Three new updates to timeline

We're in the process of adding to the timeline with a focus on the 1980s. While we will not be announcing every time we make a change to the timeline, we thought we would in this case.

If our readers have anything that can be contributed to this period, or any other time period, we again invite your input.

1981

"Operation Red Dog"

No discussion of Canadian racist violence can be complete without reference to "Operation Red Dog."

In 1981, a number of Canadians were arrested in a bizarre plot by Canadian and American white supremacists (led by Don Black who now runs Stormfront), with Mafia funding, to overthrow the government of the tiny Caribbean island of Dominica. The plan, called "Operation Red Dog," was to have netted the supremacists a base of operations and lucrative illegal businesses. It was foiled by the FBI, and the participants were arrested. Those Canadians who were involved in the plot included Wolfgang Droege, Larry Lloyd Jacklin, Marion McGuire, James McQuirter, Charles Yanover, and Harold Woods.

Toronto, ON -  Grand Wizard of Canadian KKK charged with weapons offences

On a routine traffic stop, police found two ounces of cocaine and 5000 pills in James Alexander McQuirter's car. When they went to search his home, they were threatened by another KKK member who waved a loaded shotgun at them.

1982

Toronto, ON - James Alexander McQuirter arrested for hiring hitman to kill KKK roommate

James Alexander McQuirter was an outspoken Canadian racist who helped start the Ku Klux Klan in Toronto in 1976. He soon became the group's "grand wizard" and opened a public office in Toronto's Riverdale neighbourhood in 1980. At its peak, McQuirter claimed, the Ku Klux Klan had over 2,000 Canadian members; police estimated the number at about 70. McQuirter's imprisonment was largely responsible for the group's decline in Canada. While in prison for the Dominica plot, McQuirter (then 24) was sentenced to serve eight more years in prison after he pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit murder. He had paid an undercover policeman posing as a hitman $2,000 to murder former Klansman Gary MacFarlane, who he believe was interfering with Klan activities (see 3:41 of video link). McQuirter also received a concurrent sentence of five years in prison for forging cheques, passports and other documents.