This segment was written before Judge Chadwick's rule that struck down what Ernst Zundel and his two trusted attorneys tried to accomplish in Ottawa. It is a particularly poignant account in light of what later transpired:
Once again, the old Chrysler was tanked up! The windshield washer fluid was topped up, tires and oil were checked. The car was dug out of the snow banks, which had mounted to 2 meters (6 feet) behind the garage in the worst snowfall since 1871! Four men worked for hours to make the getaway possible! And after getting stuck several times, wheels spinning furiously, the smell of burning rubber filling the air, we made it out of the back lanes and narrow, unplowed side streets unto the main roads and ultimately the highway, heading towards Ottawa.
A weary Doug Christie was soon asleep in the back, while I "ate up the kilometers", deep in thought, planning in the sandbox of my mind new battle scenarios, new strategic games and concepts, looking for new ways to fight my way out of the current encirclement, interrupted only by pit stops to get gas, look for the washrooms etc.
Again, we picked up my other lady attorney who had to tear herself away from the hospital bedside of her 90-year-old father who had undergone a serious operation the day before, to go with us, to keep our appointment with destiny, since we were to come face to face the next day with the lawyers of Canada's political elite, whom I was suing in Civil Court for millions of dollars in damages - for misuse of power, for denying me my constitutional rights, for conspiring with my enemies etc.
As we were driving along, my attorneys made it clear to me one more time that I could lose and be liable for costs - possibly tens of thousands of dollars for my opposition's lawyers' astronomical fees! I had known of that possibility from the beginning! Although fretting inside my soul about the money, I was resolved to project quiet, resolute confidence - to my lawyers, to friends, the media and all my foes alike.
Hotel rooms and meals are expensive in Ottawa. We tried to find a cheap hotel. In the end, we stayed in a place undergoing noisy renovations. We got a special deal because of it, and it was only a 10-minute taxi-ride away from the courthouse. In the evening, we went one more time over all the fine details, and when that was over, I was utterly beat from the driving and the lingering effects of the cold. I fell asleep like a log! My legal team slept the sleep of the just, while my friends in Toronto and Ingrid Rimland in California unleashed their own blizzard - a blizzard of e-mail, faxes and press releases to all parts of Canada and the entire world!
January 18, 1999 rolled around. The day of destiny was here. Inside the courtroom, I was sought out by photographers and reporters, which was nice. The media blizzard had worked its magic one more time. The media folks were there. Voluminous notes were made by rows after rows of people. I wondered who they all were?
Doug Christie was opposed by 8 lawyers from some of Canada's most prestigious legal firms from as far away as Montreal and, I think, Calgary. The Prime Minister of Canada and the members of Parliament were all represented by a well-known, highly paid Ottawa lawyer, a Mr. Crane. Yet they were visibly in awe of Doug Christie! When his turn came to speak, you could hear a pin drop in that large courtroom!
We had once again prepared large books of authorities to back up our contentions. Doug Christie was competent, quietly passionate, fully conscious of the historic role he was playing in holding Parliamentarians accountable for their unfair actions against me last summer. (Little did he know what was coming ***his*** way...!)
I was moved by his oratory and marvelled once again how he had mastered and digested this voluminous material spanning centuries and continents for this motion hearing. Next to him sat my lady lawyer - calmly and efficiently handing him the carefully researched material. Doug Christie stood tall, ramrod straight, his voice firm, carefully weighing every word. He gave a stellar performance.
The judge that day was Judge Chadwick - a judge who had a run-in once before with the Jewish Lobby in a so-called "Nazi war criminals" case, where he refused to allow Soviet KGB-produced video tapes into evidence. He even awarded the Byelo-Russian war veteran his costs against his persecutors! The case was dropped! That got him in plenty of hot water!
Now he listened carefully to Doug Christie and made lots of notes.
Every point I wanted to be made was made that day! I was, and still am, satisfied that never before in Canadian history had three people stared down the most powerful Lobby and collection of political prima donnas - without ever batting an eyelash!
I felt that the Parliamentary tradition and existing case law might well mean that we lose part of the argument - against their contention that political parties are "unsue-able". However, I sensed that the judge was sympathetic towards our argument that Parliament had overstepped its limits in the grotesque ban against me - for the reasons they gave - because I did not believe in the Holocaust! I pray and hope for some important concessions, and for this important case to go on.
In the end, this judge, too, reserved judgment. He will give a written judgment in a week.
Tomorrow: Part VI - "Two Weeks in the Life of Ernst Zundel"
Thought for the Day:
"When were the good and the brave ever in a majority?"