Faith Goldy

Goldy was born on June 8, 1989.[1] She received her formal education at Havergal College, a K–12 private school, and studied at Huron College at the University of Western Ontario. She later graduated in politics and history from Trinity College at the University of Toronto, minoring in philosophy, political science and government. She also began a Master of Public Policy degree at the University of Toronto School of Public Policy and Governance. In 2012, she received the Gordon Cressy Student Leadership Award from the University of Toronto Alumni Association.[12]

Goldy is of Ukrainian and Greek descent. Goldy is a member of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church.[13][14] She was a director on the board of the Metropolitan Andrey Sheptytsky Institute Foundation from October 7, 2015, until her resignation on May 30, 2017.[15][16]

Goldy has been employed as a commentator and reporter by media outlets[4] including The Catholic Register, the Toronto Sun, TheBlaze, Bell Media, ZoomerMedia, and the National Post. She is a former reporter with the Sun News Network and was employed by The Rebel Media, a Canadian right-wing media website,[17] where she presented political commentary in regular YouTube videos and a weekly show called On The Hunt with Faith Goldy.[18]

In March 2017, Goldy posted on Twitter a video of herself in the Palestinian city of Bethlehem, expressing shock that she could hear an Islamic call to prayer in the city, and suggesting that "Bethlehem's Christian population has been ethnically cleansed".[19] In June 2017, she broadcast on Rebel Media "White Genocide in Canada?", analyzing the Canadian government's foreign immigration policies with regard to the Third World, and the effect of those policies on the demographic composition of Canadian society. She posited that the European population in the country was being replaced as a result.[20] In response to the broadcast, several corporate entities withdrew their financial support for Rebel Media.[20]

Goldy broadcast a livestream in August 2017 covering the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, protesting the removal of Confederate monuments. Goldy mocked counter-protesters and complained of apparent police bias against the alt-right demonstrators.[9] Goldy's video also recorded the car attack which killed counter-protester Heather Heyer.[21] Rebel Media co-founder Brian Lilley resigned after Goldy's broadcasts were published to the site.[22][23] Goldy was fired by co-founder Ezra Levant after she appeared on The Krypto Report, a podcast on the neo-Nazi website The Daily Stormer.[24][25] Levant explained that he had directed Goldy not to cover the events in Charlottesville and that her appearance on The Daily Stormer was "just too far".[24][26] Goldy later stated she had made "a poor decision" in consenting to the Stormer interview.[24][25]

In December 2017, Goldy appeared on the alt-right podcast Millennial Woes and recited a white supremacist slogan, the Fourteen Words: "We must secure the existence of our people and a future for white children".[27][28] She continued: "I don't see that as controversial ... We want to survive."[28] As a result of reciting the slogan,[4] crowdfunding site Patreon suspended her account in May 2018[3] and she was subsequently banned from PayPal that July.[29][30] After losing her Patreon account, she began receiving contributions through an alternative crowdfunding system, Freestartr. This platform was itself shut out of PayPal the same month, leaving her unable to receive payments.[29][31][32]

As of August 2018, Goldy's YouTube channel had over 60,000 subscribers.[33]

Goldy's views have been described as far-right or alt-right,[lower-alpha 1] white nationalist,[5][6] and white supremacist.[7] These views became increasingly public after Goldy turned to Traditionalist Catholicism, following her mother's being diagnosed with cancer in 2008 and dying in 2014.[34][35]

Goldy has promoted the white genocide conspiracy theory.[36][37][38] She reportedly linked the topic with the removal of Confederate statues, claiming they were being replaced "because people are being replaced".[39] It has been reported to have significantly raised her profile outlining the "terrible truths of white genocide".[40] Her belief in the subject has resulted in criticism, including a petition to rescind her Gordon Cressy Student Leadership Award.[41] GQ labelled her as "one of Canada's most prominent propagandists" of the theory.[28]

According to Winnipeg Free Press columnist Dan Lett, Goldy seemed to be working to provide mainstream respectability to far right demonstrators in the course of her reporting of the Charlottesville Unite the Right rally, arguing that they suggested a wider "rising white racial consciousness" in America. Goldy referred to a manifesto by white supremacist Richard Spencer, which Lett described as including "calls to organize states along ethnic and racial divides and celebrat[ing] the superiority of 'White America'", as "robust" and "well thought-out".[5]

On April 8, 2019, Goldy was banned from Facebook, along with other white nationalists and hate groups.[11]

Supporters of Faith Goldy protest outside of Corus Quay in September 2018.

Faith Goldy's share of the vote in the 2018 Toronto mayoral election, in each ward

On July 27, 2018, Goldy registered to run for Mayor in the 2018 Toronto election.[42] Her campaign platform included repair and improvement of transportation infrastructure, affordable housing for millennials born in Toronto, the reinstatement of the Toronto Anti-Violence Intervention Strategy (TAVIS) and the Community Contacts Policy, monitoring Islamic organizations, and the forced removal of homeless illegal immigrants from the city.[43] Election totals placed her in third place, with just over 3% of votes cast.[44]

After posing for a photo with Goldy at a political event on September 22, Ontario Premier Doug Ford was repeatedly asked by the opposition New Democratic Party to denounce Goldy. On September 26 Ford tweeted: "I have been clear. I condemn hate speech, anti-Semitism and racism in all forms—be it from Faith Goldy or anyone else."[45][46][47]

Goldy was not invited to the first Toronto mayoral debate held September 24 by Artsvote Toronto. Artsvote said that all candidates were sent and asked to fill out a qualifying form that laid out their platform for the arts and Goldy had not. Goldy briefly walked onto the stage during the debate and complained about the organizers before police escorted her away.[48][49] Goldy was also not invited to the second debate.[50]

Steve King, the Republican U.S. Representative for Iowa's 4th congressional district, endorsed Goldy for Toronto mayor in October 2018. King is known for being both controversial and outspoken regarding his opposition to immigration and multiculturalism, and has been criticized by members of his own party for making white nationalist statements.[51]

Bell Media declined to air campaign advertisements Goldy had paid for on its channel CP24 during the campaign. Goldy sued, but the Ontario Superior Court dismissed the case and ordered Goldy to pay Bell $43,117.90 in legal fees.[36] Rogers Media also declined to air Goldy's campaign ads on its radio stations.[52]

On April 29, 2019, Toronto's compliance audit committee decided to audit Goldy's campaign expenditures. The complainant argued that a YouTube video she posted on October 25, 2018, soliciting donations for her legal battle against Bell Media, amounted to a request for campaign contributions which may have contravened Ontario law restricting donations to residents of the province.[53]

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