The Canadian Government blocked Austrian far-right extremist Martin Sellner from entering the country following an investigation conducted and shared by B’nai Brith Canada, according to an announcement from the advocacy organization on Thursday.
Sellner confirmed the border block in a post on X/Twitter on Thursday, writing, “I cannot board my flight to speak at [the Dominion Society].” Tagging B’nai Brith Canada, he posted that he had been prevented from traveling after federal authorities revoked his Electronic Travel Authorization on the day he was scheduled to fly to Canada.
Sellner was planning to travel to Canada to speak at the Dominion Conference in Hamilton, Ontario on Saturday.
B’nai Brith noted in a press release that Sellner is associated with European far-right movements and promotes “remigration,” a concept that political researchers Armin Langer, Florian Hartleb, and Christoph Schiebel describe in a recent study published in the European Journal of Political Research as a dog-whistle euphemism for reversing recent immigration policies and tying Western citizenship to ethnic origins, alongside other racist tropes and conspiracy theories such as the Great Replacement theory.
According to B’nai Brith, Sellner is an Austrian-born far-right propagandist “who was convicted in his youth for defacing a synagogue.”
The organization noted that while Sellner “has associated with neo-Nazi organizations in the past, although he has said he no longer identifies as a neo-Nazi,” he continues to promote extremist rhetoric and racism. Furthermore, B’nai Brith stated that Sellner “is believed to be involved with the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, several leaders of which have promoted Holocaust revisionism,” and that earlier this year, he “founded the so-called Institute for Remigration.”
Highlighting Sellner’s prior international travel restrictions, B’nai Brith pointed out that in 2019, “US border officials denied Sellner entry after learning he had exchanged messages with Brenton Tarrant, the white supremacist terrorist who massacred 50 people attending a mosque in Christchurch, New Zealand, that year,” noting additionally that Tarrant “also donated to one of Sellner’s political organizations during the late 2010s.”
B’nai Brith added that “also in 2019, the UK permanently banned Sellner on security grounds, arguing he would undermine the country’s efforts to combat extremism.”
‘B’nai Brith will never cower in the face of extremism’
Following the decision, B’nai Brith officials commended the Canada Border Services Agency for taking action. Simon Wolle, B’nai Brith Canada’s chief executive officer, said, “We thank the CBSA for acting in Canada’s best interest. Our country is a little bit safer today as a result.”
Wolle added, “B’nai Brith will never cower in the face of extremism and will continue to both expose and fight hate in all of its forms.”
The Dominion Conference is associated with the Dominion Society of Canada, a registered non-profit organization that promotes what it terms Canadian nationalism. The event features several other foreign speakers, prompting B’nai Brith to urge the federal government to bar additional individuals from entering the country.
Richard Robertson, B’nai Brith Canada’s Director of Research and Advocacy, said, “Extremists such as Sellner have no business coming to Canada to attack our multicultural society and incite hate and intolerance.”
“We remain concerned about DomCon and will continue to monitor the situation during the next several days, he added.”