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Race Traitor: The True Story of Canadian Intelligence Service's Greatest Cover-Up
Set in 1990s Toronto, RACE TRAITOR is the visceral true story of a teenage girl who becomes entangled in Canada’s most powerful white supremacist group, the Heritage Front – a domestic terrorist group later revealed to have been created and funded with the assistance of Canada’s spy agency, Canadian Security and Intelligence Service (CSIS).
To sixteen-year old runaway Elisse, the new friends she encounters in the secretive Heritage Front are the family she’s never had. They feed her when she’s hungry, watch her back, and Wolfgang Droege, one of the group’s charismatic leaders, introduces her to a trusted friend, notorious Holocaust denier Ernst Zundel, who provides her with shelter and work.
In less than a year, Elisse evolves into an extremist groomed for a leadership role in the far-right movement. Her loyalty earns her the attention and tutelage of Grant Bristow, co-founder of the Heritage Front, who is training a secret faction of skinheads and neo-Nazis in information-gathering and terror tactics targeting political opponents. Rapidly drawn into their web of hatred, Elisse witnesses an escalating campaign of terror from which there seems no way out.
Forced to confront her sexual orientation and secret heritage, Elisse realizes that she must fight back. But when she attempts to shut down the vicious organization that had brainwashed her and terrorized innocent Canadians, she learns that a darker force is behind the façade of the Heritage Front: Canada’s own spy agency, backed by the government that was supposed to protect her.
At only eighteen, Elisse’s testimony will lead to the criminal convictions of prominent white supremacists including Wolfgang Droege. Within months, Grant Bristow would be exposed as an undercover CSIS agent. Although Operation Governor never led to the arrest of a single Canadian racist, Bristow will be placed into the Witness Protection Program and given a package worth hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars, while the teenage girl who had named him as a criminal will be denied police protection and forced to go on the run for her life.
To sixteen-year old runaway Elisse, the new friends she encounters in the secretive Heritage Front are the family she’s never had. They feed her when she’s hungry, watch her back, and Wolfgang Droege, one of the group’s charismatic leaders, introduces her to a trusted friend, notorious Holocaust denier Ernst Zundel, who provides her with shelter and work.
In less than a year, Elisse evolves into an extremist groomed for a leadership role in the far-right movement. Her loyalty earns her the attention and tutelage of Grant Bristow, co-founder of the Heritage Front, who is training a secret faction of skinheads and neo-Nazis in information-gathering and terror tactics targeting political opponents. Rapidly drawn into their web of hatred, Elisse witnesses an escalating campaign of terror from which there seems no way out.
Forced to confront her sexual orientation and secret heritage, Elisse realizes that she must fight back. But when she attempts to shut down the vicious organization that had brainwashed her and terrorized innocent Canadians, she learns that a darker force is behind the façade of the Heritage Front: Canada’s own spy agency, backed by the government that was supposed to protect her.
At only eighteen, Elisse’s testimony will lead to the criminal convictions of prominent white supremacists including Wolfgang Droege. Within months, Grant Bristow would be exposed as an undercover CSIS agent. Although Operation Governor never led to the arrest of a single Canadian racist, Bristow will be placed into the Witness Protection Program and given a package worth hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars, while the teenage girl who had named him as a criminal will be denied police protection and forced to go on the run for her life.
329 pages, Kindle Edition
First published March 15, 2014
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
May 13, 2014
This is an important story taken from recent Canadian history. A riveting personal narrative by an insider, Elisse, who at 16 was a rising star of the neo-Nazi "Heritage Front" which had thousands of supporters in Toronto. A detailed and informative look at how extremist movements are formed, and how they recruit and manipulate members. According to author Elisheva, Heritage Front was run by a CSIS agent in the pay of the Canadian government. Why was Canada's spy agency encouraging racial and anti-leftist violence in our cities in the 1990s? Anti-racist activists were targeted in a vicious campaign that including wiretapping, character assassination and brutal physical attacks -- even before electromagnetic weapons became standard equipment for our intelligence agencies. Skinhead and neo-Nazi youth were the shock troops of a movement that included Reform Party leaders and our current Prime Minister. Intense and dramatic, RACE TRAITOR deserves to reach a wide audience.
December 16, 2018
Fascinating memoir of a smart lonely teenager who gets deeply involved with the nazi group Heritage Front and tries to redeem herself by testifying to the crimes her former chosen family engaged in, only to find out one of the founding leaders had always been an undercover CSIS agent. Chilling and very well written, Hategan’s tale offers a deep understanding of what factors lead people to join hate based groups and what factors can lead to their path out.
November 28, 2019
I picked up this book after hearing the author passionately (and skillfully) speak on far-right radicalism at a conference. I was so captivated by her spirit and her storytelling, I felt compelled to learn more about "the truth of Canadian Intelligence's greatest cover-up"
There is no denying that this memoir could use a good editor, but I am equally as confident that this story deserves a wider Canadian audience. The world needs more brave voices like Hategan's.
*3.5 stars*
There is no denying that this memoir could use a good editor, but I am equally as confident that this story deserves a wider Canadian audience. The world needs more brave voices like Hategan's.
*3.5 stars*
July 2, 2016
I couldn't put down this story of rampant internal government corruption as told through the eyes of a teenage girl trying to figure out who she is in a world where no one seemed to be on her side. She has nerves of steel. What the government did with our tax dollars is truly disturbing. This should be required reading in Canadian classrooms.
February 13, 2019
I found this to be an interesting book, and certainly one that I wish had found more traction and attention in Canadian circles.
On a stylistic note, Hategan's prose could have used some tightening up here and there, and there were certainly some edits that were missed. I didn't love the "creative non-fiction" style (that is my own bias - I almost always tend to dislike this style, it makes me feel like it's too fictionalized) but, frankly, I think her memoir and allegations regarding CSIS involvement in the Heritage Front are worth taking seriously.
I found it interesting that the recruitment tactics described by Hategan here are fundamentally the same as the recruitment tactics used by neo-nazi and alt-right groups today as well. One might also comment on the timeliness of the publication date - while I am essentially five years late in reading this, Hategan's book came out right during an upswell in extremist, far-right, white-supremacist organization on digital forums (in my opinion, anyway).
Particularly after reading Banished earlier this year, I really appreciated that Hategan actually spends about half of this book discussing the fallout of her leaving, but, more importantly, her own responsibility and culpability in the actions she took while involved in a hate group, and how they affected other people. This is not to say that I think children who are essentially manipulated into these groups are fully culpable, but it is important to acknowledge the fallout and hurt that those actions caused. I really appreciate that Hategan did not shy away from this.
On a stylistic note, Hategan's prose could have used some tightening up here and there, and there were certainly some edits that were missed. I didn't love the "creative non-fiction" style (that is my own bias - I almost always tend to dislike this style, it makes me feel like it's too fictionalized) but, frankly, I think her memoir and allegations regarding CSIS involvement in the Heritage Front are worth taking seriously.
I found it interesting that the recruitment tactics described by Hategan here are fundamentally the same as the recruitment tactics used by neo-nazi and alt-right groups today as well. One might also comment on the timeliness of the publication date - while I am essentially five years late in reading this, Hategan's book came out right during an upswell in extremist, far-right, white-supremacist organization on digital forums (in my opinion, anyway).
Particularly after reading Banished earlier this year, I really appreciated that Hategan actually spends about half of this book discussing the fallout of her leaving, but, more importantly, her own responsibility and culpability in the actions she took while involved in a hate group, and how they affected other people. This is not to say that I think children who are essentially manipulated into these groups are fully culpable, but it is important to acknowledge the fallout and hurt that those actions caused. I really appreciate that Hategan did not shy away from this.
November 23, 2019
Unbelievable story
I recently met the author of Race Traitor at a conference and attended her presentation of the events described in this book. It is a compelling story of how a teenage girl was recruited into a hate group, later leaving the movement and testifying against them. As it turns out, the group was started by Canadian intelligence, which became a scandal in Canada. This is a raw and gut wrenching story that reveals how hate groups recruit and operate. It is a tribute to the sacrifices made by those who shut one group down but were betrayed by the actions of some within their government.
I recently met the author of Race Traitor at a conference and attended her presentation of the events described in this book. It is a compelling story of how a teenage girl was recruited into a hate group, later leaving the movement and testifying against them. As it turns out, the group was started by Canadian intelligence, which became a scandal in Canada. This is a raw and gut wrenching story that reveals how hate groups recruit and operate. It is a tribute to the sacrifices made by those who shut one group down but were betrayed by the actions of some within their government.
July 31, 2025
An amazing story that I couldn't put down and still can't believe is true. Equally, an important story that should be read by everyone. Its history is important - this story shaped our city and our country.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews