A Little Perspective Please

An interesting thing about The Jewish Tribune's story about the death of Doug Christie, lawyer to Canada's far right, is that it isn't really about the death of Doug Christie.  Rather, it is about the reaction to Doug Christie's death by ex-CJC head Bernie Farber.  Anyone that knows Bernie knows that he likes to play things clean, keep it classy, and so forth, so it isn't surprising, and hardly a big deal, that he would have sent the dying barrister a conciliatory email.   Nevertheless Tribune correspondent Joanne Hill spends  300 or so words trying to make something of the issue, finally tracking down Frank Dimant, CEO of B'nai Brith Canada, for a negative quote.  Frank thunders stentoriously:

“hell would freeze over” before he would have sent “a get-well card” to Christie.

“Doug Christie was a despicable human being who delighted in tormenting Holocaust survivors during cross-examination....Christie went well beyond championing freedom of speech in the courtroom. He caused anguish to all those survivors who were forced to recall their own torment, as well as the suffering and deaths of their loved ones, during the Nazi regime. I can find no redeeming traits in a man who served as Zundel’s mouthpiece in the courts.”

Well, I'm not sure I would be able to point to  redeeming trait in Doug Christie either, though I generally think its best to keep things civil around the time of a man's funeral.  But its worth noting that other commentators, indeed other Jewish commentators, have been far more complimentary towards Mr. Christie than Bernie was.  Ezra Levant, for example.  His whole eulogy can be found here,  but highlights among the flowery BS include Ezra denying, against all the evidence, that Christie was personally anti-Semitic, and calling him "a passionate scholar of history", which is I suppose true at least insofar as Christie passionately believed that Hitler was "demonized" in the wake of that whole WWII thing.  So perhaps Ms. Hill and Mr. Dimant can throw a little outrage in Levant's direction.  

On HRCs

I don't have much to add to this:

Much of the recent commentary on our human rights commissions and tribunals has focused on the recent Supreme Court of Canada’s Whatcott ruling. The case dealt with the so-called “hate speech” section of Saskatchewan’s human rights laws, after a Christian pastor was accused of promoting hate against homosexuals. Some provinces (like Saskatchewan) have such laws, and some (like Manitoba) do not. I am conflicted on whether such laws are desirable, but I do know that we should never throw out the baby with the bathwater. If you don’t want hate-speech clauses in human rights laws, lobby governments to take them out. We do not have to abolish human rights commissions and tribunals in order to do so. We should be working to improve our commissions and tribunals, not eliminate them altogether.

In short, human rights commissions and tribunals are typical administrative law bodies. They are not bogged down by frivolous complaints, and provide useful assistance in mediating disputes and educating the public. While not perfect, they can be made better without starting over from scratch. These institutions play an important and constructive role in Canada today. They should not be abolished.

Doug Christie has passed, incidentally.

Doug Christie, Lawyer For Canada's Far Right, Has Been Diagnosed With Liver Cancer

This post came to my attention yesterday, from Christie client Arthur Topham, who I have written about on several occasions:

Today it is my misfortune to have to share with you some very sad news regarding one of Canada’s foremost advocates in the struggle to retain our right to freedom of speech, Mr. Douglas H. Christie.

Yesterday, February 22, 2013 I received an email from Doug’s office assistant in Victoria, B.C., Jeremy Maddock, marked “Urgent”. Upon opening the email I read:

“Dear Arthur:

I regret to advise that Mr. Christie has been diagnosed with an advanced form of liver cancer, and has received medical advice that he cannot practice law any further at the present time. In these circumstances, it will be necessary for you to seek other counsel as soon as possible.”

Among Mr. Christie's other accomplishments beyond defending white supremacists was his creation of the Western Canada Concept, one of Canada's first Western Separatist parties and a precursor of the Reform Party. 

So, a storied career, then.

Be interesting to see what happens should Mr. Christie retire.  There are not too many people in this country willing to do his job.  In fact I think there is just one.

Doug Christie Gets Dinged

The lawyer to Canada's far right is out about $22,000. Most interesting bit from the decision: His [Christie's] average pre-tax income over the preceding five-year period was slightly over $50,000.

Well, There's Irony For You

Ann Coulter flees, but Doug Christie, "partially funded" by Paul Fromm, slips into U-of-O unnoticed. Unlike Coulter's organizers, I suppose, Mr. Fromm is smart enough to successfully rent a room.

And, come to think of it, Doug Christie sounds a little more coherent than Ann.

Christie To Investigate Death Of White Supremacist

...won't say whose paying the bills

Also, ARC has an interesting post from a couple of days ago: a number of people involved in the Bandidos slaying had connections to the white supremacist movment.

FreeD John Doe Hires Doug Christie

Farimir (Jason Bertucci), one of the eight anonymous posters involved in Richard Warman's defamation suit against Free Dominion, writes:

I can give a brief update. Doug Christie will be representing me and we will be drafting my statement of defense. And that it is now officially costing me money - I guess that is what RW wanted to happen all along.

Good Luck. You'll need it. Defamation isn't really Christie's thing. This is Christie's thing.

Lawyer For Canada's Far Right Loses Appeal

Victoria lawyer Doug Christie has lost his appeal to the Law Society of British Columbia of the 2007 ruling that he had engaged in professional misconduct.

Christie will be forced to pay a $2,500 fine and $20,000 in costs to the Society. However, the original payment date of January 2010 has been extended to April 2011.

The original decision can be found here; Mr. Christie's misconduct apparently involved the preparation and delivery of documents. Interesting in that, while Mr. Christie believes in free speech, he doesn't work for free. And while I don't think he is involved in any of the cases I usually write about (other than the recent Kinsella thing), this may well throw a bit of a spanner in the ones he has been working. It isn't cheap to fly in and out of Victoria.

PS. Scooped you again, lads.

H/T to H.

Tories: "Canadian Heritage" Includes Western Separatism

As D. Atkins notes, the Harper Tories have given $27,000 to Report Magazine to support its contributions to "Canadian Heritage".

Report Magazine? Never heard of it. Let's zip on over and take a gander!

Whoa! Look at that cover story!

David Crutcher – accomplished engineer, proud family man, energetic political activist and happily ensconced Calgary resident speaks with a barely noticeable accent reflecting the land of his birth, Great Britain, as he calmly states that, after 131 years, Canada should no longer exist.

David Crutcher is Executive Director of the Western Business and Taxpayers Association (WBTA), one of the latest manifestations of Western Separatism. I've written about these guys a couple of times, if you remember. They were the gang that wanted to use the Calgary flag for their new Alberta-centered state, and that (briefly) had a B.C. representative that wanted to help American sniper teams target Liberals in the event of a U.S. invasion of our country.

Hey! Look who else gets positive coverage in this same story:

"Our ultimate goal is the union of all four Western provinces into one country," says a resolute Doug Christie, a Victoria, B.C., lawyer who heads the Western Block Party. "It's been shown time and time again that reform is impossible," Christie continues. Recent events in Ottawa have only underlined that fact, he says. "Many of us have come to the conclusion that we don't wish to extend any more futile time and effort trying to reform a system that can't be reformed. We're not interested in wasting any more effort on it."

Yeah, that's this Doug Christie (not this Doug Christie).

Also, a nice piece on the magazine by Paul Wells from a couple of years ago. Apparently, Harper is a subscriber, and Report has been helping "push" the Tory line over the past several years.

Doug Christie Not Optimistic Over Section 13 Challenge

From the Friends of Freedom newsletter:

Lemire Human
Rights s. 13 Case

This decision is still reserved. We will report upon its release. This case, as well as Kulbashian, and Topham (see below) are all on going questions about the constitutionality of Section 13(1) of the Canadian Human Rights Act...

[...]

The essential question being endlessly debated in the courts goes nowhere. We urge you to write to Stephen Harper, M.P. eith Martin, at the House of Commons, and express your oppositioin to this dangerous law.

...because the odds of its being found unconstitutional are so totally minimal.

Doug Christie: Free Speech Don't Feed The Bulldog!

While Doug (Lawyer to The Far Right) Christie is big on Free Speech rights, he doesn't work for free. This week he's earning his lawyerly pittance helping Ian Verner Macdonald pursue a defamation suit against Liberal strategist Warren Kinsella.

But you have to wonder if his heart is still really in it. Yesterday, court insiders tell us, Christie could be clearly heard berating Macdonald--whose hearing is poor--over "the cheque, the cheque". Presumably, he meant the "pay" cheque, the money Christie needs if he wants to get out of our nation's capital and fly home to Victoria, British Columbia.

Apparently, he wanted the damn thing certified, and Macdonald was forced to assure him that he had a $500 overdraft.

So if you see a dejected looking fellow hitch-hiking Westward near Ottawa, it might be Doug. That's a shot of him above if you feel like offering a ride.

Oops! My bad! This is the Doug Christie you might run into!

Kinsella Cracks Wise

From WK's defamation hearing:

The court heard the travel for the 1987 conference was provided through the Manara Travel Agency in Ottawa and funded by the government of Libya. The court heard the owner of the agency, Mousa Hawamda, a former business partner of Mr. Macdonald, was subsequently investigated and indicted by the FBI for breaching a U.S. trade and travel embargo in relation to the conference.

In cross-examination, Mr. Christie questioned Mr. Kinsella about the indictment.

"Is there any reference to Ian Macdonald in the indictment?" he asked.

"No," Mr. Kinsella replied.

Mr. Christie noted that an illegal act in the U.S was not necessarily an illegal act in Canada.

"Conrad Black would disagree," Mr. Kinsella said.

"Oh, that's very funny." Mr. Christie shot back.

Actually, very funny. Working white supremacists and Conrad Black into a single wise crack is the equivalent of sinking a trick shot in pool or, at the end of a long concert, playing the final guitar solo with your teeth.

I remember I told a joke once that managed to be insulting to Italians, Lesbians, and midgets. Proudest moment of my life. Can't remember the joke, however.

More WBTA Madness!

The Western Business and Taxpayers Association's emerging Executive Council is proving to be a colourful bunch...especially if that color is white!

B.C. Chair Ernie Slump, for example, has gone Craig Chandler one step further. Whereas Craig merely wants Liberals to doff their voting habits at the Alberta border and embrace Conservatism, Ernie would have us all dead!

Meanwhile, before Rural Membership Chair Glen Dundas got his current gig with the WBTA, he served as cheerleader for Doug Christie's Western Block Party. That's Doug Christie, defender of Ernst Zündel, Wolfgang Droege of the Heritage Front, and Paul Fromm.

Up the revolution, fellas! Right up!

h/t noonespecial.

Free-D Update: Here Come The Nazis!

In recent episodes, rights activist Richard Warman threatened Connie Wilkins-Fournier and Mark Fournier of Free Dominion with libel (something about calling Warmen a "devious character"), and in reply Connie and Mark talked tough about free speech etc.

Well, Connie and Mark have attracted a new champion! Prominent Canadian Neo-Nazi Paul Fromm has written in support of Free-D from his lair at Stormfront, lashing out at Warman in an open letter to all "Free Speech Supporters". Congratulations Connie and Mark. Your White Knight has arrived!

But wait! Warman's not taking this missive lying down! He's peeved, and is threatening a CHRA complaint against Paul Fromm if the offending letter isn't removed from Stormfront by the end of today!

What shall our brave Nazi do? Stay tuned!

PS, I notice that Paul Fromm's lawyer is Doug Christie, Canada's semi-official legal champion of the Right Wing fringe. He and Warman have crossed swords on a number of occasions and I wonder if, when these things settle, they don't go out and have beers together.