Northern Alliance (Canada)

The Northern Alliance was an open political discussion forum in London, Ontario, Canada. The weekly format started and ended in 1998. There was no formal membership and was conventionally right leaning though open to all people and opinions. Topics included left/right political hot issues of the day along the spectrum of immigration, racism, international relations, provincial/federal politics and the Ontario Human Rights Commission. They had no website but produced itineraries for the discussions.

Beliefs

According to the group's manifesto, the group is dedicated to "the protection and advancement of the rights of Canadians of European descent". The group advocates that Canada "return to its former immigration policies and exclude peoples from non-Western countries", also arguing that "only those with European ancestry should be permitted to become citizens of Canada". The group opposes drug legalization on the grounds that "illicit drug use is detrimental to White society", and abortion on the grounds that "abortion stops a White heart". It opposes same-sex marriage and interracial marriage. Their website had included links to groups such as the Canadian National Socialist Front, BC White Pride and the Imperial Klans of Canada, as well as to other racist groups from around the world.

Controversies

In 1999, 17 members of the Northern Alliance, including Bergmann and Tyler Chilcott, received letters from London's police force, describing the Northern Alliance as an "extreme right wing" group, and "requiring" the group members to appear at police headquarters to clarify their beliefs. The members refused to comply, and Bergmann and Chilcott took the letter to the leaders of the Freedom Party of Ontario. Bergmann and Chilcott were not charged with any offence, so party president Robert Metz decided to take up their cause as a free speech issue. Lloyd Walker, then-leader of the Freedom Party, requested that the Solicitor General of Ontario, David Tsubouchi, provide a list of "extreme" political beliefs that could result in such police action.

On December 3, 1999, the London Free Press, using information from Detective Superintendent Dave Lucio, published an article describing the Northern Alliance as "urban terrorists", and listed Bergmann as the group's leader. Bergmann launched a civil suit against the paper, based on the article and a follow-up piece published the next day.

During the 1999 controversy, Bergmann claimed that the Northern Alliance was not a formal organization, and denied that he held any official leadership position. Others have cast serious doubts on these claims and have argued that Bergmann deliberately downplayed his group's racialist beliefs in an attempt to gain mainstream credibility.[1] In mid-2000, Bergmann organized a "Straight Pride" parade in London and Toronto, as a hostile response to the cities' Gay Pride parades. On December 14, 2003, an article in the Toronto Star described the Northern Alliance as "an especially poisonous hate group".

Jason Ouwendyk and the Northern Alliance were the subject of a complaint made to the Canadian Human Rights Commission by Richard Warman who has successfully taken several other far right figures to the Commission. Ouwendyk and the Northern Alliance were ordered by the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal in 2009 to "stop spreading messages of hatred against Jews, Muslims, blacks, disabled people and others."