Village residents divided as 'Queen of Canada' cult remains in Richmound, Sask.
Romana Didulo and her followers moved into community 9 months ago
It's been nine months since a cult moved into the small southwest Saskatchewan village of Richmound. And some say the community has never been more divided.
"Some people seem to feel the right to mistreat other people. We're losing our sense of taking care of each other," said resident Gordon Ziegler.
In September, a group calling itself the "Kingdom of Canada" set up camp in an old school in the small village — about 65 kilometres northwest of the town of Maple Creek, near the Saskatchewan-Alberta border. They were invited by the owner of the building.
Leader Romana Didulo is known as a far-right QAnon conspiracy theorist. She has declared herself the "Queen of Canada." Since the group moved into the village, they have called for public execution of elected officials and other members in and around Richmound.
LISTEN | How a conspiracy theorist and her cult are dividing a Saskatchewan small town:
Ziegler said tensions are extremely high in the community, and that many no longer feel safe there.
"It feels like we're living next to a dormant volcano," Ziegler said. "We know what they have been guilty of in the past."
In February 2022, Didulo and her followers arrived in Ottawa for what was called the "Freedom Convoy" where attendees protested COVID-19 mandates. Mere months before the convoy protest, Didulo had told her followers through Telegram, an encrypted messaging app, to "shoot to kill" anyone who administers vaccines to children.
Then in August 2022, Didulo's followers attempted to take over the police station in Peterborough, Ont., and perform citizen's arrests on officers after Didulo encouraged people associated with QAnon to do so. It was part of her campaign to demand an end to COVID-19 restrictions.
"We're afraid of them. We live next to them and we're afraid that the volcano is going to explode and we're living with that every day," Ziegler said.
Election coming in fall
Ziegler said he is nervous that members of the cult will run in the next municipal election this fall.
"A worst-case scenario is that they get themselves elected to village council and start making their own rules," said Ziegler.
Rachel Browne, an investigative freelance journalist who has reported on the "Queen of Canada" for The Walrus, said Didulo is known to have "deep-rooted paranoia toward government institutions." Browne said Didulo has been called one of the most active conspiracy theorists in North America.
"She's part of this belief system that believes that our systems of government and rule of law is illegitimate. And that our systems of law and the things that we do as citizens to participate in society don't apply to them," Browne said.
Didulo has told people and followers to not pay their income tax, hydro bills, car bills and more. Browne said this is having a negative impact on many of them.
"People are losing their homes. People are losing their quality of life because they believe in this mythology," she said.
As for what she's seen in Richmound, like Ziegler, Browne said the village is fraught with tension.
"There's this air of concern around Richmound. Because every day everyone passes the school … it's becoming clear that this cult is very much putting down roots," she said.
WATCH | Having cult in town like 'living next to dormant volcano':
Another Richmound resident, who CBC has agreed not to name due to safety concerns, said she is deeply concerned that many "vulnerable" elderly people are conned into giving money to Didulo, and fall into financial distress.
"I can't believe that it's still allowed to endure, persist. It seems to me that she is completely uninhibited, undeterred, uninterrupted by rules and authority, and can just coast along and keep scamming the people," she said.
The Richmound resident said the "Kingdom of Canada's" presence is "killing" the community.
"I don't think our village is ever going to recover from all the damage that has been done from them being here and stirring up and ruining relationships here," she said.
The resident said she feels she has a valid reason to be worried that there's a target on her back, because she is opposed to the cult. She also told CBC she believes tensions could hit a boiling point.
"Worst-case scenario is somebody's going to snap and something's going to happen. I don't know who can say whether a local person will get so fed up that they'll go and do something and end up going to jail to try to stop this problem," she said.
"We have no idea if some of her followers might say, 'That's enough of this BS in Richmound. These Richmound people that obviously are inciting hatred against Romana … let's go take them out.'"
Mayor wants government to help village
RCMP have maintained an active presence in Richmound. Chief Supt. Tyler Bates said police are monitoring the situation to "continue to maintain the peace and the well-being of the community of Richmound." For now, Didulo and her followers can remain in Richmound.
"They certainly have a right to live and reside in that community, and there's nothing the RCMP can do to prohibit that," said Bates.
He said police are monitoring for any criminality and are investigating any online evidence of threats made against Richmound residents. But he said this is a complicated endeavour.
"Are we dealing with threats that are specific and that are uttered by a member of this particular group, or are we dealing with an anonymous person at a keyboard? That is very challenging to identify," Bates said.
"I can assure you that hundreds and hundreds of hours have been spent in that analysis trying to establish and develop grounds to substantiate criminal charges. And to this juncture that has not proven fruitful."
Brad Miller, mayor of Richmound, said the village was speaking with lawyers about the situation, but said bills got too expensive. Miller is also saddened to see his community so divided.
"We found out who really wanted her gone and who wanted her to stay. And there's a handful of people fighting us every step of the way," Miller said.
"Our council meetings were interrupted. And for a small town and village there's a lot of things that go wrong like infrastructure and the water treatment plant, and that stuff is sort of on the backburner."
Miller said he and other elected officials have grown tired and frustrated with Didulo and her followers, and what he calls a lack of support from multiple government entities. That, he said, includes their local MLA, Doug Steele.
"Doug Steele was really supportive at the beginning, and then winter came and that's when everything seemed to just stop. And I haven't spoken to him for a while," said Miller, who also called on Premier Scott Moe to do more to help the community figure out how to deal with Didulo and her cult.
CBC spoke with Steele, the MLA for Cypress Hills. He said the safety of Richmound is a top priority for him and that he understands people's frustration. He pledged the provincial government will help any way it can.
"This is a tough thing for a small community in any province," Steele said.
"They've never dealt with these types of things before … but I can confidently say the government and myself are there to help work with them. They say that we haven't done enough, and I respect that. And I'm not going to just turn my back on them."
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With files from Blue Sky