Ezra Levant Not Entirely Certain Soldiers of Odin Are A "Thing"

While we were working on our commentary yesterday on Mack Lamoureux's CBC story covering the  activities of the Soldiers of Odin in Edmonton, we were also following an interesting exchange between Mr. Lamoureux and Ezra Levant on Twitter. Sadly, as Ezra isn't a fan of ours....

.... we may have been only able to see one side of the discussion.

Unless we had a second Twitter account. Which, of course, we do.

Now, from this part of the exchange, Ezra seems to be suggesting that the Soldiers of Odin are actually a figment of Mr. Lamoureux's imagination. However, Ezra does clarify his position that he believes the SoO are exist, but only as a vehicle to entrap poor, dumb, disenfranchised, "old stock" Canadians:

Elisa Hategan Comments on Danger of Giving More Power to CSIS

We posted an article on the blog earlier this month where we suggested that government legislation that would provide CSIS more powers wasn't in the best interests of the Canadian people. We based that conclusion on the role CSIS and their mole Grant Bristow played during the early years of the Heritage Front. It was during the years that Bristow was involved (1989 - 1994) that the Heritage Front was at it's most dangerous.

We later received the following comment:

Personally, I don't think that Heritage Front has anything to do with CSIS. The Heritage Front was a Canadian neo-Nazi,white supremacist organization founded in 1989 and disbanded around 2005.

That isn't an entirely accurate sentiment unfortunately, and Ms. Hategan goes into a great deal of detail outlining the role CSIS played in the first five years of the Heritage Front. We'll provide the link to Ms. Hategan's here and at the end of our part of the article. First, we need to make the following points:

Give CSIS More Powers? Sure! What Could Possibly Go Wrong?

Artwork by Nina Bunjevac

KOBO: http://store.kobobooks.com/en-CA/ebook/race-traitor-the-true-story-of-canadian-intelligence-service-s-greatest-cover-up
Amazon (Digital): http://www.amazon.com/Race-Traitor-Canadian-Intelligence-Services-ebook/dp/B00JA05FYM
Amazon (Paperback): http://www.amazon.com/Race-Traitor-Canadian-Intelligences-Greatest/dp/1502779714/ 

Back in November, two Canadian soldiers were murdered by individuals who may have been radicalized by an extremist interpretation of Islam, but who most certainly were not right in the head. The two incidents were horrible tragedies and, for a time, most Canadians were able to put aside petty, partisan, bickering.

In response to these two murders as well as the real or perceived threats posed by extremists (particularly those associated with ISIS, or ISIL, or EIEIO, or whatever the hell they are referring to themselves as now), Harper's Conservative government proposed a new law that would give sweeping new investigative powers to CSIS, Canada's spy agency. Justin Trudeau has suggested that the Liberals will support the legislation. Mulclair has said the NDP will oppose passage of the bill.

We say, good for you Mr. Harper!

These are dangerous times and we need to do everything we as a nation can do to protect the citizens of this country from fanatics who would harm us all. CSIS should be given every tool it can to stop the maniac before they can act.

Right?

Sure, there are people who suggest that the current laws are perfectly fine as evidenced by the arrests of suspected extremists that have already take place without the use of the advanced tools that the proposed law would give to CSIS. Oh, and there is concern that the wording of the legislation is so broad as to encompass any group the government decides is a threat:

.... On close inspection, Bill C-51 is not an anti-terrorism bill. Fighting terrorism is its pretext; its language reveals a broader goal of allowing government departments, as well as CSIS, to act whenever they believe limply defined security threats “may” – not “will” – occur. 

So why does this bill exist? What is it fighting? And why is it giving intelligence officers powers that are currently reserved for the RCMP and other police forces? 

CSIS is an intelligence agency. It is secretive, and it is supposed to be. Why does it suddenly need police powers to do its job? Until now, police powers were reserved for the police – an organization that is public, and which in a democracy must be. 

Have you ever met a CSIS agent? Was he out in uniform, walking the beat? No. CSIS works in secret. It is furthermore immune from Parliamentary oversight. 

And now, if Bill C-51 passes, CSIS will be able to disrupt anything its political masters believe might be a threat. As the bill is currently written, that includes a lot more than terrorism.

And of course there those who foolishly worry that CSIS might, through the use of an informant, infiltrate a group of people who have extremist views but who haven't the tools or the wherewithal to act on those views, but then go on to encourage members of the group to act in such a way as to become a threat and thus justify their investigation of the group.

Well that is just speculative crazy talk! That could never, ever, happen. CSIS would never endanger Canadians by making already dangerous individuals far more dangerous by organizing them and providing with resources and training.

Right?

Uhm.... right?

Strange way to ensure national security

Oh, right! It already has happen.

There was a lecherous old newspaper man from Pennsylvania who once said that people who would give up their essential liberty for a little bit of security deserve neither freedom nor security. This seems to be an especially pertinent sentiment now.

If our readers would like to know more about the potential dangers of giving CSIS the new powers proposed by the government, you need to go no further than Elisa Hategan's Race Traitor, a first hand account of Hategan's recruitment into the Heritage Front. More relevant to this discussion though is how Hategan explains how a group of already dangerous boneheads were provided with the organizational structure and resources that made it significantly more dangerous than it would otherwise have been by Grant Bristow who was credited as one of the founders of the Heritage Front while also on the payroll of CSIS.

The Heritage Front: The True Story in Race Traitor

KOBO: http://store.kobobooks.com/en-CA/ebook/race-traitor-the-true-story-of-canadian-intelligence-service-s-greatest-cover-up
Amazon (Digital): http://www.amazon.com/Race-Traitor-Canadian-Intelligence-Services-ebook/dp/B00JA05FYM
OCTOBER 2014 UPDATE: Now for purchase at Amazon as a paper back: http://www.amazon.com/Race-Traitor-Canadian-Intelligences-Greatest/dp/1502779714/ 

A few years back, we posted a link to Elisa Hategan's novel, Race Traitor. While it was a work of fiction, it was still very obviously based on her experience in the Heritage Front as well as her subsequent defection and testimony that ultimately helped take down the group. Many members of the Collective purchased the novel. One question that we often discussed was which parts were true and which parts were fictionalized for the sake of a compelling thriller? We all really enjoyed the novel, but we still hoped that one day a definitive history of the Heritage Front might actually be written (the closest thing that was currently in existence was Warren Kinsella's Web of Hate). Not knowing if there would be anything published, we started our own project, attempting to document the history of the racist movement in Canada (this includes our "History of Violence" which has become by far the most viewed article on the blog) paying particular attention to the Heritage Front. We thought this was a period in Canadian history that needed to be remembered, however we knew that what we could compile would be insufficient.

Thankfully, Ms. Hategan did continue her writing in this area and has, as of a few days ago, published her story about the Heritage Front. We downloaded it on KOBO two nights ago and completed it this morning. It is an incredibly compelling story and one that we think needs a wider audience.

Artwork by Nina Bunjevac

We'll provide the blurb from Amazon (links added by ARC):

Old Haunts of the Heritage Front

We're currently waiting for some information regarding a couple of upcoming articles, but we thought that we would revisit our project concerning documenting the history of the Canadian racist movement. The primary focus of our research has been on the years 1989 to 1994 under the leadership of Wolfgang Droege which coincided with the rise and decline of the Heritage Front, though there was a brief mini-resurgence in 2001 under the watch of Marc Lemire.

Two weeks ago a couple of ARC members began documenting some of key locations in the early history of the Heritage Front in Toronto. There are rumors that some of the locations, such as the, "Zündel Haus" may be torn down to make way for condos so we decided to record them while they still exist.

Don Andrews: Nothing If Not Persistent

Summertime and the livin' is easy!

We have to admit that the blog has not be a primary focus for our members. Life has gotten in the way in the best possible way and we've been just having way too much fun. As such we really haven't been interested in allowing the miserable excuses for humanity that we cover here to harsh our mellow.

Then, this evening, one of our members doing a pretty routine check of bonehead websites noticed this on the Nationalist Party of Canada's website:

And, as is clear by the following article, we weren't the first to catch this brainfart by the city of Regina:

Regina duped by white supremacy group

The city agreed to a request by the Nationalist Party of Canada to proclaim a week in Oct. "European Heritage Week"

CBC News  Posted: Aug 20, 2013 6:47 PM CST

The mayor of Regina has cancelled a proclamation to declare a week in October "European Heritage Week" after he says he was fooled by a white supremacy group.

The group called Nationalist Party of Canada put in a request in July.

Continuing Our Heritage Front Project (And An Examination of Marc Lemire: Part XI)

We are still continuing our project of documenting the history of the Heritage Front by collecting photographs, letters, and hate propaganda from the period between 1989 and 1994 when the hate group was at it's peak, 1995 to 1999 when the group was in decline after Elisse Hategan testified against the leadership and Bristow had become known as a CSIS mole, and 2001 to 2005 when Marc Lemire attempted, and ultimately failed, to revive the hate group under his leadership. We are also eager to receive any other information that could be provided, be it related to the Heritage Front or any other Canadian hate group (we did receive some very interesting documents concerning the Western Guard not long ago).

Not long ago we received a parcel containing copies of "The HF Report" which was the Heritage Front journal that existed after "UpFront" was discontinued; the publication of "The HF Report" took place between 1997 and 1999. However, we should have looked closer, as we also found a copy of "UpFront" which we have already mentioned here on this blog in relation to our documentation of Marc Lemire's Heritage Front connection:

Dennis Mahon and the Canadian Connection

Dennis Mahon was convicted of
sending a bomb in the mail and
sentenced to 40 years in prison.

As we continue our project of gathering historical documents about the Canadian racist movement, we will also continue to comment on contemporary news stories related to that project, such as this story on American extremist Dennis Mahon.

On February 26, 2004, Don Logan of the Scottsdale, Arizona Office of Diversity and Dialogue, severely injuring him. After a 5 year investigation, Dennis Mahon, his twin brother Daniel and one other man were arrested on June 26, 2009 and charged in the mail bombing. On May 22, Dennis Mahon, who had been found guilty in February, was sentenced to 40 years in prison. At 61 years, he is likely to die in prison.

Blast from The Past: Nationalist Party of Canada and the Western Guard

UPDATE 3 (replacing UPDATE 1): Never mind. :)
A little while ago we spoke of our interest in documenting the rise and fall of the Heritage Front (and yes, Grant Bristow and CSIS play a significant role in that history, "Narrow Back"). We have received some information and photos, but we thought we would take this opportunity to remind our readers that we would still like your help.

Some of the information we have received actually goes WAY back. Those who know the history of the Heritage Front are aware that it was created by disaffected members of Don Andrews' Nationalist Party of Canada. Nationalist Party members Droege, Bristow, and Lincoln founded the Heritage Front soon after they returned from Libya after attending the the twentieth anniversary celebration of the invitation of the Gaddafi regime, as they felt that the Nationalist Party was no longer an effective means of pursuing their goals. In that sense, the Nationalist Party (according to their own family tree) might be thought of as the Heritage Front's daddy:

Hmmm, we guess then that the Western Guard would be the grand daddy and Paul Fromm's Edmund Burke Society would be the great grand daddy.

An Examination of Marc Lemire: Part X

First, we thought we would post a transcript detailing the heady days when "White Nationalists" would roll on their fellow travellers:

Marc Lemire kindly provided some of the evidence with which Craig Harrison was found in violation of the Canadian Human Rights Act.
 
Speaking of Marc Lemire, we simply can't get past this statement that he made during an appearance on Ezra Levant's program, "The Source":

Uh, the Heritage Front uh, was active back in, uh, the the 90s and I was a young kid at the time. I had some, uh, interest in some of the things that they were doing in particularly thing like uh opposition to employment equity, things like reducing immigration. So I uh, listened to some of what they were about, and uh, I went away from it. I mean I was involved with them peripherally in my teenage years.

We know. We've been beating this dead horse for a while now (see this particular post which , but we decided that when we first heard Lemire lie about his past, we would use every opportunity we could to prove him to be lying.

So here we go. Again.

Marc Lemire: Summary of Information

Over the past few years, we've taken a look at the claims made by Marc Lemire and his supporters regarding his ties to the Heritage Front. In the process we have done a pretty good job of proving that he was a member (and based on the evidence likely the leader for a time), worked closely with Ernst Zundel and held views that most of society would view as objectionable (though not necessarily illegal).

These articles can be used as a resource to truly examine Lemire's claims, though we would urge our readers not just to take our word for it and to do their own research. But the resource isn't useful if it isn't readily available and as it is one would have to actively search for these documents.

So, as we have done with our timelines, we are going to compile the list of articles we have written here and then add the link to our permanent links below the blog header. We hope that this will be more useful to our readers and other researchers who wish to test the veracity of both Lemire's and our claims.

An Examination of Marc Lemire VI

We're just going to cut to the chase on the extension of this series examining Marc Lemire's connection to extremism and specifically to the Heritage Front.

This past August, Lemire appeared on Ezra Levant's "Sun News" program where, when asked about a connection to the Heritage Front, said this (you can skip to 2:20 of the video if you wish):


Uh, the Heritage Front uh, was active back in, uh, the the 90s and I was a young kid at the time. I had some, uh, interest in some of the things that they were doing in particularly thing like uh opposition to employment equity, things like reducing immigration. So I uh, listened to some of what they were about, and uh, I went away from it. I mean I was involved with them peripherally in my teenage years.

He repeated this claim when he appeared on Levant's program again in December.

We are going to prove, yet again, that Lemire is being less than forthcoming and that he was actively involved with the Heritage Front until it finally went defunct sometime in 2005.

Marc Lemire Denies Heritage Front Past to Ezra Levant

You know, we rarely watch the Sun News channel, in part because of the poor production and the amateur hour nature of the programing, but if we're to be honest the biggest reason is how they spin the news. Based on their ratings, it appears we aren't alone in our assessment.

So when Marc Lemire appeared on Ezra Levant's show this past summer, we didn't watch, which in retrospect was very stupid of us. Eventually though, we thought to ourselves, "Hey, wonder if he deals with his long running involvement in the Heritage Front? Surely Ezra would ask about, right? And if Lemire is asked, certainly he would have to tell the truth because Ezra would call him on it if he misrepresents his past? Ezra is a journalist after all and would do the necessary research..... right?"

Well, Lemire was asked about his involvement with the Heritage Front. Here is his reply:

Want to Get Out of the Racist Movement? Please Read This

Yesterday, we posted a link to one time Heritage Front member Elisse Hategan who did more to take down the Front than any Canadian government agency ever could (and, really, in spite of some government agencies). Despite the efforts from 2001 to 2005 to revive the group, Elisse's testimony essentially killed the Heritage Front as a viable movement in Canada and exposed the activities of CSIS to public examination (NOTE: For those interested in reading more about Grant Bristow and CSIS' involvement in the Heritage Front, we would suggest reading Elisse's testimony before the parliamentary committee investigating the affair.) 

Elisse was able to reject racism and move on to lead a productive life. We know that there are those out there who are trying to get out as well, so we asked Elisse if she would mind recounting her story to our readers with the hope that perhaps it might push some who are a part of the racist movement but having second thoughts to take that leap of faith to get out. It might also cause those who are on the fence to consider the consequences of their decisions and make a better choice.

My former name is Elisse Hategan. When I was 16 years old I met Wolfgang Droege and joined the Heritage Front. Shortly thereafter began to work as a daily helper in Ernst Zundel’s old bunker on Carlton Street in Toronto. It was 1991 and the Front had just started to grow. Being part of the small inner circle of HF leadership, I was there to see it develop into the beast it would eventually become.

A Perspective on the Heritage Front and Grant Bristow From Someone Who Was There

First, while we are not a commercial website, we would like to promote a novel written by Elisa Hategan. Her novel, Race Traitor can be found here at amazon.ca and the Kindle ebook can be purchased here. The novel has been independently published but has received very favorable reviews. While it is set in the United States, we think our readers will be able to recognize the links to a movement in Canada that began more than 20 years ago.

In fact, anyone familiar with the history of the Heritage Front should immediately remember the name Hategan; her involvement in the hate group as a teenager, her decision to reject racism and provide evidence which was used to convict a number of people in positions of leadership (including Wolfgang Droege) and her testimony regarding the role of CSIS informant Grant Bristow in the growth of the Heritage Front. Unlike Bristow whom the Canadian government protected, Ms. Hategan was left to fend for herself. And for almost 18 year, Ms. Hategan had to live a nomadic life, changing her name several times, in an effort to escape the death threats of her former compatriots (her name was still being invoked by the last Heritage Front leader Marc Lemire as recently as 2004). Elisa (or as she was known then, Elisse), in her own words, is now "coming out."

We Now Know Who the Guy in the Zundel Photo Is

Hey, remember this photo on the left? If you do, it's because it is one of the more common photos of Holocaust deniers Ernst Zundel found on the internet. In the photo Zundel appears with two individuals in semi-paramilitary uniforms who appear to be acting as bodyguards. At one point there was speculation that the one on the left hand side of the photo was Marc Lemire.

We have stated that the individual was not Lemire, unfortunately too many who had no idea what Lemire looked like bought into this erroneous claim and labelled it as Lemire acting as Zundel's body guard. This error has prompted some groups and individuals to claim that the entire discussion of Lemire's involvement in the racist movement was simply part of a smear campaign.

To be clear, Lemire did have a close relationship with Zundel and was a member (and later leader) of the Heritage Front, but the guy in the photo isn't Lemire.

Photo believed to have been taken
in 1992.

But who is the person pictured with Zundel? No one seems to have known who he was. Recently though a new friend who has intimate knowledge of the racist movement in Toronto in the early 1990s was able to identify the mystery man:

The person in the photo behind Zundel is named Mike [Geddick]. He lived in Brampton and started a small group of idiots (15 max) who paraded around in brown shirts and modelled themselves after Mussolini. He hated Burdi and considered himself a main rival to the COTC guys (lol). And everybody laughed behind his back.

PS Marc [Lemire] was kissing Grant [Bristow's] and Ernst's asses at the time. 

Consider this mystery, such as it was, solved.

More from our new friend later.

Heritage Front in the News Again: Libya Connection

When the people of Libya rose up revolt some months ago, there were very few people who defended the Gaddafi regime. One of those who did defend Gaddafi was Ian Verner Macdonald who, as we wrote about soon after he made his statement in defence of the tyrany in Tripoli, has a very long association with racist extremism in Canada and helped to facilitate a meeting of Canadian racists with the the Libyan government in the late 1980s.

We wrote about the links between the Libyan government and Canadian racists, as well as the fact that the experience in Libya in large part led Wolfgang Droege and others to found the Heritage Front. Now the msm has decided there's a story here as well:

Gaddafi’s ‘Libyan Friendship Society’ with Canada’s racist movement

Stewart Bell  May 28, 2011 – 9:00 AM ET | Last Updated: May 27, 2011 7:54 PM ET

Colonel Muammar Gaddafi has been a lot of things during his more than four decades in power: coup leader, revolutionary, nuclear proliferator, dictator — and friend of the Canadian racist movement.

Libyan agents began forging ties with the leaders of Canada’s extreme right in the late 1980s. Twice, the Gaddafi regime brought delegations of Canadian “white nationalists” to Tripoli, where they were feted and given cash.

Situation in Libya: Gaddafi Victim of Jewish Propaganda Campaign and Evil Zionist (Not Really)

Well, at least according to disgraced former member of the Canadian diplomatic corp., Ian V. Macdonald by way of Paul Fromm:

Anyone with any knowledge of the Canadian racist movement shouldn't be surprised by Macdonald's defence of the Gaddafi regime which is currently trying to hang on to power, killing thousands Libyan citizens in the process. In 1987, Macdonald organized a Canadian delegation to Tripoli to commemorate the American bombing of Libya the previous year. Warren Kinsella also noted a link between Macdonald and the Gaddafi regime:

Sigh.... Why Are the Pretty Ones So Dumb?

We didn't catch this when it first came out, but we thought our readers might be interested in it now.

No commentary. None necessary.

Spies and lies in Edmonton election

Joseph Brean, National Post · Monday, Oct. 18, 2010

The former CSIS mole who was a leader of the white supremacist Heritage Front until his cover was blown by a newspaper investigation in 1994 has re-emerged, under a new name, at the centre of controversy in Monday's municipal election in Edmonton.

Grant Bristow, now known as Nathan Black, botched a "prank" on two local officials this month by posing as an American journalist investigating corruption in the planned closure of Edmonton's small city airport.

Claiming to be from the "Seattle Hill Times," he was exposed when the men each called the Seattle Times and learned the names he gave — Darren Holmes and Darren Foster—are not reporters. He has since been kicked off a volunteer mayoral campaign, and disavowed by the pro-airport advocacy group Envision Edmonton.

In 1994, a government review praised Mr. Bristow for his role as a CSIS informer in the Heritage Front debacle, in which he became a top authority in the Toronto-based racist group, even as it grew into a major security threat through clashes with anti-racist groups and the schemes of its leader, the late Wolfgang Droege.

He fled Toronto after he was exposed by Toronto Sun reporter Bill Dunphy, and has lived ever since as Nathan Black, and given occasional media interviews.

Mr. Bristow, a pro-airport advocate who ran Envision Edmonton's unsuccessful campaign to get the airport on Monday's ballot, describes his calls to Councillor Amarjeet Sohi and Sid Hanson, a former chairman of Edmonton's airport authority, as "RadioShack espionage" inspired by the "black ops manual of Frank magazine."

In an interview, he described how he used a device called a Magic Jack to route his calls through a number in Seattle, and divert calls back to his phone in Edmonton.

"I did it for the purpose of, if I could get a jewel, I would start floating it to the media," he said.
"I was hoping to ferret out that this group [Yes For Edmonton, which supports the planned closure of the airport, represented by Mr. Hanson] didn't just magically appear, that it was, you know, somehow connected to the regional airport authority, which are the people trying to close down the airport, and that developers were behind it and all that kind of stuff."

His second big exposure — this time by his own hand — is a remarkable tale of vicious local politics and clever deception, with dead-end trails through cyberspace, phony phone numbers, and pseudonyms layered over pseudonyms, all tracing back to a 52-year-old former spy who is dying of metastasized throat cancer.

At root, it is about a one-runway city airport, slated to close as soon as it can be re-developed, and its role in getting patients from northern Canada into Edmonton's hospitals.

Mr. Bristow, who has been undergoing intense cancer treatment, said he wants the airport to keep operating "because I have a newfound respect for health care." He said it brings patients from the North directly into Edmonton, in close proximity to emergency facilities for cancer, cardiac care, burns and transplants.

"Northern Albertans and Northern Canadians deserve that kind of access. You close down that airport and take them out to the international [about 25km south of the city centre], and if a helicopter can't fly to take a patient, and there's a snowstorm, that patient could die in an ambulance. That's why I'm passionate about it," he said.

He said the scandal began early this month, when a new group, Yes For Edmonton, emerged to advocate in favour of the airport closing during the election.

Mr. Bristow said he called their phone number, and reached the offices of a prominent land developer, leading him to suspect a link. He said he called back, posing as Darren Holmes, to request an interview.

Sid Hanson, a former chairman of Edmonton's airport authority, called him back. Mr. Bristow said he put on an American accent inspired by "the white supremacist I hated the most, e late Jesse Benjamin "JB" Stoner, a top Alabama white supremacist.

He said the call drew on all his skills of ingratiating himself and eliciting useful information, and he claims Mr. Hanson described Edmonton Mayor Stephen Mandel as a driving force behind Yes For Edmonton.

Mr. Hanson did not return a call on Sunday, but told the Edmonton Journal he thought he was answering another question — whether Mr. Mandel's vision of the city was inspiring. He said the mayor has no role with his advocacy group.

Mr. Bristow then pulled the same "prank," as he calls it, on a councillor who had voted to close the airport.

"He was extremely upset about that. To me it seemed odd. Why should a journalist be so biased to one issue?" said Amarjeet Sohi, who is running for election.

He described Mr. Black as aggressive, making statements rather than questions.

In a statement on Sunday, Mary Anne Stanway of Envision Edmonton said Mr. Black is "very passionate and dedicated to the airport issue" but "is strictly a volunteer and holds no official position with the Society ... Mr. Black acted on his own, without knowledge or approval from the Board."

Also this weekend, Edmonton mayoralty candidate Dave Dorward, for whom Mr. Black was a volunteer, told reporters he condemned the deception, said Mr. Black was kicked off his campaign.


"I would never be involved in such a thing and I had no knowledge of it," Mr. Dorward said.

National Post

An Examination of Marc Lemire: Part II

Gee, we let our resident conservative Sparky write an article for the blog and he gets all polite and crap. Bad Sparky! We're known in part for our dry wit and sarcasm! We can't disappoint our readers! Back to the spice mines for you!

In our last posts we discussed some of Lemire's posts that were, shall we say, not necessarily fit for the dinner table. But that isn't all to the Fournier challenge. They also want proof that Lemire was a member of the Heritage Front (other than when he was in his teens or early 20s) of if he was ever the leader: