Man police linked to neo-Nazi group pleads not guilty to terrorism charges

OTTAWA — An Ottawa man is pleading not guilty to charges of terrorism and hate-speech related to the promotion of a far-right group.

RCMP charged Patrick Gordon Macdonald in July 2023, alleging he took part in activities of a listed terrorist organization.

It’s the first case in Canada where the government laid charges for both terrorism and hate propaganda against someone for promoting a violent, far-right ideology.

As the trial opened Monday in Ontario’s Superior Court of Justice, Crown prosecutors alleged Macdonald helped produce propaganda for the Atomwaffen Division, an international neo-Nazi organization Canada listed as a terror group in 2021.