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Dr. Lawrence Hart |
Frank Dimant |
Prof. Stephen Scheinberg |
Dr. Karen Mock |
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Dr. Lawrence Hart |
Frank Dimant |
Prof. Stephen Scheinberg |
Dr. Karen Mock |
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Although in the last few years we have seen a deterioration in formal structures of these groups, there is evidence that hate group organization is definitely on the rise in Canada. The Canadian white supremacist community has been scattered and without coherent leadership for the latter part of the last decade, but Internet recruitment has allowed for various individuals to affiliate themselves with pre-established hate groups in urban centres in Canada and the U.S.
There has been renewed activity within the Heritage Front camp. Former leader, Wolfgang Droege, has been rarely seen recently, leaving a leadership void for the organization. However, Heritage Front groups are reported to be popping up west of Toronto although a formerly strong chapter in Kingston, Ontario has been reduced to 2 people who keep exchanging the key to the post office box which represents the HF headquarters in that region.
In the London/Kitchener-Waterloo corridor, the Canadian Heritage Alliance (CHA) and the Canadian Ethnic Cleansing Team (CECT) have now appeared. The former group seems to be an attempt to fill the void left by the diminishing Heritage Front and to inject some youthful vigour into the "freedom of expression" groups such as Canadian Association for Freedom of Expression (CAFE) and Canada First Immigration Reform Committee (CFIRC). The impact of CHA has yet to be felt but it bears watching, as the combination of youthful proclivity towards violence and older leaders’ organizational skills may prove to be a potent mixture.
Raphael Bergmann, the organizer of the Northern Alliance group in London, Ontario, received some attention when he tried to counter-demonstrate against gay pride parades in several locations. This small offshoot group is known as StraightPride Inc. and had little impact on gay pride festivities.
There have been reports of Heritage Front activity in the Maritime provinces. Last year, the Audit reported an increase in recruitment efforts in Charlottetown, P.E.I.. This year there was further evidence of Heritage Front activity in that city when members harassed and assaulted some Japanese tourists in a restaurant.
In St. Johns, New Brunswick, hate propaganda believed to be from a hate group was found in a city hall newspaper box. The material exhorted "White Canada" to “Wake up. No Jews. No Niggers. No gays. Take it from us. We will win the holy war. Keep Canada strong.”
In Halifax, Nova Scotia, a well-publicized case pointed to hate group activity in that area. It is reported that Donna Upson, a card-carrying member of the Ku Klux Klan, Aryan Nations and the Nationalist Party was sent to Nova Scotia on a recruiting drive for one or more of these well-established hate groups. She was arrested after threatening a black pastor. With several previous convictions for hate-related offences, Upson was sentenced to 2 years in prison. She is currently appealing her sentence.
The Vinland Skinheads are rumoured to be organizing in both the anglophone and francophone communities in Quebec. In Brantford, Ontario, a man known as Bud Gallant, has been operating a World Church of the Creator website. The WCOTC presence is also fomenting hate in other small Ontario cities and in British Columbia. Kingston, Ontario made the news this past summer when a Canada Day white power rock concert was widely advertised. However, due to a lack of support and a poor organizational structure, this event was cancelled.
Sigfrida Publications, a magazine ‘for and about white women in the racialist struggle’ continues to sell white supremacist material from their British Columbia headquarters.
The Arrowcross Skins also entered the fray with a call for members in the Toronto area on the Stormfront message board on the Internet.
One of the original members of the Northern Hammerskins in Winnipeg, Manitoba, was arrested in April of 2000 for assault. Eugene Welsh, who has a lengthy involvement in the white power skinhead movement, was also a defendant in a 1997 murder trial.
Holocaust denial continues to exist in Canada and is used by right wing extremist groups to further their cause. To make fascism respectable, it is first necessary to rehabilitate Hitler’s reputation. The Holocaust gets in the way of this. Denying the Holocaust is, therefore, a strategic priority for hate groups. Holocaust denial serves the purpose of hate mongers by further denigrating Jews. Age-old stereotypes are fuelled by denying and trivializing the Holocaust. The idea of "whiny Jews" is fed by claims such as that by Yves Michaud of the Parti Quebecois that “Jews think they are the only ones who suffered in the Holocaust.” The concept of ‘greedy Jews’ is invoked by hate mongers when Holocaust victims get reparations from their native countries, or compensation for slave labour, or when artwork stolen by the Nazis is returned, or when survivors receive victims’ insurance policy monies that were never disbursed.
Holocaust denial is used by white supremacy groups in Canada and worldwide to further their antisemitic agenda. It is ironic that on one hand these groups call for a "whites only" country, argue their superiority over any other group of people, and generally parrot the ideals and goals of Hitler; while on the other hand they try to claim "academic impartiality" in using their version of evidence to prove that the Holocaust didn't happen in the manner that history and evidence have verified.
One of Canada’s most notorious Holocaust deniers is Ernst Zundel. Zundel is known worldwide for his distribution of hate propaganda published by Samisdat, his own publishing house. He is also well known for his two criminal trials on charges of spreading false news (i.e. Holocaust denial), and his Internet hate site, the Zundelsite. He also has the dubious distinction of having the longest case in front of the Canadian Human Rights Commission, lasting over five years and consuming over 48 hearing days (far surpassing the previous record of five). The year 2000 update on the Zundel case included the loss of his motion to have one of the Commissioners, Reva Devins, removed because of reasonable apprehension of bias. While his case continued with a constitutional challenge, Zundel stopped attending the hearings. He seems to have passed the carriage of his case over to Paul Fromm, a figure on the extreme right, and his Canadian Association for Free Expression. That association has intervened in the case to support Zundel. This case is of the utmost importance as not only does it deal with a notorious Holocaust denier, but also with the jurisdiction of the Canadian Human Rights Act over the Internet.
Other incidents of Holocaust denial in Canada include the distribution of material in London, Ontario claiming the Holocaust didn't really happen, and hate phone messages in Toronto stating “F**k you Kikes. There wasn't even 6 million Jews in Europe during World War II.”
Blatant Holocaust denial is offensive, easily labelled as antisemitism, and looked down upon by the majority of society. But this year there has been an disturbing increase in a more subtle phenomenon - Holocaust trivialization. The invocation of Holocaust terminology and symbols to try to make a point about a much less severe event, or to describe any undemocratic or authoritarian behaviour, is to diminish the importance of the Holocaust not only as a pivotal moment in modern Jewish history but also as a lesson for all humankind. Such trivialization of the Holocaust is offensive and upsetting to the Jewish community. As the years pass and there are fewer people with first-hand Holocaust experience able to be our living memory and constant reminder, we must continue to deal with the trend toward the trivialization of the Holocaust in a serious and consistent manner.
Holocaust trivialization runs the gamut of socio-political interactions. For example, a man was assigned the word "Gestapo" as a computer password by his company’s technician and had to explain its offensiveness in order to receive a new password. Various political groups have referred to the policies of their provincial governments as Nazi-like or reminiscent of World War II Germany. When newly elected Toronto District School Board Chair, Irene Atkinson compared the political climate under Ontario’s Premier Mike Harris to that of 1930’s Nazi Germany, B’nai Brith Canada issued a press release condemning the trivialization and stating that her comments were “inappropriate and offensive to those who survived the Holocaust. The suffering which occurred under the Nazi regime reached the heights of that which has been experienced by humanity throughout the ages. To compare current day Ontario to that extent of amorality diminishes the reality of the collective experience of modern day Judaism.”
When Kimberly Glasco was fired from the National Ballet of Canada, an advertisement was published in the newspaper, comparing the organization’s actions to that of Nazi Germany. Once again, though this was not considered to be an antisemitic incident, B’nai Brith Canada fielded press inquiries and expressed dismay at this trivialization. Another form of Holocaust trivialization occurred in the classroom. An incident was reported this year of a teacher being asked by her department head “Why are you dwelling on the Jews” when she was teaching about the Holocaust. She was then told that when she taught about Hitler, she should teach the good things that he did. Her Teachers’ Federation is supporting her on this case.
Commonly used graffiti this year equated the swastika with the Magen David or Star of David. It was a popular formula in the anti-Israeli propaganda and placards in the latter part of 2000 (once again blurring the line between anti-Israel and antisemitic sentiment). Equating the swastika with the Jewish Star, however, was reported as graffiti 10 times before the October upswing of violence in the Middle East. To equate Nazism with Judaism is outrageous. To suggest the Israelis (symbolized by the Star of David) treat the Palestinians the way the Nazis (symbolized by the swastika) treated the Jews is not only offensive and shocking to Jews, but shows a lack of understanding or even ignorance of both the historical and current realities. The equation is used for shock value and propaganda purposes.
Systemic discrimination occurs when an existing policy or lack of a policy does not take into consideration an individual’s own particular circumstances. This results in individuals’ suffering differential treatment. Even those who would vow that they are not racist or antisemitic sometimes have absorbed cultural norms which result in systemic discrimination and bias. Having a blanket rule that there should be no head covering in a school, court or workplace, without making allowances for religious head coverings such as a turban or kippah, is systemic discrimination. Not allowing guide dogs in a building with a "no pets" ordinance is systemic discrimination. The League is often called on to intervene to assist individuals in the struggle to have their own needs and characteristics recognized and respected by rules, regulations, policies and practices.
The education system continues to indicate that there is more work to be done to equalize the treatment of various religions and groups. In Calgary, Alberta, students are marked absent (cutting into their allowance of absences) when they celebrate even the holiest of holidays in the Jewish calendar, while Christian children get time off for their holidays (Christmas, Easter) as a matter of course. Schools still hold Christmas concerts and teach the children religious based carols, even in contravention of their own provincial and/or school board policies. Exams in universities are often scheduled for Jewish holidays with students facing procedural obstacles when trying to reschedule. A university science competition was scheduled for a Jewish holiday, making it impossible for some Jewish students to participate.
Systemic discrimination also exists in the workplace. A request for time off for Jewish holidays or stating a preference not to work on Saturdays was the cause of one individual’s being fired and another having a job offer rescinded. A human rights complaint for the first case is pending. Another individual was refused a transfer to a department that could accommodate his religious observance and was forced to stay in his present department that could not accommodate him. This individual is currently looking for work elsewhere rather than risking repercussions from further interventions.
The League intervened when a condominium association wrote to an owner asking her to take down the mezuzah on her doorpost, claiming it was a decoration instead of a symbol of religious observance. Even after explaining the situation, the management company determined that they would enforce the by-law without any religious accommodation (contrary to the Ontario Human Rights Code). The company insisted that the board of the condominium association change the wording of the by-law before they would agree to allow the mezuzah to stay. After a recent spate of vandalism in which every mezuzah in the building was destroyed, the condominium board has agreed to change the wording of the by-law.
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