A CTV News W5 investigation reports that a Hawaii-based online spiritual teacher convinced over 25 Canadians to relocate to Florida by telling them Canada had become dangerous. The teacher, who calls herself Liana Shanti and whose real name is Liane Wilson, is described by former followers as a cult leader.
In December 2022, 16 Canadians from in and around Regina, Saskatchewan, moved to Jacksonville, where one couple bought a large property for the group to share. Former student Amanda Brady told W5 that Shanti compared Canada's pandemic rules to The Handmaid's Tale and that followers believed their lives and their children's were at risk. Some members took children across the border without their fathers' consent. Brady's former husband, Wade Martin, said he missed much of four years with his daughters. The report is the second of five parts.
Source: CTV News