Anti-Maskers Think They Control Canada’s Banks (Spoiler: They Don’t)

A well-known Canadian anti-masker believes he's put the leader of the Republican Party of Canada in control of the Canadian banking system after copyrighting the name of government legislation.

On Tuesday, Chris Saccoccia, a popular conspiracy theorist and anti-masker, took to Instagram from the couch of his friend Rob Carbone, the leader of the Republican Party of Canada (not related to the other Republican Party), to show his 185,000 followers a document the pair received in the mail.

“This document right here shows the registration of the Canadian Infrastructure Bank (CIB), which controls all the banks in Canada,” Saccoccia says incorrectly, as the CIB is, in fact, a Crown corporation tasked with financially assisting public-private infrastructure projects. “It shows Justin Trudeau signing off on the man who is in charge of all these banks: Mr. Rob Carbone,” Saccoccia says.

Saccoccia goes on to say that Carbone plans on making him Canada’s minister of finance. 

The document he’s brandishing shows that Carbone had copyrighted the term “Canada Infrastructure Bank Act (S.C. 2017, c. 20, s. 403),” which is the title for the act that established the Canada Infrastructure Bank. According to Canada’s Copyright Register, the title is legally held by Carbone.

When reached for comment Saccoccia told VICE World News to contact Carbone, who, when asked if he believed he was in control of the CIB, responded, “Absolutely not.” 

Carbone added he was too ill to respond to follow up questions, sent screenshots proving his illness and told VICE he would “get to the bottom of this.” 

The outlandish claim shows just how far some of those within the anti-mask system are willing to push conspiracy theories. As an anti-mask researcher pointed out on Twitter, this sort of tactic has been used by the fringe movements in Canada in the past (particularly by sovereign citizens, who feel they don’t need to follow government laws) but perhaps not by such a high-profile figure and never about something as massive as Canada’s “banking system.”

A CIB spokesperson told VICE World News Saccoccia and Carbone don’t have a correct understanding of what the CIB is. The institution isn’t a bank but a Crown corporation set up to invest billions of federal funding into infrastructure projects, they said. “Mr. Rob Carbone is not involved in any way with the CIB,” they wrote in an email. 

Saccoccia, the 37-year-old son of a wealthy home developer, has gained immense influence in the large anti-lockdown community, in which he acts as one of its leaders and frequently takes part in stunts, such as being arrested for refusing to quarantine, setting up anti-mask raves which were once interrupted by angry men with chainsaws, and attempting to create an anti-mask private school system.

He’s recently appeared on Alex Jones’ online show and is a frequent guest on the Canadian right-wing YouTube channel Rebel Media. He's also gained a foothold in traditional media where he has been interviewed numerous times as a spokesperson for the community by outlets who allow him to uncritically push pseudoscience and conspiracy theories. 

Carbone is far less known than Saccoccia but has been making attempts at gaining publicity by declaring himself the leader of the “Republican Party of Canada” and stating that he and Donald Trump would save North America. Saccoccia often uses his large platform to amplify Carbone. 

Last week, Toronto police served Saccoccia nuisance charges at 1 a.m. on Friday. He livestreamed the standoff, in which he screams at cops that he’ll “shove their flashlights up their fucking ass” and will sue them.

He referenced that event in the video he posted about the CIB. “Why were the cops really at my house with an entire police force trying to illegally kidnap me and basically disappear me?” he says in the video. “The real reason is because Mr. Carbone wants me to be the Minister of Finance for the Republican Party of Canada which means... I will be in charge of the entire Canadian banking system’s expenses.” 

It’s important to remember there exists a large group who trust people like Sacccoccia or Carbone over the government and media. The video’s comment section was punctuated by people celebrating this news, and clapping and party hat emojis were in abundance.

“This is amazing news,” wrote one person. “Get em Chris! Throw Trudeau in jail if you can please,” wrote another. “This gave me goosebumps,” wrote a third.

But even for the most credulous there exists a breaking point and for many loyal supporters, this was it and they begged Saccoccia to clarify. Some even accused him of being controlled by the opposition because the claim was so outrageous.

“I dunno what’s happening here man,” said one supporter. “I’ve been a HUGE fan of your work and your posts thus far, but I’ve watched this video a half dozen times trying to make sense of it and at best this is incredibly misleading. Looking forward to some clarification.” 

“Dude you need to clarify what all this means,” said another. “The hyenas are having a hay day online with this announcement and no one can figure out what it actually gives Rob the power to do???” 

Saccoccia has yet to respond to his followers’ questions about anti-maskers seizing control of Canada’s banking industry but did recently post several videos in which he debunks claims he recently wore a mask.

Follow Mack Lamoureux on Twitter.