The Ontario Commission on Election Finances has rejected an application by the ultra-rightwing Nationalist Party of Canada seeking to become an official provincial party. Registration would have given the party certain privileges, such as having its name on election ballots and collecting income tax-exempt contributions.
The leader of the party is Donald Andrews, 35, former leader of the neo-Nazi group, Western Guard, based in Toronto. He was recently released from the penitentiary on parole after serving 10 months of a two-year prison term for conspiracy and possession of explosives.
The election finances commission chairman declined to comment on the rejection of the party’s application. It was understood, however, that the rejection is based on the findings of graphologists who examined the 12,000 signatures collected by the group required to qualify as an official party. Among these were lists of names written in an identical handwriting and therefore deemed to be forgeries.
The Canadian Jewish Congress, through its community relations and anti-Nazi committee, with B’nai B’rith, has been pursuing efforts to amend the legislation in such a way as to prevent groups advocating genocide from receiving registration status. It has sent deputations to all three political parties in the Ontario legislature.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
