Canadian Association for Free Expression
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The Canadian Association for Free Expression (CAFE) is a Canadian political group founded and led by white nationalist activist Paul Fromm. Established in 1981, CAFE claims to be committed to the promotion and defence of total freedom of speech. It publishes the Free Speech Monitor ten times a year. Although it began in Ontario, it has also been incorporated in Alberta.
CAFE has campaigned (along with the defunct white nationalist groups Canadian Heritage Alliance and Northern Alliance) for the release of Brad Love, whom it claimed was jailed for expressing his nativist sentiments. CAFE has also campaigned for the release of Holocaust deniers Ernst Zündel[1][2] and David Irving, and against human rights lawyer Richard Warman and the Canadian Human Rights Commission.
CAFE has been vocal in what it sees as injustices against white people in the Canada, and has argued that the law does not robustly defend the free speech of whites, and is too weighted towards minorities.[3] Opponents have accused the CAFE of racism, arguing that it does not simply support the free speech of far right groups, but also endorses their opinions. CAFE leader Paul Fromm has been called a neo-Nazi due to his links with far-right political parties and Holocaust denial. The group is a signatory of the New Orleans Protocol, indicating a kinship with White nationalism.
On November 23, 2007, Ontario Superior Court Justice Monique Métivier ruled that Fromm and CAFE had libeled Richard Warman ordered them to pay a total of $30,000 in damages and to post full retractions on all the websites on which the defamatory comments were posted within 10 days.[4] The judgement was upheld by the Ontario Court of Appeal in December 2008 with damages being raised to a total of $40,000 as Fromm was ordered to pay an additional $10,000 towards Warman's legal costs.[5] Richard Warman responded to news of the appeal court's ruling by saying it "sends the message that those who try to use the cloak of free speech to poison other people's reputations through lies and defamation do so at their own peril."[5]
See also
References
- ^ "Ernst Zundel", Anti-Defamation League (accessed July 26, 2008)
- ^ "Ernst Zundel sentenced to 5 years for Holocaust denial", cbcnews.ca, February 15, 2007 (accessed July 26, 2008)
- ^ http://www.canadianfreespeech.com/human_wrongs/index.html
- ^ Don Butler, "Anti-racism activist wins libel judgment", Ottawa Citizen, November 24, 2007
- ^ a b Kirk Makin, "Court upholds $40,000 Web defamation award", Globe and Mail, December 16, 2008