In 1995, a war was being waged in Canada for young minds. It was happening on the streets and in the schoolyards, erupting in violence and hate. Hard times—and harder hearts—had brought simmering racist attitudes to the surface.

The Heritage Front, Aryan Nations, Church of The Creator, and the Canadian chapters of the KKK were all recruiting young people to their cause. The young recruits were not the unemployed, working-class teenagers one might have expected. They came from all social strata: squeaky-clean suburban kids, streetwise skinheads, and middle-class university students.

What they shared was an uncertain future in a world that was far more morally complex than anything their parents had known. Their solutions were often simple, violent, and unapologetically hateful. They were looking for someone to blame. At the time, the average age of a typical Canadian racist was 18 to 20.

Hearts of Hate was a frightening wake-up call. Illusions of Canada as a peaceful, tolerant society were profoundly challenged. Exploiting new communication technologies, these bigots were no longer confined to the political fringe and were far from laughable. In fact, these young people and their racist mentors did not look much different from you, or me, or our own kids.