Perspectives on Racism: Anti-Semitism/Anti-Racism - What Can Be Done?
I believe that there is no one effective way to fight hatred
and hate mongering, but that we can and should use whatever
strategies we have at our disposal. The three most important
tools we can use are the law, community action, and
education. [Portions of this section have been adapted from: Karen
Mock 'Combatting Hate - Canadian Realities and Remedies,'
Canadian Human Rights Forum (Ottawa), Summer 1992.]
Anti-Racism Remedies in Law
Hate propaganda, defined as 'the promotion of hatred against
identifiable groups,' became a criminal offence in Canada in
1970, when laws against it were adopted as amendments to the
Criminal Code (sections 318-320). In that same year, Canada
ratified the International Convention on the Elimination of
All Forms of Racial Discrimination, which had been adopted
by the UN in 1965 and signed by Canada in 1966. The Canadian
Human Rights Act and various provincial human-rights acts
also address the issue of hate propaganda. While the League
for Human Rights and several other organizations, as well as
many studies and commissions, have proposed changes to
strengthen the effectiveness of the existing legislation (a
summary and analysis of which are beyond the scope of the
present chapter), there is almost universal agreement on the
need for effective laws to deal with hate propaganda.
The catalyst for such legislation was undoubtedly the
Holocaust. It showed the world that unchecked racism and
hate propaganda could lead even a highly educated and
cultured society to justify the most heinous crimes against
humanity.
The Canadian anti-hate laws in the Criminal Code are the
result of years of debate concerning the balance between
individual and group rights. The premise underlying Canada's
hate-propaganda laws is that in a democratic society
identifiable groups must be protected against racism,
including its verbal manifestation, so that those groups'
basic freedoms and thereby their full participation in
Canadian society are not limited. This notion is not only
consistent with our international obligation under the
United Nations Convention, but is based on our vision of a
multicultural society, a vision entrenched in the Canadian
Bill of Rights (1960) and articulated clearly in the Charter
of Rights and Freedoms (1982), sections 15 and 27.
Keegstra in Alberta and Andrews and Smith in Ontario were
charged and convicted under the hate-propaganda laws.
Although the respective provincial Courts of Appeal reached
opposite conclusions on the constitutionality of section 19
of the Charter, in 1990 the Supreme Court upheld the
constitutionality of the hate-propaganda legislation, albeit
by the narrowest majority. Concern for the values inherent
in sections 15 and 27 of the Charter, and for those in the
international agreements to which Canada is a signatory,
played a significant role in that decision, which
underscored the need to preserve the delicate balance
between individual and group rights that is the mark of a
free and democratic society.
There are those who insist that taking hate mongers to court
gives them a platform, and who thus discourage such
prosecutions and their attendant publicity. Such detractors
need to be reminded that had the hate laws on the books in
pre-Nazi Germany been implemented with effective penalties,
the hate propaganda that led to the most violent racism in
history might have been halted. It is essential to continue
to prosecute hate mongers and to impose penalties that will
serve as deterrents. When the Alberta Court of Appeal
overturned the Keegstra decision, there was a dramatic
increase in hate-group activity and in the dissemination of
hate propaganda in Western Canada. By the same token, it is
possible that the recent decline in the severity of anti-
Semitic incidents is a direct result of the Supreme Court's
decision, of the increased awareness and vigilance of
police, and of longer sentences for those convicted.
Community Action Against Racism and Anti-Semitism The League
for Human Rights of B'nai Brith encourages legal action to
combat hate propaganda, but has also demonstrated during
recent years that coordinated community response is
effective in fighting racism. In 1989 the first Canada Day
Aryan Fest took place in Minden, Ontario. The citizens of
Minden stood up against racism with a campaign spearheaded
by Reverend Edward Moll of the United Church, supported by
the Minden Times and the League for Human Rights, all under
the supervision of the local police. The League assisted the
residents to create a human-rights committee to develop
local policies and guidelines to combat hate mongers in the
future.
A year later, the 1990 Canada Day Aryan Fest attracted
close to 250 skinheads and white supremacists to Metcalfe, a
small town near Ottawa. The League gathered a multicultural
coalition of concerned citizens to rally against racism on
the steps of the Parliament Buildings and to march out to
the property to protest the rise of racism and the
distribution of hate propaganda. Once again, the police
monitored the activities of the racists, and the League's
presence was felt. Because of the adverse publicity, the
property owners did not allow the white supremacists to
return the following year. Instead, the League for Human
Rights sponsored a Multicultural Anti-racist Youth
Leadership Camp, and made anti-racism, rather than racism,
newsworthy. Young people learned how to stand up against
racism in their schools and community organizations.
In 1992 in Toronto, the
Heritage Front opened an anti-immigration 'hate-line' that included racist diatribes
against the Black and Native communities. They spread hate
pamphlets throughout Toronto's downtown Riverdale
neighbourhood to recruit members. The League for Human
Rights responded to a request for help by assisting with the
filing of a complaint with the Canadian Human Rights
Commission (similar to one filed by the League against the
KKK in Winnipeg) and by putting a group of concerned
citizens in touch with the police, the Urban Alliance on
Race Relations, the Native Canadian Centre, and others.
Neighbourhood Watch issued a counter-pamphlet, advising
their neighbours to report any suspicious people and to take
action against efforts at recruitment, particularly of young
people. An ad hoc working group, calling itself Citizens
Against Racism, met regularly and planned a 'Rally Against
Racism' to commemorate March 21st, the International Day for
the Elimination of Racism. A rainbow coalition of speakers
from the First Nations, Black, Chinese, Jewish, and Sikh
communities, among others, exemplified--the motto on the
B'nai Brith banner: 'We will not be silent.'
Coordinated community action not only raises awareness and
increases vigilance, but it also reduces fear and promotes
security and solidarity in the fight against racism and anti-
Semitism.
[Continued]
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Anti-Semitism in
Canada
Realities, Remedies & Implications for Anti-Racism
Dr. Karen Mock