The Heritage Front Affair
The Chairman of the Reform Party said he never believed or
thought that there were higher levels to the infiltration
story, i.e., the possibility of direction by others.[159]
But many of the Reform Party members and officers we spoke
to were absolutely convinced that the infiltration was
directed by persons associated with the Progressive
Conservative Party in order to discredit the Reform Party.
"The Heritage Front Affair" is the first time that some
officials in the Reform Party think that they may have
evidence of such a conspiracy.
7.6.1 The Enigma
On June 12, 1992, Michael Lublin, a member of the Kitchener-
Waterloo Jewish community and the self-professed "highest
ranking Jewish member of the Reform Party went on national
television to denounce the party as racially intolerant and
antisemitic, and to declare that a Reform Government would
be a disaster for Canada."[160]
Thus began another chapter in the complex lead-up to the
1993 federal election.
Michael Lublin told the Review Committee that he joined the
Reform Party in April 1991 because he liked their economic
policies.[l61] Lublin told his then friend, John Toogood,
that he was interested in Reform because they were standing
up for civil liberties and he thought that Reform was
misunderstood. [162]
In June 1992, Lublin had a rift with the Reform Party; he
became angry, he said, after "pin stripe racists at the
Waterloo riding level made things tough" for him. He said he
left the Party when he was prevented from going to a
meeting.[l63] Paul Kelly stated that Michael Lublin applied
for the job of Regional Coordinator for Southwestern
Ontario. He did not get the job but Reg Gosse did.[164]
Lublin later said that the differences of opinion with Reg
Gosse were racially [165] Gosse completely denied the
allegation and said he was upset that Lublin would say so,
having spent many "long hours" listening to Lublin's
problems.
The Party had turned Lublin down for a position on June 9,
1992 and he went public with his criticism of Reform on June
12, 1992.
7.6.2 The Conservatives
Lublin said his friend John Toogood, a university student,
acted as an political advisor to him and Lublin took him to
Reform Party meetings.[166] Toogood agreed that they
attended some meetings together, but he denied being an
"advisor" and also stated that he was always candid about
his Conservative Party links.
Toogood says that Lublin called him to say there were to be
other Reform Party meetings and they went to two or three
such meetings together; he said he went to learn what
Reform's appeal was and he never attended any small riding
meetings: the ones he went to were publicly advertised,
large, and attended by the media. 167 Toogood says there was
never any doubt that both Gosse and Lublin knew he was a
member of the PC Party.[168] Reg Gosse confirmed Toogood's
statement.[169]
In the Summer of 1992, Toogood told SIRC, he worked in
Solicitor General Doug Lewis' office and had little or no
contact with Lublin at that time, to speak of. As a summer
student, he answered the telephones, and liaised with the
Ministry of Justice in regard to the gun control issue. His-
only contact with CSIS was to book appointments. In regard
to the-Reform Party, Toogood said he wrote synopses of their
Justice policy: all based on newspaper articles and Reform
Party literature. He stated that at no time while working
for Doug Lewis or otherwise, did he ever make use of any
external groups or agencies.[170]
Lublin said that Joe Lafleur, a Conservative official, tried
to recruit him. Lafleur told the Review Committee that he
did not try to get involved in the Reform Party. Lublin, who
was seeking a job gave Lafleur a Campaign Contributions list
which Lafleur said he never used: he just threw it in a file
cabinet and left there.[171] Lublin said the list was a
publicly available corporate contributions list.[172]
Lafleur said he was happy to hear Lublin's complaints about
what was going on in the Reform Party, as they were the
opponents, but no dirty tricks took place.
7.6.3 The Plots
Lublin first told us that John Toogood and Bernie Farber,
the Canadian Jewish Congress Director of Community Relations
were working together to discredit the Reform Party.[173] He
later said they did not work together toward the goal.[l74]
Lublin also says that he had a conversation with Hugh Segal,
Advisor to Prime Minister Brian Mulroney.[175]
Both Toogood and the CJC Director have stated that they have
never met or spoken to each other, much less conspired
together.[176] Both completely denied they ever tried to
discredit the Reform Party. Hugh Segal received a message
from Lublin but does not believe he ever spoke to him. Segal
says he had his secretary give the name of a party official
to Lublin to contact, wary of the negative comments Lublin
made about his former mentors in the Reform Party.[177]
Lublin described
Droege as a complex, complicated and
interesting individual, notwithstanding the fact that
Lublin's Serbian friends fought Droege's people in the
Kitchener-Waterloo area.[178]
It was learned that in November 1992, Lublin called
Droege
for information about a lecture by British Nazi sympathizer,
writer
David Irving. Droege said it was a closed meeting,
but authorized Lublin to inform the media. Lublin stressed
they keep their association with one another secret and
Droege agreed.[179]
In the Spring of 1993, Preston Manning came to Oshawa.
Lublin said that lawyer Louis Allore called him in Florida
to say he wanted to discredit Manning. He would pay
Droege
$500 to have the Heritage Front "hound Manning" in May or
June 1993. Allore told Lublin that Droege does not get paid
until the "stunt" appears in the newspaper.[180]
7.6.5 View from the Outside
Bristow was aware that Michael Lublin was an anti-racist who
wanted to be a spokesperson for the Jewish community. The
hearsay within the Heritage Front was that Lublin had his
eye on the Director of Community Relations' job at the
Canadian Jewish Congress.[181] Bristow overheard some of the
conversations between Wolfgang Droege and Michael Lublin:
Lublin did not like Reform and wanted to be seen as a
peacemaker between the Nazis and the Jews. As a negotiator,
he could make a name for himself.[182] Bristow took a
photograph of Lublin and
Droege arm-in-arm together.
Alan Overfield said that Michael Lublin was a case of "sour
grapes". Although Lublin accused the Reform Party of being
racist, he still attended their meetings. Lublin knew
Droege
by his first name and he was involved in a lot of
manipulation in the Jewish Community.[183]
Bristow believed that Wolfgang
Droege received cash from a
Bay Street fellow to attend Reform Party meetings to
discredit and embarrass the Party. Bristow was of the
opinion that Lublin coordinated the contacts but that the
money came from the other person.[184]
We received reports that someone called CITY TV in Toronto
to tell them that
Droege would attend Reform Party meetings.
The staff we spoke to at CITY TV denied they were informed
in advance of Heritage Front activities.[185] The Source,
however stated that it was "standard methodology" for
someone to call CITY TV in Toronto to tell them that Droege
would attend Reform Party meetings. A Reform Party member
and advisor has stated that reporter Colin Vaughn was
present at some of the Reform Party demonstrations.[l86]
Droege said he had no knowledge about the CITY TV
matter.[187]
Droege told Bristow that Lublin thought it was a good idea
if Droege went to Reform Party meetings: Lublin would call
the press to make sure Reform was discredited. The Review
Committee has confirmed that Michael Lublin made at least
some of the calls.[188]
It was learned that Lublin told Droege during April 1993
that he had contacted the media to tell them, that Heritage
Front members voted at the John Gamble nomination meeting.
He later said that he told reporter Colin Vaughn that this
made him fearful as a Jew. He suggested that two well-known
officials in the Reform Party be made the fall guys. Droege
agreed.
In April 1993,
Droege told Bristow that the Heritage Front
might wish to engage Michael Lublin for publicity purposes
and also the two groups could work together to discredit
Preston Manning and the Reform Party. The Source
subsequently learned that Lublin had some personal grudge
against the Reform Party and is seeking to form a
clandestine alliance with the Heritage Front.
It was further learned that Lublin told
Droege that the
Heritage Front should publicly claim that Lublin was their
(HF) primary opponent. Lublin would like the notoriety to
establish himself as the guardian of the Jewish community
and to weaken groups like the Canadian Jewish Congress and
the B'nai Brith. Lublin even suggested that the HF should
blow up his personal vehicle so that he could show the
public that he was an important Neo-nazi enemy.
Lublin was reported as saying to Droege that the two [?]ould
feed off one another to gain maximum media exposure. Droege
confided to the Source that he would be open to a mutual
campaign of publicity and controversy with Lublin.
7.6.6 The Whitby Lawyer
Lawyer Louis S. Allore was on the Board of Directors of the
Ontario riding association (Pickering, Ajax, Whitby) for the
Reform Party. During the fall of 1991 or the spring of 1992
serious conflicts arose in the riding.[189]
Riding President David Barber held a secret meeting with
some Board members to try to oust Allore. When the full
board found out, they reacted and Barber was ousted as
President. Jack Hurst and Reg Gosse came in to mediate and
Allore subsequently conducted a vendetta against them.
Allore also complained when the Party expelled John Gamble
and David Andrus.[l90]
David Andrus stated that Allore devoted a lot of time and
campaigned seriously for the nominated candidate in his
riding. He was expelled from the Party for his support of
Gamble (see 5.6.8). Once expelled, he carried on a one man
campaign through the media to tell the press what he thought
of the Reform Party and Preston Manning.[191] He launched
two legal actions against Manning and Andrus said that he
was making some progress when he died in August 1994. Andrus
saw it as a questionable death and said that Allore was a
man of integrity.[192]
Richard Van Seters, John Gamble's campaign manager viewed
Allore as bitter about his expulsion and as a person who
went to extremes to create embarrassment. Van Seters said
that Allore talked to the Heritage Front and "they were
employed to disrupt" the Gamble meeting.[193] After his
expulsion, Van Seters said that
Allore corresponded with Conservatives Jean Charest and Mike
Harris.[194] John Gamble, however, did not think that Allore
would have anything to do with the Heritage Front.[195]
The Review Committee was informed that the only point of
contact between Allore and Harris were the two letters which
Allore sent to the Ontario leader. The two never met.[196]
Similarly, Jean Charest said he does not remember ever
having met Louis Allore. The five letters which Allore sent
to Charest were never answered.[197]
On April 29, 1993 a story appeared in a satirical magazine.
The article stated that
Droege, "has been happily describing
how he is exacting his revenge while having someone else pay
for it...the mysterious paymaster is a Toronto area Tory
campaign chairthingy."[l98] Some present and former Reform
Party officials believed the story contained some
truth.[l99]
The source of the report was John Thompson, [200] a Reform
Party member, who said that he had had a source infiltrate
the Heritage Front one Summer.[201]
On August 21, 1994, it was learned that
Droege advised Gerry
Lincoln that lawyer Louis Allore, was a person he had met,
who was trying to infiltrate the Reform Party. Droege
confided to Lincoln that Allore gave him some money
personally. This was probably in relation to the Oshawa
Conspiracy (see 7.6.7). Lincoln said he never heard about
the matter.
Wolfgang
Droege, under oath, informed the Review Committee
that he received $500.00 from lawyer Louis Allore to
publicly support the Reform Party. He was given the money to
attend a meeting where he could embarrass Preston Manning.
When asked if others were involved, Droege said he did not
know, although Allore was in touch with other dissidents
from the Reform Party such as John Gamble and David Andrus.
Droege stated, "it was mainly an attempt by myself and Louis
Allore to discredit Preston Manning."[202]
7.6.7 The Oshawa Conspiracy
On May 27, 1993
Wolfgang Droege left his home and picked up
Tracy Jones, Peter Mitrevski and Drew Maynard in the
Hillington/Danforth area; he then he drove to Whitby,
Ontario just before noon. He picked up an envelope at the
Ontario Court Division (Rossland Road East) and then drove
to Oshawa where he tried to attend a Reform Party Meeting at
50 Bond Street.
Wolfgang Droege and
Peter Mitrevski appeared at the Reform
Party meeting in Oshawa at which Preston Manning was to
appear before the Canadian Auto Workers. The two racists had
received $10.00 tickets to attend the meeting but the Reform
Party officials refused to allow them to enter and refunded
their money.[203] They were escorted out of the building by
police officers.
The next day, it was learned that
Droege told Marque Poole
Jewer that the incident in Oshawa went pretty well because
there was some publicity in Oshawa about his being kicked
out by the police. Droege revealed that some Reform Party
dissidents were going to start a new party as soon as the
election was over, and he was expecting to receive some
favours in return since he already did them a few (see
section 7.6.13 below). The Heritage Front leader also said
he was going to meet with an attorney (thought to be Louis
S. Allore) the following week to receive taskings.
Droege told the Source several days later that he was given
$500.00 and two tickets to the event by Michael Lublin.
Lublin denies he provided the $500 or the tickets and said
he was in Florida at the time. Droege took Peter Mitrevski
with him and was to pay him $100.00 for his participation.
Drew Maynard and Tracy Jones were taken to hand out flyers.
Droege said that the Reform Party claim that the
Conservative Party had hired him to discredit Preston
Manning was humorous. One and a half years later, on the day
that the lawyer died in a car accident, Droege again said
that Allore gave him some money `personally'. A CSIS
Investigator stated that he believed that the deal was
brokered by Michael Lublin.
Whereas the evidence is circumstantial, it appears that
Droege collected an envelope containing $500.00 and two
tickets from Louis Allore and then, to embarrass the Reform
Party, went to the meeting where Preston Manning was to
speak.
Droege first told the Review Committee that he did not
receive money to attend Reform Party meetings: "afterwards,
though, they would go out for a few beers. No money changed
hands." He denied receiving money from Michael Lublin, who
he said, was "an opponent" and, because of him, Droege "got
kicked out of the Reform Party."[204] At a subsequent
hearing on oath, Droege stated that Louis Allore paid him to
attend the Reform Party meeting.[205]
7.6.8 The John Gamble Affair
One of the main planks in conspiracy theories is the John
Gamble Affair. Gamble, a former Progressive Conservative
Member of Parliament and contender in that Party's
leadership race in the early 1980s, won the nomination on
March 31, 1993 as the Reform Party candidate for the riding
of Don Valley West.
Prior to the Meeting. Six days before the nomination
meeting, the Secretary to the Reform Party, Mike Friese
wrote to the President of the riding association, David
Andrus to say that Gamble's nomination would be bad for the
Party because of his association with Paul Fromm and Ron
Gostick who were publicly perceived to be associated with
extremist views. Another letter from the Party also said,
apparently, that
Fromm was working with Gamble in the World
Anti-Communist League during the mid-1980s.[206]
Gamble was the North American Chairman of the World Anti-
Communist League and was the subject of an article in "This"
Magazine. He said that Don Blenkarn and others in the
Conservative Party were also mentioned as supporters of the
League.[207] One of the accusations against the League was
that it was anti-semitic, but Gamble saw that as "ancient
history" and the people involved were no longer associated
with the League; Gamble had never known them.
The Nomination Meeting. At Gamble's nomination meeting on
March 31, 1993,
Wolfgang Droege (expelled from the Reform
Party the year before), Peter Mitrevski and a few others
showed up outside the hall and made a public show of support
for Gamble. The candidate, in turn, made a statement saying
he would not refuse such assistance.
It was learned that Michael Lublin left a message for
Droege
on March 31st that they should get together and organize
something for a candidates meeting scheduled for that night
for the Don Valley. Lublin added that all the media would be
there and it could be important.[208]
The Source remembered that Droege and Peter Mitrevski
supported John Gamble's nomination. Droege told the Source
that Gamble is not a bad guy and that he held him in high
esteem.
Droege also told the Source that he was given the
financial incentive to embarrass the Reform Party by a
supporter of Gamble. The Source did not know who the
supporter was. [209] John Gamble told us that he met Droege
only once - and that was at the nomination meeting. Droege
was pointed out to him by a member of a television news
team. The reporter asked Gamble if he wanted the support of
the people outside his meeting. Gamble said he would accept
help "from anyone -here if I can get it." The candidate said
that he was told who
Droege was after he made the comment.
Gamble emphasized that he had no contact with the HF at any
other time: Droege was not a member of Gamble's riding
association and he did not recognize him, nor those with
him. There were six or seven other Heritage Front people at
the nomination meeting, but Gamble would not recognize any
of them if he saw them now. Gamble never heard of Bristow,
until he read about him in the press.[210]
Droege has confirmed that Grant Bristow did not attend the
nomination meeting. Droege and the others were there, he
said, to lend support to Gamble and they urged people they
knew to work for him. Droege said they only involved people
who he knew could vote.[211]
The Appeal. At a meeting on April 2, 1993 the Executive
Council of the Reform Party nullified the nomination of
Gamble. On May 8, 1993 a hearing took place in Calgary to
hear Gamble's appeal.
Ron Wood told SIRC that there was never any evidence of a
conspiracy, but Gamble, as an ex-Tory, raised questions in
the Reform Party as to what was happening and whether the
purpose of his candidacy was to embarrass the Party.[2l2]
Gamble and senior members of the riding association went to
Calgary to appeal and said they brought with them the
ballots which members in the riding were asked to fill out.
In Calgary, according to Gamble, little notice was taken of
the ballots and this convinced him that the Executive
Council's decision was made before he arrived.[2l3]
Another document that Gamble brought was a letter from Paul
Fromm. John Gamble met Paul Fromm when the former was a
Conservative Member of Parliament. He had received some
Citizens for Foreign Aid Reform (C-FAR) literature and,
since Gamble was concerned about taxes and where foreign aid
money was going, he arranged a get-together between several
Mps and Fromm. The two would later meet on several
occasions.[214]
Fromm attended a World Anti-Communist League conference in
San Diego, which Gamble did not attend; nor Gamble says, did
he send Fromm.[2l5] During the March 1993 nomination issue,
a member of Gamble's staff heard that Fromm was described as
the Secretary for the World Anti-Communist League and the
staff member asked Fromm for a letter. The letter from
Fromm, dated May 6, 1993 states that he never held the
position of "second in commznd to former MP John Gamble in
the Canadian Branch of the World Anti-Communist League. "
Gamble says he last spoke to Fromm nine or ten years ago.
At lunch, Gamble held a press conference to announce what
had happened. He stated that the Executive Council members
did not appreciate the move.[216] About ten days later, the
memberships of those who launched the appeal were
revoked.[217]
Kim Campbell. One of the statements made in support of the
Conservative conspiracy theory was that Gamble, a former
Tory, met with Conservative leadership candidate Kim
Campbell and MP Bobbie Sparrow in Calgary the same day as he
appeared at his Reform Party appeal hearing. 218 People in
the Reform Party thought it odd that a Progressive
Conservative leadership candidate woul-d take time out from
her busy schedule to meet with a former Tory.[219]
The evening of the appeal hearing in Calgary, the four
members of the Reform Riding Association dined at the
Calgary Inn and had nothing to do after dinner. Campbell and
Bobbie Sparrow had a meeting in the hotel to encourage
others to come to Ottawa to support Campbell. Gamble and
Andrus met a lot of people they knew while walking in the
halls and they decided to drop into the reception room.
Inside, they chatted with Sparrow and Kim Campbell, but,
said Gamble and David Andrus, it was no more than a social
meeting and nothing about Reform was discussed. Andrus and
Gamble then went to another reception room and popped their
heads into a Carol Channing performance which was underway
at the time.[220]
After the Gamble expulsion, Van Seters said he was contacted
by Bobbie Sparrows' campaign manager by telephone. This
person was trying to obtain more "Gamble Affair"
information.[221]
In April or May of 1993, Alloret Gamble, David Andrus and
Lublin met to talk about forming a new political party and
setting up a constitution.[222] They concluded that it was
too much work and too close to the election. Andrus was-not
well and could not devote the energy required to do the work
properly. They had a couple of meetings to discuss the
concept, but nothing resulted.[223]
[TRANSCRIPTION NOTE: The left margin was bound incorrectly
on this page, 50, and some words cannot be transcribed
with certainty. In such cases, I have used square brackets
and question marks to denote uncertainty. knm]
Richard Van Seters, a Gamble supporter; said that Lublin was
sympathetic toward John Gamble and the controversy offered
Lublin an opportunity to get some more attention.[224]
Conservatives and Lublin. Gamble said he had run against the
Conservatives in 1988 as an independent and had no knowledge
of any Conservative plot against the Reform Party, having
left the Pcs in [?]5. He joined the Progressive Conservative
provincial party in Ontario earlier this year (1994).
Gamble thinks he met Michael Lublin before the nomination
meeting. Lublin went to Gamble's home and told him about his
experience with the Kitchener Waterloo Reform association.[225]
During the accusations against Gamble, Lublin came forward
to say that Gamble was not anti-semitic.[226]
Michael Lublin has informed the Review Committee that he
suggested to
Droege that he attend the Reform Party meeting
as a way to discredit the Party.[227] He later denied he was
involved.[228]
Other Theories. Richard Van Seters, Former Chair of the
Reform Don Valley West Nomination Committee said he was not
certain whether the Heritage Front was sent by Reform to
discredit John Gamble to have him tossed out. One possible
reason, said Van Seters, was the fear that Gamble might be a
threat, that is, might [ ?e]for the Reform Party leadership
as he did in the Conservative Party.[229] Van Seters thought
that comments by Ron Wood, Preston Manning's press
secretary, after the Reform Party hearing in Calgary were
consistent with this theory. Joe Clark, Van Seters pointed
out, had a business relationship with Reform Party
[Ch]airman, Clifford Fryers.[230]
Van Seters said that during the 1993 federal election
campaign, a former Minister in the Conservative Party,
Dorothy Dobbie, was an observer at a Winnipeg Reform
Assembly and was actively trying to contact Reform
dissidents. an Seters said that among those she contacted
were Louis Allore and Michael Lublin.[231] Lublin confirmed
the contact. Dobbie told SIRC that she did have some contact
with Allore and Lublin during September/October 1993. She
said that she never provided any instructions to them to
discredit the Reform Party and she said she never had any
contact with the Heritage Front or Grant Bristow.[232]
David Andrus would add another theory: the HF presence
created the perception that Gamble was associated with that
group and "one wonders if Reform at the senior level used
the HF".They (the Overfield group) were used as bodyguards
and everyone was told to use them; there was something more
going on than meets the eye."[233]
It was learned in early April 1993, that Michael Lublin told
Droege that he had advised the media that the Heritage Front
was asked by someone in the senior level of the Reform Party
to come out and draw the connection between John Gamble and
the HF to discredit Gamble.
7.6.10 David Andrus
David Andrus was the former President of Don Valley West
Riding Association of the Reform Party. Reform Party
officials point to Andrus as one of those who may have been
involved in a campaign to discredit the Reform Party,
possibly by using the Heritage Front.
Andrus was at one time the business partner of Michael
Wilson, former Conservative Finance Minister, and had helped
to run Wilson's election campaign.[234] He had also once
been a fund-raiser for the Liberal Party. He joined the
Reform Party after speaking with Preston Manning and
attending the Saskatoon Assembly.[235] Don Valley West
Riding. Andrus lived in the Don Valley West riding and, as
he had been involved in running political campaigns before,
he became President of the riding association for the Reform
Party, probably in March 1992. Andrus said that it was an
experienced seasoned riding executive in contrast to many
other Reform associations at the time.[236]
Andrus said he set up a Nominating Committee which he did
not sit on to select a candidate as he thought it was not
appropriate. The Nominating Committee selected 3 candidates,
among them, John Gamble, the only one with political
experience.[237]
All candidates were to be heard by the membership at large
at a meeting on May 27, 1993. Some days beforehand, Andrus
received a call and was told to say that Gamble should not
be nominated.[238]
At the nomination meeting,
Droege and his group attended en
masse; several other riding presidents attended the meeting
and asked Andrus, "did you know that Droege was over there".
Andrus said he told Droege, "I don`t know why you`re here,
but I want you to understand this is a private meeting".
Andrus said he would have had them thrown out by the police
if they spoke out.
Droege and his associates stood at the
back of the auditorium and cheered enthusiastically for
Gamble, in a very noticeable manner.[239]
After the meeting, the media interviewed Gamble, Droege, and
Andrus.
Droege said he was there to see that the right
candidate was chosen. In hindsight, said Andrus, he should
have had them thrown out.[240]
Andrus said he knew nothing about the Heritage Front and he
said he was never associated with them. Andrus said that to
be "branded" as a racist was a mean blow and there was no
basis in fact for that. He stated that he spent 10 to 11
years as Executive Officer for World Vision in Canada and
was the International Treasurer for the aid agency, a role
inconsistent with being a racist.[241]
7.6.11 The John Beck Affair
One of the theories about a Progressive Conservative
Conspiracy in the Reform Party concerns John Beck. He was
expelled as a candidate for the York Centre riding in
October 1993 and the theory is that he was linked to Grant
Bristow, and perhaps also to the Heritage Front in order to
embarrass the Reform Party. [242] Hugh Pendergast of the
Beaches Woodbine riding association said that John Beck
attempted to "suborn" the nomination in Pendergast's riding
and the latter saw this as part of the Conservative
plan.[243] An unknown caller to MP Deborah Gray's office
said that John Beck was a "set-up": he was funded by the
Tories and was associated with the Heritage Front.[244]
John Beck responded to a newspaper advertisement which
sought a candidate to run for the Reform Party in the riding
of York Centre. He said he was interviewed by John Lawrence,
the "manager" for the association. Beck went to the
meetings, studied the Reform party's platform and won the
nomination in May 1993. he said he did everything aaccording
to Hoyle" to obtain the nomination.[245]
In a pre-election interview in October 1993, Beck was York
University student newspaper Excalibur as saying that some
immigrants brought "death and destruction to the people." He
also made unflattering remarks about Native Canadians.
In the wake of the statements, the Reform Party forced him
to give up his campaign and expelled him. Ron Wood, Preston
Manning's press secretary, was later quoted by Varsity, the
University of Toronto student newspaper, as blaming Beck for
the loss of as many as four federal seats in Ontario and
alleged he was part of a dirty tricks campaign by the
Progressive Conservatives.[246]
We reviewed allegations that Beck was associated with "The
Heritage Front Affair". Beck denied knowing or having
contact with Wolfgang
Droege, Grant Bristow or anyone else
in the Heritage Front. He also said he never had any contact
with Paul Fromm,
Don Andrews or anyone from the Progressive Conservative Party.[247]
The former features editor for Excalibur, the student
newspaper which revealed the Beck comments which led to his
expulsion from the Reform Party was guoted as saying:
"she doubts Beck was a plant. She said that if Beck had
deliberately set out to sabotage his own campaign, he could
have used a medium with much more influence than Excalibur
(the student newspaper) . "Frankly, I think it was
a fluke," she said. "He just blurted out how he felt."[248]
The Review Committee saw absolutely no information in
support of the allegation that John Beck was associated with
Grant Bristow, CSIS, or the Heritage Front.
The
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provides them so that its readers can learn the nature and extent of hate and antisemitic discourse. Nizkor urges the readers of these pages to condemn racist
and hate speech in all of its forms and manifestations.
Report to the Solicitor General of Canada
Security Intelligence Review Committee
December 9, 1994
7.6 Conspiracies and Plots