An activist group is trying to dismantle the National March for Life week in Ottawa by accusing guest presenter Fr. Calvin Robinson of giving a “mocking Nazi salute—also known as a Roman salute—during an anti-abortion rally.”

In a March 19 hit piece, Canadian Anti-Hate Network (CAHN), the self-described “antifascist non-profit organization,” has dredged up the same attack used on Elon Musk against Robinson, who is slated to present at the National March for Life Youth Summit on May 9.

The accusation of performing a Nazi salute levelled against Musk followed Donald Trump's Jan. 20 inauguration when the billionaire and Trump's head of DOGE (Department of Government Efficiency) touched the left side of his chest with his right hand and then extended his arm upward for the crowd. He then repeated the motion for the spectators behind him.

Critics of Musk, and Trump, immediately posted on X that Musk deliberately made a Nazi salute, though immediately the Internet was flooded with video and still images of Democrat politicians — Kamala Harris, Barack Obama and Hilary Clinton — making the same extended arm wave to a crowd.  

Robinson, who hails from Britain, poked fun at the mock controversy by making the gesture with a sly smile to conclude his speech at the National Pro-Life Summit in Washington on Jan. 25, and stating “my heart goes out to all of you.”

The Anglican Catholic Church (ACC) Diocese of the Midwest, USA was not amused and defrocked Robinson on Jan. 31. He was invited into the ACC in 2024 by the same diocese. The ACC wrote that “Mr. Robinson had been warned that online trolling and other such actions (whether in service of the left or right) are incompatible with a priestly vocation and was told to desist. Clearly, he has not, and as such, his licence in this Church has been revoked.”

In a response on his Facebook page, Robinson wrote, “the joke at the end was a mockery of the hysterical ‘liberals’ who called Elon Musk a Nazi for quite clearly showing the audience his heart was with them. Context is key, but sometimes people ignore context to confirm their own prejudices. People see what they want to see.”

Gideon Spevak, a Campaign Life youth coordinator, has received word that CAHN has communicated with the Ottawa Conference and Events Centre in what he interpreted as a bid “to bully them into cancelling the (March for Life Youth Summit) event for which we already have a signed contract.”

Spevak said Campaign Life has contacted the centre, and “they’ll be sticking by us right now.”

Robinson—who branded himself as a “cancelled priest” on his X account—critiqued the efforts to sully him.

“It is a very silly attack,” said Robinson. ‘“Oh my gosh he raised his arm in a certain way! Let’s call him a Nazi.’ First of all, I’m mixed race, and secondly, I was just in Jerusalem with my Jewish friends. I’m not too sure what they believe a Nazi to be, except a word for someone they dislike.”

While appearing at events connected to the UN Commission on the Status of Women in New York, Robinson was notified about a forthcoming piece from CAHN and was asked if he wanted to comment. He declined because he rejected its mission.

“It seems that their name is a euphemism as there is a lot of hatred in the organization, ironically,” said Robinson. “We on the pro-life side are just trying to raise awareness of the greatest shame, I suppose, of our generation in that we’re killing our own offspring. The biggest killer of people is abortion, and we want to end that, and the enemy does not.

“So of course, the attacks are very personal and ad hominem, and very rarely attack the issue, because they can’t attack the issue. We want to save the unborn.”

Maeve Gainey, Campaign Life’s youth and outreach coordinator, did provide CAHN with a comment.

“It's not about whether we agree or disagree with everything a speaker has said or done. Fr. Calvin has made clear he is in no way a Nazi,” said Gainey. “We selected him as a speaker because of his expertise on freedom of expression and the censorship of the pro-life movement. We won't engage in cancel culture.”

Spevak critiqued the entire chain of events related to Musk and Robinson.

“All these mainstream media outlets started going after Elon and calling him a Nazi which just on its face is ridiculous, and of course Fr. Calvin found humour in this as well and decided to mock it, sort of responding to all of this hysterical outrage that really is false outrage, I think,” said Spevak.

CAHN did not respond to an email inquiring about the motive of the piece, and why the article did not mention that many prominent politicians of different partisan allegiances have made the same salute.

Evidence suggests a clear pattern of animus toward Campaign Life by the CAHN. In March 2024, CAHN was forced to issue a retraction after falsely claiming Campaign Life had foreknowledge of a parental rights poll before it was published.

In October, the network listed Campaign Life as a far-right hate group in a piece called 40 Ways to Fight the Far Right. Following legal exchanges, CAHN issued an apology and took down the piece.