Anything that they could do to report them to the police or municipal authorities to try and get them out.

It became this obsession for a lot of people, like looking at their live streams night after night after night after night, trying to spot anything illegal or anything that was a bylaw infraction, a fire code infraction.

It also starts to create rifts within the townspeople because there's certain townspeople that say, the cult's not doing anything, it's actually the people in town that are out of control and are going berserk over this.

And it's like, if you're not with us, you're against us kind of vibe that some people in town perceive as other people in town having.

This goes on for about two years, where there's just these desperate attempts to get the cult out, and people in town get really freaked out when another person in town, this woman named Melinda Fisher, puts a couple of the cult members on her land titles.

This was a mostly innocuous stalemate between a town of irritated people and a tiny cult living in an abandoned school with Spartan amenities.

Melinda, the other woman in town that was sort of aligned with them, she told us that they have, like, vegetarian dinners.

They go and they go grocery shopping in a town nearby.

Some have from the last time I was here, but can you paint a picture of what this epic place is like?

Absolutely.

So Hermitage Bay is an all-inclusive, independently owned boutique hotel.

We are located on the western side of Antigua, and with only 32 rooms, all of our rooms are designed to offer privacy, comfort, and a real connection to our natural environment.

Set between lush tropical hillsides and a secluded beach, our villas, many with private plunge pools and jacuzzi, allow guests to slow down, reconnect, and experience a true sense of escape.

But what truly defines Hermitage Bay goes beyond the physical beauty of the resort.

Our intimate size allows us to offer something that is increasingly rare in luxury hospitality, a truly personal experience where guests feel recognized, cared for, and are able to completely relax.

Can you give us the 30 to 60-second Rachel Brown words of wisdom on leadership?

It's crazy how pumped up the town is, really.

I'm Rachel Brown, and this is The Cult Queen of Canada from CBC's Uncover, the story of a small town and the cult that tore it in half.

Episode 1, The Queen Comes to Town.

So the first time I visited Richmond was in 2024, and honestly, I was a bit nervous.

I'd been investigating this story myself for a few months, and I'd heard that this cult was unpredictable, possibly armed, and that the locals here were increasingly on edge.

But when I drove into Richmond and saw it for myself, all that was hard to believe.It's a very small town, just a few blocks, and there's a community center, a post office.

That post office doubles as the convenience store and liquor store.

Turn right onto Barnes Loop Bay.

first remember hearing about it was during the trucker.

Yeah, and that was sort of like I put it like her kind of coming out or like kind of coronation in a way where she got up there on Parliament Hill with a megaphone and lit a Canadian flag on fire.

So – Strange thing for the queen to do.

Very strange thing for the queen to do.

And it also alienated her I think from a lot of the more – the broader movement, the trucker convoy movement.

That even was a step too far for them.

Yeah.

Talk to me about this town and what having Romana and her followers living in this school does, like why it just rips this town apart.