Jeremy Mackenzie, the creator of the internet meme country Diagolon, denied Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s claims that he and the Conservative Party of Canada or its leader Pierre Poilievre are connected in any way.
“The CPC has no connections or affiliations with myself or anyone involved in my circles,” Mackenzie said on his podcast. “These claims by the Liberals are an outright and deliberately malicious fabrication in a desperate and pathetic attempt to sway support away from the Conservative Party’s momentum that appears overwhelmingly likely to crush the Liberals in any election held anywhere in this plane of reality.”
The claims, spurred on by Trudeau, came after Poilievre visited a legal carbon-tax protest encampment on the side of a highway in an Atlantic Canada border town. The flag of Mackenzie’s made-up country can be seen on the door of a camper Poilievre entered.
The Prime Minister accused Poilievre of meeting with Diagolon, and has since continued to levy accusations of “courting white supremacists” and “conspiracy theorists.”
The protesters denied any connection to Diagolon and told True North the drawing was made by someone who stopped in one time to get warm at the Freedom Convoy protest in Ottawa and was never seen again.
Mackenzie confirmed their claims. He said he asked Sam Field, who according to Mackenzie owns the trailer, to remove the drawing “immediately.”
“(The carbon-tax protest Pierre visited) was born out of a small orbit of perennial freedom protesters seemingly cornerbacked by Mr. Sam Fields,” he said.
Mackenzie said he has no relationship or recollection of any interaction with Fields. “My partner Morgan (Guptill) doodled a Diagolon flag on his trailer door over two years ago, during the Ottawa protest action meant as a friendly gesture of support, and nothing more,” he continued. “There is no connection between myself, Morgan, or any of the more prominent voices in our makeshift loose-knit community than that.”
“Any connections being made are tenuous at best and purely coincidental. There is no involvement whatsoever.”Poilievre denounced Mackenzie and Diagolon in September 2022, after Mackenzie made remarks about raping Poilievre’s wife, Anaida Poilievre. Mackenzie later claimed he was joking.
In an email to True North, Sebastian Skamski, a spokesperson for Poilievre said the Conservative leader stands by his disavowal of Diagolon.
“Frankly, like most Canadians, until about a month ago I never heard of Diagolon and these losers. They are all odious,” Poilievre wrote on Sept. 26, 2022.
Mackenzie said he and the Conservative leader do not see eye to eye, and Mackenzie will remain a “sharp critic” of the Poilievre.
“It is very clear to my audience as well as the CPC I’m sure and Mr. Poilievre himself that we are not mutual friends. There’s a very deep and I’m sure mutual disdain for one another,” he said. “It is my sincere hope that somehow Mr. Poilievre and his team will succeed in proving me to be impressively incorrect in my assessment of their character.”
In 2023, an investigative report done by independent journalist Caryma S’ad revealed that through internal communications between law enforcement and government officials, no notable criminal or violent activity was found in their thorough investigations of Mackenzie, and they could not define Diagolon as a group in any traditional sense.
The government has often alluded to extremist groups operating within the Freedom Convoy to justify its use of the never-before-used Emergencies Act to crack down on protesters.
“At its core, (Diagolon) is a tightly knit group of like-minded folks who enjoy my podcast and commentary. This government used this fantasy narrative painted by the Canadian Anti-Hate Network to enact the Emergency Measures Act in February 2022,” Mackenzie said.
The Liberal government gave the Canadian Anti-Hate Network $268,400 in 2022. The group has since asked for $5 million over five years from the government.
Despite being labelled as a violent extremist by politicians such as Jagmeet Singh, Mackenzie has not been convicted of any crime.
The Office of the Prime Minister did not respond to True North’s request to comment before the deadline provided.
