In October 2018, the United Conservative Party held a meet and greet at a pub in Edmonton. Among those who showed up for the event was the leader of an Alberta separatist party, the misogynistic head of Onward Christian Soldier, at least one member of the Clann (founded by Ryan Dean had been kicked out of the CCC about a year before and who I believe had just recently gotten off of house arrest after his conviction for assaulting his one-time girlfriend), and members of the Edmonton chapter of the Soldiers of Odin:

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Not especially a good look for the United Conservative Party which quickly went onto damage control:

UCP Edmonton-West Henday Constituency Association President responds to hateful group 'Soldiers of Odin' being present in a public venue in which the CA hosted an event. These hateful views have no place in our party. #ableg #abpoli #UCP pic.twitter.com/z50plztSCB — United Conservative Party (@Alberta_UCP) October 7, 2018

Two of the candidates disavowed the SoO and claimed they had no idea who they were or what the group was about. The third candidate however refused to go along with this narrative (though to be fair the two other candidates may have been genuine) and said he knew exactly who the SoO were. For his troubles, he was booted as a candidate by the party:

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The Edmonton Nouns of Odin, because of the negative press, was ordered shut down by the original chapter in Finland and leader Tyson Hunt went on to rebrand as the Canadian Infidels/Wolves of Odin/Odin's Infidels.

Really, Hunt had a really hard time sticking with a name he liked:

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Eventually Hunt and his gang merged with Ryan Dean's twosome as the Clann with Hunt apparently the public leader though Dean certainly maintains control of the group:

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The most infamous of their recent activities, especially in light of the murders in Christchurch, New Zealand two months later, was the decision of Hunt, Dean, and two or three other to harass members of Al Rashid Mosque in Edmonton:

A spokesperson for the mosque said members of the Wolves of Odin group  attempted to “provoke” the people inside: "You don’t come inside the mosque with a toque that says infidel on it … Our No. 1 priority was to ensure our people here feel safe." #yeg https://t.co/aK2WhOpTor — The Star Edmonton (@thestaredmonton) January 26, 2019


Patriot Prayer biker gang knockoff "The Clann" (formerly Wolves of Odin, formerly Soldiers of Odin) were walking around Edmonton today looking for fights & harassing Muslims outside a mosque. they literally call themselves "clannsmen". be safe #YEG pic.twitter.com/SHBhpZQ8hr — Bob Nesta Makhno mistake ☠🏴 (@GilletteMachNo1) January 26, 2019


I grew up going to Al-Rashid. My dads funeral started at Al-Rashid. A mosque by the same name was the first mosque in Canada.

It makes me angry seeing these smug smile while they intimidate the community I grew up in. #yeg pic.twitter.com/4YRCAv0W5m — Bashir Mohamed (@BashirMohamed) January 26, 2019


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Now that the background information has been provided, on to the purpose for this article.

Ryan Dean likes to create social media pages -- Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram primarily -- to disseminate particular brand of noxious propaganda and to make it appear as if there is more support for the hatred he and other members of the Clann espouse. One of his recent efforts is on Instagram:

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As of last night when I grabbed the screen shot, there were 44 followers; that number hadn't changed the last time I checked earlier today. Among the 44 who decided to give Dean a follow was this fella:

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And who is David Egan you ask?

This guy:

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As Dean has been posting on Instagram fairly frequently since creating the site a couple of days ago, Mr. Egan may be seeing images like these come up on his feed:

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Of particular interest are the posts supporting Faith Goldy and Students For White Civilization who promote some variation of the identitarian "great replacement" conspiracy that in part motivated the Christchurch murderer:

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Most concerning are the posts targeting anti-racist supporters in Calgary and Edmonton. On these posts there have been comments left by both Tyson Hunt and Joey Deluca of the Worldwide Coalition Against Islam who marched in Edmonton last week. In one post Deluca writes "they need to die" in reference to an activist and in a brief exchange with Hunt claims that they have addresses of anti-fascists:

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Now if I'm to be fair, there is a chance that UCP candidate for Edmonton-Beverly-Clareview David Egan may have followed Dean's Instagram profile because Dean also followed him; I don't know whom followed whom first:

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When I checked Mr. Egan's Facebook profile with my sock puppet, one in which I only add extremists who along with far-right groups I keep an eye on, I found that Mr. Egan and the sock had well over 100 "friends" in common including many such as Rick Boswick and Georges Massaad who have been frequently profiled here on the ARC blog:

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This also raises more than a few alarms. As I would like to give Mr. Egan the benefit of the doubt it has become sort of clear that extremism within the UCP during this election appears to be a feature rather than a bug:

Kenney’s UCP won’t say if party expelled extremists Meet 30 Candidates for Jason Kenney’s UCP Who Got Caught Promoting Hateful and Extremist Views Star UCP candidate who resigned over white supremacist comments also questioned value of Pride parades UCP Candidate Delivered Sermon Comparing ‘Homosexual Love’ to ‘Pedophilia’ UCP candidate for Calgary-South East resigns, says she’s ‘tired of being bullied for her beliefs’ UCP Candidate Promoted Far-Right Conspiracy Claiming the United Nations is Taking Control of Canada’s Borders Alberta UCP Nomination Candidate Admits He Offered to Help Fund an Instagram Group That Shares Nazi Memes UCP Candidate Said His Thoughts on Cardston, Alberta are Coloured by ‘Aryan Undertones’ in Bizarre Letter Todd Beasley defends anti-Muslim Facebook posts after removal from Brooks-Medicine Hat UCP nomination ANALYSIS Here Are All The Bozos, Bigots and Sketchy Characters Who Created Chaos for Jason Kenney’s UCP in 2018 And so on....
Aside from Mr. Egan, a list of over 30 current and former UCP candidates raise the question of what kind of vetting the party does and what kind of government they would be should they win the Alberta election on April 16.