Canadian Association for Free Expression Inc.

February 28, 1999

Free Speech Update

Dear Free Speech Supporter:

The Mob in Hoods

Last night there was a full moon out. As author Stephen McNallen and I approached our West Toronto meeting hall, we saw smoke wafting from inside -- where our friends were! A mob of hooded ARA (Anti-Racist Action) thugs were trying to invade the hall. One hooded punk, hurled an object and smashed a window. One of our supporters, a brave lady screamed at him and tried to get the police to make an arrest. The indifferent officers did nothing.

As I talked to officers to secure our supporters inside and to keep the mob at bay to allow others to enter the hall, the police seemed more interested in determining the name, birth date, and exact address of our American guest. A determined effort by our supporters inside, including a gallant effort by one tough pensioner who ripped the mask off one of the thugs and sent him flying, repulsed the street scrum who, after half an hour of chanting, "Immigrants In, Nazis Out" slunk away into the dark. A leaflet pompously announced "No Nazis in Our Neighbourhood." The punks, who were apparently outsiders to the middle class West Toronto neighbourhood, weren't quite certain where they were.

A threatening missive to the hall management said: "There is no space in ANY community for racists like Fromm. If Swansea Hall does not address this very serious problem, Anti-Racist Action will pursue other means to ensure that Etobicoke is a Nazi-free city!" Actually, Swansea is a mile away from Etobicoke and Etobicoke hasn't been a city -- it's now part of megacity Toronto -- for more than a year! The ARA leaflets also echoed B'nai Brith complaints about my attendance at the United Alternative meeting. [See item below.]

Yes, freedom of assembly and freedom of speech are very much in peril in Canada today!

Time to Subscribe/Renew

First, a matter of routine business: It's time to subscribe/renew for 1999 to the Free Speech Monitor. The cost for our fact-filled, scrupulously documented newsletter (10 issues per year) remains, again this year, at just $15.00.

The State of Free Speech in Canada: It's All-Out War

Isn't it odd that, as the former Soviet slave states become freer, we in the once-Free World, especially here in Absurdistan, become more enslaved, less free and more ruled by Stalinist political correctness. Consider some of the foul odors of the past months:

* On February 3, World War II hero, Doug Collins (11 escapes from German POW camps, a chest full of medals earned in action, not riding a desk) is fined by a B.C. Human Rights Tribunal for having written opinions which, while not themselves hateful, collectively might hurt the feelings of some Jews. Of course, truth is NO defence!

* Sol Littman of the Simon Wiesenthal Centre openly boasts of having acted as a censor of the Internet. Sadly, the Wiesenthal Centre is into your pocket as it steals your freedom because it is recognized by Revenue Canada as a chairty and can issue tax creditable receipts. "An anti-Nazi institution says it has driven all anti-Semitic and white supremacist Web sites off Canadian Internet servers. Officials with the Simon Wiesenthal Centre say they've convinced about 40 Web servers across the country to drop and refuse service for dozens of hate-promoting Internet customers." That's what they say. Of course, no one has been charged let alone convicted of promoting "hate". These are simply views that Littman and his thought police don't like. "'The Internet developed a culture its its own, drunk with the idea of complete freedom,' said Sol Littman, Canadian director of the Wiesenthal Centre." No can't have too much of that freedom thing. The sheeples need US to tell them what to think. " 'By working with (servers), we've set a new climate.' It took up to a year to persuade some servers it was in their best interest to dump white supremacist sites, he said." (Kitchener-Waterloo Record, Fetruary 19, 1999)

* In my role as a director of the Canada First Immigration Reform Committee, I went to the recent United Alternative Convention. As a delegate, I moved an amendment on a very flawed immigration resolution and spoke on another resolution in favour of greater parliamentary democracy (referenda, recall). CFIRC also sponsored a get acquainted cocktail party and I handed out 800 or more invitations. All of this is eminently democratic. Unfortunately, not according to B'nai Brith's Jewish Tribune's (February 25, 1999) : "Paul Fromm fails to incite at 'Unite the Right.' ... Kevin Toyne, a candidate for the Progressive Conservative youth association of Manitoba ... reported that Paul Fromm, champion of Holocaust deniers, had a hospitality suite to which he invited the young Tories and reformers,. Although Fromm was not reported as having a major impact, Toyne noted that his free speech arguments had some attraction for the delegates .... and urged B'nai Brith to continue its activity in making the arguments against absolute freedom of expression more widely known." Hey, we can't have that freedom stuff here. "Frank Dimant, Executive Vice-President of B.nai Brith Canada commented that 'it is unfortunate that a major political convention has to be marred by the activities of Paul Fromm.'" Marred by a person advancing his views which others are totally free to accept or reject?

* Author William Watson in his book Globalization and the Meaning of Canadian Life is very pessimistic about even Canadian business. Many have so tied themselves to government grants and projects, that they willingly become serfs and silence themselves. "Is there really any doubt that, as more and more people in the society come to depend on the kindnesses of government, they take on many of the attributes of beggars? Because their grant or contract requires that they not give offence, they voluntarily curtail their freedom of speech, a phenomenon that explains the timidity of most modern business people." (National Post, December 19, 1998)

A Programme to Defend Free Speech

Clearly, the dangers are serious. Our liberties, the freedoms of our children and our grandchildren are threatened by the relentless thought police who hate and fear free thinking men and women. The Canadian Association for Free Expression is dedicated to fighting for this most precious liberty. Here are some of our current acitvities:

* Reaching New People on the Internet. Our website --(http://www.cafe.canadafirst.net) -- gets over 100,000 hits a week. We keep the threats to freedom of speech before the eyes of a growing number of regular and occasional readers, including many students. We've taken up three popular on-line petitions in the past year.

* Court Intervenor.. After 50 days of hearings, the great Canadian Internet (Zundelsite) Canadian Human Rights Tribunal drags on. Not only that, there are now no fewer than five judicial reviews working their way through the federal court. Your Association is actively involved as an "interested party" defending freedom of speech. I do the honours. Last November, we won intervenor status in the Supreme Court of Briitsh Columbia in the Berscheid case. We were ably represented by veteran B.C. Lawyer Gus Kroll. This case, abandoned at the last minute by the complainant Indian band, sought to overthrow B.C.'s notorious "Get Collins" human rights legislation.

* Victim support. We've raised considerable money to assist thought crimes victims like Doug Collins, Eileen Pressler, and Malcolm Ross. We're dedicated to helping Doug Collins appeal the outrage against his honour and freedom. We'll have him in Ontario next month for just such a tour.

* Building Public Support for Freedom of Speech. Many of our fellow Canadians do not know how desperately under attack are their rights to freedom of speech and freedom of belief. We let them know and attract new members through timely ads in publications like the Conservative Times, the Globe and Mail, B.C Report, and Alberta Report.

Stopping "Hate Law' Amendments

Our biggest task for 1999 is to convince politicians and decision makers that a series of police state proposals agreed to by all 10 provincial attorneys general last November not see their way into legislation and then law. These, you'll remember from the Free Speech Monitor (December, 1998) included seizure of compouter hard drives on suspicion of "hate" and criminalizing possession of political literature that was deemed "hate" for the purposes of distribution. This spring, we plan a major campaign to lobby politicians in Ottawa to alert them about the threats posed by these proposals. Travel, literature and communications will cost.

Will you help?

The domestic threats to our freedom of speech and thought are as great as any time in our lifetimes here in Canada. There is much work to be done. We have a proven programme to do that work. Will you help us?

What's freedom of speech worth to you today? If it's worth a dime, you probably won't have it or your dime tomorrow.

So, please enrol or renew your status as a subscriber to the Free Speech Monitor and send us -- postdated cheques are welcome -- the support we need, the war chest we must have to fight the battle in 1999 to preserve the freedoms of speech and belief that our forefathers won with their blood.

Sincerely yours,

Paul Fromm

p.s. All donors of $25.00 or more will receive a complimentary copy of my talk Free Speech in the New Millennium: The Battle Lines Are Drawn. Canadian Association for Free Expression Inc., Box 332, Rexdale, Ontario, M9W 5L3.

Canadian Association for Free Expression Inc., Box 332, Rexdale, Ontario, M9W 5L3

Paul Fromm Defence Fund

__ Here is my subscription ($15) to the Free Speech Monitor for 1999.

__ Here's my donation of $______to help the Canadian Association for Free Expression carry on the battle to preserve freedom of speech in these desperate days. [All donors of $25 or more receive a complimentary copy of Free Speech in the New Millennium: The Battle Lines Are Drawn.]

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Canadian Association for Free Expression Inc., Box 332, Rexdale, Ontario, M9W 5L3

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