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Disgraced former aboriginal leader David Ahenakew was unapologetic and combative after he was convicted yesterday of promoting hatred against Jews, blaming the media, a judicial system he called racist and the Jewish community for his predicament.
“I hope my trial has revealed some of the frustration and pain of my people. . . . If an Indian slips a little bit, you are crucified,” the 71-year-old former leader of the Assembly of First Nations told reporters, adding that he intends to appeal the ruling.
Provincial Court Judge Marty Irwin ruled that Mr. Ahenakew was willfully promoting hatred against an identifiable group when he told a reporter in Saskatoon on Dec. 13, 2002, that the Jews were a “disease” and Hitler was trying to “clean up the world” when he “fried six million of those guys” during the Second World War.
“To suggest that any human being or group of human beings is a disease is to invite extremists to take action against them,” the judge said in his 20-page decision.
Legal experts have called this case an important and provocative test of the country's hate-crime laws, which have traditionally tried to balance free-speech rights against protection of equality and minority rights. Mr. Ahenakew is believed to be the first member of a visible minority group convicted under the laws.
Besides railing about his conviction, for which he was fined $1,000, Mr. Ahenakew noted that authorities unfairly began the process of removing him as a member of the Order of Canada before a verdict was reached.
“This, of course, was the direct result of the pressure put on the [Governor-General's] advisory committee by some of the Jewish community, including a letter-writing campaign and the lobbying by the Canadian Jewish Congress,” he said. On his lapel was the Order of Canada pin he received in 1978.
“The decision by the advisory council is a clear indication of where the power in this country lies,” he said. Later, he said he doesn't intend to return it. “They are going to have to take it away.”
Rideau Hall spokeswoman Lucie Brousseau said Mr. Ahenakew hasn't officially contacted them regarding his status in the Order.
Several times during the news conference, Mr. Ahenakew's lawyer, Doug Christie, advised him not to answer questions, including one seeking clarification of what he meant when he said the Jewish lobby was responsible for the decision to take away the Order of Canada.
“Don't answer that question. He doesn't have to answer questions that will get him charged with criminal offences,” Mr. Christie said.
Judge Irwin said he didn't accept Mr. Ahenakew's explanation that he was ambushed by an insensitive self-promoting reporter.
“Your demeanour bordered on self-confidence to the point of arrogance,” the judge said about the audiotaped interview.
He also rejected Mr. Ahenakew's claims that his comments were prompted by diabetes, two glasses of wine and a recent change in medication.
Mr. Ahenakew told the packed courtroom that despite his conviction, he would continue trying to lead “my people.” He also said he would urge aboriginals to use the country's hate-crime laws to protect themselves from racism.
While Mr. Ahenakew publicly apologized for his comments a few days after they were published, at his four-day trial last April, he said he stood behind them.
“I didn't mean to hurt people's feelings, but that's all I've learned all my life,” he told the judge yesterday. “That's what my people experience, day in and day out.”
Judge Irwin said that he didn't impose any jail time or the maximum fine — $2,000 — because he didn't want to make Mr. Ahenakew a “martyr for bigots and racists.”
He also didn't include Mr. Ahenakew's remark to a Saskatoon aboriginal conference that Jews started the Second World War in his decision because he said a person has the right to form an opinion. But he called the comment “historically inaccurate,” “outrageous” and “obscene.”
“This case forces all of us to focus on our biases and prejudices,” the judge told the courtroom. “And to succeed as a province and a nation we have to come to a far deeper understanding of one another.”
Mr. Ahenakew's comments and trial have caused tension between Saskatchewan's aboriginal and Jewish communities.
Outside the courthouse, one of his supporters said the Jewish community unnecessarily punished the former leader by not accepting his apology and pushing the incident into the courts.
Jim Sinclair, a former Métis leader, later added that while he doesn't agree with Mr. Ahenakew's comments, he's disappointed that many aboriginal groups, including the Assembly of First Nations, haven't stood by the married father of five.
“I hope my trial has revealed some of the frustration and pain of my people. . . . If an Indian slips a little bit, you are crucified,” the 71-year-old former leader of the Assembly of First Nations told reporters, adding that he intends to appeal the ruling.
Provincial Court Judge Marty Irwin ruled that Mr. Ahenakew was willfully promoting hatred against an identifiable group when he told a reporter in Saskatoon on Dec. 13, 2002, that the Jews were a “disease” and Hitler was trying to “clean up the world” when he “fried six million of those guys” during the Second World War.
“To suggest that any human being or group of human beings is a disease is to invite extremists to take action against them,” the judge said in his 20-page decision.
Legal experts have called this case an important and provocative test of the country's hate-crime laws, which have traditionally tried to balance free-speech rights against protection of equality and minority rights. Mr. Ahenakew is believed to be the first member of a visible minority group convicted under the laws.
Besides railing about his conviction, for which he was fined $1,000, Mr. Ahenakew noted that authorities unfairly began the process of removing him as a member of the Order of Canada before a verdict was reached.
“This, of course, was the direct result of the pressure put on the [Governor-General's] advisory committee by some of the Jewish community, including a letter-writing campaign and the lobbying by the Canadian Jewish Congress,” he said. On his lapel was the Order of Canada pin he received in 1978.
“The decision by the advisory council is a clear indication of where the power in this country lies,” he said. Later, he said he doesn't intend to return it. “They are going to have to take it away.”
Rideau Hall spokeswoman Lucie Brousseau said Mr. Ahenakew hasn't officially contacted them regarding his status in the Order.
Several times during the news conference, Mr. Ahenakew's lawyer, Doug Christie, advised him not to answer questions, including one seeking clarification of what he meant when he said the Jewish lobby was responsible for the decision to take away the Order of Canada.
“Don't answer that question. He doesn't have to answer questions that will get him charged with criminal offences,” Mr. Christie said.
Judge Irwin said he didn't accept Mr. Ahenakew's explanation that he was ambushed by an insensitive self-promoting reporter.
“Your demeanour bordered on self-confidence to the point of arrogance,” the judge said about the audiotaped interview.
He also rejected Mr. Ahenakew's claims that his comments were prompted by diabetes, two glasses of wine and a recent change in medication.
Mr. Ahenakew told the packed courtroom that despite his conviction, he would continue trying to lead “my people.” He also said he would urge aboriginals to use the country's hate-crime laws to protect themselves from racism.
While Mr. Ahenakew publicly apologized for his comments a few days after they were published, at his four-day trial last April, he said he stood behind them.
“I didn't mean to hurt people's feelings, but that's all I've learned all my life,” he told the judge yesterday. “That's what my people experience, day in and day out.”
Judge Irwin said that he didn't impose any jail time or the maximum fine — $2,000 — because he didn't want to make Mr. Ahenakew a “martyr for bigots and racists.”
He also didn't include Mr. Ahenakew's remark to a Saskatoon aboriginal conference that Jews started the Second World War in his decision because he said a person has the right to form an opinion. But he called the comment “historically inaccurate,” “outrageous” and “obscene.”
“This case forces all of us to focus on our biases and prejudices,” the judge told the courtroom. “And to succeed as a province and a nation we have to come to a far deeper understanding of one another.”
Mr. Ahenakew's comments and trial have caused tension between Saskatchewan's aboriginal and Jewish communities.
Outside the courthouse, one of his supporters said the Jewish community unnecessarily punished the former leader by not accepting his apology and pushing the incident into the courts.
Jim Sinclair, a former Métis leader, later added that while he doesn't agree with Mr. Ahenakew's comments, he's disappointed that many aboriginal groups, including the Assembly of First Nations, haven't stood by the married father of five.
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