The Oxford English Dictionary defines a “conspiracy” as a secret plan by a group to do something unlawful or harmful. “Conspiracy theory” is defined as a belief that some covert but influential organization is responsible for an unexplained event. Of course, in 2017, influencial QAnon surfaced with its origin in the American far-right political sphere. QAnon centers on fabricated claims made by an anonymous individual or individuals known as “Q”. According to Wikipedia, the core QAnon conspiracy theory is that a cabal of Satanic, cannibalistic child molesters were operating a global child sex trafficking ring, led by the Democratic Party and in particular former President Barack Obamak Hillary Clinton, and George Soros. They were alleged to have conspired against former U.S. President Donald Trump prior to and during his term in office. According to Media Matters for America, as of August 20, 2020, Trump had amplified QAnon messaging at least 216 times by retweeting or mentioning 129 QAnon-affiliated Twitter accounts, sometimes multiple times a day. An article in The Atlantic in February 15, 2022 wrote that QAnon followers came to refer to Trump as “Q+”. QAnon followers also had emerged in Canada, often accusing Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and members of his Liberal government as part of the same global movement.
Most recently, an ecoterrorist conspiracy theory emerged that accused environmentalists of setting recent wildfires in Canada in order to make a point about the impact of climate change in North America. While totally ridiculous and contradictory in nature, this conspiracy theory emerged in social media and notably among certain ultra-right groups. Maxime Bernier, a former Conservative federal foreign minister-turned fringe party leader of the People’s Party of Canada, said in a June 5 tweet: “I bet a good portion of the wildfires raging across the country were started by green terrorists who want to give their climate change campaign a little boost.” This conspiracy theory is nothing new as, for example, in California in 2021 some people claimed online that arsonists were behind several wildfires — but there was no evidence that environmentalists were pushing a climate change agenda. Moreover, officials of provincial agencies investigating the causes of wildfires in Quebec, Nova Scotia and Alberta have more or less determined such theories are bogus. They note that there are several which are caused by humans, but these are almost always accidents and that recent lightning strikes were to blame for many of the wildfires. Unless lightning is involved, a blaze classified as human-caused normally can be accidental, intentional or undetermined. This does not exclusively mean arson.
Most recently, former President Trump is facing numerous federal charges that include willfully retaining national defense secrets in violation of the Espionage Act, making false statements and a conspiracy to obstruct justice. Trump has repeatedly characterized the investigation as being politically motivated, and in recent weeks his lawyers have sought to raise what they say are issues of prosecutorial misconduct. His defence is implying that there is a conspiracy within the Justice Department and the F.B.I., spearheaded by the White House and the Democrats, to go after him in order to prevent him from running for president in 2024. Trump continues to refer to the investigation by federal officials as a “witch hunt”, for which there is currently no evidence to support his claims. Although the evidence against Trump appears to be overwhelming, a majority of his supporters state their belief that there is a conspiracy against the former president aimed at preventing him from running in the next presidential election.
Unfortunately, Donald Trump is the main culprit purposely promulgating conspiracy theories and continues to have the support of a large base of rank and file members of the Republican Party. Even some notable members of the Party, including Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida, Republican Representatives Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia and Matt Gaetz of Florida, have backed Trump’s conspiracy theory regarding what is often referred to as “the weaponization of federal law enforcement.” When it comes to governance today, there appears to be no shortage of conspiracy theories, ludicrous or not. What’s worst, a large percentage of Americans and Canadians appear to be accepting such theories as gospel.
FROLITICKS 
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