The Cult Queen of Canada

⭐ 9/10

CBC got me again, advertising a limited series podcast during a holiday when there is no Frontburner. This one was so fascinating, about this cult led by a diminutive woman who calls herself the Queen of Canada. Their beliefs are far right, with anti-vax stances and classic Q-Anon "the libs are holding children prisoner" panic. Where this gets interesting is how this cult moved into an abandoned school in a tiny village of about 100 people. This town is in Saskatchewan, and while its not close to where my parents live I can see exactly what this looks like in my head, especially since there is a separate weird cult already living in my parents' community!

This reminded me of Eddington, where this town becomes completely divided on the basis of the cult. Some feel its a scourge, and it is, using up limited community resources, being super creepy, and issuing death threats. Others are sympathetic, ultimately becoming aligned with the cult, and some people in the town (spoiler) invited them there! You meet several characters along the way, one of which is this crazy woman causing all this town drama, what a character.

Oh ya, this also happened like 3 years ago! Some really good journalism over many years, with interviews of the mayor and several other notable community members. COVID, trucker convoy, all part of the birth of this cult. Very intriguing, listening as this town unravels, culminating in a town election for mayor that boils down to for the cult and against the cult. The people they interview are real remote country people, again I could just see these faces and this place.

The finale is exciting, but one thing I was surprised was never mentioned was religion. In my parents comparable community many people go to church, and that isn't mentioned here at all. The cult isn't mentioned as being religious, so maybe that tension wasn't there, but even in the reactions to the cult, protests and swearing in a way I can't imagine a little Christian community doing. Maybe it just wasn't a factor, just felt like a missing ingredient in the way people choose to respond to crazy people moving next door. Hard to believe there's a crazy cult that isn't religious in some way thought.