CSIS LOGOThe Heritage Front Affair
A report to the Solicitor General of Canada

December 9th, 1995



V. INFORMATION COLLECTION AND HARASSMENT



5.1 Overview

In order to avoid, where possible, taking part in confrontational activities between the Heritage Front and others, the Source chose to become the "information gathering" expert within the group.

From time to time, when Droege demanded action, the Source would have to manoeuvre to maintain his credibility, and yet not divulge information. He created a series of imaginary events to show that he was active, events he would recount to Ken Barker, Elisse Hategan, Wolfgang Droege, and other members of the Heritage Front. The Source's reports allowed the Service to intervene if there was a likelihood of actual violence occurring.

Information gathering kept the Source away from the front lines, and actual confrontations. He was not well known to police forces. The police, for example:

According to the Toronto Region Investigator, Holocaust denier Ernst Zundel sometimes asked for information to be collected and, after approval by Droege, the Source would appear to carry out the request. The Source would have to appear enthusiastic, and active. In the end, however, he would only provide information from public sources, and the handler was always aware of what was passed. Sometimes the Source would degrade his information before passing it on by transposing telephone numbers. And sometimes the Source would stall, or indicate that information was too expensive to acquire.

5.2 White Supremacist Information Highway

In early 1991, the Source found out that Terry Long was proposing to set up a Canadian Aryan Computer Network. Long stated that American racist Louis Beam enthusiastically supported the idea. Long also indicated that he was developing a target list. Target lists were to be a main feature of the network once it was established.

DroegeAccording to CSIS files, on April 21, 1991, Droege established a computer link with Long, and the first successful test message took place between the Aryan Nations and the Heritage Front. That month, Wolfgang Droege and Ernst Zundel, Holocaust denier and prolific publisher of hate literature, met publicly at a Heritage Front meeting.[2]

DroegeErnst Zundel sometimes provided information, at Droege's request, to beDroege forwarded to Long. The information concerned various "enemies". One piece of information, for example, was the licence plate number of Meir Halevi, Leader of the Jewish Defence League (JDL) in Toronto.[3]

LincolnDroege is not a computer person, Lincoln was the computer expert. Louis Beam was said to be the brains behind the United States Aryan Computer Network, which the Canadian supremacists were trying to emulate.

DroegeIn July 1991, the Source obtained and provided to CSIS a listing of personal information which Droege received from Terry Long. The list was passed promptly to the RCMP. "The list was presented as an intelligence file in which the recipients are to contribute material when required".

Droege told the Source that the list was created so that the movement has the required intelligence on targets when the 'Day of the Rope' arrives. The Source believes that Droege was referring to a target 'hit list' which would be used when the 'Race War' begins.

The list included 22 names of Canadians, some Jewish, some just plain enemies (e.g., people who had fired Heritage Front members).

CSIS officers believed that this intelligence list was a partial one and that a more comprehensive list was held by Long. They commented that it would be interesting to see what action Droege or his associates took with respect to providing additional information on the targets.

The Source was asked about the list of 22 persons. He said that few in the movement could gain access to it. The Source stated that he did no work to update the information he received, there was nothing new on the list, but he gave it to his handler anyway.[4]

The Source was asked if he ever provided information to Terry Long. He said he absolutely did not give information to Terry Long; it was a largely a one-way street with the information going from Long to the Heritage Front and not the other way.[5]

As late as February 1992, names were being placed on a computerized list. For example, Terry Long's spouse asked two names to be added to the Aryan Nations computer intelligence list. The two individuals were "enemies" who had initiated a Human Rights complaint and a civil suit against her husband. The investigator comments, however, that "Due to Terry Long's absence, the computer connection with the Heritage Front appears to have terminated." With the imprisonment of Terry Long, the computer link, which was described by the Source as defective in any case, appeared to have become inoperative. These names also were passed to the RCMP.

5.3 The Hate Line

LincolnThe Heritage Front's telephone Hate Line was established in the Summer of 1991. It was to be the target of a number of legal actions by the Jewish and Native communities, and was to be stopped, and then restarted seven times over the next three years.[6] Through the Summer and Fall of 1991, work continued on the hate line. We learned that Lincoln dictated the message, as approved by Droege, on the answering machine. Eventually, the hotline was mainly Gary Schipper's project, and certainly the voice was his. Droege

5.4 The Rise of the Anti-Racist Groups

The first record we have of activities involving anti-racists concerns the attendance of Heritage Front members on September 24, 1991 at the Toronto Mayor's Committee on Community and Race Relations. At the meeting, Paul Fromm allegedly interrupted Rodney Bobiwash by shouting "scalp them", resulting in a confrontation. Subsequently, as a result of the confrontation, some Front members were ejected, but two of them, Lincoln and Bristow were able to stay as members of the general public. In early 1992, according to a magazine article, a new kind of militant anti-racist group, Anti-Racist Action was born.[7] In a "three hour festival of vocal havoc and counter-intimidation" in front of Toronto's Ristorante Roma, Anti-Racist Action demonstrators tried to confront the estimated 40 skinheads inside.

The Ristorante Roma incident was to "characterize what ARA was going to be like". According to Kevin Thomas:

At the Ristorante Roma, Droege asked Grant Bristow to negotiate between the two groups. The police wanted people to leave the premises peacefully and, with Grant Bristow urging a peaceful withdrawal, this took place.[10]

The Anti-Racist Action, or ARA, according to "This Magazine" had the motto, "Do what works. It's what works that counts. Do it now, right this instant". ARA newsletters provided information on how to "hack into" the Heritage Front hate line and block messages. ARA members demonstrated in front of Heritage Front meetings, and would confront individual Heritage Front members. ARA members would not wait for the Heritage Front to act first. Eventually, a small group of ARA members would "trash" (vandalize) Gary Schipper's house.[11]

According to the ARA, "hate was getting younger" and it was becoming attached to street violence. It was time for different solutions:

5.5 Recruiting at High Schools

Both the Heritage Front and the anti-racist leadership agreed on one thing: their market for recruits was the disaffected young. The first indication in CSIS files of actions involving high schools is a reference in June 1990 to Wolfgang Droege telling Grant Bristow about plans to distribute leaflets at Droegea school. He also talked about "spray painting and vandalism operations" to respond to actions by anti-racists.

By late 1992, the Heritage Front began recruiting in earnest. According to one account:

Recruiting at high schools led the Heritage Front into direct conflict with the ARA, and with High School staff. The ARA started holding meetings at high schools, and putting their positions forward.

Both sides then started targeting students who were members of their opponent's organization.

We learned that to discredit the anti-racists, Bristow advised Droege that he had contacted the principal of Riverdale Collegiate and asked why he had allowed a paedophile to enter the school premises and speak to children. Bristow claimed the principal had been in tears.

In August 1994, after Bristow was alleged to be a CSIS source by the media, Droege provided his version of Bristow's contact with Riverdale Collegiate to another reporter. He alleged that Bristow stated 'we are going to make sure that they will never have another meeting at any of the schools in Toronto.' Droege explained that Bristow had identified someone as being a child molester and he informed the principal and the School Board Trustees that some convicted paedophiles were affiliated (with ARA). Bristow then threatened to make this information public if they (principal and school trustees) persisted in allowing ARA to hold meetings.

The Review Committee spoke to the Principal, at the time, of Riverdale Collegiate. He said that he had not received any calls from any Heritage Front member, and that no school staff member had told him of receiving any such calls.[14]

According to the Source, quite a few people were calling schools. Droege was reported as having called the Ministry of Education as well as schools. The Source said that he told Droege that he had talked to such Board officials, but actually, he had not. The handler said that he believed that the Source was not involved in this type of activity.[15]

5.6 Machine Busters

In the Summer or early Fall of 1992, Rodney Bobiwash set up the group called "Klanbusters". They had discovered a method of finding the remote code (usually two digits) of answering machines. They used this knowledge to access Droege's answering machine. They could change the message he left on his machine, and they could note his callers and then telephone them.

Droege would later tell the Review Committee that among those who made threatening telephone calls to the Heritage Front hotline were the ARA and "various leftist groups, such as the International Socialists, also Trotskyites; the Jewish Students Network."[16]

In return, Droege learned how to obtain the code which allowed external access to the Klanbuster hotline message centre. He was thus able to obtain the names (not identified) of "two left-wing types who were attempting to infiltrate the Heritage Front". CSIS learned that Droege confided to the source that he would like to actively conduct a counter-intelligence program to identify these individuals and prevent further penetration. He also wanted to run informers into the left wing milieu.

The Source told SIRC that Marc Lemire probably taught Droege how to obtain information from various answering machines and the Hotline.[17]

CSIS' Toronto Region thought that the Front was "taking internal security matters very seriously. They are also branching out under Droege's direction to include offensive counter-measures." This development would likely increase the potential for violent confrontations between the racists and the anti-racists.

Droege regularly called Bobiwash's machine. People who had left messages for Bobiwash would get a call back from the Heritage Front. One of Lemire's tricks was to put parts of Zundel's speeches on a tape loop which repeated itself constantly, and feed it to the machines of Heritage Front opponents.[18]

Wolfgang Droege showed Bristow how to break into answering machines. He alleged that much of Bristow's time was spent breaking into people's machines, usually when they were not at home.[19] Droege added that the Heritage Front people could break into two-digit machines at will, in less than half an hour.

FischerToronto Region learned that Church of the Creator leader George Burdi's right hand man, Eric Fischer, and his brother, Carl (Elkar) Fischer, were helping Grant Bristow perform security duties. On December 15, 1992, the Fischer brothers and Bristow went to the Toronto Public Library to learn how use a Toronto Mights Directory to trace telephone numbers, numbers obtained from Droege's answering machine or from left-wing and anarchist telephone hotlines and message centres. The Source reported that the brothers could not work out how to use the MIGHTS Directory.[20]

5.7 The "IT" Campaign

The "IT" campaign apparently started at the end of 1992 and continued until about November, 1993. The "IT" campaign drew on the information that the Heritage Front obtained by breaking into answering machines. Most of the information came from Rodney Bobiwash's "Klanbuster" machine.[21]

Elisse Hategan, who defected from the Heritage Front after she was charged for a hate crime, stated in an affidavit that:

According to Hategan, she called several "victims" at Bristow's urging, and she knew that he made some calls.[23] Police authorities advised the Service that Hategan's information was not very accurate.

According to the Source, some of the calls involved the statement "you have been selected to be 'IT'. I am to become your closest personal friend; if you don't want to be 'IT', give me the names and telephone numbers of someone else and they can be IT".[24] The Source invented the "IT" scenario in an attempt to avoid criminal threatening charges. Originally, Droege wanted all the participating HF members to phone ARA people and actually threaten them with bodily Droegeharm.[25]

After the press allegations in August 1994, Barker told a journalist that he heard Bristow call up and incite people on the phone, two to three hours a day, in the morning, usually from 9:15 hours to 11:30 hours. Barker continued that he (Bristow) would get on the phone and Barker would sit there and 'roar' as he (Bristow) would call these people up and incite them, everything from A to Z. At the time these comments were made, Droege and his associates were fabricating information for the media.[26]

The Source acknowledged that he provided coaching and instruction for the "IT" campaign.[27]

DroegeIn the case of Elisse Hategan, for example, the Source said he told her, "don't break the law, do not threaten people; if they say 'you are harassing me', don't call them back."

Droege wanted to involve other people and the Source was trying to control the process. He thought that by having everyone work through him on the "IT" campaign, he could retain the numbers that the Heritage Front members collected. He could also restrict, to some extent, the participation of others. To dissuade others from becoming involved, he would say that he had the whole thing under control.[28]

According to the Source, as part of his instruction to others, he would let them hear his technique on three-way calls. In making these calls, he said that he did not harass nor issue threats. His only purpose was to collect information on these "enemies of freedom."[29]

We learned that Gerry Lincoln told Droege that Bristow did not make a single one of those (Harassment) calls. Droege agreed with this. Droege said that Elisse Hategan was not bad, as she made it appear, it put it all onto Bristow's shoulders, everything, which, in a way, was not bad at all.[30]

The Source stated that one has to understand the environment at the time. Bobiwash's people were placing calls to the Heritage Front, making threats and hanging up. Bobiwash's people eventually went and vandalized Gary Schipper's home; activities Bobiwash described as "jocularity" in Federal Court. The Source said that every faction was in on the act: threatening and breaking into each other's machines. There was considerable anger amid a climate of charges, counter-charges, posters, and telephone calls.[31]

According to Bristow, other people made most of the calls. He did, however, call two people: a female anti-racist activist and Kevin Thomas.[32]

FischerWe asked the Source about counter-intelligence activities against anti-racist groups, and its potential impact on confrontations between anti-racists and the Heritage Front.[33] He said that there was no serious counter-intelligence program, and no "human sources". If the left-wing had a march, Droege and/or Zundel would think it a good idea for them to be covered.[34] Sometimes Bristow would be on the street photographing and taking numbers, sometimes Fischer or Hategan did this.[35]

The Source was asked about the use of "plants" (Heritage Front people who attended ARA meetings). He said that there were none. Some of Eric Fischer's people, however, were working against the anti-racists, and this was reported to Droege. Fischer would place his people in the anti-racist meetings and Bristow would debrief them along with Fischer when they reported back. In February 1993, Wolfgang Droege was told that the Klanbusters and the International Socialists were going to hold meetings and that someone from the Church of the Creator (COTC) would be covering the meetings. The COTC persons who were sent by Fischer to cover the meetings were Talic and Cake. Their job was to find out what was going on.[36] However, they soon became bored with this activity, and stopped attending the meetings.[37]

5.8 Information Collection on the ARA

Al Overfield alleges that he received a list of known "lefties" from Bristow, and that the Source was also attempting to obtain Rodney Bobiwash's home address.

Bristow said that he had never provided a list of known "lefties" allegedly obtained from the Heritage Front counter-intelligence program to Overfield. The Source said that Bristow did provide some names, under instruction from Droege, which had appeared on Droege's answering machine. The Source consulted with the Toronto Region Investigator, who said that he could provide telephone numbers to others if the information received from the answering machine was specific and well known.

According to the Source, Droege was seeking Bobiwash's address. Droege wanted to attack Bobiwash. Had the Source wanted to do so, he could have obtained the address quite easily.[38]

Droege wanted Bristow to obtain the addresses of Kevin Thomas and the other ARA leaders. The only addresses that Droege ever obtained, said the Source, were the ones he developed himself.[39]

5.9 Harassment of ARA Members

The information on the harassment of the anti-racists is somewhat sparse due to the nature of the events themselves and because of the refusal of Members of the ARA to cooperate with the Review Committee. The events described below indicate what was alleged to have happened to three present or former members of the Anti-Racist Action group.

5.9.1 The Harassment of an Anti-Racist Activist

The anti-racist activist is a former ARA member who, in her own words, was one of the most active ARA members for a two or three month period. She told SIRC that she was subject to intense harassment from January to April 1993. During this period, she received 25 to 30 calls every day, at all hours of the day and night. This diminished to 25-30 calls a week between May and July 1993.

The Source said that the activist appeared to be both stable and aggressive. Bristow's calls involved "you're IT" at normal hours. Many other people probably also called her. The "IT" campaign was to collect information and was not designed to harass anyone day and night. The Investigator acknowledged the possibility however, that some of the younger Front members may have spent some nights making such calls.

Though most of the harassment took the form of telephone calls, the activist said there was also some "stalking". She would be told that "we know that you were here and here and here during the day" and "we're watching your every move". During the January-April period, she said the calls involved increasing threats of violence. In early March, she was told that her house would be fire-bombed. The activist said that she never reported the incident to the police. The telephone harassment calls at her home involved many "hang-ups" and disguised voices. She said that she did not report the harassment campaign to the police.

The Source told the Review Committee that no "stalking" took place because Heritage Front members never had the patience to engage in that type of activity. The Source said he has no knowledge of anyone ever being placed under surveillance. If it had happened, the Source said he would have known about it in due course.[40]

The activist said that some of the calls did not appear, initially, to be harassment. For example, she would be told that the caller's child had been injured at an ARA rally and that the caller wanted to speak to someone about the issue. When she asked "how did you get my home number", the caller would hang up. The Toronto Region Investigator said this type of call may have been part of the harassment campaign. However, it was an unusual type of call for the Heritage Front, and he had not previously heard about it.

The activist spoke of a number of additional specific incidents. Her descriptions and the Source's responses are provided below.

In January 1993, while sick at home from her job, the activist's boss was called, and told that she was videotaped at an ARA demonstration. Bristow said that Droege wanted a few people to call her boss to say that she was out demonstrating and they hoped that she did not call in sick.[41]

The Toronto Region Investigator said that Droege authorized the telephone harassment campaign, and the Source controlled it. One call to the activist's employer was made by Bristow, as a conference call with Mitrevski also on the line. The Investigator told the Source to try to avoid getting into that sort of situation.[42]

A mock Heritage Front flyer was distributed which listed the activist's home address, thus giving the impression that she was a Heritage Front member. The perpetrator was actually an anti-racist who was tricked into preparing the flyers.

The handler indicated that the Source did not distribute the hate flyer involving the activist. Nor did the Source threaten to fire-bomb her house. He was not surprised at the frequency of the harassment calls; he thought it was something the younger or violent members could do.[43]

The Source created a series of imaginary events which he told Heritage Front members had happened; e.g., he had called the anti-racists to tell them that a Heritage Front event was going to be at a certain place and to knock hard; then he would call others to say they were from the Neo-Nazi Welcome Wagon and the Nazis could be found at a such an such address. [44]

On one occasion, a Heritage Front member actually did this type of thing. A racist, posing as an anti-racist, called an ARA member and said that there was going to be a Heritage Front action at the activist's house; the ARA sent over a large contingent to ward off a possible Front attack.[45] In this case, the Heritage Front used the name of an individual taken from Bobiwash's answering machine. Droege had said that they were to use that fellow's name to get the left working against the left. The Source said that Droege himself probably made the call.[46]

The activist said that skinheads would often sit on a bench across the street from her office; they would just wait there and stare at her while she was at her desk.

The activist was informed by others in the movement that Grant Bristow was responsible for making the telephone calls. She was told by ARA members that their "ears had pricked up" when they had heard Bristow speak at a meeting - they had allegedly heard the voice in harassment calls.[47]

We asked the Source about the harassment of the activist. He said that she was singled out after someone made a harassment call to Droege's machine. Her telephone number was compared to a master list of names and numbers on Bobiwash's list.

When the Review Committee checked a short Heritage Front list of callers which was provided to CSIS by the Source, we did not see the number that the activist told us she had at home during 1993. Other lists may exist however.

According to the Source, the harassment telephone calls to anti-racists were not organized; everyone did it once they knew how to access answering machines, and it developed on its own. Droege harnessed it into a program.[48] The activist was said to be one of the last persons harassed.

In one of the affidavits filed by Elisse Hategan on September 23, 1993, she recounted her perception of what had taken place:

After the Toronto Region Investigator expressed concern about the campaign against the activist, the Source tried to diminish the Front's interest by telling members that she had lost her job and that they should take the heat off her.[49]

The Toronto handler discussed, in general, the telephone harassment campaign. He noted that the telephone harassment blitz started with quite a few people being harassed and then the procedure was narrowed down. At the start, everyone was phoning people on the lists they had collected. After about a month, the calls started to become very threatening and the possibility of violence occurring had become very real. According to the Source, by the Summer of 1993, as a result of the "IT" campaign, the calls had became more of an information collection exercise under the Source's direction.[50]

The handler noted that the Source tampered with the numbers on the lists of names designated for phoning. When a list of people was given to the Heritage Front members, some of the names and the telephone numbers were changed by the Source. Not all of them were changed, particularly those of prominent individuals such as Kevin Thomas, because suspicions would have been raised.[51]

The harassment calls started abating in June 1993, and finally stopped in November 1993. According to the Source, the harassment program was viewed as a major victory by the Heritage Front. His understanding was that most of the harassment calls ended in the Summer, and that no physical harm resulted from the program.[52]

5.9.2 The Thomas Incident

Press accounts stated that "Kevin Thomas was made 'IT' for awhile". One media report stated:

In a The Fifth Estate interview, Thomas indicated that most of what was said was "just plain abuse - "he [Bristow] would call me a repulsive little shithead or call me a loser, or coward, or whatever he could think of". Thomas went on:

The commentator added, "Police sources say CSIS knew exactly what Bristow was up to."[54]

We learned that Droege told a journalist in September 1994 that Bristow et al would go to Kevin Thomas' office building to let Thomas know they were there and when they could not do that, they went to a few of the neighbours on the floor in the building and said 'this blackbird next door, you better watch them, they are anti-racists, they are terrorists, they procure children for sexual favours', all kinds of nasty stuff, right up to telling them that these individuals such as Kevin Thomas, were 'hooping little gerbils.'

We asked the Source to identify who had led the effort to obtain the names of the ARA leaders and their home addresses. He said that Droege wanted him to obtain the addresses of Kevin Thomas and the other ARA leaders. According to the Source, the only addresses which Droege ever possessed were the ones he developed himself.

According to the handler, Thomas was on a list of names subject to telephone harassment. Because he was so well known, the Source could not tamper with his telephone number.[55] The Source said that he did pass along information concerning the location of the ARA hotline and where Kevin Thomas worked. In general, the Source only provided information from newspaper articles which named leftists who appeared in Court.

Bristow did not remember calling Thomas at his place of work, describing himself as a reporter from the Ottawa Citizen; though he said this could have been the case.[56] According to Bristow, he once called Thomas a "repulsive little shithead", adding that it was said in Rodney Bobiwash's "jocular fashion"; Thomas and Bristow were always exchanging slurs.[57]

The Source provided the context to the Front members' visit to Thomas' workplace. Droege was before the Courts, and Thomas had sent people down to the Court, and to a radio station show, to make derogatory statements about the racists. In the end, Droege was denied bail, and his people were angry and wanted action. The Source told them to calm down, and Bristow took them in a car to go on a mission to check out Kevin Thomas' workplace.[58] He said that they did not enter the workplace.

According to the Source, he was not involved in identifying residences to be "trashed". Dawson, Paul Graham and another couple had "spun by" Thomas' place in Bristow's car. The Source conveyed the message that things were under control, and that they should take the moral high ground and let the others get arrested (in relation to houses being trashed). The Source defused the situation.[59]

Regarding the alleged call to Thomas by someone posing as an Ottawa Citizen reporter, the Toronto Investigator said that the Source does not believe that Bristow made the call; there was no evidence found to confirm that such a call was made. The Investigator had no knowledge of the Source going to Thomas' neighbours and complaining about him.

5.9.3 The Harassment of Merle Terlesky

An affidavit signed by Elisse Hategan on September 23, 1993 attested that activist Merle Terlesky was harassed day and night. The Review Committee asked the Source who organized and carried it out. He said that Terlesky was "talked to" by Droege and Bristow, but he was not aware of Terlesky ever being harassed.

Apparently, when Barker saw information in the newspapers about a charge against Terlesky, he ordered gerbils to be sent to Terlesky's house. According to the Source, Terlesky was probably the activist on the left who commanded the most respect from Droege.

5.9.4 Involvement with the Hategan Hate Posters

June FrenchIn March 1993, according to one media account, Bristow had a part in the production of the "Animal Series #2" flyer. Specifically, he had added the names and home addresses of anti-racists used on the poster, and had photocopied the document at Al Overfield's house.[60] The "Animal Series #2" flyer, was a poster combining the body of an ape with the head of a gorilla. The Heritage Front flyer is actually a doctored reproduction of a much earlier American racist poster.

In October 1993, Elisse Hategan was charged with publishing defamatory libel, and wilful promotion of hatred. In her sworn affidavit dated September 23, 1993, Hategan affirmed that she was informed that Al Overfield produced the flyers that she was arrested for distributing.

We have learned that Al Overfield mentioned to Droege that Bristow was supposed to come over (to Overfield's residence) because they were going to do 'Animal Series Number 2' and something about the homo child molester.[61]

According to Al Overfield, Bristow actually produced the flyer on a copier at Overfield's house. Our investigation further revealed that Bristow and Droege discussed Hategan and her confusion. Bristow told him that Hategan wanted to figure out if it was alright to say that she thought Bristow was the one making up the stickers. Bristow said everybody in town was to be told to keep their mouth shut this time around.

Droege told the Review Committee that it was Bristow's idea to put the names of anti-racists on the "Animal Series" posters. One of the names, said Droege was provided by Bristow as he "had information as to where the main ARA organizers were."[62]

On February 17, 1993, we learned that Droege told Bristow that Hategan had been arrested for those posters that Overfield had made up. Bristow said they should find out how many posters had been made up and Droege replied that only Overfield would know that. Droege then contacted Overfield and told him to dispose of the Animal Life Series posters. Overfield said he would do that right away.

We asked Bristow about the production and distribution of the posters. He indicated that he had passed some names from Droege to Overfield, names such as "Celeste", that were eventually used on the posters. These were names of anti-racists to whom the poster was attributed. Other than that, he had no role in the poster affair. In the case of the flyers, Overfield developed them, and had a formal unveiling. Overfield produced the flyers, and gave them to Droege. Droege then gave them to Elisse Hategan, who gave them to others.

The Toronto Region Investigator said that the Source does not think that Bristow had any role other than to provide the ARA names to Overfield.

The Investigator said that the Source discussed Bristow's relationship with Hategan. He noted that Bristow used to pick on Hategan and they disliked each other intensely. Bristow intended to get under Hategan's skin. He hoped that he could force Hategan into leaving the Heritage Front.[63]

5.9.5 Bristow and the Hategan Affidavits

On September 23, 1993, Elisse Hategan signed a number of affidavits. Hategan told reporters that she had "given sworn statements that involved Grant Bristow in harassment campaigns, but nothing had been done".[64] According to Hategan, "Bristow orchestrated a vicious harassment campaign targeting individual anti-racists".[65]

The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation stated that not only did CSIS not act on these allegations, but the Toronto Region Investigator made statements that he would discredit her.[66]

The Toronto Region Investigator denied that he made those statements, and was dismayed because he knows they originate with someone who was once a colleague. The Investigator instructed the Source to stay away from her, saying she was nothing but trouble. He added that he probably told other agencies that Hategan was not credible; at one point she had a very active role in the Extreme Right Movement, and she had had a sudden change of heart after being charged.[67]

We looked at the affidavits, and, whereas they provided background for our study, in one expert opinion:

The Source said that Droege used to delight in telling stories to Hategan. For example, when he showed her sand in a jar, he said "that once she kills someone and they're cremated, she gets one too". Max French actually brought the jar of regular sand back from Libya.[71]

5.9.6 Sneaky Dees and the Trashing

DroegeOn June 11, 1993, an estimated two hundred and fifty ARA members headed from downtown into the East End of Toronto by streetcar. "Rather than wait for a far right gathering, ARA organizers decided to take a proactive approach."[72]

The demonstrators poured into a neighbourhood near Gary Schipper's house. Gary Schipper was believed to be the voice on the Heritage Front hate line. According to one ARA member, "ARA intended to 'out' Schipper, to expose his previously secret address to his blue collar, ethnically diverse neighbours."[73]

According to one article, the police were out in force, but they mistakenly believed that the ARA target was Ernst Zundel's house. A small number of ARA members "launched into their most aggressive action yet".

"A dozen masked protesters hurled rocks at Schipper's house, smashing his windows and battering his door. One protester threw a neighbour's tricycle through Schipper's front window, and police even found human excrement among the debris splattering the building".[74] Droege told the Committee that after the attack on Schipper's house, Bristow was "over at Alan Gardens agitating our people to go over to Sneaky Dees", the "hangout for so-called anti-racists."[75] Droege said that he agreed, but suggested that the ARA be the aggressors and told Bristow to "keep them (the HF members) in line."[76]

Bristow, Droege said, was across the street from Sneaky Dees with two girls and he started calling the anti-racists names which started the two groups fighting. Droege noted that police arrived immediately, almost as though they had been tipped off.[77] Droege was among those arrested and charged by the police for several offenses.

According to the Source, the Heritage Front thought Zundel's house was going to be hit. They were using police radio scanners, and when it was clear that Zundel's house was not going to be hit, they headed to the East End. Initially, Bristow told Droege that it might be Mitrevski's place; then he concluded that it would be Schipper's place and he notified the police.

After the house was vandalized, the Source said that he went to Schipper's home to get the telephone lists, the contact logs, etc. He persuaded Schipper to remove them from the house, and give them to him. The Source said that he later gave all of this information to the Toronto Region Investigator.

DroegeThe Source said that after leaving Schipper's house, Droege and Bristow first met in an underground garage, and then moved downtown near Gerrard Square and discussed their options. Droege was upset and wanted the strongest worded protest to go out because the Metro Police had not intervened.

Later, said the Source, they all went to Zundel's house. LincolnDroegeDroege wanted a beer, but Zundel did not approve and said that everyone should go home. Droege was upset, but Zundel was not; it was not his house that had been trashed.[78] George Burdi (Church of the Creator) was present and said that they should take a group and lose the police.

According to the Source, Droege and the others went to Sneaky Dees to have a beer. After an hour, Droege told everyone to go home. When they left a fight erupted with the anti-racists. The Source passed information as to where the attackers went to the police.[79]

The Source did not provide Droege with the names of the demonstrators, but people identified some of them using videos of news accounts. LincolnLincoln took still photos from the videos and they were handed out to Heritage Front members. Ernst Zundel's expensive equipment was used for this purpose.[80]

Max FrenchPrior to the confrontation, the Investigator said that he had learned that Bristow told the HF people to settle down. George Burdi, a charismatic speaker, was the person who addressed the crowd in the park before going to Sneaky Dees.[81] Wayne Elliott

In September 1994, Droege and Barker alleged to a journalist that Bristow told HF members to go down to Sneaky Dees to confront the anti-racists and he "pumped them up" in the park before the confrontation.

According to Bristow, he absolutely did not tell Heritage Front members to go down to Sneaky Dees to confront the anti-racists. George Burdi got out a megaphone in the park before the confrontation and rallied the Heritage Front people. He added that there was no confrontation until after the anti-racists started throwing bottles at them.[82]

5.9.7 The Ottawa Demonstration

In May 1993, an estimated five hundred ARA supporters demonstrated outside a Heritage Front recruitment concert in Ottawa. The racist band, RaHoWa [83], was playing to a crowd of about 60 skinheads. What followed was a series of scuffles and fights involving the police, Heritage Front members, and Anti-Racist Action supporters. The Source was not present in Ottawa at the time. He had, however, been able to pass along "inside" information about the Anti-Racist Action group forming in Ottawa, and its support from Toronto. He told CSIS that the ARA would be sending two carloads of supporters from Toronto to participate in the Ottawa demonstrations.

After the 1993 Ottawa near-riot, the Heritage Front became more militant. We learned that Droege confided to the source that he had instructed Grant Bristow to again continue a counter-intelligence program against the ARA with the purpose of identifying the leaders and their home addresses. He also wanted to identify ARA meeting places for the purpose of attending at meetings in an effort to intimidate and/or provoke the ARA into further violent actions which he was confident the HF would win.

5.9.8 Training the Heritage Front

Bristow made himself out to be a security expert. Certainly, he was viewed by Heritage Front members as the security expert, and at one point even conducted a pretence "sweep" of Zundel's house for hidden microphones. Sometimes he would talk to Front members on security matters. At one meeting, for example, Droege asked him to talk about the capability of listening devices.

In 1993, Peter Mitrevski contacted Bristow to talk about tracing people through marriage certificate records. He agreed to help Mitrevski with the marriage certificate technique, but knew that it was far more complicated than the book which Mitrevski had bought, made it appear.[84] Mitrevski was apparently trying to locate Bill Dunphy as he had recently purchased an instruction manual on how to track people and obtain information from various government records.

FischerDroege asked Bristow to demonstrate the criss-cross directories to the Fisher brothers, but his instructions resulted in their being unable to understand how to use them.

At one point Fischer wanted Bristow to give a lecture on basic security techniques. The information he conveyed came from open sources.

Bristow gave COTC members a lecture on basic security. He told them that they should not get an answering machine with a two-digit remote code. He suggested that they get unlisted telephone numbers and voice-mail. He also suggested that they use post office boxes as the addresses for their Drivers Licences.[85]

According to the Source, Bristow never gave Front or Church members significant or sophisticated security information. He told people in the Front to put up aluminum on their windows to deter parabolic microphones and some of them actually did so. And at one point, he had Dawson writing messages using a code book and one time pads. This kept Dawson occupied.[86]

We asked Bristow if he had taught any actual intelligence tradecraft to the Heritage Front or Church of the Creator members. He said that he had not. To avoid surveillance, he had instructed the Heritage Front members to walk for some distance and then to turn around and walk back.[87]

5.9.9 Miscellaneous Issues

A reporter knew of an incident in which a woman's tires were slashed but he was not certain who had done it. According to the Source, he learned that a woman's tires had been slashed from the hotline and from his handler. He had no personal knowledge of the act but he thought it might have Droegebeen committed by Droege. Droege would go out three or four nights a week for the bailiff company and he needed an assistant after Bristow left, so he took on Mitrevski. In fact, both Dawson and Mitrevski were used as drivers for Droege's repossession business.[88]

A reporter asked Droege if Bristow was involved in the firebombing of Mona Zetner's house and Droege said that he did not believe so. The Source also stated that he did not know who bombed Mona Zetner's house.[89]

Wolfgang Droege alleged that Bristow planned to break into Hategan's house in June or July 1993. We have no evidence that this was the case.

5.10 Harassment and Contact with Jewish Groups

When the media stories about CSIS and the Heritage Front first aired in mid-August 1994, they significantly increased the already high level of fear in Jewish communities, particularly in Toronto which has Canada's biggest Jewish population. [90] Jewish communities around the world were still reeling from the bombing of a Jewish community centre in Buenos Aires. Of particular concern were the allegations that Grant Bristow might have passed on the names of Jewish community leaders to the white supremacist movement.

A representative of B'nai Brith said that he felt a sense of betrayal, that CSIS "may have turned into an instrument which has helped to promote hatred and racism in this country".[91] With these concerns in mind, the Review Committee investigated the allegations pertaining to the Jewish community.

5.10.1 Strategy Towards Jewish Groups

We asked the Source about the Heritage Front's strategy towards Jewish groups. He said that the Heritage Front had no general position regarding Jewish groups. Wolfgang Droege perceived the Jewish Lobby to be too big an opponent for him to confront. Droege, said the Source, knew that he did not have enough resources to fight the Jewish groups.[92]

The Source believed that Droege's personal feelings were that the Jewish groups represented an enemy lobby, and that they were responsible for multi-racial schools and race mixing. He would monitor them through the Jewish community newspapers such as the "Covenant", the "Canadian Jewish News", and "Forward".

Droege's aim was to get back at the Jews through political lobbying. Others in the movement, however, did not understand his strategy. The Aryan Nations believed, for example, that they were the last tribe of the real Jews and they pushed Droege to take physical action. LincolnGerry Lincoln, closely associated with Ernst Zundel, would constantly defend the message of Holocaust denial.[93]

We asked the Source about his dealings with Bernie Farber, the National Director of Community Relations with the Canadian Jewish Congress. The Source never talked much to Farber, but saw him in Court.

The Church of the Creator, Droege, and the skinheads all believed, said the Source, that Farber was the major enemy of the Heritage Front, and he was certainly the most reviled of all their "enemies". There was a major effort to find Farber's residence, but the Source did not help, and the HF never succeeded. The Source said that he could have found it easily if he had wanted to.[94]

5.10.2 1993 Mayor's Committee Meeting

DroegeOn April 4, 1993, B'nai Brith lawyer Marvin Kurz, a member of the Toronto Mayor's Committee on Community and Race Relations attended an orientation for new members of the group. There, he told the Review Committee, a person who he thought might have been Grant Bristow tried to intimidate him by looming over him, implying that he knew where he lived, and staring at the lawyer.[95]

Prior to the meeting, Kurz had written a letter, with his address in the heading, to Droege threatening to sue for libel based on Front hateline statements about the B'nai Brith staff. The Front had offered a retraction.

At the Mayor's meeting, Kurz said, Droege pulled him over and another person, who Kurz thought might be Bristow, stood over Kurz saying, "we thought you lived in Brampton". Kurz wondered if they would follow him home. He said that Janice Dembo, Coordinator of the Mayor's Committee, saw him standing there with another person and Droege, and she took Kurz out the back way.[96]

Janice Dembo recalls that Burdi, Lemire, Barker and Droege tried to disrupt the meeting, assuming it was the same one that Kurz referred to. Kurz came up to Dembo and said that the HF was "hassling him and he kept going on about Droege and Barker." He was in an agitated state, and she had others escort him out of the building. She does not specifically remember extricating him, although she says it is possible.[97]

Kurz was not positive that Bristow was involved and, indeed, his memory was only jogged in the wake of the press allegations in 1994, when Wolfgang Droege called him. Droege offered to help Kurz lay a complaint against Bristow based on the incident.[98]

Wolfgang Droege would later tell the Review Committee that, for him, it was important to keep in touch with his opponents, and to be able to discuss differences. He alleged that he was having a peaceful conversation when Bristow showed up on the scene, "got into the man's (Kurz's) face", and was generally menacing. Kurz was a small man, and he sought protection.[99]

According to Bristow, he said to Droege, "don't talk with that low life, let's get out of here." At that point, Metro Toronto Police officers were standing at Grant Bristow's shoulder and he was not about to make a commotion. Droege then said that "Marvin Kurz is not a bad guy", and went and had his picture taken with Michael Lublin (see Chapter V, section 5.6.1).

Bristow does not think there was another incident in which he might have intimidated Kurz. According to Bristow, he had every opportunity to harass Kurz if he had wanted to; he lived near to Kurz at the time and knew his address from his letterhead.[100]

5.10.3 The Jewish Student Network Incident

On May 6, 1993, Grant Bristow approached the President of the Jewish Students' network (JSN) who was participating in a demonstration outside the Ontario Attorney General's office in Toronto. The protest by the Jewish Student Network concerned the provincial government not moving quickly enough on hate crimes prosecution/legislation. She said that she recognized Wolfgang Droege and Peter Mitrevski in the crowd.[101]

The President was handing out her business card to the media and gave one to a "Trevor Graham", who, she said, represented himself as a reporter for the "Ottawa Citizen" and a writer for the "Canadian Press". Trevor Graham was Grant Bristow.[102]

The next day, on May 7, 1993, "Graham" called her, identified himself and, in the course of the discussion, said that he had had a conversation with Wolfgang Droege. He described the conversation in such a friendly way "with the Nazi" that she became suspicious. She pretended, nevertheless, to be friendly despite her suspicions.[103]

During her conversation with him, Graham (Bristow) did not ask about information the Network possessed on white supremacists. He did ask about how the group was organized and the names of the students who worked there. She felt these were not appropriate questions.[104]

She was not sure how her conversation with "Graham" ended; she telephoned the "Ottawa Citizen" and the "Canadian Press" that day and they both indicated that they had never heard of "Graham". She then spoke to the B'nai Brith and the Canadian Jewish Congress. Several days later, she went to Bernie Farber's office at the Canadian Jewish Congress, where she looked through an album of photos of racists. She recognized Bristow from his photo in a Toronto Sun story.[105]

Bernie Farber called author Warren Kinsella to find out if Trevor Graham was associated with him.[106] Warren Kinsella said he had no connection with Graham and complained to the Ottawa Police that Grant Bristow had been using his name to seek information from Jewish groups. The Ottawa Police informed Kinsella that the incident was in the Metro Toronto Police Force's jurisdiction. Approximately two weeks later, the Ottawa Police checked with their Toronto counterparts and learned that Kinsella had filed a complaint. The basis for the complaint was that:

The Metro Toronto Police Force received a FAX from Warren Kinsella about the incident and, on review, concluded that no criminal offense had been committed; the Crown could not establish a prima facie case. No report was filed as there was no offence in the Criminal Code to cover it: Trevor Graham did not exist.

When "the Heritage Front Affair" became public knowledge, the Metro Toronto Police Intelligence Unit resubmitted the information to the Crown. The feedback they received was that there was no "personation" because there was no such person as Graham. No formal complaint had been submitted by a Jewish group[107].

According to Bristow's account, he volunteered to collect information on the periphery of the demonstration. Members of the Church of the Creator and the Heritage Front had been starting to merge and Bristow did not want to be on the front lines as there was a good chance the media would be there. He asked Droege, "why don't I wander around the crowd to find out who is here."[108]

Droege's version is that Bristow "felt it was important for us to find out as to what information they possessed. So he was going to try to infiltrate them or at least try to gather information from them."[109]

Bristow said that he approached a woman who identified herself as the President of the Jewish Student's Network. Bristow does not remember the name he gave. During the brief discussion, Bristow received a business card with the Network's address and a telephone number. He said that he had no reason to ask for it, but she did not object to providing it.[110]

Bristow said to the Review Committee that he had no desire to pursue the matter further, but Droege said that he should find out more about the group, for example how many members they had. He told Bristow to call her to learn more of this kind of information. Droege also wanted to know what others knew about him and the right wing, as he was facing numerous tribunals.[111]

From the business card, they realized that the Student Network office was located in close proximity to other Jewish organizations, and Droege thought that maybe Bernie Farber was secretly controlling the group. Droege thought that Farber was capable of using "cutouts". Droege believed that the President of the Jewish Students' Network was, in fact, an agent of Bernie Farber, because he had seen them together on other occasions.[112]

Bristow said that he called the President of the Jewish Students' Network but not for the purpose of obtaining information to target people. He purposely gave her good reason to be suspicious by saying that "Droege was not such a bad guy". She gave him no information. He then went back to Droege and said, "I think they are suspicious, Wolfgang."[113]

The Source said that he was sure that he had told the Investigator of Bristow's meeting and telephone call to the President of the Jewish Students' Network.

According to the Toronto Region Investigator, he was informed about the Jewish Student Network event immediately after it occurred. CSIS had issued a threat assessment concerning the Heritage Front visit to Marianne Boyd's office. The Source called the Investigator and said that Bristow had talked to the President of the Jewish Students' Network using the name Trevor Graham. Bristow did not directly say he was working for Kinsella.

5.10.4 Two Incidents

Two incidents were described to the Committee which involved community events in Toronto, and about which we received contradictory information regarding the presence of Grant Bristow and the Jewish Students' Network.

On June 8, 1993, the Simon Wiesenthal Centre organized a presentation at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education.[114] The event featured a lecture by Yarom Svoray on his infiltration of neo-Nazi groups in Germany. The President of the Jewish Students' Network said that she was certain that she saw George Burdi and Joe Talic of the Church of the Creator there and that the security personnel were informed.[115]

She thought that Bristow was also present, but she could not be absolutely certain that it was him as she had seen him only once before. Talic was asked to present his identification, and the group was asked to leave.[116] Bristow told the Review Committee that he does not believe that he was there.[117]

The second incident took place in May 1993, and involved the harassment of B'nai Brith officials. During that month, a public "anti-hate" symposium took place at Harbourfront in Toronto.

B'nai Brith officials stated that the ARA and the Heritage Front were both present, and confronted one another. Droege and Burdi asked some abusive questions implying that Jews were racist.Droege Wolfgang Droege asked most of the questions.[118]

An anti-fascist demonstration started, and the B'nai Brith participants found themselves in between the two sides. Police had to separate the potential combatants. According to the B'nai Brith, Bristow was present at the encounter and was using the name Trevor Graham, but they did not remember if he stayed for the remainder of the meeting after the HF people left.[119]

According to Bristow, he had met the Heritage Front group at Union Station prior to entering the Harbourfront Symposium. When he entered, he said, he saw that the President of the Jewish Students' Network was there. He left after about three or four minutes, as he did not want her to see him with the Heritage Front group.[120] Bristow thinks that he left by himself. The President of the Jewish Students' Network has informed the Review Committee that she did not attend the Harbourfront symposium.

5.10.5 Other 1993 Incidents

B'nai Brith. The Source said that he had no knowledge of the telephone harassment campaign against Karen Mock which took place after the May 1993 Harbourfront Symposium.[121] He said that Schipper was the one who initiated, wrote, and dictated most of the messages on the hotline. The actual message concerning Mock and the B'nai Brith used on the hate line was written by Schipper, but the Source did not know who instructed him to do so. Droege, and to a lesser extent, LincolnLincoln[122], were the main influences on Gary Schipper. The Source stayed away from dealing with the hotline.[123]

Vancouver Leader. The allegation was made in 1992 that Front members circulated the unlisted telephone number and address of a prominent Vancouver Canadian Jewish Congress leader, Dr. Michael Elterman.

Bernie Farber of the Canadian Jewish Congress referred to the media stories about Elterman's name being circulated among the extreme right. Whereas the name was not listed in the public telephone directory, it was published in the Vancouver Jewish community telephone book, which was not difficult to obtain. Farber said that Elterman was concerned about a large bloodstain that appeared on his porch around the time that Bristow was supposed to have met McAleer in Vancouver.[124]

Bristow said that he knew absolutely nothing about Elterman. His statement is supported by Droege's testimony before the Review Committee.

We learned that on August 25, 1994, Tony McAleer told Droege that he had the address of Elterman, and could say that Bristow gave it to him, but McAleer speculated that they could get into trouble if Bristow ever surfaced and spoke up. Droege told McAleer that no-one would believe Bristow.[125]

Voice Hate Mail. Bernie Farber said that he was called at the Canadian Jewish Congress on June 22, 1993. A caller with a heavily muffled, deep voice said, "you fucking Jew", "I'm gonna fucking kill you", "fucking goof". We asked the Source about the call. He said that it probably came from a younger member.[126] We were unable to determine, definitively, who in the Front was most likely to have used the expression "fucking goof". One member certainly used the expression often, but others sometimes did as well.

Parking Lot Camping. We were informed that the media were going to allege that Bristow had camped out in the Canadian Jewish Congress parking lot, and that he copied licence plate numbers which he then processed.

We have learned that Droege provided false information about Bristow to the reporter involved.

Grant Bristow stated that he never recorded licence numbers, and there was only one incident in which he stopped near the Canadian Jewish Congress parking lot. Furthermore, if anyone else had collected that information, they would have given the plate numbers to Bristow to process, but Bristow said that he never received any.[127]

The Source said that on one occasion, James Scott Dawson parked his car, went into the CJC building, and bluffed his way into Farber's office. [128]

The Threat. In one instance, the CSIS Source learned of a possible threat of serious physical violence to leaders of the Jewish community in October 26, 1993. Droege confided to the Source that Barker had told him that a Heritage Front member had been planning to walk into the CJC offices at 4600 Bathurst Street, Toronto and 'take out some people'.

It was the Source's opinion that the primary target was to be Bernie Farber. He also stated that Droege was concerned about this type of plan but he was laughing about it. The Source said that he was shocked by this revelation, but he did not pursue the subject with Droege. Droege also mentioned to the Source that he would like to see a couple of high profile Jews assassinated as that would act as a deterrent to others who are constantly harassing the Heritage Front (HF).[129]

The member was associating with the "French Cruller" gang; Ken Barker, Phil Grech, and, peripherally, Marc Lemire (The Donut Shop Gang). An associate of the Heritage Front, the member had secretly aligned himself with the Church of Aryan Nations Jesus Christ. He had also set up a telephone line with hate messages. The Source created hurdles in the planning for violence by saying that more people were needed to carry it out, that it wasn't a good idea, that it would take a long time, and other reasons designed to dissuade the Heritage Front member.[130]

CSIS passed the information about the Heritage Front member's plan to the Metro Toronto Police on October 29, 1993.

According to the Source, the member appeared to be unstable. Instead of attacking the CJC, he and his associates subsequently held up a donut shop and stole a small amount of money.[131]

5.10.6 Information on Jewish Groups

Droege, in his testimony to the Review Committee, said:

Wolfgang Droege told the Committee that Bristow was the person who collected information on Jewish groups:

Droege said that most of the information that he received about the B'nai Brith, for example, was from public records, and he was not sure if Bristow ever obtained any big secrets. The information was mainly someone's home address, position, travel plans and source of funds (e.g. government funds). Droege said that Bristow knew how to dig up information.[134]

We found very little information about specific individuals. In one case, we learned that Grant Bristow told Droege that an anti-racist was possibly harassing Ken Barker's line. Barker had given Bristow a telephone number that had appeared on his Maestro, and Bristow traced it back to the activist.

The Review Committee learned that the Source, using the pseudonym Jeff Taylor, a journalist, talked with Michael Lublin. The Source learned that the Kahane Chai organization, which is headed by Benny Kahane, is growing around the world. Lublin said the group seems to be responsible for a lot of activity which was formally carried out by the JDL. According to Lublin, Benny Kahane's organization was thinking of opening a chapter in Toronto and Kahane would be in Toronto the following week.

We asked the Source about the kinds of information collected on Jewish groups and their leaders. The Source stated that Zundel tasked Bristow to obtain specific information about the names, work places, home addresses, telephone numbers, and profiles of prominent Jewish individuals and groups.[135]

Zundel said that he needed the addresses of members of the Jewish community so that he could serve subpoenas, but the Source said that Bristow did not believe this. Bristow told Zundel that he might be able to get the information but that it would cost a lot of money. As a result, Zundel said he would accept simply the work addresses.

Zundel also asked for information on specific individuals. He told Bristow that he wanted information from 1989 through 1990 about what Meir Halevi's (Jewish Defense League) addresses were, his kids, family, cars driven, his real name, and business.[136]

The Source was asked to help Zundel to obtain the names and addresses of every Jewish leader from Quebec to Winnipeg. When told about this request from Zundel, the Toronto Region Investigator had said, "don't do it, stall." The handler then told the Source to find out what he could from open sources. He was to give Zundel only work addresses and telephone numbers that came from the telephone book or from dialling 411.

According to the Source, the day-to-day information on the Jewish lobby and other groups came from television shows, and subscriptions to Jewish publications which were collected daily. This type of information processing began long before the Source was on the scene. It was done by everybody and it was a standard operating procedure for Zundel, Lincoln, Droege, and Max French.

The Source said that Zundel gave Bristow a thick file on the Jewish Defence League in compensation for electronically sweeping Zundel's house.[137] The Source, in turn, gave the file to CSIS. It was all public information (mostly news clippings) but he did not pass it along to others in the organization.[138]

We asked the Source what actions he personally participated in regarding Jewish groups, and what knowledge he had of what others did. The Source said that he only provided open material, and that Zundel sometimes gave Bristow information.[139]

Zundel told the Review Committee that the information that he received was "publicly available" and it was only a matter of convenience that he obtained it from Bristow. He went on to say "it was nothing he couldn't have found himself".[140]

The Source was asked if he ever provided information on members of the Jewish community to White Supremacists in the United States. He said that he absolutely did not pass information on members of the Jewish community to white supremacists in the United States; and, specifically, that he absolutely did not provide information on any Heritage Front target groups or individuals to Tom Metzger. He added that LincolnGerry Lincoln sometimes gave information to Tom Metzger about Canadian Jews but as far as he knew, they usually received such information from Zundel.[141] He added that Grant Bristow never provided information to White Supremacists in the United States. Lincoln denied ever giving information about Canadian Jews to the Metzgers.

In regard to the Metzgers (see chapter IX, section 9.2.2), the Review Committee learned that Droege plotted with colleagues and associates to tell the media that Bristow also gave Metzger documents on Jewish groups in Canada and on Jews and on other leftist organizations. The statements reveal that this was part of a plot to manipulate the media. Droege would later tell the Committee, "At least Tom Metzger told me that Grant Bristow provided him information, but I don't have any first hand knowledge of it."[142]

The Source was asked if he had ever given anyone information on the Jewish community which they then passed to other White Supremacists. He said that he definitely did not do so. He noted that Droege tried on many occasions to find out where Bernie Farber lived but he never succeeded and the Source did not help.[143]

We asked the Investigator about the overall information strategy. He said that the idea was for the Source to control (and obstruct) the collection of information and, if things went beyond his control, to be the funnel for that information, and, therefore, be in a position to advise the Service and ask for instructions.[144]

5.10.7 The Security Training School

When the Review Committee met with B'nai Brith officials, they said that they were concerned that Bristow had set up a training facility in a predominantly Jewish section of Toronto.

The concern was threefold:

In November 1992, Grant Bristow was identified in the media as a Heritage Front leader. As a result of this publicity, he lost his regular employment. Shortly afterwards, he set up a course in security training.

Bristow said that he conducted only one security course. There were six students in the class: a Black, an East Indian, a Jew and three others. Among the six were a retired IBM programmer and troubleshooter, an individual who used to be in the securities area, two individuals in the transport business, and an employee of a large optical (binoculars) business. In the end, two of the six students completed the course and landed jobs.

At his school, which was advertised in a newspaper, Bristow taught his students a wide array of skills. For surveillance techniques, they practised near Dixie Road and the 401; a commercial district including truck yards. When people in the Heritage Front learned that he was running a course, they wanted to join, but he stalled them. In one instance, however, he used a few Front members as a decoy in a vehicle surveillance exercise.[146] MasonThis was the sole case, Bristow said, of Heritage Front participation in the course.

5.11 The Morgentaler Bombing

On May 18, 1992, the Morgentaler abortion clinic in Toronto was firebombed. Graffiti identifying the Heritage Front was found on a nearby wall. Heritage Front members were interviewed by the police.

The Committee learned that Droege stated that Bristow had told him that no one in the HF was under suspicion but Andrews had told the police to look into the HF. Mitrevski said he did not believe that and he thought that Bristow was causing the same kind of dissention in the right wing as he caused within the left wing.

The Source thinks that the bombing was by a left wing activist to make the government take action against the anti- abortionists. Both Bristow and Droege were interviewed by the Morgentaler Task Force.[147] There is nothing in CSIS files to suggest who the culprit was.

5.12 Contacts with the Police

Media reports suggest that Bristow, as a Heritage Front member, made use of police information. Bristow, within the Heritage Front, was very secretive about how he obtained his information, and often said to his racist colleagues that he had personal police sources.

5.12.1 CPIC Information

DroegeWe questioned Bristow on this matter. He denied ever having approached members of the Metro Toronto Police Force to obtain Canadian Police Information Centre (CPIC) information. He says he did not need information from CPIC, and, in any case, he rarely operated within the jurisdiction of that police force. Much of the time, he would pass information to the police through his full-time employment duties.

Bristow stressed that he never used CPIC for the Heritage Front. Droege was told, falsely, that Bristow used CPIC information to find cars. As regards CPIC printouts, he said that no policeman would be so mentally deficient as to give a print-out of a CPIC report, because it identifies the individual who accesses the report. He said that police sometimes showed him information, in the course of his investigations for his employer, but this was never CPIC information.[148]

Alan Overfield, Droege's employer told SIRC that he knew that Bristow received CPIC information. He said that every investigator has contacts: police, the telephone company, and others. These contacts help them to obtain information for their tracing activities. CPIC material, he said would be used for tough cases and could provide, for example, court dates when their quarry would show up.[149] Overfield said that he was amazed that Bristow had complete CPIC print-outs: some 300 over the years 1990 - 1993 he estimated. When we asked Overfield for examples, he responded that Bristow never let him keep them. He said that he could not remember a single name of any of the subjects of the investigations.[150]

Wolfgang Droege told the Committee that he did not know if any CPIC information was acquired by Bristow.[151]

A Detective of the Ottawa Police Service told SIRC that using CPIC to collect information is not particularly useful: addresses are rarely listed; Court dates are no longer given; convictions and sentences are provided; but the information is almost always out of date.[152]

CPIC members are subject to random audits; the RCMP even audits its own detachments. All CPIC queries or printouts can be traced to a particular machine, and logs are kept.

We found no information from the Source in CSIS files that Bristow had ever obtained CPIC information.

5.12.2 Police Communications

FischerThe Source was asked about the monitoring of police communications. He noted that Bristow would constantly tell the Heritage Front that he would monitor police communications, but Paul Graham did most of this. Eric Fischer provided scanning devices and metal detectors, using money from his military severance pay and his savings.[153]

When the American white supremacists were in town, the Source would pick them up and put the Mitre 5 scanner on to see if the police were following them. In fact, the information he was picking up was quite irrelevant. The Americans thought it was important though, and they had a sense of security.[154]

Bristow, and Front "security" were often seen with hand-held walkie-talkies. According to Bristow, Eric Fischer, an ex-member of the Canadian Airborne Regiment, ran physical security for Heritage Front meetings. Fischer used two-way communications systems; Bristow had contributed three hand held radios which did not work well.[155]

One of the stories Bristow told Front members was that he had special sources of information, and that he was always running licence plate numbers. Bristow said that he had not run any licence plates through the Motor Vehicle Bureau for the Heritage Front. Droege, on the other hand, had access to Overfield's account while Bristow did not, and it was a regular practice for Droege to run the plate numbers when Zundel wanted information.[156]



Footnotes

1 Letter from P.

2 The Heritage Front Report: 1994, pp. 5-6, prepared by the League of Human Rights of B'nai Brith, Canada.

3 Zundel stated "that is absolutely nonsense".

4 SIRC interview of Source.

5 SIRC interview of Source.

6 The Heritage Front Report: 1994, pp. 5-6, prepared by the League of Human Rights of B'nai Brith, Canada.

7 This Magazine, February 23, 1992.

8 "I Hate You Back" by Clive Thompson, This Magazine, November 1994.

9 "I Hate You Back" by Clive Thompson, This Magazine, November 1994.

10 SIRC interview of Grant Bristow.

11 "I Hate You Back" by Clive Thompson, This Magazine, pp. 16-21, November 1994.

12 "I Hate You Back" by Clive Thompson, This Magazine, p. 18, November 1994.

13 "I Hate You Back" by Clive Thompson, This Magazine, pp. 16-21, November 1994.

14 SIRC interview of former Principal of Riverdale Collegiate.

15 SIRC interview of Handler.

16 SIRC Hearing, Wolfgang Droege.

17 SIRC interview of Source.

18 SIRC interview of Source.

19 SIRC interview of Droege.

20 Eric Fischer indicates that, in fact, the MIGHTS Directory was "pretty simple" to use.

21 SIRC interview of Source.

22 Affidavit of Charlene Elisse Hategan, September 23, 1993.

23 Toronto Sun, "Spy Unmasked", August 14, 1994.

24 SIRC interview of Source.

25 Droege denies this allegation.

26 Droege denies this allegation.

27 SIRC interview of Source.

28 SIRC interview of Source.

29 SIRC interview of Source.

30 Droege indicated to SIRC that Bristow had told him he had made harassment phone calls.

31 SIRC interview of Source.

32 SIRC interview of Grant Bristow.

33 During this period, there was an anti-racist rally which started at the corner of Church and Wellesley, and moved to Yonge street. There was also a January 1993 demonstration planned by "East Toronto Organizing Against Racism and Hate".

34 Zundel indicated that he did ask people to monitor marches in order to protect his house against attacks.

35 SIRC interview of Source.

36 SIRC interview of Source.

37 SIRC interview of Source.

38 SIRC interview of Source.

39 SIRC interview of Source.

40 SIRC interview of Source.

41 SIRC interview of Bristow.

42 SIRC interview of Handler.

43 SIRC interview of Handler.

44 SIRC interview of Source.

45 SIRC interview of Anti-Racist Activist.

46 SIRC interview of Source.

47 SIRC interview of Anti-Racist Activist.

48 SIRC interview with Source.

49 SIRC interview of Source.

50 SIRC interview of Handler.

51 SIRC interview of Handler.

52 SIRC interview of Source.

53 Toronto Sun, August 14, 1994.

54 The Fifth Estate, October 4, 1994.

55 SIRC interview of Handler.

56 SIRC interview of Source.

57 SIRC interview of Bristow.

58 SIRC interview of Source.

59 SIRC interview of Source.

60 Toronto Sun, October 4, 1994.

61 Overfield does not recall the posters having anything to do with the homo child molester. He recalls Bristow photostatting something at his place.

62 SIRC Hearing, Wolfgang Droege.

63 SIRC interview of Handler.

64 Toronto Star, September 30, 1994.

65 Toronto Sun, August 14, 1994.

66 The Fifth Estate stated that "When Elisse came out and said she was going to tell the truth, CSIS was saying they were going to get out and discredit her because at least Hategan was pointing the finger at Grant Bristow... we'll tear her to shreds".

67 SIRC interview of Handler.

68 October 28, 1994.

69 SIRC interview of Source.

70 SIRC interview of Wolfgang Droege.

71 SIRC interview of Source.

72 "I Hate You Back" by Clive Thompson, This Magazine, p. 21, November 1994.

73 "I Hate You Back", This Magazine, p. 21, November edition.

74 "I Hate You Back", This Magazine, p. 21, November edition.

75 SIRC Hearing, Wolfgang Droege.

76 SIRC interview of Wolfgang Droege.

77 SIRC interview of Wolfgang Droege.

78 Zundel said that such a statement about Shipper's house would be callous, and he did not make it.

79 SIRC interview of Source.

80 SIRC interview of Source. Zundel noted that they used videos and still photography for possible legal action against individuals harassing them.

81 SIRC interview of Handler.

82 SIRC interview of Bristow.

83 Racial Holy War.

84 SIRC interview of Bristow.

85 SIRC interview of Bristow.

86 SIRC interview of Source.

87 SIRC interview of Bristow.

88 SIRC interview of Source.

89 SIRC interview of Source.

90 SIRC interview of Bernie Farber, National Director of Community Relations, Canadian Jewish Congress.

91 Frank Dimant quoted in the Globe and Mail, Elizabeth Payne "Spy Agency placed Jewish lives in Danger", September 10, 1994.

92 SIRC interview of Source.

93 Lincoln denies this statement.

94 SIRC interview of Source.

95 SIRC interview of Marvin Kurz.

96 SIRC interview of Marvin Kurz.

97 SIRC interview with Janice Dembo, Co-ordinator, Toronto Mayor's Committee on Community and Race Relations.

98 SIRC interview of Marvin Kurz.

99 SIRC interview of Wolfgang Droege.

100 SIRC interview of Bristow.

101 SIRC interview of the President of the Jewish Students' Network.

102 SIRC interview with the President of the Jewish Students' Network.

103 SIRC interview of the President of the Jewish Students' Network.

104 SIRC interview of the President of the Jewish Students' Network.

105 SIRC interview with the President of the Jewish Students' Network.

106 SIRC interview of Bernie Farber.

107 SIRC interview of Metropolitan Toronto Police Force.

108 SIRC interview of Bristow.

109 SIRC Hearing, Wolfgang Droege.

110 SIRC interview of Grant Bristow.

111 SIRC interview of Grant Bristow.

112 SIRC interview of Grant Bristow.

113 SIRC interview of Grant Bristow.

114 SIRC interview of Sol Littman, Simon Wiesenthal Centre.

115 SIRC interview of the President of the Jewish Students' Network.

116 SIRC interview of the President of the Jewish Students' Network.

117 SIRC interview of Grant Bristow.

118 SIRC interview of Frank Dimant and Dr. Karen Mock, B'nai Brith.

119 SIRC interview of Frank Dimant and Dr. Karen Mock, B'nai Brith.

120 SIRC interview of Bristow.

121 SIRC interview of Frank Dimant and Dr. Karen Mock, B'nai Brith.

122 Lincoln said he never told Schipper anything about Mock.

123 SIRC interview of Source.

124 SIRC interview of Bernie Farber. McAleer said he had absolutely no knowledge of the incident.

125 Droege denies having said that. McAleer said he did not commit any illegalities and he said he did not counsel others to do so.

126 SIRC interview of Source.

127 SIRC interview of Grant Bristow.

128 SIRC interview of Source.

129 Droege denies having said that.

130 SIRC interview of Source.

131 SIRC interview of Source.

132 SIRC Hearing, Wolfgang Droege. Droege also went on to say that he questioned "certain aspects of the Holocaust...But I certainly believe there should be a debate."

133 SIRC Hearing, Wolfgang Droege.

134 SIRC interview of Droege.

135 Zundel denies this allegation.

136 SIRC interview of Source.

137 Zundel noted that the file was about 20 pages of open source information. It had previously been provided by him to the Metropolitan Toronto Police Force.

138 SIRC interview of Source.

139 SIRC interview of Source.

140 SIRC interview of Ernst Zundel.

141 SIRC interview of Source. Zundel noted that such individuals were on his mailing list, and received his newsletter, videos, etc. He specifically denied passing information to them concerning the Jewish Community in Canada.

142 SIRC Hearing, Wolfgang Droege.

143 SIRC interview of Source.

144 SIRC interview of Handler.

145 SIRC interviews of officials in the B'nai Brith and Canadian Jewish Congress.

146 James Dawson, Paul Graham, and Tyrone Alexander Mason. Mason

147 SIRC interview of Bristow.

148 SIRC interview of Bristow.

149 SIRC interview of Alan Overfield.

150 SIRC interview of Alan Overfield.

151 SIRC Hearing, Wolfgang Droege.

152 SIRC interview of Ottawa Police Service.

153 Eric Fischer said the money was from his employment, and donations from other members of the security group.

154 SIRC interview of Bristow.

155 SIRC interview of Bristow.

156 Droege stated that he never provided such information to Zundel. Zundel denied that he had ever asked for any licence numbers to be run.



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