January 3, 1995
The Honourable Marion Boyd
Attorney General
Office of the Attorney General
720 Bay Street, 11th Floor
Toronto, M5G 1K1
Dear Madam Minister:
Re: Ernst Zundel I am writing this letter on behalf of the Toronto Mayor's Committee and Race Relations to express our profound dismay regarding the lack of legal action that has been taken regarding Ernst Zundel.
As you certainly know, Ernst Zundel is one of the world's leading manufacturers and exporters of hate propaganda. In addition, the German government has complained on several occasions that Canada allows Mr. Zundel to export his hate propaganda to Germany with impunity.
We believe that there are a variety of methods of dealing with Mr. Zundel's hate propaganda. The first manner of dealing with him would be a criminal investigation and charge under s.319(2) of the Criminal Code. We wish to be assured that a proper investigation is ongoing with regard to Mr. Zundel, and that the Crown Attorney's office is actively reviewing the possibility of laying criminal charges against Mr. Zundel. We would like to know whether police officials have recommended that charges be laid against Mr. Zundel, and if so, why such recommendations were not acted upon?
There are other legal avenues available to provincial law enforcement officials for dealing with Mr. Zundel. Included in these remedies would be a review of the corporate income tax returns of his company, Samizdat Publishing (sic). Are they paying provincial income tax for all of their sales, both in Ontario and abroad? The provincial sales tax officials could look at the issue of whether sales tax in (sic) being charged on Samizdat (sic) materials being sold in Ontario and abroad as well.
Further, the Ontario government could make recommendations to the federal government in regard to other civil remedies available to deal with Mr. Zundel. Section 43 of the Postal Act allows the postal minister the right to make a prohibitory order where there are reasonable grounds to believe that an individual is using the mails to commit an offence or to aid or abet in the commission of an offence. The provisions could be used to deny the postal privileges of Samizdat (sic) or Mr. Zundel in Canada.
As you are no doubt aware, Mr. Zundel has applied for Canadian Citizenship. Have you or any members of your cabinet contacted Mr. Marchi, the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration with respect to his citizenship application? If Mr. Zundel is granted Citizenship. Canada will lose the right to deport him even if he is convicted of a criminal offence. Citizenship may be refused to Mr. Zundel if the Minister finds that he is not of good character. Although this is a very discretionary remedy, and only rarely invoked, Mr. Zundel would be an ideal candidate for its imposition. He has a criminal record in Germany, and there may be no other individual in Canada who has worked as tirelessly as Mr. Zundel to abrogate all of the principles of democracy, egalitarianism and tolerance for diversity that make Canada special. Deportation may be the most expedient method of ridding Canada of Mr. Zundel's noxious influence.
I would ask that you consider the suggestions contained in this letter so that you may work effectively with your colleagues, both in the Ontario Cabinet and in the federal government to assure the people of Ontario that we will not have to put up with Mr. Zundel's hate propaganda any longer. One need only look to recent events in countries like Rwanda to see the awful effect of hate propaganda. As a commentator once stated, this type of hate propaganda can be a "warrant for genocide".
Yours truly,
Janice Dembo, Coordinator
Toronto Mayor's Committee on Community and Race Relations.
Enc.
cc. The Honourable Sergio Marchi, Minister of Citizenship and Immigration
The Honourable Alan Rock, Minister of Justice
The Honourable Art Eggleton.
Less than a month later comes this reply from one of Canada's duly elected
representatives:
January 31, 1995
Ms. Janice Dembo
Toronto Mayor's Committee on
Community and Race Relations
City Clerk's Department
City Hall
100 Queen Street West
Toronto, Ontario
M5H 2N2
Dear Janice,
Thank you for sending me a copy of your letter dated January 3, 1995, addressed to the Attorney General of Ontario regarding the matter of Ernst Zundel. I understand that my executive assistant, Allan Kaufman, has recently telephoned you about this matter.
I was impressed by the comprehensive manner in which your letter dealt with all the various options which are open to both the Ontario and federal governments with respect to Mr. Zundel. In particular, I was interested to note your point that if Mr. Sergio Marchi grants Canadian citizenship to Mr. Zundel, Canada will lose the right to deport Mr. Zundel even if he is subsequently convicted of a criminal offence in Canada.
I want you to know that on September 9, 1994, I wrote to Minister Sergio Marchi and expressed to him my strong views on the Ernst Zundel citizenship application. I highlighted for Mr. Marchi, among other things, the fact that Mr. Zundel has been convicted of hate crimes in Germany. Federal legislation requires Mr. Marchi to weigh all the circumstances of this case, prior to rendering a final decision. I am confident that Mr. Marchi will perform his duties in this regard in a proper fashion.
With respect to your suggestion of other steps which could be taken against Mr. Zundel by both the Ontario and federal governments, you may be interested to know that on October 14, 1994, I wrote to Canada's Minister of Justice, the honorable Allen Rock. I urged him to work with the Attorney General of the Province of Ontario to explore the various measures which might be available to those two levels of government in connection with the Zundel case. I will personally follow up on this matter with Mr. Rock so as to ensure that the various suggestions in your letter of January 3, 1995 are given serious consideration.
Sincerely,
Arthur C. Eggleton."
So what do you have here? You have precisely what Ernst has called a
craven attempt to
". . . harass, stalk, beset and administratively target perfectly law-abiding
citizens, writers, broadcasters and publishers because these self-appointed
censors don't like someone else's political viewpoint."
Canadian taxes pay for it. Amazing, isn't it?
Ingrid
Thought for the Day:
"Everyone, when there's a war in the air, learns to live with a new element: falsehood."
Jean Giraudoux