Ernst Zündel
German-Canadian Human Rights Activist206 Carlton Street, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5A 2L1
Telephone (416) 922-9850
Fax: (416) 922-8614Editorial
March 5, 1997
RE: "Closing of entry loophole nears - Zündel case spurred plans for change" (Feb. 21, 1997 - Globe & Mail)
In his article in the Globe reporting that the Liberal government had introduced new amendments to the Citizenship Act and the Immigration Act to "close" the Zündel entry loophole, Hugh Windsor was in error stating that my application for Canadian citizenship was denied last year "based on a security certificate after an investigation by SIRC."
SIRC never issued any such certificate. The processing of my application was suspended by the Minister of Citizenship after receiving a report from the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) that I was a "threat to the national security of Canada" because of my "right-wing" beliefs and because I was deemed to be in a position to "direct" my "followers" to "commit acts of serious violence".
I have never been charged in my life with any sort of "act of criminal violence", yet my application was denied because I was in a "position" to direct others do so - maybe in the future!
The purpose of the investigation by SIRC was to determine whether in fact the allegations of CSIS were true. I was able to argue successfully in Federal Court that SIRC had no business making this investigation based on its outrageous, politically biased statements against me contained in the "Heritage Front Report."
The Federal Court agreed with my contention that SIRC's statements in that vicious report showed not only a reasonable apprehension of bias but that it, in fact, had prejudged the case against me without ever hearing my side of the story before them.
Secondly, Windsor was in error stating that I said I am "going to reapply for citizenship." I have no need to reapply. My application for citizenship is pending and should be allowed.
I have lived in Canada for almost 40 years, and my opinions on World War II history are legal and are increasingly recognized as factually correct - albeit not politically correct! If my opinions are so stupid and outrageous, then they should be easily refuted. I should be the laughing stock of the country - not a "security threat"! However, it appears that my detractors have found it very difficult to refute me on the merits.
Instead of harassing me further with financially crippling, politically motivated hearings, appeals and legislative amendments, the Liberal government should root out the appointees of SIRC who have so blatantly abused their positions by their own agenda-driven attacks on the political right wing in Canada. The "right wing," to Liberals, includes not only Ernst Zündel but the Reform Party of Canada which Liberal Party members routinely slander in Parliament as "racists" and "extremists."
What is next? If the intolerant Liberal government members call Reform Party members "extremists," then it means that CSIS is spying on Reform because the political appointees at SIRC have mandated the surveillance of "right wing extremists" to please the government in power.
Reform Party members should remember this before they jump on the bandwagon to destroy me and a perfectly legitimate part of the political spectrum in Canada - namely the "right wing." By doing so, Reformers are condoning illegal activity by CSIS, which is and was meddling in the democratic process in Canada during and since the Bristow Affair, and are helping to cover up the sickening corruption in SIRC which seeks to intimidate and suppress any dissent in Canada from Liberal government policies.
Just how far is Mr. Chretien's Liberal government willing to subvert the political freedoms and rights of those Canadians holding right-wing views through the use of CSIS as a secret political police, and its lapdog, SIRC? Just how much of a real democracy do we have in Canada? Those are the questions Canadians should be asking themselves.
My contention is that it is not Ernst Zundel, the political dissident, who poses a threat to the security of Canada. It is the very groups who are sworn to uphold the laws and protect our institutions because they are subverting them from within.
Ernst Zündel
Excerpts from the Globe & Mail article, Feb 21, 1997:
"The government moved yesterday to close a loophole in the Citizenship and Immigration acts that affect cases in which national security is invoked to deny a person entry to Canada or citizenship.
The loophole came to light in a case before the Federal Court last summer involving Holocaust denier and Nazi sympathizer Ernst Zündel.
Amendments in the act...would permit cabinet to appoint a judge to replace the Security Intelligence Review Committee in some cases involving national security when the committee cannot fulfill its mandate "because of the appearance of bias, a conflict of interest, or any other reason. . .
There are provisions in both pieces of legislation to deny citizenship or immigrant status if there are reasonable grounds to believe the applicant could become a threat to national security or is connected to organized crime. . .
The government is concerned that if the review committee cannot act for some reason or terminates its investigation without making a recommendation, the minister may be forced to grant citizenship to someone it believes to be a threat to national security.
Mr. Zündel is an immigrant who has made no secret about his views about the Holocaust. . ."