Documents reveal why the Canadian military was asking soldiers about 'extremist' hats
This was a loyalty test, not a research project. If you were nineteen and thinking about enlisting, and you saw this — would you?
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Article by Rebel News staff
Tonight, on The Ezra Levant Show, the Canadian military spent three and a half years, forty-eight officials and 2,688 pages of paperwork asking soldiers if they'd ever bought a Make Canada Great Again hat.
In December 2024, Harrison Faulkner of True North broke the story: a questionnaire went out to soldiers asking if they'd ever "liked" an extremist post on social media, donated to an extremist cause, or purchased "extremism merchandise — such as a Make Canada Great Again hat."
Rebel News filed an access to information request the day it went viral. Twenty-one months later, the answer came back: 2,688 pages, most of it useless — the actual survey questions are blacked out entirely, withheld under the Access to Information Act's trade-secret provisions. A hat questionnaire, apparently, is a trade secret.
When the story broke, National Defence's approved line for reporters was: "DND/CAF is not funding this research, nor has it contracted this research." But the consent form every soldier signed lists, at the top: "External Funder/Sponsor: Department of National Defence (DND)."
In fact, DND signed a $49,995 funding agreement with Ontario Tech University, five dollars under the disclosure threshold, and later paid $250,000 more to Dr. Barbara Perry's "Network for Research on Hateful Conduct and Right-Wing Extremism in the Canadian Armed Forces." She is getting rich off of calling our soldiers racist.
The whole thing traces back to General Jonathan Vance ordering the study in 2019 — not long before resigning over his own conduct scandal. DND then rewrote the survey questions, pushed it down the chain of command, and leaned on a reluctant Navy — already suffering "severe staff shortages" — to participate. The consent form warns soldiers that "incriminating" answers get reported to military police, who can in turn notify their commanding officer. Risk to a career, for a hat.
Ezra is more worried about left-wing violence in the CAF — like Gabriel Lepage, the Antifa extremist who threw incendiary devices into a crowded Montreal church while working at a Canadian Forces base, exposed by Rebel's own Alexa Lavoie.
Internally, DND tracked the media fallout using MediaBiasFactCheck.com, grading True North as low-credibility and "part of the right ideology perspective," while noting with relief: "We have not observed any articles from mainstream media." When reporters pressed on the funding, staff wrote plainly: "I don't think we touch it at this point." They knew, and they chose not to tell you.
The study's own vetted webpage admits the number of CAF members holding extremist beliefs is "comparable to the general population." No epidemic. Just a headline, and a professor with a grant.
This was a loyalty test, not a research project. If you were nineteen and thinking about enlisting, and you saw this — would you?
GUEST: Anastasia Zorchinsky, one of the winners of The Democracy Fund's 2026 Student Journalism Conference, presents her first report with Rebel News.
COMMENTS
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Paul McCulluogh commented 2026-09-02 23:46:32 -0400 FlagAnother great addition to the team.
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Don Hrehirchek commented 2026-09-02 22:58:25 -0400 FlagBruce You have nailed it . very visual description comes into My mind. -
Bruce Atchison commented 2026-09-02 21:11:56 -0400 FlagFirst, I’m glad you could work from home today, Ezra. Your home looks nice.
Secondly, all the things which made Canada great have been eroded by leftists.
Thirdly, it’s been the leftist plan for half a century or mor to infiltrate and destroy institutions from within. That’s what snake venom does to its prey. And the system keeps pumping the poison throughout the body politic like it’s good political blood. How diabolical!
