Canadian Army Fires Soldier For Being Neo-Nazi Recruiter

Canada Army Reserves Image by wikicommons

By Alyssa Fisher August 28, 2019

Correction, August 29, 9:50 a.m.: The Forward previously mislabeled Patrik Mathews’s title. Master corporal is not an officer ranking in the Canadian Forces.

A Canadian military soldier was fired after it was revealed that he was a recruiter for a neo-Nazi paramilitary group, the Winnipeg Free Press reported.

Master Corporal Patrik Mathews will be formally released from the Canadian Army Reserves in a few weeks, after recently being suspended and stripped of his uniform. There is an ongoing investigation into his conduct and extremist views. Mathews was a recruiter for The Base, a violent “far-right” hate group. He was originally going to return as a combat engineer in September.

“It is incumbent of our leaders to know their soldiers, and to take measures when they have acted in a manner that is not aligned with our beliefs and culture of respect for all people,” a military spokeswoman wrote in a statement. “We have taken decisive action, and we will continue to exert full energy in removing those from our ranks who harbour extremist ideologies.”

Mathews was outed as a member of The Base when a Free Press reporter went undercover after “Save your Race, Join The Base” posters were posted around the city.

Alyssa Fisher is a writer at the Forward. Email her at [email protected], or follow her on Twitter at @alyssalfisher

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

The coming year promises to be filled with more complex and historic developments. We are entering an era where independent, fact-based Jewish journalism will be more important than ever. We need to be ready for whatever 2025 will bring, and with your help, we can be.

We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.

If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.

— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO