This is a tribute to the death of a distinguished lawyer,
Doug Christie, also known as "the Battling Barrister" !!
Douglas Hewson "
Doug" Christie, Jr. (April 24, 1946 to March 11,
2013) was a
Canadian lawyer and political activist based in
Victoria, British Columbia.
Christie was born in
Winnipeg, Manitoba and graduated from the law school of the
University of British Columbia in
1970. He was the founder and general counsel of the
Canadian Free Speech League and was best known for defending individuals accused of being "racist", "anti-Semitic" or "neo-Nazi".
He had especially made himself known for his uncompromising defense of a major figure of "historical revisionism"
..,
Ernst Zundel. And who in
1992.., finally enabled Ernst Zundel to gain an un-hoped-for victory against the "religionists" of "the
Holocaust" !!
At the end of a nine-year struggle in the face of various representatives of the
Crown and a coalition of
Jewish and allied organizations, Ernst Zundel, aided by Doug Christie, the "Battling Barrister", was to get the
Canadian Supreme Court to strike down the very section of the criminal code that had been the grounds for his prosecution and conviction, a section itself grounded in an obsolete article of an ancient
English law (namely, chapter 34 of the "
Statute of Westminster", from the year 1275).
Section 181 forbade the publication of "news that one knows is false and causes, or is likely to cause injury or mischief to a public interest"
. In the words of the judge during Zundel's
1985 trial for having published the brochure "
Did Six Million Really Die?", said that his activities had a "cancerous effect
... upon society's interest in the maintenance of racial and religious harmony in
Canada".
However, on August 27, 1992, the
Court finally decided that the law was incompatible with
Canada's Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
He was also the founder and leader of the
Western Canada Concept, a separatist party which ran in
British Columbia and federally, and
The Western Block Party, a right-wing federal political party advocating the separation of British Columbia,
Alberta,
Saskatchewan and
Manitoba from the
Canadian Confederation.
He first came to national attention as a lawyer in
1983 when he became
James Keegstra's attorney after the schoolteacher was fired from his job and criminally charged with willfully promoting hatred by teaching his students that there was a
Jewish conspiracy, along with spreading other "anti-Semitic" ideas.
His defense of
Keegstra brought him to the attention of
Ernst Zündel who retained Christie in
September 1984 to defend him against criminal charges related to "
Holocaust denial".
Christie would act as Zundel's attorney in several cases over the subsequent two decades up to Zundel's deportation from
Canada in 2005. Christie's advocacy on behalf of Keegstra and Zundel led to him acting as legal counsel in a number of notable cases involving "far-right figures"...
In addition to his extensive work on freedom of expression cases, Christie participated in wide range of causes touching on issues of individual liberties more generally.
He represented numerous individuals in civil actions against the police, in an effort to ensure "police accountability", and in
1987 successfully represented
Gary Botting in a defamation suit against the
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (
CBC).
"There is a growing gulf between the police and public trust, which can only be fixed and crossed with any hope of restoration
of faith when the police are judged for their conduct by the public themselves and not by their constant co-workers in the system itself" !!
Christie wrote in a letter to the
Victoria Times-Colonist. "The essential ingredient of a society where citizens and police are in agreement on the enforcement of the law is simply that the law applies to police and citizens in equal measure.
The police cannot be above the law. With the present system of accountability, that impression is well-founded" !!
Christie also acted in child apprehension cases, which most notably was that of
Paul and Zabeth Bayne, a
Hope, BC couple whose children were seized by the
Ministry of
Children and
Family Development for four years, then eventually returned.
From
2007 to
2010, Christie represented
Bruce and
Donna Montague in a constitutional challenge of Canada's gun registry and other firearms laws. The constitutional challenge was ultimately dismissed by the
Ontario Court of Appeal, but
Christie continued to represent the Montagues in their efforts to resist civil and criminal forfeiture applications by the Crown.
This courageous, noble, valiant, spirited and brave man will be missed by MANY people...!!!
- published: 09 Aug 2013
- views: 1266