7.7 Other Issues

Over the course of the Review Committee's investigation of nThe Heritage Front Affair", a considerable number of allegations and statements have been made by and about the white supremacists and their activities in relation to the Reform Party. This section reviews several of the allegations and the answers which the Committee has obtained through its investigation.

7.7.1 Max French and "Race Traitors"

The Reform Party raised the question as to why, when David Maxwell French was revealed as a Heritage Front member, he allegedly called the Reform Party "race traitors".[249] There is also the issue of who encouraged French to remain in the Party.

According to the Source, French was expressing a strongly and widely held belief in the extreme right: that in the United Kingdom, the Conservative Party under former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher won her elections by adopting the platform of the racist National Front Party. In so doing, she "pacified the masses."[250]

Preston Manning was seen by the white supremacists as an agent of ZOG (the Zionist Occupation Government) - an appeaser of the masses like Margaret Thatcher. His success in Canada would appeal to those targeted by the extreme right and would allow the population in this country to vent their frustration. It was believed that the right wing would need another 15 to 20 years to organize and attract wide support, especially after the Heritage Front expulsions from the Reform Party.[251]

According to the Source, Max French drifted out of the Nationalist Party of Canada and towards Droege and the Heritage Front after a "falling out" with Don Andrews.[252]

There is no evidence that David Maxwell French was under pressure from anyone to remain in the Reform Party.[253] He had been named, and his photograph published, in an article by Bill Dunphy in the Toronto Sun, in February 1992. It was simply going to be a matter of time before someone in the Reform Party noticed that he had not been expelled along with all the other known racists. No intelligent conspirator would have used such a well-known racist to infiltrate the Reform Party.

7.7.2 Grant Bristow and the Progressive Conservatives

The Review Committee asked Bristow whether he had had any contacts with members or officials of the Progressive Conservative Party.

Bristow had two links to Progressive Conservatives. In 1984 he worked in the election campaign for David Crombie. Bristow thought that Crombie had been an excellent mayor of Toronto and he therefore wanted to support the candidate's federal election campaign.[254]

In the second case, Grant Bristow worked in the 1988 election campaign for Otto Jelinek, solely at the request of Bob Tye. Tye was Bristow's Supervisor at the firm of Kuehne & Nagel, and served on the executive of Otto Jelinek's campaign as a fundraiser. During the 1988 election campaign, Tye and Bristow had a friendly relationship.[255]

Bristow and Jelinek met a couple of times at Jelinek's home. During the election, Bristow performed two activities: he canvassed door to door the Sunday before the election, talking and handing out pamphlets. On election day, Bristow went to the polling station at night to count ballots; otherwise, Bristow said, he would not have been able to get into the victory party which was to follow.[256]

Allegations have surfaced about prominent Conservative Party official John Tory and his contacts with Grant Bristow. Overfield told the Review Committee under oath that his "well - founded suspicion" was that Wolfgang Droege "received funds through Grant Bristow, directly from John Tory; also Otto Jelinek and John Gamble."[257] Al Overfield adduced no facts whatsoever to support this assertion.

John Tory's law firm was chosen by the former government to prosecute Droege for the Heritage Front hate line. It was learmed that Droege told a reporter that it was not true that Droege was being paid by John Tory. But later, OverfieXd told Droege that they may as well do John (Tory) a favour and both Overfield and Droege laughed. Droege felt that to drop John Tory's name would get them [the Reform Party] really going. Overfield and Droege agreed that this was the right approach.[258]

The Review Committee learned that Overfield said that he did Jack Hurst a favour, he was the one who `fucked' Overfield with the Reform Party. Hurst had been given ten names to check for Heritage Front affiliations by the Reform Party's Special Committee in 1992.

The Review Committee has confirmed that the above conversations took place.

Tory denied completely even knowing about Bristow until recently, much less having met him. He was not involved in any of the Canadian Human Rights Commission/Tribunal proceedings, though someone else in his firm may have been, he said.[259]

Overfield then told the Review Committee that he ultimately concluded that Toronto Sun reporter Bill Dunphy paid Bristow "to infiltrate and create the Heritage Front."[260] The Review Committee has not contacted Bill Dunphy regarding this allegation.

Former Solicitor General Doug Lewis was asked by the Review Committee whether he issued any instructions, oral or written, to the Director of CSIS or his staff at the Service to investigate the Reform Party. Doug Lewis responded, "Absolutely not!" When asked if any of his staff issued such a direction, the response was "One can never have coqplete knowledge, but I would be amazed if these instructions were ever issued. Blair Dickerson handled these things and we never had any discussions about this and she wouldn't have done so. I can be as assured about her as anybody." He also stated, "I know I never gave any direct or indirect instructions and I would be amazed if my staff did. I would be more than amazed if (my) staff took any action."[261] The Committee also spoke to Blair Dickerson and she denied issuing any instructions to CSIS in regard to the Reform Party.[262]

The Security Intelligence Review Committee has seen no evidence whatsoever to substantiate the allegation that Grant Bristow sought to discredit or infiltrate the Reform Party on behalf of Doug Lewis or the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada.

The Review Committee examined the links between Paul Fromm, the Heritage Front and the Reform Party. The material we examined suggests that Fromm attempted in 1987 and 1988 to ally himself with the Reform Party and use it to reach his political objectives. Having failed to achieve that, Fromm was, in subsequent years, in contact with those Heritage Front members who attempted to discredit the Reform Party.

1987 Western AssAmbly. In 1987, Paul Fromm arranged for author Peter Brimelow to speak at the Reform Association's Western Assembly which was held in Vancouver at the end of May. The Reform Association granted Fromm observer status for his efforts. The decisions taken at the Western Assedbly led to the creation of the Reform Party of Canada.

In 1994, Fromm told the Review Committee that he was involved with the Assembly as "a number of our subscribers in B.C. and Alberta were involved." He said that he was "looking for people who were interested in subscribing to his publications."[263]

We learned that Fromm concluded that Doug Christie's Western Canada Concept would never obtain the base of support necessary to be elected, and so Fromm had turned his attention to the Reform Association's Western Assembly. Fromm said he attended the Western Assembly because it gave him the opportunity for a book table, the sales from which, proved quite lucrative.[264]

1988 Activities. Fromm showed renewed support for the Reform Party in 1988 when he went to their policy conference in Calgary. He said he urged the Party to come East. Fromm had made liaison with the Reform Party his priority and he made overtures to Preston Manning to establish an Ontario wing of the party.

As Droege would later say about his own views, Fromm's perception was that the general membership of the Party was more right wing than its executive.

With the assistance of an associate who had links to the Aryan Nations, Fromm made inroads with a Fraser Valley constituency association. We learned that in February 1988, Fromm was in contact with a Reform Party candidate in the 1988 federal election for that riding and a member of the executive.

In an early endorsement of Reform Party, the Spring 1988 issue of the Canadian Population & Immigration Quarterly Report, published by Fromm's C-FAR organization, contained a copy of a Reform Party pamphlet on immigration. The C-FAR publication said that it endorsed no political party but directed those interested to write directly to the address provided on the Reform Party of Canada flyer.

On August 12, 1988 Paul Fromm attended a three day Reform Party Policy Convention in Calgary.

"Disassociated" from the Reform Party. In August 1988, Paul Fromm spoke at a meeting on Vancouver Island where many in attendance were Reform Party of Canada members. Some of these individuals objected to the racist tenor of Fromm's speech, and complained to Preston Manning about Fromm's ties to the party.

In October 1988 Preston Manning sent Fromm a letter asking the latter to "disassociate" himself from the Reform Party. This letter may have contributed to Fromm's decision that the RPC was not the appropriate vehicle to further his political objectives. Fromm then ran as a candidate for the Confederation of Regions (COR) Party in the riding of Mississauga East.

Fromm informed thr Review Committee that when he realized the Reform Party was not going to come East to Ontario, "I looked elsewhere."[265]

Subsequent Links to Reform. In February 1989, while in Vancouver, Fromm asked a Reform Party member to organize a centennial party in celebration of Adolf Hitler's birthday. The member planned to arrange things so as to involve as many local skinheads as cared to attend, but changed his mind after learning that almost all of the Vancouver skinhead community would be travelling to the Aryan Nations compound in Hayden Lake, Idaho for the occasion.

On December 5, 1990 Fromm said that he was asked to speak at the Martyrs Day Rally where, he said, he spoke about those in Canada who have "suffered" for freedom of speech. He stated that some of the other speakers, "I admit, were pretty radical, pretty off-the-wall."[266]

On June 13, 1991 Overfield set up a table at a C-FAR meeting to take Reform Party memberships. Our analysis of that event is provided in section 7.3.5. Fromm was a featured speaker at a Heritage Front meeting on September 5, 1991.

In regard to the "John Gamble Affair" described earlier in this paper, the direct contacts between Paul Fromm and John Gamble took place in the early 1980s. When the allegation about Fromm was laid during the 1993 nomination issue, the Review Committee was told, a Gamble campaign worker contacted and secured a letter from Fromm who denied the charge.[267]

There is no evidence in the material we examined that Fromm actively supported John Gamble's nomination for the Reform Party in the Don Valley West riding for the 1993 federal election.

Overview. The SIRC investigation revealed that there were several persons in Paul Fromm's circle who were involved with the Reform Party from 1987 to 1991. In addition to Fromm, they were: Peter Lindquist, Al Overfield, Raymond Renwick and Robert Jarvis. The reports we saw did not focus on the Reform Party's activities.

Footnotes

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