Niagara Parks Police on high alert with rumours that the Dominion Society of Canada is planning to hold its Domcon convention at Queenston Heights Park
The possibility that a group called the Dominion Society of Canada might host its DomCon convention at Queenston Heights Park on Saturday has forced the non-profit organization The Friends of Fort George to close Brock’s Monument to the public.
Executive director Amanda Gamble received an email today from a concerned Grimsby citizen alerting her to an Instagram post from one of the group’s leaders recorded in front of Brock’s Monument. In the video, he lauds the beautiful scenery as “very inspiring”.
“What better place than our boy Brock over here at Queenston Heights to film a little video for you guys,” says Dominion Society’s founding board member Ken Jones. “Looking forward to seeing everyone on Saturday, and, you know what to say — remigration now.”
The Canadian Anti-Hate Network has described the Dominion Society as part of Canada’s white nationalist movement, pointing to its public rhetoric and relationships with individuals and groups operating within Canada’s far-right political network.
In July, the group garnered interest in Orillia for its planned door-to-door canvassing campaign to gather signatures supporting the return of the Samuel de Champlain Monument to that city’s Couchiching Beach Park following its removal a month earlier.
The Dominion Society’s website says it is a “vanguard movement promoting Canadian nationalism and immigration reform to preserve Canada’s cultural continuity.” It also calls for remigration of immigrants, calling the concept “a nation’s natural survival instinct in response to unprecedented mass immigration.”
The Local asked the group’s founder and chairman Daniel Tyrie Friday afternoon whether the Dominion Society was holding its event at Queenston Heights Park this weekend.
“I don’t know why you would have that impression,” said Tyrie. “I cannot confirm nor deny the location of Domcon. Obviously there have been huge attempts to shut down our event against our Charter rights of freedom of expression and association. We’ve had to take extraordinary precautions to avoid other egregious actions from state employees.”
The group had originally planned to hold its convention in Hamilton. But the city cancelled their bookings at two venues after receiving warnings from the Hamilton Anti-Racism Resource Centre (HARRC) and the mayor about its anti-immigration and nationalist messaging.
Fearing the Dominion Society would be looking to regroup somewhere in Niagara, the Township of West Lincoln posted a message on its website yesterday saying “staff is working hard to ensure that township facilities have not and can not be booked for such an event.”
Officials at Niagara Parks, which owns Queenston Heights Park, told The Local today that they had been alerted of the potential gathering in one of their parks, but did not know it might be at Queenston Heights. She confirmed that the Dominion Society had not made a reservation at any of its locations.
“We have alerted our (Niagara Parks) police to make them aware of it,” said the official. “They will call in Niagara Regional Police if they need to.”
Later this afternoon, Niagara Parks released a statement condemning “hate-motivated activity in any form,” and referred to its events policy that “requires organizations and/or groups to apply for a permit to hold an event on Niagara Parks property.”
No such request has been received, the statement continues, and if one is submitted, it would not be approved.
“Niagara Parks echoes the statements of other bordering municipalities in condemning hate-motivated speech and associated activities in all forms “.
Almost a year to the date, about 50 members of the group Second Sons, described by the RCMP as a “militia-like extremist organization,” held an unapproved rally in front of that same monument, posting photos and videos of masked members carrying flags and wearing shirts reading “All Thy Sons.”
The rally prompted Niagara-on-the-Lake Lord Mayor Gary Zalepa to say during a council meeting that week that the “group’s message is not supported or condoned, and this type of hate has no place in our town.”
“Luckily, we were closed last year,” Gamble said of the 2025 Labour Day weekend, when the monument was being prepared for maintenance and repairs over the offseason.
“Unless we get word that tomorrow’s event has been cancelled, I think it’s best for us to be closed for the day,” Gamble added today, citing the safety of the student re-enactors who stand guard at Brock’s Monument. “It’s a lot for staff to handle. We’ll keep the monument closed tomorrow and shift (the students) to Fort George.”
-with files from Tyler Evans (Orillia Matters) and Kris Dube