The Kanadian Klan

Canadians like to think of themselves as a relatively tolerant society that possesses a history free of the worst excesses of racial hatred, in contrast to our neighbours to the south: a Heritage Minute, for example, portrays Canada as a welcome haven for runaway American slaves. While this Heritage Minute may reflect a certain truth, Canadian historians have increasingly posited another set of truths, namely that racism was not just tolerated, but legitimized and sometimes actively promoted in Canadian law, social policy, aboriginal relations and immigration restrictions. James Pitsula’s study of the Saskatchewan Ku Klux Klan, the strongest provincial Klan in the country, contributes significantly to our understanding of Canada’s history of intolerance, particularly the way in which the KKK became closely entangled with existing ideologies, controversies and political parties on the prairies. In Keeping Canada British: The Ku Klux Klan in 1920s...