{"id":250,"date":"2013-03-23T02:01:41","date_gmt":"2013-03-23T06:01:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cafe.nfshost.com\/?p=250"},"modified":"2013-03-23T02:01:41","modified_gmt":"2013-03-23T06:01:41","slug":"tribute-by-former-canadian-diplomat-ian-v-macdonald-for-doug-christie-memorial-march-23-2013","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cafe.nfshost.com\/?p=250","title":{"rendered":"Tribute by Former Canadian Diplomat Ian V. Macdonald for Doug Christie Memorial, March 23, 2013"},"content":{"rendered":"<div><strong><span style=\"color: #ff0000; font-size: xx-large;\">Tribute by Former Canadian Diplomat Ian V. Macdonald for Doug Christie Memorial, March 23, 2013<\/span><\/strong><\/div>\n<div><strong><span style=\"color: #ff0000; font-size: xx-large;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Photo: Douglas  Hewson Christie, RIP\n\nKeltie Zubko\n\nDouglas Christie\n\nApril 1946 - March 11, 2013\n\nKeltie Zubko\n\nI am heart-broken to say that Doug passed away this afternoon in Victoria Hospice. Cadeyrn, Kalonica, Doug's sister Jane, and I were all with him and able to say all that was in our hearts to say before he let go of the pain and suffering to leave us with the immense gifts of his love for us and the lessons of his life.\n\nMarc Lemire:\n\nDouglas Christie was a great man and will be missed by so many.  He was one of my personal heroes!\n\nDear Supporters of Free Speech:\n\nI just received these e-mails from Keltie Zubko, Doug's wife, and Marc Lemire, the intrepid challenger of Canada's notorious  Sec. 13 of the Canadian Human Rights Act (Internet censorship).\n\nDoug was an immensely brave man and a towering presence in Court. His height and firmness of bearing made an impact on many a judge, and, I suspect, many a miscreant or liar under cross-examination.  Other lawyers have told me that Doug was one of the most intimidating cross-examiners in this Dominion. As a former client, (my firing for my political views by the Peel Board of Education and the libel charge by Richard Warman for calling him a &quot;censor&quot;)  I can testify that Doug was demanding and unrelenting that his clients organize and prepare their material.\n\nMy friend of more than 30 years was motivated by a deep love of freedom and a suspicion of government and authority. Perhaps, in the best of ways, he was a symbol of the '60s, an era we both grew up in. It was an era that, however faultily, sought freedom. Neither of us was part of the &quot;tune out, turn on&quot; ethos of the time, but both of us deeply valued individual freedom. Doug lived to see what used to be common political culture of a largely European Canada -- &quot;I disagree with you, but you have a right to your opinion&quot; -- become the prissy, prune-faced political correctness of  Canada today: agree with the minority agenda or you shut up!\n\nOne of his last legal acts was to review the catastrophic Supreme Court of Canada Whatcott decision, where a fervent fundamentalist pamphleteer was found guilty and fined by the Saskatchewan Human Rights Commission for passing out leaflets critical of homosexual teachings in public schools. Doug sadly concluded: &quot;Free speech as we knew it in Canada, is dead.&quot; Having read this revolutionary decision, I, who at first dismissed the conclusion as the pessimism of a dying man, believe his grim view is right.\n\nDoug's unshakable courage in the face of press abuse -- he was once called a &quot;perverted monster&quot; by a  Vancouver talk show  host for having defended revisionist publisher Ernst Zundel -- put others in the legal profession to shame, Doug didn't just believe in a client's right to a full and proper defence, he really did believe in freedom of speech: that freedom of expression is the gift you must give to your worst enemy, he told a CAFE meeting in Toronto, December 2, 2012. Many other lawyers lost that belief. Terry Tremaine, later one of Doug's clients and another Richard  Warman free speech victim, called on seven Regina law firms to represent him in a &quot;judicial review&quot; (appeal) against the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal decision finding him guilty of spreading &quot;hate&quot; on the Internet. Finding out that this was a controversial free speech case running headlong into political correctness, not a single Regina law firm would touch Mr. Tremaine's case.\n\n Murderers, child molesters, rape-kidnap-murder perpetrators like Karla Homolka and Paul Bernardo, or more recently accused murderer and butcher Luka Magnotta, had no trouble finding counsel. The media and other bien pensants would praise their lawyers as brave and creative lawyers. Yet, Doug Christie, who stood up for non-violent freethinkers assailed for having unpopular beliefs. was often reviled in the press and in the legal profession.\n\nThe Doug I knew was a sensitive and proud man. He was a deeply moral man. He did not seek notoriety. He felt the rejections and condemnations deeply. Yet, Doug felt a higher imperative -- individual freedom and liberty.  These had once been the values of our generation. But many of the free speech advocates of the 1960s had grown old and paunchy and grey and had been subverted into Frankfurt School political correctness. They had become the very repressive, narrow-minded Establishment they  had once reviled. Doug never lost that youthful passion for freedom.\n\nRanged, often with the highly talented legal researcher Barbara Kulazska at his side, against the endless money and batteries of lawyers of various repressive government bodies, Doug Christie was a one man Dutch boy with his finger in the dyke holding back the tidal wave of repression. His achievements were many. He singlehandedly got Canada's archaic &quot;false news&quot; law used to  try to silence Ernst Zundel ruled unconstitutional. His persistence in the Terry Tremaine Sec. 319 &quot;hate law&quot; case got the charges stayed for undue delay,\n\nDoug's towering presence in the defence of freedom will be sorely missed. The would-be censors, the minority zealots who would silence any opinion but their own and those who hate the unfettered thoughts of free men and women whenever they deviate from the prune-faced, fussy little orthodoxy of political correctness may feel a little freer to pursue their repressive instincts tonight with the passing of this great man.\n\nAnother important aspect of Doug Christie was his political life as an outspoken and often lonely champion of Western separation. I first met Doug Christie on a rainy late afternoon at the Vancouver television studios of the then famous Jack Webster Show. At the time, Doug apparently had something to do with the British Columbia provincial Conservative Party. Although a seemingly quiet man,  as we exchanged a few words, I knew I had met a man with an imposing presence. we parted and I went in to do my interview with the irrascible Scot to promote my critique of foreign aid, the recently published book Down the Drain: A Critical Re-examination of Canadian Foreign Aid Policy.\n\nI next met Doug when I travelled to Red Deer for  a meeting to support a thoughtful school teacher Jim Keegstra who was being charged under Canada's notorious &quot;hate law&quot;, section 319 of the Criminal Code. By now, Doug Christie was famous as a champion of Western separation.\n\nThe early 1980s were heady times. The arrogant Trudeau socialists had brought in the National Energy Programme. Alberta, devastated by a slump in oil prices, had ruined people walking away from their homes, on which they often owed more than what they were worth. Alberta was in near revolt. Doug Christie criss-crossed the West arguing for separation and independence. No longer should the West be bled dry by the East and held up with high prices for Eastern manufactured goods. He held up a vision of more populist and responsive government in a unilingual English country. State intrusion in ownership of guns would be reduced and, of course, anti-free speech laws would be abolished. The West would be a proud country of independent men and women, not a nanny state of  Ottawa-controlled serfs.\n\nDoug Christie's message was a powerful one. He spoke to packed meetings in halls across Western Canada. He packed the Jubilee Auditorium in Edmonton with several thousand people. His party the Western Canada Concept contested a by-election in Alberta and the separatist candidate Gordon Kessler was elected.\n\nThere were, of course, problems. The party tended to be run out of Doug Christie's briefcase. A flock of opportunists and not a few federalist agents joined the party. There was a lack of seasoned and experienced staff. Divisions followed and plagued the party.\n\nIn 1984, the Mulroney Conservatives were elected with a large  representation of Western MPs. They repealed some of the worst abuses of the NEP. However, with their many neo-Liberal policies, they left many real populists and conservatives feeling betrayed. There arose a new populist party, the Reform Party, with the slogan &quot;the West wants in.&quot; It was well-funded and seemed to offer a less radical answer to Western grievances.\n\nDoug Christie soldiered on explaining his vision in the monthly Western Separatist Papers and later on the WCC website . The meetings were fewer and less well attended. The WCC ran a few candidates in each federal election, but the enthusiasm for separation had passed. In the past decade, the West has become rich. Saskatchewan, once an exporter of wheat and people, is now a &quot;have&quot; province. Alberta's oil sands are a job magnet.\n\nSo, was Doug Christie's vision of an independent West wrong? Only history will tell. For much of the 140-year long struggle for Irish independence, those pushing for an independent state were for long periods of time treated, even by many Irishmen, as crackpots. But their day came as it may come for Western Canadian Independence.\n\nWhatever history's final judgement of Doug Christie's Western Canada Concept, he kept the faith and articulated a vision of a free and independent West with intelligence and dedication.\n\nPaul Fromm\n\nDirector\n\nCANADIAN ASSOCIATION FOR FREE EXPRESSION\" src=\"https:\/\/fbcdn-sphotos-f-a.akamaihd.net\/hphotos-ak-ash3\/c13.0.403.403\/p403x403\/598674_152995591533356_1541327197_n.jpg\" width=\"403\" height=\"403\" \/><\/span><\/strong><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><strong><span style=\"color: #3333ff; font-size: xx-large;\">Recognizing Doug Christie&#8217;s service to Canada:\u00a0 Memorial Meeting, March 23, 2013<\/span><\/strong><\/div>\n<div><span style=\"font-size: large;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n<div><strong><span style=\"font-size: large;\">Thanks for the suggestion.\u00a0 There will be so many tributes\u00a0 that\u00a0anything\u00a0I could add would be redundant, but I\u00a0have done a\u00a0 short piece\u00a0(below)\u00a0based on\u00a0a letter to Peter Milliken, former\u00a0 Speaker of the House of Commons, suggesting that he would be the appropriate\u00a0 person to nominate Doug for the Order of Canada,\u00a0\u00a0an award long\u00a0 overdue for which Doug has shown\u00a0 himself to be better qualified than most\u00a0 recipients to date.\u00a0 Peter Milliken\u00a0replied that nominations are\u00a0 better made by people who were most familiar with the individual named, and that\u00a0 he\u00a0did not know Doug Christie (although surely he was familiar with his\u00a0 good works).<\/span><\/strong><\/div>\n<div><span style=\"font-size: large;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n<div><strong><span style=\"font-size: large;\">I\u00a0hoped to find a prominent alternative sponsor but\u00a0 unfortunately time had run out, and apparently the Order of Canada is not\u00a0 awarded posthumously.\u00a0 Perhaps we can have an exception made\u00a0in Doug&#8217;s\u00a0 case.\u00a0 In eny event, Doug&#8217;s service to the people of Canada\u00a0deserves\u00a0 national recognition, and it is up to\u00a0us to argue for it.<\/span><\/strong><\/div>\n<div><span style=\"font-size: large;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n<div><span style=\"font-size: large;\"><strong>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<wbr \/>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 ******************************<wbr \/>**************<\/strong>\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n<div><span style=\"font-size: large;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n<div><span style=\"font-size: large;\"><strong>My lengthy friendship with Doug Christie began in the late\u00a0 &#8216;eighties when I had almost run out of hope of finding a lawyer to contest my\u00a0 <\/strong><strong>1984\u00a0dismissal from a Federal Government\u00a0 position\u00a0and\u00a0forfeiture of\u00a0my paid-up pension. I approached all\u00a0 the law firms in Ottawa who\u00a0advertised competence in &#8220;unlawful dismissal&#8221;\u00a0 litigation\u00a0but, after initial enthusiasm,\u00a0all declined\u00a0when\u00a0 they\u00a0ascertained that the Jewish Lobby (which included the Israeli Embassy)\u00a0 was the culprit.\u00a0 In desperation, as the appeal deadline approached, I drew\u00a0 up the appeal myself.\u00a0 I sent a copy to Doug Christie, whom I\u00a0 had\u00a0 heard speak in Ottawa, to vet my handiwork.\u00a0 He\u00a0replied that he would\u00a0 be glad to represent me, despite the distance from Victoria,\u00a0if I could\u00a0 find no other.<\/strong><\/span><\/div>\n<div><span style=\"font-size: large;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n<div><span style=\"font-size: large;\"><strong>Since there were no legitimate\u00a0grounds for dismissal,\u00a0a\u00a0 favourable outcome\u00a0at Court\u00a0seemed assured.\u00a0 However,\u00a0 a<\/strong><strong>s\u00a0Doug began his examination of the Plaintiff, he was\u00a0 interrupted by the Judge who told him he should think twice if he intended to\u00a0 mention &#8220;Jews&#8221; or\u00a0raise the subject of a &#8220;Jewish conspiracy&#8221; since to do so\u00a0 would seriously jeopardize his chance of success.\u00a0 Although\u00a0 clearly\u00a0the Jewish Lobby was behind\u00a0the dismissal, Doug felt obliged\u00a0 to comply\u00a0and\u00a0made a case\u00a0 that, even without\u00a0 the\u00a0 Jews,\u00a0was more than adequate,\u00a0especially since\u00a0the Department of\u00a0 Justice lawyers presented no evidence.\u00a0 Nevertheless, the Appeal\u00a0 failed.<\/strong><\/span><\/div>\n<div><span style=\"font-size: large;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n<div><span style=\"font-size: large;\"><strong>I\u00a0asked an old friend, who had specialized in Public Service\u00a0 law, how it was possible\u00a0<\/strong><strong>that\u00a0I could lose. \u00a0He\u00a0 asked the name of the Judge.\u00a0 When I\u00a0told him, he said the Judge was\u00a0 an &#8220;old\u00a0Liberal hack who knows how the game is played&#8221;.\u00a0 Shortly\u00a0 after, by chance, I ran into a former neighbour, the\u00a0renowned\u00a0Judge\u00a0 John Matheson, at an Alumni Reunion at Queen&#8217;s and put to\u00a0him the same\u00a0 question.\u00a0 He asked the name of my lawyer.\u00a0 When I replied &#8220;Doug\u00a0 Christie&#8221; he said &#8220;Well, that&#8217;s your answer &#8211; there&#8217;s no way they were going\u00a0 to\u00a0let <em>him <\/em>win the case&#8221;.\u00a0<\/strong><\/span><\/div>\n<div><span style=\"font-size: large;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n<div><strong><span style=\"font-size: large;\">More recently, I retained\u00a0Doug\u00a0in a\u00a0defamation claim\u00a0 against\u00a0the CBC for permitting the egregious Warren Kinsella to state on\u00a0 national TV that I was one of\u00a0 the main sources of finance for\u00a0 extreme\u00a0right-wing terrorism in Canada.\u00a0 The Judge found, in her\u00a0 &#8220;Reasons for Judgement&#8221; that would have been no different had they been written\u00a0 by the Canadian Jewish Congress,\u00a0that\u00a0the\u00a0comments were not\u00a0 defamatory, even to the slightest degree and, falsely, that in any event\u00a0I\u00a0 was out of\u00a0time,\u00a0giving credibility to\u00a0Kinsella&#8217;s\u00a0 ludicrous\u00a0story and forcing me to pay the Defendants&#8217; substantial legal\u00a0 fees.\u00a0 The decision was upheld on appeal.\u00a0 A Supreme\u00a0 Court\u00a0application was denied.\u00a0 Such is the quality of justice in\u00a0 Canada.\u00a0 <\/span><\/strong><\/div>\n<div><span style=\"font-size: large;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n<div><strong><span style=\"font-size: large;\">Aside from my own cases, I have followed Doug Christie&#8217;s fortunes\u00a0 and misfortunes for many years and recognize him as being\u00a0without par as\u00a0 the epitome of all that is honourable and equitable\u00a0in the practice of his\u00a0 profession, combined with\u00a0an empathy for ostracized\u00a0victims of our\u00a0 Politically Correct society who are\u00a0shunned, condemned\u00a0and punished,\u00a0 however worthy and valid their opinions.\u00a0 He is virtually unique in\u00a0 Canada\u00a0in his self-sacrifice on behalf of his victimized clients and in his\u00a0 willingness\u00a0share their distress, although it has cost him the\u00a0 public\u00a0esteem he might have earned in law and politics,\u00a0and an\u00a0 otherwise very\u00a0profitable legal\u00a0career. <\/span><\/strong><\/div>\n<div><span style=\"font-size: large;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n<div><strong><span style=\"font-size: large;\">It\u00a0has cost him also\u00a0his\u00a0health, as he has been\u00a0 struck down in his prime\u00a0by\u00a0a cancer that\u00a0doubtless was\u00a0 aggravated, if not\u00a0induced, by the stress and\u00a0 frustration\u00a0of\u00a0appearing before\u00a0a hostile\u00a0judiciary and\u00a0 facing the wrath of venal law society zealots,\u00a0covering\u00a0 their\u00a0shamelessness with invective, ad hominems\u00a0and\u00a0 baseless\u00a0condemnation of an\u00a0ultra-respectable\u00a0man whose\u00a0 Christian\u00a0rectitude and respect for tradition\u00a0are beyond their\u00a0 comprehension.<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Photo: Ex-Diplomat Ian Macdonald Tells National Post Neo-Con Scribblers to Get Real About Canadian Sovereignty     \n\n December 24, 2012\n\nEditor\n\nNATIONAL POST\n\nToronto\n\nDear Sir\n\n Re:  Protecting Canadian sovereignty\n\nThe debate on how best to defend Canada becomes more and more unrealistic as it increasingly centres on military weaponry, notably the implausible F-35, while ignoring the real threat to our sovereignty of alien political, cultural and economic hegemony, menacingly accompanied and reinforced by an invasion from Sub-Saharan African and other Third World exploding-population regions.  The influx, and concomitant displacement of traditional British\/European immigrants, will ensure the demise of the nation as we know it, unless a timely remedy, including repatriation, can be found. \n\nWhat is it then that your columnists and others seek to defend?  Seemingly, the status quo, although obviously it is just a way station on the road to oblivion for the founding races.  What needs to be addressed, urgently, is not the &quot;red herring&quot; of an inconceivable bombing attack by a major power.  It is the corrosive, corrupting subversion that already has enabled the &quot;enemy within the gates&quot; not only to dispossess traditional Canadians of their assets and their rights (esp. freedom of speech) but also to take effective control of the Federal Government, including the security services and judiciary, and of the mainline media that otherwise could have exposed and led to prosecution of the stealthy, incorrigably-avaricious occupiers, rendering them permanently harmless through massive restitution orders and incarceration. \n\nThe tsunami of self-selected, unassimilable Africans and South Asians across our undefended borders, if not soon reversed, will have even more profound consequences.  Unfortunately, the flow has now gained sufficient momentum to thwart effective control, let alone reversal, at least so long as the invaders' &quot;rights&quot; take precedence over those of their unwilling hosts - an outrageous anomaly that could exist only where government and media are under the full control of traitors and crass opportunists.\n\nAs ever,\n\nIan V. Macdonald\n\n Ex-RCAF, RNFAA, Foreign Service, rtd.\n\nOttawa ON\" src=\"http:\/\/sphotos-c.ak.fbcdn.net\/hphotos-ak-snc6\/c115.0.403.403\/p403x403\/735129_122499431249639_905947542_n.jpg\" width=\"403\" height=\"403\" \/><\/span><\/strong><\/div>\n<div><span style=\"font-size: large;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n<div><strong><span style=\"font-size: large;\">He has many admirers who now seek to memorialize him for all his\u00a0 good works as an outstanding Canadian, selfless Good Samaritan and proud\u00a0 Scot\u00a0who dedicated his life to the struggle for truth, freedom and justice\u00a0 to a degree equaled by few if any\u00a0others.\u00a0 He deserves\u00a0 formal\u00a0recognition by the people of Canada.\u00a0\u00a0It is\u00a0up to his\u00a0 friends and admirers to ensure his place in the history of the struggle for\u00a0 freedom of speech\u00a0and an honest judiciary in Canada.<\/span><\/strong><\/div>\n<div><span style=\"font-size: large;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n<div><strong><span style=\"font-size: large;\">Ian Macdonald<\/span><\/strong><\/div>\n<div><strong><span style=\"font-size: large;\">Ottawa, ON.<\/span><\/strong><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Tribute by Former Canadian Diplomat Ian V. Macdonald for Doug Christie Memorial, March 23, 2013 Recognizing Doug Christie&#8217;s service to Canada:\u00a0 Memorial Meeting, March 23, 2013 \u00a0 Thanks for the suggestion.\u00a0 There will be so many tributes\u00a0 that\u00a0anything\u00a0I could add &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/cafe.nfshost.com\/?p=250\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[51,75],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cafe.nfshost.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/250"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cafe.nfshost.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cafe.nfshost.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cafe.nfshost.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cafe.nfshost.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=250"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cafe.nfshost.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/250\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":251,"href":"https:\/\/cafe.nfshost.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/250\/revisions\/251"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cafe.nfshost.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=250"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cafe.nfshost.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=250"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cafe.nfshost.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=250"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<br />
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