Paul Fromm
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Frederick Paul Fromm (born January 3, 1949), known as Paul Fromm, is a Canadian far-right political figure with links to neo-nazis though he denies being a neo-nazi himself. He lives in Mississauga and is active in the Greater Toronto Area.
Contents |
[edit] Early political activity
In 1967, as a student at the University of Toronto's St. Michael's College, Paul Fromm co-founded the Edmund Burke Society with Don Andrews, Leigh Smith and Al Overfield and founded its student wing "Campus Alternative". The Edmund Burke Society was a right-wing anti-communist group that eventually became the white supremacist Western Guard Party. Fromm left the Western Guard in 1972 when it adopted violent tactics. Overfield later became associated with the neo-Nazi group the Heritage Front through Wolfgang Droege and Andrews later founded the racist Nationalist Party of Canada.
[edit] Fromm's groups
Fromm graduated from university with an education degree, and worked as a school teacher with the Peel Region Board of Education. He tried to distance himself for a time from groups that were visibly linked to explicitly racist and neo-Nazi beliefs. He founded "Countdown" which led to three organizations that attempted to make far-right views palatable to the mainstream:
- In 1979, he founded "Citizens for Foreign Aid Reform" (C-FAR) a "Canada First" group that opposed foreign aid to third world nations. Though C-FAR was founded specifically to address the foreign aid issue, it campaigns on a number of questions of both domestic and foreign policy including crime and punishment, multiculturalism, immigration and other issues. It sponsors lectures by well-knowns of the far right and publishes pamphlets and books mostly on racial and immigration issues.
- In 1980, he founded the Canadian Association for Free Expression (CAFE) which was created in opposition to the establishment of the Canadian Human Rights Commission. CAFE has been active defending the rights of accused anti-Semites, racists and Holocaust deniers against prosecution under hate crimes and human rights legislation.
- The third group he founded was the "Canada First Immigration Reform Committee" which advocates reduced immigration, and opposes immigration by non-whites.
These three groups still exist today and are still led by Fromm. Their membership and mandates overlap, and they are essentially a single organization for all intents and purposes. Fromm's leadership of these groups has given him some access to media, such as being invited onto radio talk shows and occasionally being quoted in newspapers or having a letter to the editor published.
Fromm also founded Canadian Friends of Rhodesia in the late-1970s to support the white minority rule regime of Ian Smith and his Rhodesian Front.
In the mid to late 1980s, Fromm's organizations were involved in advocacy on behalf of South Africa's apartheid regime and opposing the movement to impose economic sanctions on the country.
[edit] Towards the mainstream
Fromm attempted to enter mainstream political activity by joining the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada. He became treasurer of "PC Metro", a network of Toronto PC riding associations in 1981. He angered many people and was expelled from the party when he was quoted advocating belief in a "supreme race"[1] and calling for Vietnamese refugees to be sent to "desert islands" rather than be accepted into Canada.
In the late 1980s, Fromm was an active member of the Reform Party of Canada, but was essentially expelled in late 1988 when leader Preston Manning sent Fromm a letter asking him to "dissociate" himself from the party.
[edit] 1990s: Open links to fascists
In the 1990s, Fromm spoke on a number of occasions to gatherings of the neo-Nazi Heritage Front, including a celebration of Adolf Hitler's birthday. This led to his being fired in 1994 from his job as a school teacher. A video surfaced which showed him addressing the rally in a speech in which he referred to old-time Canadian fascist John Ross Taylor as a hero. Taylor was one of two Canadian Nazis interned by the government during World War II, the other being his leader Adrien Arcand.
Fromm has also shared a stage with Holocaust denier David Irving, and has organized rallies in support of Ernst Zündel. In 2004, he was associated with David Duke's efforts to unite the far right via the New Orleans Protocol, which seeks to "mainstream our cause."
Recently, he has tried to revive use of the Canadian Red Ensign flag, and his political events and rallies usually have the old Canadian flag prominently displayed.
Despite his claims of being a free speech advocate, Fromm has unsuccessfully attempted to sue the Canadian Jewish Congress amongst others for describing him as a neo-Nazi.
In January 2005, Fromm defended himself at a disciplinary hearing of the Ontario College of Teachers against charges including "failure to maintain professional standards, not complying with college regulations and bylaws, disgraceful, dishonourable, unprofessional and/or unbecoming conduct, and practising while in a conflict of interest.[2]" If found guilty by the college, Fromm could lose his licence to teach in Ontario. Following three days of hearings further deliberation was postponed until October, 2005.[3]
Fromm has acted as an advocate for individuals on the far right who have been called before the Canadian Human Rights Commission as a result of the work of Richard Warman. Among those Fromm has represented is Glenn Bahr, the co-founder and former leader of Western Canada For Us and Terry Tremaine, former University of Saskatchewan lecturer in the Department of Mathematics.[4][5][6]
[edit] Electoral activity
In the 1988 federal election, Fromm ran as a candidate for the Confederation of Regions Party in the riding of Mississauga East, receiving 288 votes.
He was a candidate for the school board in Peel Region during the 1997 municipal elections and received 827 votes or 10.39% of ballots cast coming in last of four candidates. His name was the first on the ballot which may have allowed his vote total to be inflated due to the "primacy effect" in a four way contest amongst independents.[7]
More recently, Fromm has mused about forming (and presumably leading) a "Canada First" Party but no move has been made, as of yet, to register such a party.
[edit] Public opposition
Fromm has experienced a significant amount of public opposition over the years. His "Alteranative Forum" meetings have often been the targets of militant protests, and have been invaded by large groups of people who have confronted neo-Nazis present at the gatherings, and have disrupted proceedings to the point of the meetings being shut down.
On August 19th, 2006, Fromm's Port Credit home was besieged by dozens of anti-fascist youth, who surrounded the home, challenging Fromm to come outside. Although he reportedly remained locked inside an upstairs washroom, approximately half a dozen neo-Nazi gang members were present outside his townhouse. Over fifty police officers were on call to protect Fromm and his neo-Nazi supporters. The area was plastered in flyers advertising Fromm's home address, and far-right political affiliations. The protest ended without incident, after hundreds of homes in the immediate vicinity received notices about the person they had living next to them.
[edit] External links
- Paul Fromm Website
- Nazis in Suits: C-FAR and CAFE Exposed (Anti-Racist Action Toronto)
- Who is Paul Fromm? (Anti-Racist Action Toronto)
- On trial for views, fired teacher says January 26, 2005 article from the Toronto Star on Fromm's disciplinary hearing before the Ontario College of Teachers
