No disguise: Trudeau's feel-good tweets and hugs for Syrians

Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau paints - and poses for - pretty pictures of a welcoming, tolerant country. 

But these are false images.

True, racism doesn't run rampant through this multicultural society as it might elsewhere, but it's there, lurking in the shadows. And every once in a while, it rears its hate-filled head, shocking most Canadians who act as though it was never there at all.

And this is one reason why, just three days after the newly inaugurated US President Donald Trump announced his first ban against immigrants from seven (now six) Muslim majority countries, so many were horrified when a lone gunman entered a Quebec City mosque and murdered six men at prayer.

In the long hours before we learned that the alleged killer was a Canadian-born, white, nominally Roman Catholic, Trump fan, as well as an admirer of France's Marine Le Pen, social media exploded with "must be a Muslim who did it" tweets.

In fact, as the night wore on, claims from the right that this was a case of "Coulter's Law" grew louder. The phenomenon - named after the extremely conservative pundit Ann Coulter - dictates that the more time it takes to name the perpetrators, the higher the probability they will turn out to be Muslim.

When some media outlets falsely reported a suspect was of Moroccan origin, the jubilation from certain quarters was sickening - and predictable. There were countless claims that Canada was open for "terrorists" because the PM had bragged immediately after Trump executed his ban that Canada "welcomes" refugees.

Most Canadians were convinced that the Quebec massacre happened because of Trump's rhetoric. 'This isn't Canadian,' they declared

One Canadian YouTube-based right-wing outlet actually created a website to solicit funds so it could fight the "anti-terrorism" cause. A couple of weeks later, the same organisation hosted a vicious rally – well attended by federal Conservative politicians - aimed at stopping a federal government motion denouncing Islamophobia. 

And the day after that? A group of anti-Muslim protestors demonstrated against Islam in front of a Toronto mosque.

Meanwhile, most Canadians were convinced that the massacre happened because of Trump's rhetoric. 'This isn't Canadian,' they declared. 'We're not like Americans,' they objected. 'We just welcomed 25,000 Syrian refugees, gave them winter coats and reconditioned laptops,' they cried.

Indeed, while that may sound like a lot of refugees coming into a country of just 35 million, it's a far lower per capita acceptance rate than in most European nations. What's more, our per capita acceptance rate of asylum seekers is barely higher than the much-criticized US rate.

That said, our right-wing extremist groups are not exactly the Dutch Freedom Party or Greece's Golden Dawn.

Still, the world sees Canada through frost-covered glasses.

Even though Muslims make up a mere three percent of Canada's population, they occupy proportionally far greater space in the national political conversation. And it's not just because of the spillover from US news networks that fills our TV screens, or the close relationship between Canada and the US.

Recent studies indicate that there are some 100 active groups in Canada deemed to be right-wing, ultra-nationalist, anti-Muslim and/or racist. While most are not much more than hate-filled Facebook groups with meagre memberships, a few make their presence known on the streets and at mosques, anti-war demonstrations and pro-Palestinian rights rallies.

These range from the Soldiers of Odin, which originated in Finland and has a national presence, to the Ku Klux Klan, which has been in Canada almost as long as it has been south of the border, to the Jewish Defence League, two of whose members were recently charged with the vicious beating of a Palestinian man when they travelled to Washington DC to "protect" attendees at the powerful lobby group AIPAC's conference.

Canada's per capita acceptance rate of asylum seekers is barely higher than the much-criticized US rate

The province of Quebec is often seen as the hotbed of hate. It is a broadly homogenous society made up of six million descendants of a few thousand French Catholic immigrants in the 16th to 18th centuries. For many, boasting of ancestors considered "pur laine" (pure wool) or old stock "Québécois de souche" is a point of pride. To the rest of Canada, that's seen as exclusionary.

But, not only does Quebec appear to harbour the most radical groups, its airwaves carry "trash radio," dominated by shock jocks inciting against immigrants.

What's more, there's a recent history of provincial and local government attempts against religious acceptance. In 2013 then Premier Pauline Marois' Parti Quebecois government proposed a controversial law known as the "Charter of Values". The bill, which proposed that public service employees would be banned from wearing overt religious symbols while at work, was obviously aimed at Muslims.

In 2007, the all-white hamlet of Herouxville, passed a code banning the stoning of women - as if this wasn't already illegal. Most recently, there was a protest against proposals to build a Muslim cemetery in another Quebec town.

All this, and more, prompted the current Quebec Liberal Premier Philippe Couillard to admit, in the wake of the massacre in the mosque, that the province has "its demons" and that "xenophobia, racism and exclusion are present here".

When it comes to Canada's record on racism, it is far from snow white

In much of the rest of Canada, there's racism against not only Muslim immigrants but also First Nations people who, ironically, have been here for thousands of years.

Consider a decade of the Stephen Harper federal Conservatives who ruled with a majority from 2011 to 2015, mostly thanks to support from western voters.

With their constant attempts to ban the hijab at citizenship ceremonies, plus their repeated references to "barbaric cultural practices" and other not-so-veiled attacks on Islam, many citizens were convinced that there was much to fear.

Furthermore, Harper's government also repealed the hate speech provisions in the Canadian Human Rights Act, ostensibly because they hampered free speech. Although a federal court decided that the sections did not reduce freedom of expression, their repeal has yet to be reversed.

Of course, Harper's Conservative ministers who warned of "barbaric cultural practices" - code for Islam - tried to distance themselves from the mosque massacre. Among them was chief blower of dog-whistle politics, Kellie Leitch, now one of the top contenders for leadership of the Conservative Party.

So Trudeau can tweet feel good slogans and hug Syrian toddlers for the cameras, while Canadians can tell themselves that they are more accepting than Americans.

But the cold hard fact is, when it comes to Canada's record on racism, it is far from snow white.

Toronto-based Antonia Zerbisias is an award-winning columnist and broadcaster. She has been employed with both the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation and Canada's largest daily newspaper, the Toronto Star while contributing to many other publications, online and in print.

Follow her on Twitter: @AntoniaZ

Opinions expressed in this article remain those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of al-Araby al-Jadeed, its editorial board or staff.