Canada’s official food guide was recently revised to better reflect the diversity of cultures and cuisines in the country. One of the changes was to list dairy products as just one item in the “protein foods” category, rather than a separate food group. Conservative Party leader Andrew Scheer immediately freaked out, ostensibly in support of Canada’s dairy farmers, about the new guide being “ideologically driven”. Then he smirked and guzzled milk straight from the carton.
This is a clear message to his conservative base, who fear that Northern European is no longer the default Canadian ethnicity. But he and his advisors can’t be unaware that this is also a dog whistle to white supremacists who have made milk drinking a test of racial purity. (It isn’t, but no one ever accused them of an excess of logic or knowledge.)
I have no reason to believe that Scheer himself is a white supremacist, but he has cozied up to some very ugly far-right supporters, knowing they are among the most consistently loyal of the Conservative base.
eta: I think it’s a dog whistle, but it’s calculated. He was at a meeting with the Dairy Producers of Canada, so he can say “Of course I chugged some milk. If you think that’s a Nazi symbol, you’re crazy! It’s just jokes that you don’t get.”
Scheer seemed to cough on his words as he told the gallery he wasn’t under influence from any fringe group: “There’s some suggestion out there that I’m beholden to a certain group within the Conservative family,” he said, clearing his throat. He then pulled out a carton of milk and took a swig, thanking Canada’s dairy farmers.
I don’t know if Scheer frequently chugs milk from the carton or if it was just a good photo to decorate a current story. It’s still a dog-whistle.
