What Beattie didn't say

By RHONDA SPIVAK
John Beattie, the former leader of the Canadian Nazi Party (pictured above), never mentioned in his original interview with 'The Jerusalem Post' that in 1988 and 1989 there were neo-Nazi rallies on his property. The second gathering attracted more than 200 racial activists from Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal and New York state and resulted in a large cross being burned in celebration of the Aryan race. When asked, Beattie said, "I allowed people to come... for a party and [some people] distributed fascist leaflets in Toronto about it, without my knowing... I should have cancelled the party." Beattie also didn't mention that he founded the British People's League, whose Web site claims to promote and protect "our ancient cultural traditions as a powerful lobby force." In 2000, Beattie was to have been a witness at a hearing of the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal. According to a press release of the Association for Free Expression, run by white supremacist Paul Fromm, Beattie was to have testified that the Canadian Jewish Congress had "built up" the Nazi party to promote hate propaganda laws. Fromm's contention was very similar to author Ezra Levant's theory today. But Beattie didn't end up testifying. "I didn't want any publicity... I didn't want to be involved in any Jewish or fascist politics," he told the 'Post'.