‘Not a pedophile': B.C. teacher suspended for one day for touching students in gym class
A teacher in B.C.'s Interior who 'periodically' touched students during fitness class has been handed a one-day suspension by the regulatory body.
Todd Erin Graham entered a consent agreement with the B.C. Commissioner for Teacher Regulation last month in which he admitted to professional misconduct. The decision was posted publicly online Wednesday.
The commissioner says while teaching a fitness and conditioning class called Human Performance 12 between September and December 2022, Grahm separated the girls from the boys for a meeting.
'In that meeting, Graham told the girls that he was 'not a pedophile' but that he might have to 'grab them' to show them proper form or to spot them,' the decision reads.
'Graham then told them that he had no attraction to them as he was 62 and they were 15. The students reported feeling uncomfortable following this meeting.'
The commissioner says Graham would 'periodically' touch students during exercises, which some female students reported feeling uncomfortable about, and gave three examples.
In one instance, the teacher touched the side of a student's chest while she was doing a bench press and asked, 'can you feel that?'. In another, he pushed a student's hips while she did squats, according to the document. In a third incident Graham complimented a student's legs while she was using the leg press machine, a remark she reported feeling uncomfortable with.
The school district issued a letter of discipline and required Graham to attend a boundaries course as a result.
The consent agreement also addressed comments Graham made in 2022 and 2023.
In one incident, Graham singled out a 'diverse learner' in front of the class and described them using an 'unflattering term,' the regulator says. He also singled out an Indigenous student 'in a manner which was demeaning to (the student) specifically and to Indigenous peoples generally.'
For those comments, the district issued a disciplinary letter and required him to complete a course on reconciliation.
As a result of its investigation, the commissioner suspended Graham's teaching qualification for one day, and required he take the course Reinforcing Respectful Professional Boundaries at the Justice Institute of B.C. by September.
Factors considered in the decision, the regulator says, included that the teacher failed to create a positive learning environment, adversely impacted students, failed to respect appropriate boundaries, and harmed First Nations students in a way that did not contribute to truth and reconciliation.
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These are people that in many cases are training for what they believe is to be an upcoming race war.' There are 187 active clubs in 27 countries, according to the Global Project Against Hate and Extremism, with several in Canada. One of the most prolific is the Hamilton-based Nationalist-13. More recently, a group called Second Sons has spread across Canada, which experts say is an active club in all but name. White nationalism's evolution Canadian active clubs "have very, very deep connections with other far-right and extremist organizations,' said Lamoureux. These include groups like the Canadian Proud Boys and the notorious Atomwaffen Division, which has been linked to five killings in recent years. Both groups were listed as terrorist organizations by Public Safety Canada in 2021, and disbanded in Canada shortly afterward. However, they remain active internationally with Canadians still involved, and some of their members dispersed into active clubs. In a 2023 terrorism investigation, the RCMP arrested two Ontario men for their roles in creating recruiting videos for Atomwaffen. The RCMP concluded 'many former Atomwaffen Division members joined Active Club Canada.' Active Club Canada, which the RCMP 'observed performing combat training exercises in local community parks,' is now defunct. But it was a precursor to current active clubs like Nationalist-13. The RCMP also said members of Active Club Canada had ties to a violent skinhead gang known as the Vinland Hammerskins. In 1993, three Canadians affiliated with the Hammerskins were found guilty of murdering a Black man in Texas. Private gyms CBC spent months collecting and analyzing clues in social media posts to locate and identify the exact parks and gyms where members of Nationalist-13 (also known as NS13) and Second Sons trained, and confirmed them by visiting locations in person. CBC discovered these groups were often training in gyms or martial arts studios that also cater to children and a diverse clientele. CBC's visual investigations team used resources such as Darkside and OSINT Industries — searchable databases that include information pulled from the open web and past data breaches — to help identify and locate various active club and Second Sons members. Members of NS13 and Second Sons have attempted to keep the images online anonymous, like this one. However, in the screengrab from an NS13 video on the left, there's a boxing glove on the wall next to the person skipping. By searching gyms in the Hamilton area, the CBC team located that same boxing glove on the wall of a local branch of Amazing Fitness, pictured on the right. Another example: In a screenshot of an NS13 video on the left, there are two distinctive windows above the boxing ring. The same windows can be seen in the Amazing Fitness gym, on the right. (CBC blurred the faces of the patrons, who are not with NS13.) As well, one of NS13's most prominent members, Brandon Lapointe, could be identified by the tattoos on his arm at Amazing Fitness. Lapointe can be seen in other NS13 images with the same tattoos. Photos also show him with the same tattoo and shorts. According to Facebook and Telegram posts provided by the Canadian Anti-Hate Network, Lapointe is seen wearing Proud Boys clothing in multiple images. Lapointe did not respond to CBC's request for comment. When CBC visited the gym, John Moran, the manager at Amazing Fitness, said he didn't know this was happening. He said in a statement afterward that 'we have no affiliation whatsoever with these individuals or their ideology, and we categorically reject any form of hate or discrimination.' CBC also identified two Brazilian jiujitsu gyms in southern Ontario used by Second Sons. Here, Second Sons members pose at one of the gyms. Alex Vriend, seen in the middle, is an open white supremacist and was a prominent member of the far-right group Diagolon. Vriend has spoken publicly about his connections with Nationalist-13. On the right, members hold the black, grey and white Second Sons banner — an echo of the Red Ensign, Canada's original colonial flag, on the left, which was replaced by the maple leaf in 1965. White nationalists regard the Red Ensign as Canada's 'true' flag, a representation of the country before they say it was spoiled by immigrants. To locate the gym, the CBC team searched for checkered padding walls at martial arts studios in the Hamilton area. In a screenshot featuring some young children from an Instagram video of a club called Hammer BJJ, right, you can see the same type of padding with black walls. (CBC blurred the patrons' faces.) A photo of the gym taken by CBC, middle, shows the same light switch above the padding. CBC reached out to Vriend through Second Sons but did not receive a response. When CBC revealed Second Sons had trained at his facility and used it to promote their cause, Rob Barham, the owner of Hammer BJJ, said, "I don't affiliate myself with … any sort of white supremacy groups." 'I have a firm policy that I don't want those types of behaviours or those types of energies in this place,' said Barham. 'I'm trying to protect that and trying to foster something good for the kids of the community that can come here and better their life.' These are members of Second Sons at a jiujitsu training session in May 2025. CBC was able to identify two Second Sons members in this photo. Alex Vriend was identified by the tattoo on his right arm and Rob Primerano — better known online as white nationalist and Diagolon supporter Rob Primo — by comparing tattoos on his legs from a post on his X account. Primo has frequently posted demeaning comments about immigrants and Jews, shared Nationalist-13 posts and recently wrote "Make Canada White Again' on his X account. By lining up the walls from this Second Sons photo, CBC was able to link it to Niagara BJJ in Welland. (CBC blurred the faces of the second group, who are not Second Sons members.) Primerano did not answer questions about his involvement in Second Sons, and told CBC News in a statement that he did not want to be contacted about this story. Neo-fascist clubs Active clubs tend to be male-focused groups that are proactive in promoting their white supremacist ideals — ranging from public protests to stickering campaigns to social media posts. There is an expectation the current political order will be swept aside, potentially by force, for a new white-focused society. Behind rallying cries of 'tribe and train' and 'folk-family-future," active clubs are coded — sometimes explicitly — with the symbolism and language of white nationalism. Antisemitic and anti-immigrant themes are common in their social media feeds, as is Nazi iconography. When members of Nationalist-13 post training photos, for instance, they hide their faces with the Totenkopf, the grinning death mask used by the Nazi SS. They even celebrate Adolf Hitler's birthday, calling him 'one of the greatest men to ever live,' and look forward to realizing his 'vision.' These kinds of social media posts are not innocuous, said Richard Moon, a professor of law at the University of Windsor. They may in fact be illegal. 'I think a lot of what's said in the post that you provided me with would constitute hate speech under the Criminal Code,' said Moon. In the last few months, NS13 has moved to become more public than ever before. Clad in all-black uniforms and masks, they joined members of other active clubs in anti-immigration protests in Toronto, London and Hamilton, holding banners calling for 'mass deportations.' NS13 did not respond to CBC's request for comment. It just goes to show how manipulative these groups are, that they are going to lie about what they're doing. Mack Lamoureux, Institute for Strategic Dialogue Second Sons, meanwhile, is an 'active club in everything except name,' said Lamoureux. It promotes itself as a fitness-based fraternity based on European culture. But unlike NS13, there is no Nazi iconography in Second Sons' internet content. Beyond its use of the Red Ensign, the group alludes to the Great Replacement, the conspiracy theory that white people are being driven to extinction. Second Sons spun out of Diagolon, which the RCMP has labelled an 'extremist, militia-like organization.' CBC reached out to Second Sons via the group's email address and received a response from Morgan Guptill, partner of Diagolon founder Jeremy MacKenzie. Guptill's email signature referred to her as 'Queen of Diagolon.' She said she does not speak on behalf of Second Sons. In the email, Guptill said she didn't understand 'why 'men' in this country fail to support other men gathering regularly to improve their physical and mental well-being, as Second Sons does. I also fail to understand why anyone in this country with an IQ above 80 would oppose, at minimum, a full moratorium on immigration given the current economic trajectory.' There is no indication the places where the training is happening are neo-fascist havens. Some, like Niagara BJJ in Welland, where Second Sons members took a group photo, take pride in training a diverse community of people, including children. Kevin Mans, the owner of Niagara BJJ in Welland, said that as soon as he saw the photos CBC shared, he called his staff and told them these Second Sons members couldn't come back. Mans said that unbeknownst to him, someone had booked a private event and used the facility in May. Lamoureux said this demonstrates how active clubs and adjacent movements are infiltrating martial arts spaces. 'The fact that the gym owner doesn't know that they were training [there] doesn't surprise me at all," Lamoureux said. "It just goes to show how manipulative these groups are, that they are going to lie about what they're doing.' Public parks These groups aren't just using private businesses. In many videos on social media, Nationalist-13 is training in parks. NS13 has trained at the undisclosed location below on multiple occasions, including with the Frontenac Active Club from Quebec. CBC News used clues like the goal post and the crack in the roof shown in the images to narrow down where these photos were taken. CBC News then examined photos of every soccer field in the area, eventually finding one with a gazebo in Brantford. This Facebook post shows a youth soccer training academy training in the same gazebo, with a matching crack in the roof. (CBC blurred the kids' faces.) An amateur drone video found on YouTube goes under that same gazebo at John Wright Soccer Complex in Brantford, west of Hamilton. Your browser does not support the video tag. Pause In this social media post, NS13 is seen training under a roofed structure. Using Google Maps, the CBC News team searched parks in the Hamilton area with similar structures, using the water fountain and blackboard as markers. CBC eventually geolocated it. The NS13 training happened next to a children's splash pad at Myrtle Park. Behind the people sparring in the social media post below is a green-roofed building and white dome facility. Using Google Maps, the team searched parks in Hamilton with similar structures near each other, matching the bathroom and white-domed tennis court. The training happened next to the Children's Garden at Gage Park. 'To see city facilities and city parks being used in this way is just absolutely unacceptable,' said Hamilton city councillor Nrinder Nann. 'I think it's a serious public safety concern. The rise of extremist organizing is a national security threat and it isn't an issue to take lightly.' White nationalists have become increasingly violent in recent years. In 2017, a white nationalist killed six people at a mosque in Quebec City, while another used a pickup truck to run over a Muslim family in London, Ont., in 2021, killing four. The next year, a white nationalist killed 10 people at a supermarket in Buffalo, N.Y. Lyndon George, executive director of the Hamilton Anti-Racism Resource Centre (HARRC), said given the violent nature of this ideology, these groups shouldn't be able to operate with impunity in public places. 'We shouldn't have to wait for that violence to happen for there to be a response,' said George. With files from Andrew Kitchen Do you have any tips on this story? Please contact Ivan Angelovski: Development: Dwight Friesen | Editing: Andre Mayer Related Stories Footer Links My Account Profile CBC Gem Newsletters Connect with CBC Facebook Twitter YouTube Instagram Mobile RSS Podcasts Contact CBC Submit Feedback Help Centre Audience Relations, CBC P.O. 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