Winnipeg Free Press - ONLINE EDITION
Planned protest fizzles
A planned protest by a Winnipeg group linked to white supremacy fizzled Tuesday morning when only three of the group’s supporters showed up.
They were vastly outnumbered by media and counter protestors who gathered in front of the Law Courts Building.
The rally was intended to show support for the mother of two children seized by CFS after the daughter was sent to school with Nazi symbols inked on her body.
Child and Family Services is seeking a permanent order of guardianship for the girl and her younger brother. The agency seized the children following the school episode and have argued in court that the parents’ racist views amount to emotional abuse and put the children at risk.
"Children are always better off with their parents," said protester Margaret Feakes. "It doesn’t matter their religion or politics or whatever. If the children are clothed and well fed they should stay. It’s just another freedom being taken away."
The protest was organized by the Canadian Association for Free Expression (CAFE). Director Paul Fromm issued a statement calling the seizure of the children "the state kidnapping of the children of dissidents."
In a telephone interview, Fromm said his group has 50 supporters in Winnipeg. He denied they are white supremacists, insisting they simply support freedom of speech. However, Fromm has been called a neo-Nazi due to his links with far-right political parties and Holocaust denial.
CAFE has been vocal in what it sees as injustices against whites in the Canadian system, has argued that the law does not robustly defend the free speech of whites, and is too weighted towards minorities. The group is a signatory of the New Orleans Protocol, indicating a kinship with white nationalism.
Counter protestor Cynthia Wolfe-Nolin said she believes in freedom of speech but doesn’t think the children should be kept in a home where they are taught to hate minorities.
The biological father of the girl, who has not seen the child in years, said yesterday that if he’d known the white supremacists were outside the court building he "would have kicked their (expletive) asses."
Helmut-Harry Loewen, a sociology professor specializing in hate crimes, said CAFE was simply trying to use the mother as "a poster girl" for the far right.
He said Fromm is "trying to re-energize a lost cause."
A visibly upset Margaret Feakes left the Law Courts building after being denied entrance to the courtroom where the hearing is being held. Only immediate family and the media are allowed in.
"The world is watching this," she said. "I can’t believe it’s a closed hearing. I can’t believe this is going on in Canada."
Two police officers on bicycles were on hand to quell any possible clashes but left shortly after the scheduled start time of the protest.
lindor.reynolds@freepress.mb.ca
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