The Death of John Beattie and the Waste of a Life Devoted to Hate

I started this blog in November of 2007, not long after I turned 31.

This month I will be celebrating my 50th birthday.

I think when you get to a certain age you start to look back on your life and wonder how things would have been different had you gone down another path. If I had never started the blog for example, what direction would my life had taken? Doing so came with a lot of sacrifices and at great personal cost (especially when I think back to those first few months after January 2020 when I was finally identified as the founder and main writer of ARC) so I think it natural to consider a lot of "what ifs?".

A life with no regrets is rare, and I have a few. For example as much as I have travelled internationally I really wish I visited Syria prior to the civil war, before the destruction of so many incredible historical sites. But an area I don't regret is the work I did here on the blog because I know it served a purpose and I know that people were helped because of it. While fame (or infamy in some peoples' view) was never a goal of mine -- quite the opposite in fact -- even being doxxed opened up a lot of doors. I've been interviewed by numerous media outlets in Canada including appearing on "The Fifth Estate" three times... the first anonymously (for about 11 hours at least) and the other two as myself. I am regarded as an expert on the far-right in Canada, though I would hasten to add to this my expertise is less so now as I am semi-retired and don't keep up with the personalities and groups as much as I once did. The information I have published on the blog has been used by others; members of the media, people fighting the influence of the far right, and academics such as Dr. Stephanie Carvin and Dr. Amarnath Amarasingam with whom I co-wrote an article and who used ARC as a primary source in their book, For Blood and Soil: Far-Right Extremism in Canada. Outside the blog, I have a tight knit group of friends who care about me, family who love me, and a career that I find fulfilling and which has allowed me to make a meaningful contribution to society through educating the next generation (hell, as I'm in my 25th year in the classroom I am now teaching the children of my former students).

In short, I will have left a legacy behind. Even after I shuffle off my mortal coil, there will be evidence in the work that I did and the lives that I touched that I was here. I served a purpose. I was valued not only for the work I did but for the relationships I had and lives I touched when I was alive.

But what legacy will the people who have appeared here on the blog leave behind? If past is prologue, not much at all.

John Beattie was the founder of the Canadian Nazi Party. Founded in the mid 1960s, the most newsworthy event in the small group's history was in May 1965 whe he and his group were prevented from holding a rally and chased out of Allen Gardens in Toronto by anti-fascists and simply ordinary citizens who knew enough that a Nazi without a punched face wasn't a Nazi they wanted in their city. By the 1970s he had fallen silent for the most part, but he was in the news again in the 1980s when he formed the British People's League and held an events he called "Aryan Fest" on a rural property near Minden, Ontario in 1988 and 1989. 

I'm not sure when he moved from Toronto to Minden but he appears to have remained there the remainder of his life. He ran for the position of Deputy Reeve in 2014... but someone MAY have released the emails he was sending to people on what he refered to as his blind list which belied his claims of not being a racist. And for years he would post videos on YouTube for The British People's League. These videos were unscripted and usually rambling so of little interest, though there was one that did turn out to be quite interesting for who else appeared in it.

One thing that was evident as the years passed. John was growing older and more frail. He was ravaged by Parkinson's disease and the number of videos he posted diminished by the year.

And then they stopped completely.

This is the only announcement I could find anywhere announcing his death. It is an announcement to creditors. I found no obituary. No memorial. Even the date provided for his death is "on or around April 4, 2025" which suggests that a precise date isn't certain.

Beattie's last post on Facebook less than a week before he was declared deceased

Some years ago in 2011 I wrote an article "The Sad Life of John Beattie". In essence, at least at that point in his life, John had become completely estranged from his entire family. His Stormfront post is what really jumped out at me:

In the years since I don't know if John was able to reconcile with his children, but based on the sole, lonely, announcement giving creditors until February 5, 2026 to submit claims before the estate’s assets were distributed, I'm not sure that he ever did.

Sadly, I think that this article might be the only sort of memorialization John will receive. Even his YouTube channel, the last upload occurring on November 4, 2024, requires some digging to find. 

I'm legitmately not writing to dunk on John Beattie in his death though no doubt I will be accused of doing so. I look at John's life with pity. This is what it stood for? This is what he will be remembered for, if he is even remembered for anything at all? This is his legacy?

It is just such a damn waste of a life. 

Over the years I have noted the deaths of others on this blog, all of whom leave a similar legacy. Some were known in their lifetimes. Others much less so. But what they have in common is that they ultimately never really left anything of value behind when they passed. This list is but a few:

• Joel Gauthier
• Doug Christie
• Carl Finlayson
• James Keegstra
• January Korinth
• Philippe Rushton
• Bill Harcus (known as James Edsel at the time of his murder)
• Martin Weiche
• Jeff Hughes
• Robert McCorkell
• Ernst Zundel

And to this list, in addition to John Beattie, we can also add Thomas Trenerry formerly of the Aryan Guard.

How many others have died that have appeared on this blog but who have been and will be forgotten?

One thing I have learned in nearly two decades of this work, and something other anti-racist activists and researchers will undoubtedly recognize, is how often the same story repeats itself. Twenty years ago, the Aryan Guard was the going concern. Today it is the Second Sons. The names change, the logos change, and a new collection of self-appointed leaders announces that this time they are building something that will last. Then come the personality conflicts, the infighting, the petty jealousies, and the inevitable splits. After a few years, perhaps a decade, most of these groups collapse. Some members end up in prison. Others launch smaller successor groups that struggle to attract even the attention their predecessors received. Still others simply drift away. What once consumed their lives becomes another obscure entry in an archive maintained by the very people who opposed them. And that is the bitter irony: after years spent demanding attention and imagining their place in history, the most enduring record of their efforts may be the work of those who documented the harm they caused.

Being forgotten is hardly the worst thing that can happen to a person. Most of us will eventually be forgotten. The people we helped, the children we taught, the friends we stood beside will carry something of us forward without necessarily remembering where it came from. That is enough. The tragedy of a life devoted to hate is how much of that life is spent making other people’s brief time on this earth more frightening, more painful, and more difficult. The groups collapse and the names fade, but the damage can outlive them. Other people are left to do the work of helping those they hurt.

As I approach 50, I know there are paths I will never take and experiences I will never have. I can live with that. I have people I love, work I am proud of, and reasons to believe that my being here has done some good. But to anyone still giving their life to these movements, I would say this: you have already wasted years you will never get back. Think about what you are getting in return. Think about who you have hurt, who you have pushed away, and what you could still do with the time you have left. You have one life. It is a terrible thing to spend it giving other people a reason to be relieved when you are gone.

Arthur Topham: Not Pretending Anymore

There was a time, not long ago, when Arthur Topham claimed that he wasn't an anti-Semite. No, he was merely opposed to Zionism and Zionists. Besides, he couldn't be an anti-Semite since he claimed his wife had Jewish ancestry (though we're not sure that there was anything actually presented to substantiate that claim).

But it looks like any pretext has been dropped. The city has been razed and the lands surrounding it salted. Suffice it to say it's hard to convince anyone that you are not an anti-Semite when you post stuff like this:

 

Or this:

Man pictured in the link is not Fredrick Toben

Or especially this:

 

And if there were still any remaining questions, this:

At least he's being a little more honest now, if one wants to give him that much credit.

But then most of our readers didn't need Topham to convince them in the first place of his nature.

Keegstra's Death: Relic of the Past Responds

That James Keegstra did not die on June 12 when the news became public, but in fact died 10 days earlier, is telling. The name Keegstra was still mentioned occasionally by the likes of Fromm when he rambled on about Sec. 319 and about free speech in an abstract way, but the man himself had been largely forgotten, drifting into obscurity soon after his final sentencing hearing in 1996. Even his contemporaries appear to have forgotten about him and it seems that few even attempted to remain in touch with the man they, at the time, lionized and rallied around.

Of his contemporaries, many like John Ross Taylor, Doug Christie, Wolfgang Droege, and Martin Wiche have died. Others like John Beattie, Don Andrews, and Ernst Zundel have yet to acknowledge Keegstra's passing, in part because they have shied away from their more colorful past (Like Beattie, who is running for Deputy Reeve in Minden, Ontario) or couldn't be bothered to care.

Such is the nature of the White Nationalist movement.

But at least one of those infamous old relics from the past has decided to make a rare appearance. Terry Long, like Keegstra, disappeared not long after of the Canadian branch of the Aryan Nations' he lead collapsed. Last we heard he was living in Ontario, but he does periodically pop up from time to time. He ran for office under the Doug Christie-led Western Canadian Concept Party. We know that it was Long whom Todd Conroy (former BC Volksfront leader) had been visiting when he got into a near fatal motorcycle accident. And we know that he still keeps up on the state of the movement, as we copies of emails sent by Long to some of the more contemporary members of the movement dating to the 2000s. So while he might not be active anymore, he certainly hasn't changed his views. And when Keegstra died Long (eventually) decided to break his silence as well.

Actually, Western historians generally agreed that the number of Jews who died in Auschwitz numbered between 800,000 and 1.35 million since at least 1961 and the Soviet numbers had been long discarded, but why should we expect revisionists like Long to be accurate?

Paul Fromm also got around to posting a eulogy of sorts, but we aren't sure that yet another one of Paulie's  self-promoting missives is really all that necessary here.

While Keegstra's obscurity is telling, it is also fitting. And so is the fact that his remaining contemporaries will eventually follow him, some likely sooner than others. Ernst Zundel is 75, Long has to be at least in his 70s,  and Don Andrews is around 72. John Beattie, someone who sounds to be in the early stages of dementia, is in his early 70s (UPDATE: Beattie is 72) and Paul Fromm in his mid 60s. Another 10, 15 years....

There will come a point when these men too will shuffle off their mortal coil and their names forgotten. We find this fact to be a comforting one.

Jim Keegstra has died

UPDATE: Why don't we reference an internationally respected news agency rather than the rag we had here previously?

Jim Keegstra, notorious Canadian Holocaust denier, dead at 80

Keegstra, a teacher, was charged in 1984 with 'wilfully promoting hatred' for his anti-Semitic school lessons

CBC News Posted: Jun 13, 2014 1:35 AM MT Last Updated: Jun 13, 2014 6:35 AM MT

James ‘Jim’ Keegstra, a prominent Canadian holocaust denier and former high school teacher in Eckville, Alta., is dead at the age of 80, CBC News learned late Thursday night.

Keegstra made international headlines in 1983 when he was accused of teaching students that the history of the Holocaust was fraudulent, and that a Jewish conspiracy was responsible for many of the world’s problems.

It was alleged that Keegstra had been teaching his anti-Semitic views to his social studies class for 14 years before a parent complained to the local school board about his lessons.

In January 1984, Keegstra was stripped of his teaching certificate and charged with “wilfully promoting hatred against an identifiable group” under the Criminal Code of Canada.

At the time, no one had been successfully convicted under Canada’s hate propaganda laws enacted in 1970.
Keegstra was represented at trial by attorney Doug Christie, a political activist originally from B.C., who would go on to defend some of Canada’s most high-profile Holocaust deniers.

Keegstra was convicted at his original trial and fined $5,000. His lawyers appealed the decision, arguing that the law was unconstitutional and that it violated provisions on freedom of expression in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

After multiple trials and appeals the case eventually reached the Supreme Court of Canada, who in 1990 and again in 1996 upheld Keegstra’s conviction in a landmark ruling that found that the Criminal Code section on public incitement of hatred did infringe on Charter rights, but that infringement was justified.

Keegstra received a one-year suspended sentence, one year of probation, and community service.

He died on June 2, according to a report in the Red Deer Advocate. CBC News confirmed with his son that his father was in fact dead.

According to the same report, Keegstra spent the latter part of his life as a custodian at an apartment complex in the city.

Now we'll see what the usual suspects have to say about this.

Doug Christie: The Truth Will Out (Part III)

You know, it is remarkable how, when presented with the truth, how people in an echo chamber refuse to acknowledge it. Take our friends at Free Dominion, for example. Despite what we think is pretty strong evidence indicating that Doug Christie and those Holocaust deniers, klanmen, and neo-Nazis whom he defended had certain shared political beliefs, they continue to suggest otherwise. However, there are those who say even if he did agree with Holocaust deniers, it doesn't matter since he was someone who selflessly fought for everyone's right to speak and write freely.

You can follow the link here if you wish to read the full discussion, but we think that these few posts sort of encapsulate the debate (by the way, we have no idea who poster "Free Markets" is, but he or she has already been accused of being a supporter of the Collective. We suspect this article will only heighten the already existent paranoia):

Really?

Well then, shall we take up "free_life2's" challenge then?

Doug Christie: The Truth Will Out (Part II)

Christie in his law kiosk

Not surprisingly, we've already been criticized for our focus on Doug Christie by our friends at Free Dominion, including what might be a veiled (and pretty ironic in light of their claim to be supporters of free speech) threat of, we suspect, future litigation for having the temerity to post and comment on what Christie himself published. But then this is all part of the whitewash of Doug Christie and his reinvention as a free speech hero who defended those who said or wrote quirky things about Jews and people of color. As a result, Christie has practically been deified while we and other Christie critics are vilified.

But then our Free Dominion friends might have a little bit of a problem. You see, while we are an easy target (they don't like us very much for some reason), it might be more difficult for them to vilify someone who leads an organization that recently hosted an event to raise funds in support Free Dominion (pictures here and here).

What does Meir Weinstein have to say about the passing of Doug Christie?

NOTE: While it might seem silly to black out the names of the other individual also involved in the conversation we decided that we would do so unless given permission to post his name here.

So why would the head of the Canadian branch of the JDL write, "let him rot in hell" regarding the passing of Doug Christie? Well, one thing we've noted here in covering JDL, the organization in general and Meir specifically, are pretty consistent when it comes to an understandable antipathy towards people who hold anti-Jewish or anti-Semetic views and who promote those views publicly.

Which brings us to the topic at hand. Was Christie, as Meir Weinstein appears to imply, deserving of such criticism?

Answering Free Dominion: Part II

The way you deal with Nazis is to, “break their heads.”

The JDL fundraiser for Free Dominion took place about a week ago and was attended a who's who of the Canadian right-wing blogosphere as well as some of the more active members of Free Dominion. Prior to this, Connie responded to our last article:

Well, we really don't have to paint the JDL as violent, Connie, since your own membership seem to agree:

Now, our Free Dominion friend here couches the violence of the JDL in more respectable terms; they represent the "warrior race" that is befitting of the Jewish people. Our Free Dominion friend also goes on to claim that the reason why we or anyone else would be concerned about the JDL is because we are closet anti-Semites who want Jews to be powerless in the face of those who would harm them.

It's a ridiculous accusation (especially directed at us) but this is sort of Free Dominion's schtick.

It  might be instructive, however, to learn how the JDL earned the honor of being referred to as warriors since the Canadian branch of the JDL has engaged in the very activities that Free Dominion has accused (and condemned) us at ARC of engaging in.

But we begin at the beginning.

Update on Macdonald Court Appearance

We were sent this a few moments ago:

Shawn MacDonald's court appearance delayed till 1:30 pm today (same courtroom 307 at 222 Main). He has plead not guilty to the hate crimes and they are setting trial dates (he elected for a judge and jury). His lawyer is infamous/notorious far-right libertarian Doug Christie who has a history of defending white supremacists and neo-Nazis (Keegstra, Zundel, Collins, Fromm etc).

In addition to this, the individual who originally posted this message also stated she received an email from someone trying to intimidate her into being silent.

From what we know about this woman, that ain't happening. For the benefit of our bonehead readers, does the term, "chew you up and spit youu out" mean anything to you?

Paulie Quite Inadvertently Stumbles Upon the Truth

Well it's that time of year when Doug Christie hosts yet another misnamed George Orwell Free Speech Award Dinner (misnamed not in the sense that Orwell opposed freedom of speech, but in that as a committed socialist opposed to totalitarianism in all it's forms, he would likely be disgusted that his name was being used to honour people who share the same ideology he risked his life opposing during the Spanish Civil War). Past, ehem... winners of this, uhm.... prestigious award include Marc Lemire, Ernst Zundel, Paul Fromm, Doug Collins, James Keegstra, Malcolm Ross and, our good friends and faithful readers, the Fourniers, among others.

Because misery loves company, Collins and co. awarded the prize to another worthy recipeient:

And this year`s winner is.............