ZGram - 9/21/2003 - "Hill Times refuses ad on Zundel case" - Zundel Hearings, Part II

[zgrams at zgrams.zundelsite.org]

ZGram - Where Truth is Destiny:  Now more than ever!

September 21, 2003

Good Morning from the Zundelsite:

You will recall that I was allowed to run a full-page ad in the 
former Soviet Union, now a democracy.  The paper that carried my ad 
was Zavtra.  The financial arrangements were fair, the business 
transactions was courteous - AND NOT ONE WORD WAS CENSORED!

By contrast, the Washington Times ran the same ad, but with 
modifications requested by them and reluctantly agreed to by me. 
Essentially, all references to the Holocaust Enforcer Lobby were 
deleted.   In the world that we live in, half a free-speech pie is 
better than no slice of pie at all.

We are now working on ads slated to appear in Germany and Japan.  Why 
ads in other countries?  Because important diplomats and heads of 
state notice - and talk about dictatorial censorship in the US and 
Canada to people we cannot otherwise reach!

Here now is Canada.  An interesting censorship issue development 
around an entirely fair and fact-based ad - don't you agree? 

Shame!  Shame on Canada!

[START]

Subject: HILL TIMES REFUSES AD ON ZUNDEL CASE

Canadian Association for Free Expression
Box 332,
Rexdale, Ontario, M9W 5L3
Ph: 905-897-7221; FAX: 905-277-3914

Paul Fromm, B.Ed, M.A. Director

Hill Times Refuses Ad on Zundel Case: No Free Speech or Democracy in Ottawa
Elite Organ

Dear Free Speech Supporter:

	Canada's press is complacent, conformist, and all too often 
no friend of
free speech.  The range of debate on the issues of the day has narrowed and
narrowed over the past 20 years.

	To the best of my knowledge only a handful of Canadian 
columnists took any
note of the fact that Bill C-36, the govrnment's anti-terrorist act would
give control over the Internet to the Canadian Human Rights Commission
where truth is no defence. With few contrary comments, the press has all
but ignored the attacks on the Internet by totalitarian bodies like the
Canadian Human Rights Commission.

	With few examples coverage of the Zundel case has been 
stridently abusive,
wildly incomplete or non-existant. Even the NATIONAL POST which has covered
the hearings has scrupulously avoided reportage of his horrific prison
conditions -- the very thing which might, dare we day it, create sympathy
for a man who has been made a villain in the sort of coverage which
increadingly reads like a soap opera, with all characters either villains
or "good guys". Objective reporting -- the facts, just the facts, ma'm, as
Sgt. Joe Friday used to say -- is rare.

	The press has given little coverage to the fact that persons 
served with a
CSIS national security certificate are subject to secret hearings, with
secret evidence and witnesses, and no chance to know what this evidence is
or to cross-examine these witnesses. Even less reported has been the
inhumane conditions in which Ernst Zundel has been incarcerated in solitary
confinement for over seven months -- no pen, no hardcover books, no post-it
notes, no  highlighters, no paperclips, no chair, no herbal medications
that are vital to his health regime, and, until very recently, no pillow.

	Back in June, CAFE began to raise money to buy some advertising to
highlight these serious press omissions and to stir public debate on the
Zundel case. We settled on The Hill Times in Ottawa. This weekly reaches
the MPs and senators, their staffers, Ottawa press and policy makers. I
made some inquiries and talked to Advertising Account Executive Craig
Caldbick. He was pleasant and, over the next few months, sent a stream of
e-mails, FAXes and phone calls my way eagerly seeking our business.

	With Parliament returning, September 15, I decided to commit to a
half-page ad in the September 15 and 22 issues of The Hill Times. These ads
and, with luck a growing debate, would occur just prior to Mr. Zundel's
next court appearance on September 23 and 24. The text of this ad appears
at the end of this CAFEGRAM.

	On September 8, I received a phone call from Mr. Caldbick. In 
politically
correct, repressive Canada you can't even pay to get your point of view
into the press. Caldbick conveyed to me the decision of publisher Jim
Creskey. Apparently, the ad had created much discussion and consternation
at The Hill Times. "Unfortunately, the publishers and General Manager have
declined your ad as it's our policy to decline this type of message or
associate with your type of organization," Caldbick told me. That's
interesting: A Canadian newspaper unwilling to associate with advocates of
free speech.These guys ought to consider membership in like minded
organizations of conformist hacks like the Association of North Koreans
Journalists.

	They'd looked at our website. "Your organization is too centred on one
issue."

	Indeed, that's true. We are a one issue group, freedom of 
speech, just as
other groups, like, say the World Wildlife Federation is all about wildlife
welfare.

	After much verbal circling, Caldbick indicated that our site 
had a lot of
material on Zundel. Well, I explained to him, we've been in existence for
over 20 years and taken up a wide variety of free speech causes. Yes,
there's a lot on Ernst Zundel right now, as he's one of the main thought
crimes victims of the moment. But, so what? Doesn't Ernst Zundel deserve a
defence? Or is the press prepared to convict him in advance and eagerly
await the sentence?

	"The feeling here is they didn't want to tackle this message at this
time," Caldbick explained to me apologetically. The Hill Times wasn't being
asked to "tackle" this issue or even to commit to an opinion, merely, for
money, to air our opinion.

	I next took the matter up with publisher Jim Creskey on September 9. He
had problems with the fact that our website "is a one issue one, just about
Ernst Zundel."

	I asked whether there was some way we could do business. I 
invited him to
check the site more carefully and see the variety of free speech issues
we've adopted.

	I awaited his answer. After several days, with September 15 fast
approaching, I called again. Four messages went unasnwered. Finally, on
September 16, Creskey got back to me. The answer still was "no".

	On September 18, in Ottawa for my press conference at the Parliamentary
Press Gallery, I decided to visit The Hill Times in person. I spoke to Don
Turner, Director of Advertising who seemed distinctly uncomfortable.  I asked
whether they would consider an ad in the future. Turner hemmed and hawed.
Well, "no" can mean forever, he mused. Perhaps, they'd look at another
submission.

	I learned from Turner that, in 13 years of publishing, ours 
was the first
ad they'd rejected. "Our policy is not as clear as it might be," he offered.

	Oh, yes it is, Don: "No freedom of speech here!"

	Perhaps, we should consider submitting our ad to Gramna, the 
organ of the
Cuban Communist Party. At least their rejection would be predictable and
honest,  based on their stated totalitarian ideology.

	It may or may not mean anything, but among The Hill Times' 
contributors is
Liberal Party attack pitbull Warren Kinsella. He he known as a savage
opponent of freedom of speech and a decade ago penned the error-riddled
screed Web of Hate: Inside Canada's Far Right Network.

								Paul Fromm
								Director
								IAN 
ASSOCIATION FOR FREE EXPRESSION
______________
Canadian Association for Free Expression
Box 332,
Rexdale, Ontario, M9W 5L3
Ph: 905-897-7221; FAX: 905-277-3914

Paul Fromm, B.Ed, M.A. Director

September 2, 2003

Mr. Craig Caldbick,
The Hill Times,
69 Sparks Street,
Ottawa, ON.,
K1P 5A5


Dear Mr. Caldbick:

The following is the text for the half page ad we've like to run September
15.


Sincerely yours,


Paul Fromm
Director

p.s. Please send me a mock-up of this.

_______________________-


[photo of Ernst Zundel]
  How Safe Are Human Rights in Canada?

NOT VERY!

German-born publisher,  Ernst Zundel, a landed immigrant since 1958,
has sat in	solitary confinement in the Metro West Detention Centre
for 7 months.
CSIS says he's a threat to national security
In 42-years in Canada, he was never charged with or convicted of any
act of violence.
He has * no pen * no pillow  * no post-it notes * no hardcover books *
no chair.Yet, he must try to prepare a half dozen legal cases.
He is allowed only children's pencils for writing material.
In Court, July 30, Mr. Justice Pierre Blais called these conditions
"mediaeval>"
Ernst Zundel
Prisoner of Conscience
Secret Trials in Canada?
You'd better believe it!
How would you defend yourself, if you didn't know what the evidence
was against you? You couldn't.

And neither can Ernst Zundel and about 20 other unfortunates ordered
deported under a CSIS "national security" certificate.

In a  complete departure from Anglo-Saxon justice where the defendant
can face his accuser and know the evidence against him, Mr. Zundel has
been the victim of secret hearings before each of his  detention and 
bail review
hearings. He doesn't know the evidence or the identity of the witnesses
and, thus, is handicapped in offering a defence.
_____________________________________

To learn more about the Zundel case, see our website
http://www.canadianfreespeech.com or write: The Canadian Association for
Free Expression, Box 332, Rexdale, ON., M9W 5L3. 905-897-7221: FAX:
905-277-3914. Donations to the Zundel Defence Fund are gratefully accepted
and all are acknowledged with a thank you piece of art done in prison by
Ernst Zundel.

[THIS AD WAS REJECTED BY HILL TIMES PUBLISHER JIM CRESKEY SEPTEMBER 8,  2003]