Much has been made of the charge that ". . . after
38 years of living as an alien immigrant in Canada, Ernst Zundel suddenly
remembers that he would like to become a Canadian citizen."
Implied in this sneer is that Ernst chose to apply for citizenship only
as a last resort and because of deportation problems arising from his conflict
with CSIS, the Canadian civilian spy agency.
Those people have it backwards. The conflict with CSIS only arose because
Ernst applied AGAIN for Canadian citizenship in 1993. He had applied before.
Let's get the facts straight and into the records:
Ernst Zundel was born in Germany on April 24, 1939. At the age of nineteen,
he entered Canada for permanent residence on September 2, 1958. On January
25, 1968, almost thirty years ago, he applied for Canadian citizenship.
He was informed that the application had been rejected by the Minister without
reasons. The letter was dated August 27, 1968. Ernst was told: "The
information on which the decision was based is confidential and it would
not be in the public interest to reveal it."
A good guess is that, even then, at age 29, he was perceived to be a "danger"
to the "power behind the throne" because he ran against the pro-Marxist
Trudeau for the Prime Minister post on a strongly anti-communist, nationalist,
free enterprise ticket.
After many unsuccessful attempts to learn of the reason for this denial
of citizenship, Ernst applied in 1988 for information in his case under
the Privacy Act as to why his application for citizenship was refused.
This application for information was unsuccessful and is currently under
appeal to the Federal Court of Canada.
As stated above, Ernst applied for Canadian citizenship a second time on
October 24, 1993. This application must have panicked the powers-that-be
because it resulted in a Ministerial report pursuant to s. 19(2) from the
Minister of Citizenship and Immigration Canada which alleged that there
were "reasonable grounds to believe" that Ernst Zundel would engage
in activity that constitutes a threat to the security of Canada.
This opinion was based on information and advice provided by the above-mentioned
CSIS, the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, which alleged that the
activities Zundel is expected to engage in sometime in the foggy future
are described in s. 2(a) of the CSIS Act.
In a column published July 27, 1994, Toronto Sun writer Christie Blatchford
revealed that Ernst had applied for citizenship and that the Canadian Jewish
Congress had been aware "for some time" of the application.
Who made them aware? Whatever made them check? The Canadian bureaucracy
denies all knowledge and responsibility.
Blatchford, not exactly a Zundel fan, nonetheless wondered out loud how
the privacy laws did not prevent the Canadian Jewish Council from being
told by the government of Zundel's application. She quoted an official from
the Department of Citizenship and Immigration as stating: "The government
is going to try very hard to deny it." She also said that his application
was "flawless."
B'nai Brith issued an arrogant statement that Zundel did not deserve citizenship
and should be extradited to Germany instead.
"This man does not deserve the privilege of Canadian citizenship. Not
only would this be an affront to minority communities throughout Canada,
but it would send a message to hatemongers the world over that Canada is
a haven for racism." (Montreal Gazette, July 28, 1994)
The Canadian Jewish Congress further stated that Zundel should not receive
citizenship because of his convictions in Germany (for questioning the Holocaust)
and because he was under investigation in Canada for promoting hatred. The
official speaking thusly indicated that the CJC had again requested that
charges be laid against Zundel. (Canadian Jewish News, August 4, 1994)
So now you know. It's not as though he is a danger to the security of Canada.
He is a mighty danger to the security of Holocaust promoters.
Ingrid
Thought for the Day:
"What guarantee have we beyond the guarantee of public opinion?"