{"id":4132,"date":"2020-06-20T05:43:59","date_gmt":"2020-06-20T09:43:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cafe.nfshost.com\/?p=4132"},"modified":"2020-06-20T05:44:36","modified_gmt":"2020-06-20T09:44:36","slug":"canadian-anti-hate-network-cahn-exposed-the-wrath-of-cahn-by-john-klein","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cafe.nfshost.com\/?p=4132","title":{"rendered":"Canadian Anti-Hate Network (CAHN) Exposed: The Wrath of CAHN by John Klein"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

<\/a>Canadian Anti-Hate Network (CAHN) Exposed: The Wrath of CAHN by John Klein<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Wrath of CAHN<\/h1>\n\n\n\n
\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\tJohn Klein\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\tJanuary 22, 2020\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\tCanada is among the world\u2019s most tolerant and peaceable countries. \nThe Canadian Anti-Hate Network wants you to believe otherwise, however, \nworking tirelessly to convince Canadians their country is a seething \nhotbed of (mostly white, right-wing) hate groups. John Klein lays bare \nthe hypocrisy, intolerance and damage done to individuals and free \nspeech rights when a small group of political activists model themselves\n on a much larger American group and appoint themselves as our country\u2019s\n figurative judge, jury and executioner.\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You can\u2019t tell the haters without a program. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
For\n decades the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) has styled itself as the\n indispensable guide to what constitutes hatred in the United States. \nIts signature \u201c Hate Map<\/a>\u201d\n has long been cited in the media and by commentators as an objective \nand reliable reference point for measuring the worrisome growth of hate \ngroups across America. And according to the SPLC, hate is always \ngrowing. The latest Hate Map puts<\/a> the number of active hate groups in the U.S. at 1,020,\n up by 70 percent since 2000. Another thing that\u2019s seemingly always \ngrowing at the SPLC: its bank account. Thanks to its self-declared \nstatus as arbiter of American hate, and in conjunction with highly \nsophisticated fundraising techniques, the group holds an astounding half-billion<\/em> dollars in assets<\/a>, making it one of America\u2019s richest non-profit advocacy groups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Despite\n such obvious trappings of success, the Alabama-based SPLC has lately \nfound itself on the receiving end of the sort of nasty accusations it \ntypically makes of others. Last year the organization was rocked by \nseveral internal accusations of sexual impropriety and racism against \nco-founder and former chief litigator Morris Dees, who was fired that \nMarch. Dees \u2212 long the public face of the organization, as well as a \nmember of the Direct Marketing Association\u2019s Hall of Fame for his \nmasterful use of direct mail solicitations \u2212 was apparently fond of \nreminding his black female staffers how much he liked \u201cchocolate\u201d, among\n other lewd remarks<\/a>, as well as inappropriate touching; it was recently revealed that decades ago he faced an accusation of molesting his stepdaughter with a sex toy. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
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\u201cChocolate\u201d lover: SPLC co-founder Dees was at last fired from the organization.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
Beyond the damaging hypocrisy of an anti-hate group being accused of sexist and racist behaviour, the SPLC has also been sued<\/a>\n by several organizations and individuals claiming they were maliciously\n and erroneously targeted as \u201chaters\u201d and, in the case of Muslim \nreformer and counter-extremist Maajid Nawaz (whom it had labelled an \nanti-Muslim \u201cextremist\u201d), has had to pay out millions of dollars. This \nis a remarkable fact, considering the legal hurdle for defamation in the\n U.S. is nearly insurmountable. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The reputation of the SPLC\u2019s much-cited Hate Map has also been seriously damaged in other ways. A recent insider\u2019s account<\/a> in the New Yorker<\/em> alleges the SPLC\u2019s hate data has been deliberately exaggerated in order to coax donations from \u201cgullible Northern liberals\u201d. And the far-left magazine Current Affairs <\/em>devastatingly declared <\/a>that the SPLC \u201cis a scam: It finds as much \u2018hate\u2019 as possible in order to make as much money as possible.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
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The SPLC\u2019s upside-down world: Counter-extremist Muslim reformer Nawaz was labelled an \u201canti-Muslim extremist.\u201d<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
While\n the reek of hypocrisy was highly inconvenient, the allegations of \u201chate\n inflation\u201d undermine the group\u2019s very legitimacy. The confluence of internal crises and external criticisms has prompted nearly every top SPLC official<\/a> abruptly to leave the group, Twitter to drop the SPLC as one of its hate-monitoring \u201csafety partners\u201d and a U.S. Senator to request<\/a> the IRS investigate its non-profit status. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
In\n short, the SPLC\u2019s carefully crafted public image as a virtuous \nhate-fighter has been shredded. It hardly seems a model to emulate. Yet \nthat\u2019s exactly what the fledgling Canadian Anti-Hate Network (CAHN) is \ndoing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Canada\u2019s SPLC<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
CAHN began operations in early<\/a> 2018, billing itself<\/a>\n as an \u201cindependent, nonprofit organization made up of Canada\u2019s leading \nexperts and researchers on hate groups and hate crimes.\u201d Its mandate, \naccording to CAHN\u2019s website, \u201cis to monitor, research, and counter hate \ngroups by providing education and information on hate groups to the \npublic, media, researchers, courts, law enforcement, and community \ngroups.\u201d And it makes no bones about the inspiration for its domestic \nanti-hate crusade. In a letter<\/a>\n to a House of Commons committee introducing itself to Canadian \nparliamentarians last April, CAHN claimed to be \u201cmodelled after, and \nsupported by, the esteemed Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) in the \nUnited States.\u201d The letter was delivered several weeks after<\/em> the no-longer-esteemed Dees was fired for allegations of sexual and racial misconduct.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\t\t\t\tCAHN claimed to be \u201cmodelled after, and supported by, the esteemed \nSouthern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) in the United States.\u201d The letter was\n delivered to Parliament several weeks after the SPLC\u2019s \nno-longer-esteemed co-founder Dees was fired for allegations of sexual \nand racial misconduct.\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tTweet\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n
CAHN\n is chaired by Bernie Farber, well-known in Canadian media circles for \nan earlier career as CEO of the Canadian Jewish Congress (CJC). Other \nkey members of the organization include executive director Evan Balgord<\/a>,\n a former special assistant to Toronto mayor John Tory, controversial \n\u201canti-hate\u201d lawyer Richard Warman and Ontario Institute of Technology \nprofessor Barbara Perry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The\n first necessary step in following the SPLC\u2019s path is to establish CAHN \nas a useful source of hate information in Canada. CAHN\u2019s principals make\n themselves readily available to media outlets eager to tell terrifying \nstories about the proliferation of hate groups in our midst. The CBC<\/a> and Global News<\/a> appear to be the most ardent devotees of this service, although a wide range of publications at home and abroad<\/a>\n avail themselves of CAHN\u2019s self-proclaimed expertise. In a particularly\n successful twist on its formula, CAHN board member Amira Elghawaby \nrecently announced on Twitter that the Toronto Star<\/em> will have her write a \u201cbimonthly\u201d column focused on \u201cexploring human rights\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The\n group also makes savvy use of social media for publicity and \nfundraising, and as a weapon in its anti-hate activities. Ricochet \nMedia, an online portal that bills itself as a crowd-funded public \ninterest journal (but is at least partly Government-of-Canada funded and\n seems to publish only left-wing content), is another outlet where \nCAHN\u2019s messages are quoted approvingly and amplified. This breathless article<\/a>,\n for example, alleged \u201clevels of extremist activity not seen in \ngenerations\u201d and called upon governments to do more than merely monitor \nand research right-wing extremists. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\t\t\t\tPerry makes the stunning claim that approximately 300 hate groups \nare extant in Canada. If true, this would give Canada a three times \nhigher per capita incidence of hate groups than even the SPLC claims \nexists in the U.S.\t\t\t \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tTweet\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n
Having\n inserted itself into public discussions on hate, the next requirement \nin SPLC mimicry is to build a case that Canada is a seething hotbed of \nhatred. CAHN\u2019s website offers a veritable avalanche of revealed hate: neo-Nazi groups<\/a> are lurking in central Canadian suburbs, hate groups<\/a> you\u2019ve never heard of are organizing across Atlantic Canada, gender-identity hatred<\/a> is simmering on the West Coast, anti-Semitism is surging<\/a> everywhere.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The\n recent federal election produced an apparent bumper crop of hate in \nCanada, with CAHN training its steely eyes on everything from Maxime \nBernier\u2019s People\u2019s Party of Canada<\/a> to the Yellow Vest movement<\/a> to an entirely insignificant collection of political no-hopers<\/a>\n scattered across the country. As for the total amount of hate in this \ncountry, Perry makes the stunning claim that approximately 300 hate groups<\/a> are extant in Canada. If true, this would give Canada a three times<\/em> higher<\/em>\n per capita incidence of hate groups than even the SPLC claims exists in\n the U.S. Despite the shock value of her allegations, Perry has not \nproduced the actual list, or any verifiable evidence that such a claim \nis accurate. In 2015, Perry claimed there were only 100 hate groups<\/a> in Canada. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
$\"\"\/$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
$\"Haters,$
Haters,\n haters everywhere, from PPC leader Bernier to the Yellow Vests. If this\n is the best CAHN can do, is there really that much hate in Canada?<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
Arguing hate is in such great supply in this country is quite a feat given that Canada generally tops global surveys<\/a> on\n racial tolerance and acceptance of immigration. And despite CAHN\u2019s \nbreathless claims, open expressions of racism in Canada are actually quite rare<\/a>. Interestingly, visible minorities and non-visible minorities often report experiencing similar rates of discriminatory <\/a>acts. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The most recent Statistics Canada survey<\/a>\n of police-reported hate crimes happily reveals a substantial \nyear-over-year decline. Some places in Canada reported precisely zero \nhate crimes in 2018. Belleville, Ontario and Trois Rivi\u00e8res, Quebec were\n two such cities. Many other places recorded a mere handful. Examples \nare St. John\u2019s, Newfoundland with one; Lethbridge, Alberta with three; \nand Abbotsford, B.C. with six. Out of 2.3 million Criminal Code \nviolations that year, there were just 1,798 hate crimes \u2013 substantially \nless than one-tenth of one percent of the total. And the vast majority \nof these offences were for mischief or graffiti. Actual violence is \nvery, very hard to find. Fewer than 100 instances of hate-motivated \nassaults were recorded across the entire country in 2018, of which just \ntwo were homicides. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
In truth, Canada appears to be a country remarkable for its lack<\/em>\n of hate. But you wouldn\u2019t know this from listening to CAHN. In response\n to the recent happy news that hate crimes fell sharply in 2018, CAHN \ncomplained that these new figures \u201caren\u2019t showing the whole picture<\/a>.\u201d It then launched a campaign for \u201cbetter hate crime statistics.\u201d<\/a> What CAHN really wants, presumably, is bigger<\/em> hate crime statistics. As American journalist Wilfred Reilly memorably said <\/a>of the Jussie Smollett hate-crime hoax in Chicago, \u201cthe demand for bigots exceeds the supply.\u201d Reilly is African-American. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Judge, jury and executioner<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
In\n addition to claiming hate is always on the rise, CAHN closely follows \nseveral other discreditable SPLC tactics. Among these is the practice of\n \u201cdoxing\u201d its enemies. Doxing<\/a>\n involves publishing the details and contact information of \norganizations, businesses and even private individuals deemed to be \npurveyors of hate. The objective is to expose those it declares to be \nhaters to public opprobrium, or worse. It can get out of hand. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
CAHN has doxed<\/a> the founder of a far-right podcast who owns a small business in Thunder Bay. It also threatened to publish<\/a>\n the names and addresses of members of the Canadian Nationalist Party in\n an unsuccessful attempt to derail their application for official party \nstatus with Elections Canada. And it published the names of hundreds of \ndonors to the quixotic Toronto mayoral campaign of Faith Goldy. \u201cNaming \nand shaming is part of our mandate,\u201d the group explains on its Twitter \naccount. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\t\t\t\tIn many cases, the only evidence of hate to be found amongst CAHN\u2019s \ntargets is that they question Ottawa\u2019s sacred twin ideologies of \ndiversity and multiculturalism. But simply calling for illegal \nimmigrants \u2013 who have, after all, broken Canada\u2019s laws \u2013 to be deported \nis not itself evidence of hate.\t\t\t \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tTweet\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n
In\n one horrifying example of naming-and-shaming\u2019s potential consequences \nin the United States, Jessica Prol Smith, an editor at the \nWashington-based Family Research Council, a pro-marriage group opposed \nto homosexuality, found her life threatened by a gunman. In 2012, Floyd \nLee Corkins II shot and wounded a security guard at Smith\u2019s building \nbefore being subdued; he later admitted his actions were largely \nmotivated by the SPLC\u2019s designation of Smith\u2019s employer as a hate group.\n Corkins was charged with domestic terrorism and is serving a 25-year \nprison sentence. Smith recounted these events last summer in the \nmemorably headlined USA Today<\/em> article \u201cThe Southern Poverty Law Center is a hate-based scam that nearly caused me to be murdered<\/a>.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The\n SPLC and CAHN thus grandly claim for themselves the overlapping roles \nof investigator, adjudicator and punisher of actions, opinions and ideas\n they determine to be wrong. Of course, all of these properly belong to \ngovernment, and all are wisely separated in democratic states. No single\n organization should ever have such sweeping powers combined, let alone a\n private group of activists. CAHN\u2019s arrogance in assuming all three \nbrings to mind the ancient Roman poet Juvenal\u2019s famous aphorism: Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?<\/em> Who will guard the guards themselves? <\/p>\n\n\n\n
$\"\"$ Quis custodiet ipsos custodes? After her employer was labelled by the SPLC, Jessica Prol\u2019s life was threatened by a gunman.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
Other CAHN tactics borrowed from the SPLC include filing highly-dubious requests to police for criminal hate speech investigations<\/a> and restraining orders<\/a>\n against utterly inconsequential people, such as long-time polemicists \nKevin Goudreau and Paul Fromm. Elsewhere, CAHN has successfully pushed<\/a> Facebook to de-platform its opponents, such as the Soldiers of Odin<\/a>,\n a tiny group of nativist bikers who have done charitable work and who \ndispute the news media\u2019s characterization of them as racist. And it is \ncurrently pushing the same for Canada\u2019s chaotic Yellow Vest movement, \nwhich embraces a dizzying array of social and economic concerns (and \nwhose sister group in France is led<\/a> by a native of Martinique). It also convinced Toronto City Council to audit Goldy\u2019s mayoral campaign finances. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
A field guide to spotting hate in Canada: bring your microscope<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
Often,\n those targeted by CAHN or the SPLC are not only insignificant and\/or \nobscure, but too weak or disorganized to fight back. One SPLC staffer noted<\/a>\n Dees\u2019s favoured approach was to pick opponents who had a \u201cpoor \neducation\u2026limited funds, few if any good lawyers\u2026[it] was like shooting \nfish in a barrel.\u201d During Farber\u2019s time as head of the CJC, former Maclean\u2019s<\/em> columnist Mark Steyn described <\/a>him\n as someone who\u2019d spent most of his career fighting \u201cirrelevant \npenniless shaven-headed nobodies\u201d as opposed to actual threats to \nminority rights and society as a whole.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As\n with the SPLC\u2019s targets, sometimes CAHN\u2019s also push back, however. \nCanadian Nationalist Party leader Travis Patron some time ago sent a \ncease-and-desist letter to CAHN\u2019s Balgord, demanding he retract \u201cfalse\u201d \nclaims that his Canadian Nationalist Party is \u201cNeo-Nazi\u201d and that it is \n\u201cunder investigation for alleged \u2018hate speech.\u2019\u201d If Patron\u2019s bank \naccount permits, it will be up to the courts to decide the validity of \nhis case against CAHN. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Regardless\n of the legal outcome, Canadian voters don\u2019t appear to be buying what \nPatron is selling. He received just 166 votes \u2013 or 0.4 percent of total \nballots \u2013 in the Saskatchewan riding of Souris-Moose Mountain in the \nrecent federal election. Patron has demonstrated such little traction \nwith the voting public that it seems pointless to bother getting worked \nup about anything he says. CAHN\u2019s efforts have likely provided him with \nfar more publicity than his trivial Canadian Nationalist Party could \never have hoped to earn on its own. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
In\n many cases, the only evidence of hate to be found amongst CAHN\u2019s \ntargets is that they question Ottawa\u2019s sacred twin ideologies of \ndiversity and multiculturalism. But simply calling for illegal \nimmigrants \u2013 who have, after all, broken Canada\u2019s laws \u2013 to be deported,\n as Patron has, is not itself evidence of hate. Neither is engaging in a\n debate over Canada\u2019s annual immigration intake. CAHN\u2019s animosity \ntowards Bernier\u2019s PPC (whose supporters are \u201c terrible people<\/a>\u201d,\n according to executive director Balgord) and his pledge to limit \nimmigration to 150,000 people per year is rather hard to fathom. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Any party committed to admitting 150,000 immigrants per year \u2013 about the same as Australia\u2019s annual intake<\/a>\n and significantly more than Canada itself welcomed for many years under\n former prime ministers Pierre Trudeau and Brian Mulroney \u2212 cannot \nlogically be considered anti-immigrant, regardless of who chooses to \njoin the party as a result of such a commitment. Most of the world\u2019s \ncountries, in fact, accept almost no immigration at all. Regarding \nBernier\u2019s criticism of \u201cextreme multiculturalism\u201d, in his later years \nPierre Trudeau also came to lament<\/a>\n how official multiculturalism had metastasized into identity politics. \nPlus, Bernier\u2019s party was recognized by the federal Leaders\u2019 Debates \nCommission as a serious and legitimate entity deserving a place in the \nnational televised events.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It is certainly not necessary for a reasonable person to agree with the positions taken by Patron, Goldy, the Soldiers of Odin et al<\/em> \u2212 and in many cases their claims are<\/em>\n embarrassingly na\u00efve, delusional, aggressive or simply plain wrong \u2212 to\n recognize that democracy works best when a full-range of views can be \naired and dismantled as necessary. Censorship is not the answer to bad \nideas. Better ideas are. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
$\"\"\/$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n $\"\"\/$
CAHN\n has targeted Faith Goldy, pictured above with her then-Toronto Mayoral \ncampaign team, and the Soldiers of Odin, seen here at a Fraser Valley \ncommunity clean-up event.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
Instead\n of engaging or debating, the preferred tactic of the aggressive \nanti-hate movement is to attack. The CAHN website boasts that, \u201cWe convinced an Art gallery to Cancel a People\u2019s Party of Canada Event in Winnipeg<\/a>.\u201d How? Via smear tactics and other ugly de-platforming techniques. But with a large segment<\/a>\n of the Canadian population deeply concerned about current immigration \npolicy, wildly throwing around claims of \u201chate\u201d and neo-Nazism at \nopponents who merely seek to debate immigration orthodoxies can only \ncoarsen public discourse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Naming-and-shaming for thee, but not for me<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
CAHN\n makes no evident attempt to acknowledge the massive grey area between \nhotly debated viewpoints and outright hate. Rather, it actively picks \nsides and ignores the consequences. The group flatly bills<\/a> itself as a \u201cmonitor\u201d of \u201cright-wing extremist groups\u201d (and then just white supremacist groups<\/a>, apparently). Warman has explained his purpose is to create \u201c maximum disruption<\/a>\u201d\n for alt-right organizations. As such, CAHN habitually ignores equally \negregious activity by the far-left. In line with the SPLC, CAHN also \ngenerally avoids attacking the speech or association rights of Muslim or\n Sikh extremists, current allies of white liberals. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
CAHN\u2019s Perry as well complains about law enforcement agencies\u2019 tendency to distinguish between hate groups and terrorist groups<\/a>.\n To most people, such a distinction might seem clear and reasonable. In \nthe one category are groups holding strong views that many people might \nfind distasteful or even awful, but that don\u2019t incite or engage in \nviolence; in the other are groups planning and\/or carrying out attacks. \nPerry\u2019s preference, however, is to blur the difference between the two \u2013\n thus conflating the holding of views she considers objectionable with \nillegal activity aimed at destroying Western society.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When\n presented with evidence of apparent hate-related activity that appears \nto meet or exceed the flimsy standards applied against foes such as \nPatron, but emanating from the other end of the political or religious \nspectrum, CAHN seems unable to rouse itself off the couch, let alone \ncommit to a full-on anti-hate or doxing campaign. Consider the group\u2019s \nsurprisingly flaccid response to Islamist activist Jawed Anwar\u2019s<\/a> plans for an Islamic Party of Ontario. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
While\n admitting Anwar espouses the sort of hardline religious views about \ngender and homosexuality that CAHN despises when promoted by white \nChristian polemicists like Patron or former Ontario Progressive \nConservative leadership candidate Tanya Granic Allen, it brushes off \nAnwar as an inconsequential distraction. \u201cThere are no indications that \n[Islamic Party of Ontario] has any support,\u201d reads CAHN\u2019s Facebook page.\n \u201cTo make it out to be a significant threat at present time is \nfearmongering.\u201d To a principled defender of free speech rights, this \nstatement could seem reasonable on its face. Coming from CAHN, it is \nremarkable for its hypocrisy. If causing a ruckus about idiosyncratic \ngroups with an insignificant public presence is \u201cfearmongering\u201d, then \nCAHN is a banner candidate to be Canada\u2019s fearmonger-in-chief. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
CAHN seems equally unconcerned about Canadian branch plant operations of the violent Antifa movement<\/a> or the overt anti-white prejudice of Black Lives Matter<\/a>\n (BLM). Both organizations are examples of alt-left extremism, no \ndifferent in principle from the alt-right groups CAHN seeks to put out \nof business, and often far worse in practise. Antifa members are \nfrequently found assaulting their opponents in messy \ncounter-demonstrations, while BLM\n prefers civil disobedience that often seems to go just slightly too \nfar, at times resulting in serious physical injuries, including to police officers<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
$\"\"\/$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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The Antifa and BLM movements are somehow exempt from investigation and scrutiny by CAHN.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
In this area, CAHN\u2019s approach is unlike the SPLC\u2019s, which regularly denounces<\/a> the violence of these groups (although still keeping them off its extremist list). The CAHN website actively encourages<\/a> citizens to partner with Antifa in staging counter-demonstrations (which the SPLC specifically advises against<\/a>). Balgord has also defended<\/a> its tactics in print despite the movement being accused of domestic terrorism<\/a>\n by the Obama Administration. And with no hint of irony, Balgord \nexplicitly defends Antifa thugs\u2019 preference for facemasks as a necessary\n precaution since it \u201cprotects themselves from doxing\u201d \u2212 the very tactic\n favoured by CAHN against its<\/em> opponents. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Given\n such tendentiousness, Farber and his cohorts\u2019 attempt to position CAHN \nas a reliable and objective arbiter of what constitutes hate strains \ncredulity. When combined with CAHN\u2019s behaviour to date, it is difficult \nto envision anyone who stumbles into the organization\u2019s crosshairs \nreceiving an impartial evaluation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Section 13 redux<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
Beyond simply making life difficult for its carefully-curated enemies, CAHN\u2019s broader ambition appears to be establishing itself<\/a>\n in the space vacated by the departed but unlamented Section 13 of the \nCanadian Human Rights Act. This notoriously stringent law once barred online speech that \u201cmay expose\u201d identifiable groups not just to hatred, but mere contempt.<\/em> It allowed no\n defences with regards to truth, intent or fair comment on matters of \npublic interest. And not only direct targets but any non-targeted third \nparty could file a complaint, while the federal human rights commission \nonly rarely tried to mediate the complaints. This proved to be a big \nproblem for poor defendants, considering free legal representation was \nnot available. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Section 13 \nwas thrust into the public eye in 2002 with the arrival of Warman\u2019s \nnovel strategy to proactively use the legislation to shut down voices he\n disapproved of. While the law was intended for the protection of \nminority groups, Warman \u2013 a white male \u2212 was responsible for an \nimpressive 16 complaints, the most of any individual. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\t\t\t\tBalgord has defended Antifa\u2019s tactics in print despite the movement \nbeing accused of domestic terrorism by the Obama Administration. And \nwith no hint of irony, he explicitly defends Antifa thugs\u2019 preference \nfor facemasks since it \u201cprotects themselves from doxing\u201d \u2013 a tactic \nfavoured by CAHN against its opponents. \n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tTweet\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n
In some instances, Warman obtained his evidence by provoking extremist statements from obscure online message boards. Sometimes he even posed as a neo-Nazi poster himself, which one tribunal adjudicator later said<\/a> \u201cdiminish[ed] his credibility\u201d and \u201ccould have precipitated further hate messages.\u201d Partly because his targets were mostly poor and couldn\u2019t afford legal help<\/a>, Warman was successful in every case but one. He was awarded<\/a> tens of thousands of dollars in monetary compensation for the damages he purportedly suffered. As one Huffington Post<\/em> contributor wryly described<\/a> Warman: \u201cHe\u2019s sacked more peewee quarterbacks than any other NFL linebacker.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When\n it became apparent that Section 13 was being used as a bludgeon against\n free speech in Canada \u2013 most notably when three human rights tribunal \ncomplaints were launched against Maclean\u2019s<\/em> columnist Steyn<\/a> \u2013 public opinion finally shifted against it. A 2008 report<\/a>\n by University of Windsor law professor Richard Moon identified it as a \nclear threat to legitimate political discourse and recommended it be \nremoved. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
$\"\"$
Journalist\n Steyn torpedoes the listing ship that was Section 13 of the Canadian \nHuman Rights Act. Now it might be making a comeback.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
A\n year later Warman\u2019s final and only failed Section 13 complaint, against\n Internet provocateur Marc Lemire, was famously dismissed when a human \nrights tribunal declined to enforce its provisions because it found they\n were inconsistent with the Charter of Rights and Freedoms\u2019 guarantees \nof freedom of expression. The section was finally repealed in 2013 by \nthe Conservative government of Stephen Harper. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Stolen identities <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
As\n an attorney early in his career, SPLC co-founder Dees once represented \nthe Ku Klux Klan and had his bill paid by the White Citizens\u2019 Council in\n a case involving the beating of a Montgomery, Alabama Freedom Rider (a \ngroup of civil rights activists who fought segregation). In 1958 Dees \nhad campaigned for arch-segregationist George Wallace in the Georgia \ngubernatorial campaign. According to his former law partner, Millard \nFuller, Dees\u2019 \u201coverriding purpose\u2026[was] making a pile of money.\u201d He \ntransformed himself into an anti-racism crusader \u2013 with the Klan \nbecoming one of his favourite targets \u2013 after discovering it offered an \nalternative route to riches via the miracle of direct mail \nsolicitation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
CAHN has yet\n to prove itself as adept at fundraising as the SPLC, which in 2018 \ngenerated US$103 million in donations alone. We do know, however, that \nCAHN boasts of receiving direct funding and support from its big brother south of the border. And in 2018 Toronto-area businessman Mohamad Fakih made a media splash<\/a> with a donation of $25,000 to CAHN following a successful defamation lawsuit against his online critics. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
But\n now CAHN is facing its own troubling allegations of profiteering from \nhate. In February 2019 Elisa Hategan, an anti-racism activist and former\n member of an early-90s skinhead group called the Heritage Front, teamed\n up with professor and human rights lawyer Yavar Hameed to file<\/a> a\n $200,000 civil claim against CAHN. Farber is also named. The lawsuit \nalleges CAHN Advisory Committee member Elizabeth Moore (also a former \nHeritage Front member) \u201cfraudulently appropriated several significant \nelements of Ms. Hategan\u2019s personal life story in order to boost her own \ncredentials as a former neo-Nazi and did this to monetize a fraudulent \nnarrative.\u201d These stolen elements include Hategan\u2019s experience as a \nformer spokesperson for the Heritage Front and later as a defector who \nhelped prosecutors bring the group down. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
$\"\"$
Elisa\n Hategan, posing here with her book Race Traitor, has filed a lawsuit \nagainst CAHN for appropriating her story and allegedly hoping to gain \nfrom it.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
Moore \nhad simply been an unmemorable Heritage Front fellow traveller, says \nHategan. But instead, Hategan claims Moore took credit for a film made \nabout Hategan\u2019s experiences: 1998\u2019s White Lies. <\/em>Her\n suit alleges that appropriating her \u201cnarrative would be an important \nmethod of securing greater publicity, speaking engagements and financial\n opportunities for Moore, as well as publicity, consulting and speaking \nengagements for Farber.\u201d On top \nof this, Hategan alleges that Farber and Moore have disparaged her \npublicly in order to cut her out from employment and advocacy \nopportunities, maximizing their own in the process. If true, this \nwouldn\u2019t exactly be behaviour consistent with an organization \u201ccommitted\n to increasing public awareness about the scourge of \u2018hate\u2019 across \nCanada.\u201d The civil trial is set to begin in March. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Theatrical vs. substantive advocacy<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
While\n assuming the mantle of hate-fighter sounds like a heroic exercise in \ndefending minority rights and rescuing the oppressed, the crusade \nembarked upon by the SPLC \u2013 with which CAHN, as we\u2019ve seen, openly \nassociates itself \u2013 is criticized even by members of the intellectual \nleft as a fraudulent exercise. The far-left Nation<\/em><\/a>\n magazine has called \u201canti-hate\u201d advocacy a form of \u201ctheatrical\u201d rather \nthan \u201csubstantive advocacy.\u201d If advocates were truly concerned about \nminority uplift, its columnist wrote, they should be fighting more \ntangible problems like employment and housing discrimination \u2013 \npractising actual poverty law<\/em>, in other words \u2212 instead of simply \u201cfingering militiamen in a potato field in Idaho.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That\n the SPLC lost the plot by preferring activities that boosted its \nfundraising effectiveness over fighting for tangible improvements in its\n alleged clientele\u2019s lives is not a new idea. As long ago as 1988, a \nformer SPLC staffer admitted<\/a> to The Progressive<\/em>\n that there were \u201ccertainly bigger problems facing blacks and the poor\u201d \nthan continuing to tackle a now-toothless Ku Klux Klan. The Klan, said \nanother former staffer, \u201cwas such an easy target \u2212 easy to beat in \ncourt, easy to raise big money on\u201d, and so it dominated the SPLC\u2019s \nattention. Last year, Current Affairs<\/em><\/a>\n also argued that the SPLC\u2019s habit of elevating minority rights by \ntargeting inconsequential right-wing groups continues a \u201cpolitics of \nspectacle.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Even some liberal voices in Canada have expressed concerns about \u201canti-hate\u201d advocacy and hate speech generally. Former\n Liberal Party MP Keith Martin, a doctor of mixed-race background, \nfought hard against hate speech restrictions during his nearly 20 years \nin Parliament, saying they represented what Canada fought against in the Second World War. Martin noted that\n while Canadians have a right to be free from slander, they \u201cdo not have\n the right to not be offended.\u201d Laws like Section 13 created a \u201cslippery\n slope\u201d in that they could be easily politicized and used to simply shut\n down debate. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Notable Holocaust\n historian Deborah Lipstadt is against such laws for the same reason. \nThe criticism seems particularly apt when applied to organized and \npowerful groups like the SPLC and CAHN. Refusing to debate or engage \nwith groups or people they don\u2019t like, and choosing instead to malign \nthem in the most alarmist terms possible, is to engage in the politics \nof spectacle. The same goes for the active use or tacit approval of such\n ignominious tactics as de-platforming, doxing, Antifa mobbing and \npiling on spurious legal complaints. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
$\"\"$ Antifa\n protester (l) grabs a Canadian flag from a Bernier supporter (r) at a \ncampaign event at Mohawk College\u2019s McIntyre Theatre.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
Because hate speech charges are so nebulous and problematic, free speech advocate and author Stefan Braun refers<\/a>\n to them as a \u201cpackaged idea.\u201d When unpacked, Braun writes, hate speech \nallegations are often revealed to be based on \u201cmany different reasons \nbesides the public good, including fear, political expedience, moral \ncomfort, public approval, or even the \u2018bottom line.\u2019\u201d And because it is \nso far from a clear concept, the Supreme Court has ruled that \u201chate \nspeech\u201d requires intense and highly fact-dependent inquiry. For this \nreason, hate-incitement is unique in the Criminal Code in requiring a \nprovince\u2019s attorney-general to personally sign off on any charges. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Policing\n hate, in other words, is properly regarded as the most complex and \ndelicate aspect of the entire criminal justice system, balancing as it \ndoes the Charter\u2019s guarantees of \u201cfreedom of thought, belief, opinion \nand expression\u201d with the Criminal Code\u2019s protection from incitement of \n\u201chatred against any identifiable group.\u201d Given its intricate nature, why\n would anyone willingly hand over responsibility for policing hate to a \nprivate group of activists that shows so little interest in the legal, \ndemocratic and social ramifications of the task and openly styles itself\n after a badly-tarnished American outfit? And why would so many media \noutlets give such an outfit the credibility it craves by treating it as a\n reliable and unbiased source of information?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A better and more civil way<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
Anyone\n looking to reconcile concerns over hate speech in Canadian discourse \nwith the demands of free expression is advised to reread Moon\u2019s 2008 \nreport on Section 13. Therein, he suggested dealing with problematic \npublic opinions and statements through engagement rather than \nprohibition and punishment. \u201cWe must develop ways other than censorship \nto respond to expression that stereotypes and defames the members of an \nidentifiable group,\u201d Moon wrote. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
At\n the very least, before attacking someone in public, branding them \n\u201cneo-Nazis\u201d or doxing them to reveal their intimate personal details in \nhopes someone else will make their life miserable, CAHN should first \ndefine what it means by the labels it employs. And these labels \u2013 \nhate-mongering, for example \u2013 should be applied equally to everyone who \nexpresses such animus, regardless of race, religion or politics. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\t\t\t\tPolicing hate is properly regarded as the most complex and delicate \naspect of the entire criminal justice system. So why would anyone \nwillingly hand such responsibility to a private group of activists that \nshows so little interest in the legal, democratic and social \nramifications of the task and openly styles itself after a \nbadly-tarnished American outfit?\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tTweet\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n
When\n a group is identified that meets these equally applied criteria, it \nshould first be asked to clarify or disavow its impugned statements. If a\n disavowal is forthcoming, this could be put on record to, first, credit\n the target for its goodwill and, if needed, embarrass the target should\n it later recant. If not, those opinions could be met by way of a debate\n (in public, online, etc.) and refuted with more and better-quality \nspeech. As 18th-Century French essayist Joseph Joubert<\/a> put it, \u201cIt is better to debate a question without settling it than to settle a question without debating it.\u201d\n In addition to lubricating mutual communication and clearing up \npotential misunderstandings, both sides might even learn something from \none another. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Were\n \u201canti-hate\u201d groups such as CAHN to take such an approach, the public \nmight be better assured the group was properly concerned with the best \ninterests of civil society and free speech. Improved transparency with \nrespect to donors, salaries, and its watch-list of hate groups wouldn\u2019t \nhurt, either.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
John Klein is a business owner in the United States and an advocate for <\/em>freedom of thought, belief and opinion<\/em>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Canadian Anti-Hate Network (CAHN) Exposed: The Wrath of CAHN by John Klein The Wrath of CAHN John Klein January 22, 2020 Canada is among the world\u2019s most tolerant and peaceable countries. The Canadian Anti-Hate Network wants you to believe otherwise, … Continue reading →<\/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":[1],"tags":[762,1768,2250,1823,1564,30,595],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cafe.nfshost.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4132"}],"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=4132"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cafe.nfshost.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4132\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4133,"href":"https:\/\/cafe.nfshost.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4132\/revisions\/4133"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cafe.nfshost.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4132"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cafe.nfshost.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4132"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cafe.nfshost.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4132"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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