Canadian Union of Fascists
Canadian Union | |
---|---|
Leader | Chuck Crate |
Founder | Howard Simpkin |
Founded | 28 June 1934 |
Banned | 5 June 1940 |
Split from | Canadian Nationalist Party |
Newspaper | Thunderbolt |
Membership | 8,000 (claimed) |
Ideology | Fascism (Canadian) |
Political position | Far-right |
International affiliation | British Union of Fascists |
The Canadian Union of Fascists was a
The party was founded in
In Toronto a young high school student Charles "Chuck" Crate joined the party after contacting the British Union of Fascists and being put in touch with CUF. He became the Toronto branch director and soon began recruiting members at York Memorial Collegiate Institute and elsewhere in Toronto.[5] Crate edited the party's newspaper, The Thunderbolt, in Toronto and soon displaced Simpkin as party leader.[6][7][3]
The party had a hard time attracting supporters because most Canadians who supported fascism leaned towards the racist brand espoused by Adrien Arcand and others.[2]
By 1936,
In 1937, Crate's CUF formed an alliance with John Ross Taylor's National Christian Party. The NCP had been founded by Taylor in alliance with Adrien Arcand's Parti national social chrétien.[11] However, Taylor broke with Arcand over religious differences and Taylor's National Christian Party formed an alliance with the CUF with Crate being cross-appointed as the NCF's secretary. By 1938, Taylor had dissolved the NCF into the CUF, becoming the CUF's secretary and organizer.[12][13][11]
This disparity between the party and Arcand's group would continue throughout the party's existence. Before the government took action against Canadian fascist parties, the Canadian Union of Fascists and Arcand's group held simultaneous fascist congresses in Toronto in early June 1938. Taylor organized the CUF's rally and had intended to book Massey Hall but switched venue's to the smaller Prince's Hall on Bloor Street when it became clear the CUF would not be able to attract a large enough crowd to fill Massey Hall. Only 26 people attended the CUF rally, while 200 to 300 anti-fascists protested outside at a counterdemonstration organized by William Krehm's Provisional Anti-Fascist Committee.[11] Meanwhile, Arcand's rally officially launching the National Unity Party of Canada drew a crowd of around 2,500 to Massey Hall on July 4, 1938.[14][11][15] While the National Unity Party was a merger of Arcand's Parti national social chrétien and the Canadian National Party, the Canadian Union of Fascists did not join the new party.[11]
The CUF was banned on June 4, 1940 under the Defence of Canada Regulations[16] and formally dissolved itself, telling its members to obey the law but to work for a negotiated peace. Crate escaped a treason charge but remained active in Winnipeg, publishing Thunderbolt from there until his arrest in 1942 for publishing subversive literature.[17][18] He ended up in the Royal Canadian Navy at the end of the war.[19]
The party, though it claimed not to be
References
- ^ "Article clipped from the Leader-Post". The Leader-Post. 14 December 1937. p. 1.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-8890-2122-8.
- ^ a b c Betcherman (1975), p. 79.
- ^ "JFM - the Endowment Book of Life".
- ProQuest 1434638468
- ^ "Now Socred Splinter Party is Splintered". Toronto Daily Star. September 25, 1963.
- ^ "Three Police Bodies to Act Against Outlawed Groups". Toronto Daily Star. June 6, 1940.
- ^ ProQuest 1351265328
- ^ ProQuest 1434703715
- ^ "Canadian Fascists To Seek Power Legally, Is Claim", Page 3
Toronto Daily Star (1900-1971); Toronto, Ontario. 21 Oct 1936 ProQuest 1433421146
- ^ a b c d e Wentzell, Taylor (2023). "Scenes of Berlin: Fascism and Anti-Fascism in Toronto during the Summer of 1938". Canadian Jewish Studies / Études juives canadiennes. 35: 23–25. Retrieved 2024-02-25.
- ^ "Now Socred Splinter Party is Splintered", Toronto Daily Star, September 25, 1963
- ^ "Three Police Bodies to Act Against Outlawed Groups", Toronto Daily Star, June 6, 1940
- ^ Betcherman (1975), p. 144.
- ^ Bradburn, Jamie (March 2, 2022). "Canada goose-stepping: When the 'Canadian Führer' brought his blueshirts to Toronto". TVO Today. TVOntario. Retrieved February 25, 2024.
- ^ Canada Outlaws 16 Groups as Subversive: Membership Illegal Under Regulations; Conant Asks Teeth Red-Tinged Bodies Banned Along With 'Cultural' Societies FASCISTS ALSO Sees Move Helpful but Ineffective if Courts to Be Used WOULD INTERN
Beamish, Roy. The Globe and Mail; Toronto, Ont.. 06 June 1940: 1 ProQuest 1356011217
- ^ "Reluctant to Legalize Communism". Ottawa Journal. July 31, 1942. p. 1,12.
- ^ Reds Still Outlawed, St. Laurent Emphasizes E G SMITH The Globe and Mail. The Globe and Mail (1936-); Toronto, Ont.. 01 Aug 1942: 15.
- ^ "Dunlop Art Gallery".
- ProQuest 1351478853