Nationalist Party of Canada

The Nationalist Party of Canada is an unregistered far-right political party in Canada that was founded in 1977 by white supremacist Don Andrews.[1] The party describes itself as white nationalist, and is known for its antisemitic and racist publications.[2][3]

Not to be confused with the Canadian Nationalist Party, established in 2017.

Nationalist Party of Canada
LeaderDon Andrews
Founded1977
Split fromWestern Guard
Headquarters300 Coxwell Avenue
PO Box 3037
Toronto, Ontario
M4L 3B6
NewspaperThe Nationalist Report (1977–1985)
IdeologyNeo-Nazism
White nationalism
Anti-multiculturalism
Antisemitism
Anti-Zionism
Political positionFar-right
ColoursRed and white
Party flag
Website
natparty.com

History

The Nationalist Party was founded by Andrews after he was legally barred by his bail conditions from associating with the Western Guard, another white supremacist organization. The party was briefly known as the National Citizens Alliance.

From 1977 to 1985, the party published The Nationalist Report, which ceased publication when Andrews and Party Secretary Robert Smith were charged and convicted under the Criminal Code for promoting hatred. Crown attorney Michel Anne MacDonald described the journal as containing anti-black, anti-Jewish and anti-Asian articles,[4] and the presiding judge described the "degree of hatred" in their journal as "obscene".[5] He added that Andrews was the "directing mind of the publication" and described Smith as a "faithful, industrious follower".[6]

In 1986, Andrews and Smith endorsed Holocaust denier Jim Keegstra's bid to lead the Social Credit Party of Canada.[7] The two men appealed to the Supreme Court of Canada in 1989, seeking to have their conviction overturned.[8] The court rejected the appeal in December 1990, ruling that the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms did not protect hate speech in R v Andrews and R v Keegstra.[9] Andrews and Smith served jail terms following the ruling.

The Nationalist Party continues to further its goals through supporting such projects as "European Heritage Week" (commemorated every October beginning on the Canadian observance of Thanksgiving) and a shortwave radio program. It also originated and operates the "Canadian Flag Perpetual Pride Campaign" each year during the months of July and December, where residences in cities and towns in Canada, and governments at the federal, provincial and municipal levels are encouraged to properly display new Canadian flags and to replace worn ones; this campaign has been extended to encourage Canadian flag displays at offices and stores of major Canadian corporations such as Canadian Tire, Unilever and Loblaws/Weston.

Andrews has run for Mayor of Toronto several times, including in 2003 when he won 0.17% of the vote. In that year, two other party members ran unsuccessfully for Toronto City Council.

Party candidates

Bob Smith

Robert Wayne Smith is a frequent candidate for political office, and has sought election at the municipal, provincial and federal levels. Like Don Andrews, he was originally a member of the Western Guard Party.[10] He first ran for the Toronto School Board in 1972, when he was still a student.[11] His most recent campaign was for Mayor of Toronto in 2006. During his Western Guard days, he was the voice for its White Power Phone Message. Among organizations he has served in include the Canadian Anti-Soviet Action Committee, the Ontario Social Credit organization, as a director of the Ezra Pound Institute for International Studies, and as a guest commentator during the 1990s for the British Peoples' League Hour radio program. Today, he regularly blogs at his Internet column on the Nationalist Party website page, "Bob's Beat".

Electoral record[lower-alpha 1]
Election Division De facto party Votes % Position Result
1972 municipal Toronto School Trustee, Ward Eight Western Guard 247 11/11 Not elected
1974 municipal Toronto City Council, Ward Four Western Guard 200 7/7 Not elected
1976 municipal Toronto School Trustee, Ward Nine Western Guard 864 6/7 Not elected
1980 federal St. Paul's Nationalist 108 6/9 Not elected
1980 municipal Toronto School Trustee, Ward Eight Nationalist 1,319 6/9 Not elected
1982 municipal Toronto School Trustee, Ward Eight Nationalist 603 6/10 Not elected
1985 municipal Toronto School Trustee, Ward Eight Nationalist 935 5/7 Not elected
Ontario provincial by-election, April 1, 1993 St. George—St. David Nationalist 72 8/9 Not elected
2003 municipal Toronto City Councillor, Ward 31 Nationalist 414 4/4 Not elected
2006 municipal Mayor of Toronto Nationalist 1,105 0.19 20/38 Not elected

See also

Notes
  1. The 1972 results are taken from the Globe and Mail newspaper, December 5, 1972, with 118 of 121 polls reporting. The 1974 results are taken from the Toronto Star newspaper, December 3, 1974, with 93 of 95 polls reporting. The 1976 results are taken from the Toronto Star newspaper, December 7, 1976. The 1980 results are taken from the Toronto Star newspaper, November 11, 1980. The 1982 results are taken from the Toronto Star newspaper, November 9, 1982. The 1985 results are taken from the Globe and Mail newspaper, November 14, 1985. The 2003 and 2006 results are provided by the City of Toronto. All federal and provincial information is taken from Elections Canada and Elections Ontario.

References
  1. Hong, Jackie (January 17, 2014). "We Interviewed the White Supremacist Running For Mayor of Toronto". Vice. Retrieved June 4, 2020.
  2. Richard B. Parent; James O. Ellis III (May 2014). "Right-Wing Extremism in Canada" (PDF). TSAS Working Paper Series. 14 (3). Retrieved June 4, 2020.
  3. Rising Tide of White Supremacy in Canada (Report). Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center for Holocaust Studies. January 2019.
  4. Drew Fagan, "Not guilty plea entered 2 publishers deny promoting hatred", Globe and Mail, September 17, 1985, P19.
  5. Drew Fagan, "Toronto pair guilty of promoting hatred against Jews, blacks", Globe and Mail, December 10, 1985, A19.
  6. Drew Fagan, "Men sent to jail for promoting hatred", Globe and Mail, December 14, 1985, A21.
  7. Stanley Oziewicz, "Evangelist wins Socred leadership, attacked as a racist by Keegstra", Globe and Mail, June 23, 1986, A1.
  8. "Top court to decide on hate case appeals", Toronto Star, June 3, 1989, A14.
  9. Graham Fraser and Miro Cernetig, "Supreme Court upholds curbs on free expression", Globe and Mail, December 14, 1990, A1.
  10. "Ward Four", Toronto Star, November 28, 1974, A17.
  11. "Progressive seeks conservative vote", Globe and Mail, November 25, 1972, A4.
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