The Heritage Front (Canada)

[Sir Degrader]

It claims it's a "white civil rights" group, but everything I've heard about it says its a dressed up skinhead's gang. After perusing their website, and reading their vehement denials, as well as what some splinter groups have done to them, I must know: Are they really a group dedicated to "equality and civil rights", or are they a bunch of neo nazi's?

SITE:
www.heritagefront.com

[shamrock_uk]

Well, the fact it was founded by a former KKK member presumably lowers its credibility.

From Wikipedia

Heritage Front From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The Heritage Front was a Canadian neo-nazi, ultra-nationalist, and anti-Semitic organization. It was founded in 1989 by former Ku Klux Klan member Wolfgang Droege, Gerry Lincoln, Max French and other former members of the Nationalist Party of Canada who were disenchanted with Don Andrews's leadership and felt a new organization and new tactics were necessary. The idea for the new group was developed in early September 1989 when a delegation of 18 extreme rightists from Canada were visiting Libya at the invitation of Moammar Qadaffi who was celebrating the twentieth anniversary of his regime. The Front formed an alliance with the Church of the Creator and its Canadian leader George Burdi. Other prominent figures in the Canadian far right such as Paul Fromm and Ernst Zündel worked with the Front but did not join the organization. The group garnered a great deal of media attention and held a series of "racist rock concerts" in Toronto and elsewhere. Immediately after one of these concerts a Tamil man returning home from work was beaten and partially paralysed by several skinheads who had just left the concert. In 1992, the Front also brought prominent American neo-Nazis Tom Metzger and John Metzger to Canada to speak and provided security at a speech by Holocaust denier David Irving. The Heritage Front also maintained a telephone message line to which people could phone in and listen to a different editorial each day. The "voice" of the Heritage Front on this phone line was Gary Schipper. The line resulted in complaints to the Canadian Human Rights Commission and hearings into allegations that the Front violated Canada's hate crime laws. The activities of the Heritage Front led to the formation of an Anti-Racist Action branch in Toronto which engaged in a series of anti-racist demonstrations and confrontations with the Front, culminating in 1993 with a riot on Parliament Hill between members of the ARA and the Front following a concert by Burdi's rock band RaHoWa. Four Heritage Front members, including Burdi, were arrested and charged with assault. Burdi was sentenced to a year in prison for aggravated assault and subsequently dropped out of the movement and renounced racism. A month later ARA held a militant demonstration outside the Toronto home of Gary Schipper which resulted in thousands of dollars of damage to the property. Droege and other members of the Front responded by attacking members of ARA outside a Toronto pub that evening resulting in Droege and other Heritage Front members being charged with assault. In 1995, Droege was convicted of the assault and sentenced to five months in prison. He also spent time in jail for contempt of court and other violations relating to the Canadian Human Rights Commission tribunal. As a result of his legal troubles, Droege ultimately retired from the Front and turned over its leadership to Marc Lemire. Grant Bristow, working on behalf of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS), infiltrated the group and became one of its leaders. CSIS and Bristow claim that their role was to gather intelligence on the far right and try to suppress its violent activity. Bristow's role in the Front was exposed in 1994 by the Toronto Sun and became the subject of an inquiry by the Security Intelligence Review Committee which published a report [1] on the matter in 1994. Under Lemire's leadership the membership of the Front declined rapidly. The group is now defunct. On April 13, 2005 former leader Wolfgang Droege was found shot to death in his Toronto apartment.

[Azred]

If it looks like a duck, walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck...it must be a duck.

No matter how thin you slice it...it's still balogna.

[Sir Degrader]

So what your saying is.... The Heritage Front is balogna?

[Aerich]

Yes. The Heritage Front tried to make itself sound like an innocuous organization with some worthwhile goals, but it was generally a "front" for the not-so-nice goals of its executive.

However, it doesn't appear to be functioning as a political party anymore, although it is still an organization of sorts.

Hmmm - I just looked at the website you linked to, and they don't seem to have maintained their formerly rather discreet masking of their goals. Note the "white civil rights" part, and the "whites are treated as second class citizens" statement. Looks like their prejudices are on full display. I wish we could ship them off to Africa, where they would expire from sheer affrontedness if they didn't get shot the first time they opened their mouths.

What brought this question on, anyway?

[ 11-23-2005, 10:13 PM: Message edited by: Aerich ]

[Sir Degrader]

The "no whites for the federal government" debacle. Who's looking out for us?

[Morgeruat]

Grant Bristow, working on behalf of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS), infiltrated the group and became one of its leaders. CSIS and Bristow claim that their role was to gather intelligence on the far right and try to suppress its violent activity. Bristow's role in the Front was exposed in 1994 by the Toronto Sun and became the subject of an inquiry by the Security Intelligence Review Committee which published a report [1] on the matter in 1994.

Reminds me of an episode of Get Smart where Max infiltrated a mafia gang/terrorist group/ or some group of ne'er-do-wells and eventually learned that the real leader had died some time ago and the current leadership were all either law enforcement or spies trying to get the dirt on the real leaders.

[Chewbacca]

Originally posted by Sir Degrader: The "no whites for the federal government" debacle. Who's looking out for us?

Whoever's really looking out isn't caring a bit about skin color either way.

These Heritage Front, and those like them, are as much judging by skin color as the bueracrats who set racial quotas. Guilty of the same thing.

[Sir Degrader]

In this case, two wrongs make a right. What about the ADL/JDL? Aren't they in the same league as these guys?

[Azred]

Originally posted by Sir Degrader: So what your saying is.... The Heritage Front is balogna?

I am saying they are full of bologna. [img]graemlins/1ponder.gif[/img] Well, they are full of something, that's for sure. [img]graemlins/beigesmilewinkgrin.gif[/img]