Nationalist Party of Canada


The Nationalist Party of Canada is an unregistered far-right political party in Canada that was founded in 1977 by white supremacist Don Andrews. The purported goals of the party are "the promotion and maintenance of European heritage and culture in Canada", but the party is known for its antisemitic and racist publications.

History

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. The party was briefly known as the National Citizens Alliance.
From 1977 to 1985, the party published The Nationalist Report, which ceased publication when Andrews and Party Secretary Robert Smith were charged and convicted under the Criminal Code 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 Nationalist Party continues to further its goals through supporting such projects as "European Heritage Week" and a shortwave radio program. It also originated and operates the "Canadian Flag Perpetual Pride Campaign" each year during the months of July and December, where residences in cities and towns in Canada, and governments at the federal, provincial and municipal levels are encouraged to properly display new Canadian flags and to replace worn ones; this campaign has been extended to encourage Canadian flag displays at offices and stores of major Canadian corporations such as Canadian Tire, Unilever and Loblaws/Weston.
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.

Party candidates

Bob Smith

Robert Wayne Smith is a frequent candidate for political office, and has sought election at the municipal, provincial and federal levels. Like Don Andrews, he was originally a member of the Western Guard Party. He first ran for the Toronto School Board in 1972, when he was still a student. His most recent campaign was for Mayor of Toronto in 2006. During his Western Guard days, he was the voice for its White Power Phone Message. Among organizations he has served in include the Canadian Anti-Soviet Action Committee, the Ontario Social Credit organization, as a director of the Ezra Pound Institute for International Studies, and as a guest commentator during the 1990s for the British Peoples' League Hour radio program. Today, he regularly blogs at his Internet column on the Nationalist Party website page, "Bob's Beat".
ElectionDivisionDe facto partyVotes%PositionResult
1972 municipalToronto School Trustee, Ward EightWestern Guard24711/11
1974 municipalToronto City Council, Ward FourWestern Guard2007/7
1976 municipalToronto School Trustee, Ward NineWestern Guard8646/7
1980 federalSt. Paul'sNationalist1086/9
1980 municipalToronto School Trustee, Ward EightNationalist1,3196/9
1982 municipalToronto School Trustee, Ward EightNationalist6036/10
1985 municipalToronto School Trustee, Ward EightNationalist9355/7
Ontario provincial by-election, April 1, 1993St. George—St. DavidNationalist728/9
2003 municipalToronto City Councillor, Ward 31Nationalist4144/4
2006 municipalMayor of TorontoNationalist1,1050.1920/38