Life Synagogue shooting in Pittsburgh in 2018 that left 11 people dead.

When asked if he was aware of the similarity between his writings and the opinions expressed in the manifestos and writings of these mass shooters, Higgins said that “this question seems like a petty attempt to associate my opinions to radical violent people”.

“I’m definitely not in that category.”

Amarasingam said that while Higgins still held opinions consistent with the replacement conspiracy theory, “in the school context, that’s quite dangerous.”

“I have three young children who are in primary school, and if you walk into their school, the kind of pluralistic, multicultural element is basically plastered all over the walls. It’s very festive,” he said.

“If he believes darker-skinned people are being brought in to replace white Canadians, I’ll be very curious to know how he approaches the upbringing of immigrant children in this country.” I think he has a lot to answer for, especially if he hasn’t given that up in the last two years.

In his email, Higgins said “a fundamental tenet of any school is that all students have equal status.”

“As an administrator, I will never forget this principle. As a professional engineer for 40 years, I quickly learned to make decisions, especially about others, based on facts, not feelings. Another fact is that most immigrants came to Canada in good faith and with good intentions,” he wrote.

“I respect that and immigrated to the United States myself in 1966 (I came back two years later). My disagreement with the federal government is something else.

Higgins’ book also references a 2010 study purporting to show those in majority-black countries have lower IQs, with Higgins noting that and cultural differences “suggest that a person has the best chance of a lifetime if competition is n is only among his/her kind.

The study in question was co-authored by Richard Lynn, whom the Southern Poverty Law Center calls “one of the most brazen and crude ‘scientific’ racists operating today” and “an unimpeachable eugenicist”.

According to the BBC, Lynn had her emeritus status at the University of Ulster in Northern Ireland revoked in 2018. The move followed appeals earlier that year from the university’s student union, who said he held views “of a racist and sexist nature”.

Along with study co-author Gerhard Meisenberg, Lynn was also named director of the Pioneer Fund. Based in New York, the fund contributed financially to eugenics research and, between 1994 and 1999, to the white supremacist New Century Foundation.

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