The Nationalist Party of Canada is an unregistered Canadian political party that was founded in 1977 by Don Andrews (born Vilim Zlomislic), who continues as leader of the party. The purported goals of the party are "the promotion and maintenance of European Heritage and Culture in Canada." Much of Don Andrews' writings, however, indicate that the party supports anti-Semitism and state-sponsored racism.
The party should not be confused with the National Party of Canada, a now-defunct centre-left party led by Mel Hurtig which opposed economic integration with the United States of America.
The Nationalist Party was founded by Andrews after he was legally barred by his bail conditions from associating with the Western Guard,another white supremacist organization. Andrews' group was briefly known as the National Citizens Alliance, which is not to be confused with the National Citizens Coalition.
From 1977 to 1985, the party published the "Nationalist Report", which ceased publication when Don Andrews and Party Secretary Robert Smith were charged and convicted under the Criminal Code of Canada for promoting hatred. Crown attorney Michel Anne MacDonald described the journal as containing anti-black, anti-Jewish and anti-Asian articles, and the presiding judge described the "degree of hatred" in their journal as "obscene". He added that Andrews was the "directing mind of the publication" and described Smith as a "faithful, industrious follower".
In 1986, Andrews and Smith endorsed Holocaust denier Jim Keegstra's bid to lead the Social Credit Party of Canada. The two men appealed to the Supreme Court of Canada in 1989, seeking to have their conviction overturned. The court rejected the appeal in December 1990, ruling that the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms did not protect hate speech. Andrews and Smith served jail terms following the ruling.
The NPC continues to further its goals through supporting such projects as European Heritage Week and a shortwave radio program.
Whilst Canada already has a declared national-socialist party, run by Terry Tremaine, it is interesting to note that as of August 2010, the U.S.-based National Socialist Movement includes the Nationalist Party of Canada on its "Links" page, but does not include Tremaine's party. This may indicate that the Nationalist Party has ties with the neo-Nazi movement in the USA.
Don Andrews has run for Mayor of Toronto several times, including in 2003 when he won 0.17% of the vote. In that year, two other party members ran unsuccessfully for Toronto city council.
Famous quotes containing the words nationalist, party and/or canada:
“The difference between patriotism and nationalism is that the patriot is proud of his country for what it does, and the nationalist is proud of his country no matter what it does; the first attitude creates a feeling of responsibility, but the second a feeling of blind arrogance that leads to war.”
—Sydney J. Harris (1917–1986)
“Neither party expected for the war, the magnitude, or the duration, which it has already attained. Neither anticipated that the cause of the conflict might cease with, or even before, the conflict itself should cease.”
—Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865)
“Though the words Canada East on the map stretch over many rivers and lakes and unexplored wildernesses, the actual Canada, which might be the colored portion of the map, is but a little clearing on the banks of the river, which one of those syllables would more than cover.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)