Kleagles, Wizards, Goblins and Dragons Rebirth a Nation

The Canadian Manifesto: How the American Neoconservatives Stole My Country

After the sensationalized trial and subsequent lynching of Leo Frank, William Joseph Simmons, of Harpersville, Alabama, son of an original Klansman, decided that it was time to do something to protect the white Protestant heritage of America.

He had watched D.W. Griffith's Birth of a Nation and was drawn to the heroic portrayal of the Ku Klux Klan.

It was he who led the charge on October 16, 1915, up Stone Mountain, to burn a cross in honour of Mary Phagan, the young girl that Frank was wrongfully accused of murdering.

Cross burning was not a practice of the first Ku Klux Klan.  Griffith borrowed the idea from the Scottish Clans, who had burned crosses as a method of signalling from one hilltop to the next.

Simmon's cross burning, highly visible to the surrounding area on that fateful night, was the symbol of a religious rebirth, and the Invisible Empire of the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan was brought to life.  It was to be a fraternity of native-born Anglo-Saxon or Celtic Protestants who would rid the country of at least the influence, of Blacks, Jews and Roman Catholics, or anyone else who "didn't belong".

As Grand Wizard, Simmons created titles like Kleagle (organizer and field worker) Kloncilium (supreme advisory board) and Klonsel (legal counsel), while maintaining the Goblins, Dragons, etc. of the original Klan.  For his services he was provided with a home called Klan Krest and a monthly salary of $1,000.00. (3)

The Klan had gone from obscurity, to a well organized and well financed resistance movement.

In October of 1921, concern with the Klan's popularity led to a federal hearing, where Simmons repeatedly stressed the benevolent and fraternal nation of the Klan, himself denouncing the violence.  After his appearance, letters poured in from across the country, with requests for assistance in creating local chapters.  The Klan then garnered over a million new members.  Simmons would later say that "Congress made us". (1)

In 1922, the torch was passed to Edward Young Clarke, an advertising executive from Louisiana.

Clarke was the ultimate promoter, but alas turned out to be the ultimate swindler. 

In 1922, Louisiana Governor John M. Parker, sent J. Edgar Hoover (then Assistant Director of the Bureau of Investigation), a request for help in dealing with the Ku Klux Klan, that had grown so powerful in his state that it effectively controlled the northern half. Initially, the feds did not want to get involved, believing it to be a state matter, until Parker reminded them of their duty to protect the states from domestic violence. (2)

Once they started digging, they found that Clarke had been skimming off the top, keeping $ 8.00 of every $10.00 membership fee, and cashing in on the sale of "uniforms" (white bed sheets?).  The only thing they could convict him on, however, was transporting a mistress across state lines, in violation of the 1910 Mann Act; legislation that prohibited white slavery and the interstate transport of females for “immoral purposes”.

A Change in Direction

Though lynchings remained popular throughout the 1920s, despite attempts to create anti-lynching laws, the membership of the "new" Klan was more urban, and publicly denounced the practice. 

The Klan's hierarchy instead decided to become more political, by promoting candidates with a shared vision of the United States as a White Protestant Nation.  In his book of that name, Allan Lichtman, traces the Conservative movement back to those days.

From 1920 to 1925 the Ku Klux Klan grew more explosively than any political or social movement in U.S. history. In these few years the Klan recruited some three million to six million white Protestants from across America's working and middle classes, representing those who founded and "own this country" ...  Klan leaders used modern marketing techniques to build thriving chapters in both cities and small towns. The Klan flourished not only in the South but also in Maryland, Indiana, Pennsylvania, California, Ohio, Michigan, New Jersey, Illinois, Oregon, Colorado, and Kansas ... [they] sometimes resorted to violence but more commonly participated in direct civic action and electoral politics ... defended Nordic Americans and their traditional culture from Catholics, blacks, and Jews ... (4)

With ambiguous messaging, and a tough on crime stance, they reached out to middle America.

The Klan had an intensely local appeal as it worked to enforce traditional Protestant values by upholding Prohibition, fighting crime, and shutting down dance parlors, pool halls, and brothels. It backed public schools and hospitals and clean government but also boycotted Jewish and Catholic-owned businesses. Klan members benefited from this strategy, which sustained their economic privileges as white Protestant Americans." (4)

They also decided that it was time to change the system from within:

Klan members donned white robes of purity, hid their identities under hoods, burned crosses, exchanged secret handshakes and greetings, and spawned a rich bestiary of leaders termed kleagles, wizards, goblins, and dragons. But underneath the lavish ritual lurked a serious political operation. The Klan elected thousands of endorsed candidates to school boards and local governments and extended its reach to state and national offices.  Outside the solidly Democratic South, the Klan linked arms with anti-Pluralist Republicans.  Statistical analysis of all nonsouthern counties that white Protestants, both fundamentalist and mainstream, provided the vote for Klan-sponsored candidates.  Race and religion, not class or urban-rural residence, distinguished the Klan vote from support for other candidates.  At its height in 1924 the Klan swept nearly every major election  in which it had endorsed a candidate. (4)

Using side show tactics, like parading a goat around wearing the name of a candidate they opposed, or launching boycotts and whisper campaigns, the Klan referred to their political activism as "guerrilla warfare", a term that continues to be used by the conservative movement today.  Ralph Reed of the Christian Coalition said of his activism to garner the white Protestant vote:  "I want to be invisible. I do guerrilla warfare. I paint my face and travel at night. You don't know it's over until you're in a body bag. You don't know until election night."  (5)

The media dismissed the Klan in the 1920s and mocked their rallies, in the same way that they allowed Reed to fly under their radar.

" ... and by the time it finally caught their attention, Reed's Christian Coalition controlled both houses of Congress and would later play a major role in putting George W. Bush in the White House, not once but twice. (6)

Gerry Nicholls, VP of the National Citizens Coalition when Stephen Harper was its president, also refers to the tactics used by the NCC as "guerrilla warfare".  (7)

This doesn't mean that Reed or the NCC supported the KKK, but does validate Lichtman's claim that the conservative movement did not begin in the 1940's as many believe, but the 1920s, when the toned down Klan attempted to recreate America in their image, by working to elect conservative candidates.

And they did not confine their activism to America, but crossed into Canada at the same time, said to be instrumental in electing the conservative government of James Thomas Milton Anderson, in Saskatchewan.  Though Anderson denied any involvement with the Klan, his policies reflected their "values".  Values which  included opposition to Catholics and the French language being taught in schools.

Later Pat Emmons, a Grand Wizard of the Saskatchewan Klan, scheduled a public meeting at which he said he would expose the alleged link, but "couldn't make himself heard over the shouts and jeers." (8)

Another Political Rebirth

When it was learned that former Canadian Klan leader, Wolfgang Droege, was the Reform Party's Ontario policy chair (9), Preston Manning immediately denounced him, claiming not to know.  He also purged the party of Droege's new group, the Heritage Front.  However, according to former Heritage Front member Al Overfield, he “let the Reform Party executive know about his political past, and they had no problems with it."  He also stated that Stephen Harper was well aware of his involvement in far right groups.

Any successful movement, left or right, needs the radicals and Canada's conservative movement was no different.  In fact at a Reform Party assembly, they actually passed a motion that would allow extremists to join. When someone stood up and asked "What about Doug Christie?" the response was "Ah, leave him in. We may need to use him later." (10)

Doug Christie was the controversial lawyer and monarchist, who defended most of Canada's neo-Nazis, including James Keegstra, the school teacher who taught his students that the Holocaust was a hoax.  Christie was also the founder of Western Canada Concept, a separatist party calling for Western provinces and territories to break away and form their own country (or join the United States).  Stockwell Days' father was a candidate for the Party.

It can be very tempting for politicians to tap into the passion and energy of these extremist groups, to help them get elected.  The problem is what to do with them after.

They are Still an Important Part of History

According to Robert O. Paxton, the Ku Klux Klan was the first known  fascist movement. 

The Klan constituted an alternate civic authority, parallel to the legal state, which, in its founders' eyes, no longer defended their community's legitimate interests. In its adoption of a uniform (white robe and hood), as well as its techniques of intimidation and its conviction that violence was justified in the cause of the group's destiny, the first version of the Klan in the defeated American South was a remarkable preview of the way fascist movements were to function in interwar Europe. It is arguable, at least, that fascism (understood functionally) was born in the late 1860s in the American South. (11)

What was unique about fascism as a political theory, was that unlike other isms, that have clear formulated doctrines, fascism "introduced no systematic exposition of its ideology or purpose other than a negative reaction against socialist and democratic egalitarianism." (12) 

Seymour Martin Lipset said of the "radical right" involved with the conservative movement, that they are far from having a unified ideology.  The common denominator that unites the Radical Right is the identification of the policies which it opposes. (13)

In the 1920's the KKK opposed non-white immigration, Negroes, ethnics, liberalism, loose morals and non-Protestants.  They claimed to "uphold the family and stop crime and vice from ruining their communities". (4)

How is that any different from the Right's goals today?  They have included Jews and Catholics but only of the Orthodox variety.  Paxton states that religion plays a much greater role in authentic fascism in the United States than in the first European fascisms (11).  Many other respected authors and journalists, also refer to the Religious Right and the modern conservative movement as fascism.

No matter how we sugar coat it, by seeking alternative monikers, like neoconservatives, corporatists, or the least threatening term of all, "conservatives", used to differentiate them from Republicans or Tories, they are still fascists.

In fact, Paxton believes that we are doing history a grave injustice by not recognizing that.

A real phenomenon exists. Indeed, fascism is the most original political novelty of the twentieth century, no less. It successfully gathered, against all expectations, in certain modern nations that had seemed firmly planted on a path to gradually expanding democracy, a popular following around hard, violent, antiliberal and antisocialist nationalist dictatorships. ....We must be able to examine this phenomenon as a system. It is not enough to treat each national case individually, as if each one constitutes a category in itself. If we cannot examine fascism synthetically, we risk being unable to understand this century, or the next.

Allan Litchman in White Protestant Nation opened the door, by tracing the conservative movement to the albeit temporary rebirth of the KKK in the 1920s.  A time when Fascism was gaining popularity across Europe, before Mussolini and Hitler made it a dirty word.

The vast majority of today's conservatives would not support the violence of the Nazis or the KKK, but they need to understand that their political actions are just as undemocratic.  Even if they do refer to it as "direct democracy", it is the use of money, radicalism and religious authority, to dictate policy.  It doesn't get any moer fascist than that.

Sources:

1.The White Separatist Movement in the United States: "White Power, White Pride!", By Betty A. Dobratz and Stephanie L Shanks-Meile, Johns Hopkins University Press, 2000, ISBN:  13: 978-0801865374, p.38

2. A Byte Out of FBI History,Imperial Kleagle of the Ku Klux Klan in Kustody, FBI Files, March 2004

3. KU KLUX KLAN: Simmony? Time Magazine,February 25, 1924

4. White Protestant Nation: The Rise of the American Conservative Movement, By Allan J. Lichtman, Atlantic Monthly Press, 2008, ISBN: 10-0-87113-983-7, pp 42-42

5. Inside the Christian Coalition, By Frederick Clarkson, Institute for First Amendment Studies, Jan/Feb 1992

6. The Armageddon Factor: The Rise of Christian Nationalism in Canada, By: Marci McDonald, Random House Canada, 2010, ISBN: 978-0-307-35646-8 3, p. 5

7. How to wage political guerrilla warfare, By Gerry Nicholls, Report Magazine, June 5, 2008

8. Klan Gained Hold in Saskatchewan,  By Ron MacDonald, Winnipeg Free Press, May 8, 1965. p.14

9. Preston Manning: Roots of Reform, By: Frank Dabbs, Greystone, 2000, ISBN -13-97815-50547504

10. Of Passionate Intensity: Right-Wing Populism and the Reform Party of Canada, By Trevor Harrison, University of Toronto Press, 1995, ISBN: 0-8020-7204-6

11. The Five Stages of Fascism, By Robert O. Paxton, Columbia University, The Journal of Modern History, Vol. 70, No. 1. (Mar., 1998), pp. 1-23.

12. Fascism: Origins of Fascism, The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia

13. The Radical Right, Edited by Daniel Bell, Doubleday, 1964

The Canadian Manifesto: Chapter One: Movement Conservatism

The Canadian Manifesto: How the American Neoconservatives Stole My Country

In March of 2010, it was revealed that several wealthy Alberta ridings had sent cash and staff to poorer ridings in Ontario and Quebec. (1)

Jason Kenney, Rob Anders and Stephen Harper, all confident in their bids for re-election, helped to finance several campaigns, including that of Conservative MP for Nunavut, Leona Aglukkaq.  Shelley Glover, Saint Boniface, Manitoba, was another recipient.

What made the transfers questionable, was the fact that they did not report them to Elections Canada as "transfers", the way they should have, but as "donations".

However, while the media focused on that story, it was a comment made by Rob Anders that got my attention. "If people are true movement-oriented Conservatives, then it makes sense they would support those candidates and show up and support them and cut cheques."

I had heard the term "Movement Conservatives" many times, in relation to the New Right movement in the United States, and certainly recognized that the Reform-Alliance-Conservative Party, in all of its manifestations, was a "movement", and not just another political party.

However, in a moment of clarity, I realized that they are just part of the broader American movement.  Rob Anders had studied at the Leadership Institute (2), Morton Blackwell's training centre for conservative political activists.  (Other graduates included Karl Rove and Christian Coalition's Ralph Reed).

Blackwell is a key player, having worked on the campaigns of both Barry Goldwater and Ronald Reagan, and was instrumental in bringing in the Evangelical vote.  Blackwell, as I mentioned in the Introduction, also helped Preston Manning create the Manning Centre for Building Democracy, fashioned after the Leadership Institute. (2)

That revelation caused me to change the direction of my book.  This is not simply about our Christian Right attempting to create a Canadian theocracy, nor is it about our now having a neoconservative government.  This is about the fact that the American conservative movement has taken over Canadian politics.

And that should be troubling to everyone.

".... your country, and particularly your conservative movement, is a light and an inspiration to people in this country and across the world." Stephen Harper.  Speech to Council for National Policy, 1997.  Made at the invitation of none other than Morton Blackwell. (3)

Movement Conservatism 101

In his book The Conscience of a Liberal, Paul Krugman discusses the fundamentals of "Movement Conservatism".  He says that the first step was to build "a base".  How often do we hear of Harper's "base".  It has become so common that the media now use the term matter of factly, no longer explaining who they are, what they are, or why he even has one.

"The base" has become more than just a group of loyal supporters, but people conservatives feed off, when they need a little noise, to drown out those opposing their actions.

When the debate over whether or not to fund abortions overseas, as part of the government's maternal health initiative heated up, Harper's then Chief of Staff, Guy Giorno, told his boss to  “protect the base.” (4)

Karl Rove would often advise George Bush of the same thing (5).  Protecting the base was first and foremost.

Blackwell once wrote a letter to a newly elected Republican, and offered his advice on "the base".  "Your constituency is the voters, especially the coalition which elected you. You can't count on the news media to communicate your message to your constituency. You must develop ways to communicate with your coalition which avoids the filter of the media. Focus on your base. Write to them. Meet with them. Honor them. Show yourself to be proud of them. Support their activities. Show up at their events."

He also advised that you should never betray your base, by "outing them", if they wanted to remain in the shadows.  That he claimed would be "politial suicide".
But the creation of a base has many levels.

Populist Level -  The populist base, or what both Richard Nixon and Stephen Harper referred to as the "silent majority", are perhaps the most important element of movement conservatism, and in fact without them, there probably never would have been a movement at all.

The New Right learned how to tap into the insecurities and prejudices of a segment of the population that had become disenfranchised with feminism, gay rights and "political correctness".  Reserving their comments for like minded souls, they were instead told to let it out.  They weren't wrong.  It was only the liberal society that was tramping on their rights.

As early as the 1950s, the National Review, edited by a young William F. Buckley, was defending the right of the South to prevent blacks from voting—"the White community is so entitled because it is, for the time being, the advanced race".  (6)

A decade later, Ronald Reagan joined the movement, and without being overtly racist, made it clear, that he too was on their side.  When he gave his first major speech in 1964,"A Time for Choosing," it was drafted to feed off paranoia.  As Krugman says of Reagan, "His early political successes were based on appeals to cultural and sexual anxieties, playing on the fear of communism, and, above all, tacit exploitation of white backlash against the civil rights movement and its consequences."

He would carry that into his federal campaign and in 1980, stumped about states' rights (as in the right to continue policies of segregation), at Philadelphia, Mississippi, where three civil rights workers had been murdered by the Klan.

In Canada, when the Reform Party was organizing, they too established a base of  "white nationals".  And while Stephen Harper and Preston Manning were careful not to write extremist views into their policies, the message got through.

According to Trevor Harrison in his book Of Passionate Intensity: Right-Wing Populism and the Reform Party of Canada

"... the notion that some Reform members may have strong Anglo-Saxon nativist inclinations is supported by more than merely the background profiles of its leaders, members and supporters. It is supported also by the words of many of its ideological mentors who depict Canada as not only historically an Anglo-Saxon country but also part of a wider Anglo-Saxon culture that is in need of recognizing and re-establishing its heritage. (7)

They also fed off fears, brought on by immigration and  a communist threat.  But while leaders of the American movement stood with their base against blacks, the Reformers stood up to Quebec, who they claimed were getting special favours from Ottawa; and forced bilingualism.

Business Level - Their populist base provided the noise, but they still needed money, and for that they tapped into the corporate sector, with promises of lower taxes and massive deregulation.  And by standing with corporations against unions, they easily created a base of the monied elite.

These people provided the funding for the think tanks, while the populist base provided the bodies for the Astoturf groups, even though they were often rallying against their own self interest.

Intelligentsia Level -  This level was created when "movement conservatism" joined forces with the Neoconservatives.  Milton Friedman of the Chicago School pushed back against Keynesian economics and the Welfare State, while men like Irving Kristol, who called himself the Godfather of Neoconservatism, produced scholarly papers promoting free market theories and denouncing "big government" solutions to social problems.

With an eager populace and more money than they could imagine, it became a smart career choice for many academics.  In fact, at all levels, those who worked for the movement, were never unemployed.  They moved from government to think tanks, and back again, always campaign ready.

The intelligentsia also created a special language.  One speech written for a politician, could mean one thing to the populace, another to the corporate sector and yet another to other intellectuals.  Krugman called it speaking in code.  When they targeted a specific group with their message, it is "dog-whistle politics".

A good example of this was when George Bush called himself a "compassionate conservative".  The masses heard "compassion", believing that he would protect the social safety net.  However, he was actually referencing the 1992 work of Marvin Olasky, who called for dismantling the welfare state, and putting social services into the hands of Christian organizations to dispense at their will.

David Kuo, one of the Evangelicals who helped to put George Bush in the White House, caught the reference, believing that the "faith-based" group he was part of, would be given funds to start a domestic ministry, to fight against poverty.

As it turned out, Bush had no such plans, and in the end only corporations benefited from any "charitable" initiatives.

By now many have picked up on the coded language.  "Choice" means "private",  "private" means "corporate",  and so on.  There are also phrases that are common to the group on both sides of the border.

"Tax relief" is a good example of this.

When the Globe reported that nearly all Canadian workers would pay more income and payroll taxes in 2011, Jim Flaherty's office responded by suggesting that all sectors benefited from "tax relief". (8) That was a common term used by the Bush administration, to ward off the same kind of accusations.  According to George Lakoff:  On the day that George W. Bush took office, the words tax relief started appearing in White House communiqués to the press and in official speeches and reports by conservatives .... (9)

Bush and Flaherty used "averages", instead of actualities.  G.W. announced that Americans would receive an average $1,083 in savings, when in fact the "average" American netted about $200.00.  The huge savings by the upper class distorted the "median".

Religious Level - This refers to the Moral Majority or Christian Right, who now greatly influence public policy in Canada and the U.S. 

Conservatives have painted themselves as the only party that believes in God.  Daivid Kuo in his book, Tempting Faith: An inside Story of Political Seduction, speaks of how the Republicans suddenly became the party of church goers.

At Sunday morning brunches around Washington, they appear in their "Sunday best", dressed as though they had just returned from "service", when in fact many had come directly from their homes or apartments.  It was important to keep up appearances.

With the Tea Party, has "movement conservatism" hit bottom?  They are certainly the embodiment of racist populism and religious extremism, funded by the corporate sector, and marching against their own self interest.

Now that we can put a name to the odd combination of forces, and have an idea of what a Harper "base" might look like, it's time to go back to where it all began.

1. Harper, Anders and Kenney ridings transfer to 'poor' Ontario ridings, By Tim Naumetz, The Hill Times, March 8, 2010

2. The Armageddon Factor: The Rise of Christian Nationalism in Canada, By: Marci McDonald, Random House Canada, 2010, ISBN: 978-0-307-35646-8 3, p. 104

3. McDonald, 2010, p. 105

4. Guy Giorno: national man of mystery: PM’s chief of staff target for blame, but insiders say he gets big things right, by John Geddes, May 31, 2010

5. Bush's Brain: How Karl Rove Made George W. Bush Presidential, By James Moore and Wayne Slater, John Wiley & Sons, 2003, ISBN: 0-471-42327-0

6. The Conscience of a Liberal, By Paul Krugamn, W. W. Norton & Co., 2007, ISBN: 13 978-0-393-06069-0, p. 9

7. Of Passionate Intensity: Right-Wing Populism and the Reform Party of Canada, By: Trevor Harrison Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1995. ISBN: 0-8020-7204-6, p. 105

8. Tax man to hit Canadian workers harder in 2011, By Sunny Dhillon, Globe and Mail, December 28, 2010

9. An introduction to framing and its uses in politics, By George Lakoff, Cognitive Policy Works, February 14, 2006

Chapter Seventeen: The Campus Leadership Roles of Morton Blackwell and Preston Manning

The Canadian Manifesto: How the American Neoconservatives Stole my Country

In 2006, Cliff Fryers, Chair of the Conservative Party’s 2005 policy conference, and Preston Manning, former leader of the Reform Party, sat down with Morton Blackwell, founder of the American Leadership Institute.  Blackwell, a former Special Assistant to President Reagan, and longtime activist for the Conservative Movement, was eager to assist his Canadian colleagues, who had also been involved with the movement for decades.

Fryers and Manning were interested in starting their own Leadership Institute in Canada, based on the strategies and techniques of Blackwell's successful school of instruction in the art of dirty tricks.  Grover Norquist, Ralph Reed and Karl Rove, are all former graduates, and according to Marci MacDonald, 700 Canadian graduates of Blackwell's school, are working for the movement in Canada. (2)

Manning won't say who provided the $10 million single donation that was the seed money for his Manning Centre for Building Democracy, but when it was established, Cliff Fryer was named its director (3).  Fryer has worked with the Reform-Alliance party from its inception and knows how the game is played.

Until recently, Fryer was the chairman of the Enmax Corporation's board of directors, the Calgary owned utilities company.  However, he was forced to resign for backing former CEO Gary Holden, who was fired  following the discovery that he took a trip to the French Riviera, courtesy of a company that does business with Enmax.  According to other board members, Fryer’s resignation was "for the best".  Said one: “Well there's a few of us that weren't all that enthused about some of the comments that he made back when we were having some issues with Enmax and some of the things that had transpired over the years so we kind of were advocating for his resignation ... " (4)

According to Rick Bell, columnist for the Calgary Sun, Holden's parting shots were typical.

He insists he's done nothing wrong while speaking of "intrigue," the "motives" of "business and political forces," the attacks on Enmax, the biased media reports not telling the true story, his self-styled high-minded decision to depart and his possible future career as a politician.

When all is said, Holden does what he does best and what Enmax board chairman Cliff Fryers also does best.  He doesn't tell us anything of substance when asked but then uses one-way e-mails or a bully pulpit to play victim, casting other supposed sinister sorts as the source of what is the ongoing soap opera over at Enmax. (5)

This is what most neoconservatives do.  Blame someone else.

Another High-Profile Visitor

While Morton Blackwell was discussing the nuts and bolts of his operation to Preston Manning and company, Ralph Reed of the Christian Coalition, was the featured speaker at an election training program hosted by the Charles McVety's Canada Family Action Coalition.  (6)

Reed counsels social conservatives to practice “stealth politics” and “fool voters” by “hiding their religious agenda and instead promoting popular issues such as tax reform.” (7) The merging of neoconservatism with misguided Evangelism, to create what Noam Chomsky calls. "The religion of market knows best".  At least part of it is based on deceit.

In attendance at Reed’s strategy session, were Tim Dobson, Conservative Candidate for Pickering-Scarborough East, John Carmichael, Conservative Candidate for Don Valley West (won in 2011), Michael Mostyn, Conservative Candidate for York Centre, Rhondo Thomas, from McVety's Christian College, and Jim Flaherty, now our finance minister.

Reed told the assembled activists and candidates about the philosophical approach that should motivate their activities: “We're not trying to change a church into a political party, and we're not trying to change a political party into a church, but if the people of the church don't get involved, somebody else will.” (6)

Reminds me of an old Irish proverb that my father told me "If God doesn't change you, the devil will", his loose interpretation of religion.  Clearly, the devil is at work here.

What They Teach at Manning's Campus Leadership Training Program

In March of 2009, a Conservative Party workshop was held at the University of Waterloo. A student who attended was clever enough to take a tape recorder and what was revealed from the meeting was a clandestine attempt to take over student unions, by setting up a series of front groups.

This operation is one of the strategies taught at the Manning Centre's Campus Leadership Training program.  From their website:

Has your student government been overrun by extreme left-wing students?

Is freedom of speech being infringed upon on your campus? Are groups on campus using student money to further a left-wing agenda? Do you want to get organized and fight back?

Then the Manning Centre’s Campus Leadership Training is for you. Campus Leadership Seminars introduce aspiring political leaders on campus to the principles and practices of effective political involvement. Topics for these seminars include:

»The Fundamentals of Campaigning
» Political Communications
» How to run an effective Campus Club
» How to win campaigns on campus
» How to build effective coalitions

What they teach, however, is something a little different.

Audio recordings, photographs and documents that were leaked from a recent Conservative Party student workshop in Waterloo expose a partisan attempt to take over student unions and undermine Ontario Public Interest Research Groups (OPIRGs) on campuses across Ontario. 

At a session held in early February by the Ontario Progressive Conservative Campus Association (OPCCA) and the Manning Centre for Building Democracy, campus Conservatives, party campaigners, and a Member of Parliament discussed strategies to gain funding from student unions for the Conservative Party and ways to run for—and win—positions within student unions. (8)

What Manning had instructed the students to do was to set up "front" groups, all linked to a central organization.  In this way they could get funding for each group, despite the fact that they were not independent.  The Member of Parliament they speak of was Peter Braid, Conservative MP for Kitchener-Waterloo.

Blackwell's Leadership Institute is running the same kind of clandestine operations as Manning, under their Campus Leadership Program.  Journalist Jeff Horowitz went under cover at one of their summer seminars, where they taught their students how to manipulate elections.  One tactic was to volunteer to help run the election, and then place the ballot box in an obscure location, with little foot traffic.  Conservatives would know well in advance where it was. (9)

They also provide funds for a campus newspaper espousing conservative theories, and "front" groups for the Young Republicans.

The structure of Blackwell's Campus Leadership Program is simple. The Leadership Institute trains promising conservative college graduates over the summer and dispatches them to campuses in the fall with a mandate to start conservative student organizations.

Need $500 and some ideas to start a combative right-wing campus publication? The institute would love to help you. Unlike chapter-based political organizations, CLP clubs are unaffiliated with either the Leadership Institute or each other. According to Blackwell,this trait offers a serious advantage: "No purges." The clubs' independence also comes with the benefit of plausible deniability. "You can get away with stuff that you would take a lot of flak for doing in the College Republicans." (9)

Creating mini-me Ralph Reeds and Karl Roves on both sides of the border.

Sources:

1. Bloodshed on the floor was inevitable, By Siri Agrell, National Post, March 21, 2005

2. The Armageddon Factor: The Rise of Christian Nationalism in Canada, By: Marci McDonald, Random House Canada, 2010, ISBN: 978-0-307-35646-8

3. Manning Centre for Building Democracy, http://www.manningcentre.ca/

4. Enmax chairman Cliff Fryers resigns, CBC News, September 8, 2011

5. Watt is this guy thinking? By Rick Bell, Calgary Herald, January 22, 2011

6. US Political Wiz Ralph Reed Urges Canadian Social Conservatives to ‘Make History’ This Election,”, LifeSiteNews.com, December 2, 2005

7. Secrets and Ties, By Bill Berkowitz, Media Transparency, April 17, 2005

8. Conservative Party strategy to take over student unions exposed, By Rebecca Granovsky-Larsen, Editor-in-Chief and Nora Loreto, News Editor, Ryerson Free Press, March 16, 2009

9. My Right-wing Degree, By Jeff Horwitz, May 24, 2005

The Canadian Manifesto 5: The Exploitation of Religion

"... the seemingly squeaky clean but morally corrupt Ralph Reed." Sarah Posner (1)

In the movie Casino Jack, based on the life of Republican lobbyist Jack Abramoff, we are introduced to some of the players in the massive corruption scandal, that took down two Republican senators, and nine high profile lobbyists.

One character in the movie was Ralph Reed, played by Christian Campbell, who assures Abramoff that he is ready to play his part in the casino fraud.

For an enormous fee, 'Casino Jack' set out to destroy the gambling operation of a competing tribe, for his clients, the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians.

This was not the first time that Abramoff had used questionable tactics for this client, but he couldn't have done it without the help of the "squeaky clean" and "morally corrupt" Ralph Reed, then head of The Christian Coalition.

In 1999, the Choctaw needed to defeat a bill in the Alabama State Legislature that would allow casino-style games on dog racing tracks, resulting in competition for their casino business. It was at about this time that Reed had contacted his old friend Abramoff, asking for his help in establishing his new business, Century Strategies.

"Hey, now that I’m done with electoral politics, I need to start humping in corporate accounts! I’m counting on you to help me with some contacts." (Ralph Reed to Jack Abramoff, via email, November 12, 1998)

When asked what he could do to assist with this situation, Reed said that he could access "3,000 pastors and 90,000 religious conservative households" in Alabama, as well as "the Alabama Christian Coalition, the Alabama Family Alliance, the Alabama Eagle Forum, [and] the Christian Family Association." And he would do this for a retainer of $20,000 a month.

Souls don't come cheap.  Just ask the devil.

The firm that Abramoff was then with, Preston Gates, hired Reed as a subcontractor, and Abramoff told Reed to "get me invoices as soon as possible so I can get Choctaw to get us checks asap."

"By May 10, 1999, the Choctaw had paid $1.3 million to Reed via Preston Gates, for various grassroots activities relating to the dog-track bill, as well as opposing an Alabama state lottery." (2) Eventually they broke their business ties with Preston Gates, and began dealing directly with Abramoff, using Grover Norquist's Americans for Tax Reform as a conduit.  (Norquist had done work for them in the past)

However, what Abramoff was hoping to pull off this time, was much bigger and riskier than dog tracks and state lotteries.

In October 2001, Abramoff began to suggest to the Louisiana Coushatta that the Texas legislature was "one vote away" from legalizing certain forms of gambling in Texas. The Alabama Coushatta - a related but competing tribe to the Louisiana Coushatta - also sought to open a casino in eastern Texas in 2001. Abramoff told the Louisiana Coushatta that if the Tigua succeeded in their court case, then Texas would be forced to allow the Alabama Coushatta to open their casino. Many of the Coushatta's casino customers traveled over the border from eastern Texas to Louisiana, so this could pose a grave threat to their livelihood.  (2)

Abramoff then suggested to the Choctaw that they should support Christian evangelical conservatives, who were prepared to oppose gaming expansion in Texas, and Reed was again on the payroll.  "Reed worked with Houston pastors and church congregations to make demands on the state government to prevent the casinos from opening." (2)

According to the director of the movie, Alex Gibney, in response to Reed suggesting that the work he did for Abramoff was "outstanding" and something he was "proud of":

Let's say it plain: Ralph Reed is a fraud ... there was probably nothing illegal about what Reed did. But, he was engaged in a kind of spiritual fraud: telling his supporters that he was opposed to gambling when, in fact, gambling was making him rich. (3)

Though Reed still denies that he knew that the millions of dollars paid him came from casino profits, there are numerous email exchanges that prove otherwise.  And if  that deception isn't bad enough, he also implied that he was "fully investigated by John McCain's Senate Committee on Indian Affairs", and cleared.  However, according to Gibney:

Reed correctly notes that he has never been charged with a crime and implies that he had been fully investigated by John McCain's Senate Committee on Indian Affairs. But the implication is deceptive. According to one very famous, disgraced former lobbyist, Reed was supposed to have been called before McCain's committee but Karl Rove intervened and pressured McCain not to call Reed.  To Reed, Abramoff committed the unpardonable sin of getting caught, and that's why Reed prays for him. Well, Abramoff did his time and now seems to be willing to speak the truth. Reed should pray for himself. (3)

Touché!

Leo Strauss Would Have Been Proud

In her book: Leo Strauss and the American Right, Shadia Drury of the University of Calgary, reveals that Strauss suggested that the exploiting of religion by the "right thinking elite" was necessary.

The key is to use the most artful and most reliable techniques that history has made available. And in Strauss's view, nothing has ever proved to be more effective than the influence of religion. (4)

Karl Marx called religion the "opium of the people", but to Ralph Reed and most other "elite"  in the movement, it is pure gold.

Religion can be a good thing, when it inspires, but can be lethal when it incites.

There is no doubt that religion often exerts a wholesome influence on human conduct. And it may even serve as a small protection against tyranny and the abuse of power because persons committed to the moral life may prefer to risk their lives than to collaborate with wicked schemes. But it is also the case that religious fervor often turns political and even militant. Religious groups are not always satisfied with the religious freedom that liberal society affords them. They are not content to gather together, worship, sing, play, and educate their children as they see fit. They are interested in imposing their vision of private morality on the rest of society. What they want is not freedom of religion, but conformity to their religious views. (4)

Drury continues:

Their current mood is overtly political if not altogether militant. The Christian Coalition, founded by Pat Robertson and then led by his protégé Ralph Reed, is a case in point. Its "leadership school" does not waste much time on prayer, but on the political process and how best to manipulate it. Grassroots leaders in hundreds of counties in every state are instructed in the modern art of quick communication—phone, fax, and modem. These leaders are trained to mobilize their troops into rapid-response networks intended to "blitz" or bombard congressmen with the values of the coalition. (4)

It is said that 26 Republican presidential hopefuls have sought out Reed for advice, with chequebook in hand, of course.  And why not?

When [Pat] Robertson's campaign flamed out, political analysts served up a new round of obituaries for the religious right, but once again, the reports of its death proved premature. Even as Robertson nursed a wounded ego, he was hatching his organizational revenge, hiring a fresh-faced young doctoral student named Ralph Reed to build a grass-roots evangelical network, focusing first on the takeover of school boards and town councils before ultimately commandeering the machinery of the Republican National Committee itself. That institutional coup took place almost entirely beneath the media's radar, and by the time it finally caught their attention, Reed's Christian Coalition controlled both houses of Congress and would later play a major role in putting George W. Bush in the White House, not once but twice. (5) 

Their political goals include returning prayer to schools, recriminalizing abortion, stripping known homosexuals of their civil rights, teaching creationism in the schools, and censoring libraries and the press, all included in Reed's  "contract with the American family", that was released right after Newt Gingrich's 'Contract with America".

American conservatives such as William Buckley and William Bennett fool themselves in thinking that the Christian right is simply interested in safe streets, good schools, strong families, nonintrusive government, and a chummy Communitarian atmosphere .... They are very much interested in governmental interference to uphold and enforce their own values and preferences, not only in matters pertaining to public morality, but in private morality as well. But their political tactics call their ethics into question. For example, Ralph Reed has defended the "stealth campaigns" of Christian Coalition candidates who have disguised their political agenda by campaigning on issues such as crime or taxes, but have revealed once in office that their real interests are in gay rights, abortion, and creationism.

Reed justifies such deception as a type of "guerrilla warfare." He flatters himself into thinking that his stealth campaigns are a matter of using the tactics of a guerrilla war against Satan. Those who paint their political opponents as the forces of evil and regard themselves as the defenders of good, are inclined to justify any means as necessary to defeat their opponents. The urgency of vanquishing the satanic forces, and the sheer immensity of the task, blinds them to the fact that such mendacious and duplicitous conduct is a blatant disregard of Christian virtue. (4)

Touché again!

Ralph Reed in the Great White North

On May 5, 1996; the Albion Monitor reported on a group of Canadians, who had made the trek to Washington in the fall of 1995, to attend a conference of The Christian Coalition.  Their visit resulted in the creation of the Canadian Christian Coalition, whose board members included Reform Party members, Ted and Link Byfield, and our own Jason Kenney.

... ominous for democratic rights in [British Columbia] is the recent hatching of the B.C. clone of Pat Robertson's Christian Coalition ... The B.C. chapter is headed up by Operation Rescue activist Don Spratt, and claims among its founding board members former B.C. Premier and ardent anti-choicer Bill Vander Zalm. In an opinion piece in the Vancouver Sun, Spratt insisted (somewhat oxymoronically) "We have no ties with our U.S. counterpart." However, according to news reports, The Christian Coalition of Canada materialized after dozens of conservative Christians in this country thronged to Washington, DC, last fall to attend a major convention of the U.S. organization.

"Advisors" to the new CCC reportedly include Ted and Link Byfield (owners of the ultra-conservative B.C. Report and Alberta Report magazines), Jason Kenny (head of the Canadian Taxpayers Association), and Alex Parachin (head of the Christian Broadcasting Associates in Toronto, the Canadian branch plant of Pat Robertson's Christian Broadcasting Network). ...While Don Spratt may be telling readers "Nobody has anything to fear from Christian Coalition," progressive activists and journalists will have to make sure the electorate knows better. (6)

Touché, touché. touché, dammit!

The B.C. branch was responsible for a ban on Planned Parenthood in Surrey.  Stephen Harper has since expanded that, by cancelling all funding for PP, domestic and international.  The Tea Party gang have also been instrumental in the organization's demise in the U.S.

We beat them.  Yeah for us. (sigh)

However, while Jason Kenney may have been among the first to transport Ralph Reed's "faith for profit and righteous indignation" to Canada, he was by no means the last.  Two members of Stockwell Day's team, Brian Rushfeldt and Roy Beyer ("Families for Day"), visited Reed to solicit his help in getting Day elected as Alliance leader in 2000.

Both men were graduates of Charles McVety's Canadian Christian College.

In 2005, McVety invited Reed to speak at that institution, making sure that his protégé was in attendance: Jim Flaherty.

His very attentive listeners were challenged by Reed to “get on your work boots and tennis shoes and go out there like it all depends on you, pray like it all depends on God and let’s usher in the greatest victory in the history of this country.” (7)

Mcvety had already worked with Flaherty in his bid for leadership of the Ontario conservatives, but ironically, Flaherty was considered to be too right wing.  It was probably just the company he kept.

A Christian Manifesto Revisited

Francis Schaeffer, whose book A Christian Manifesto became the blueprint for the Religious Right, apparently regretted his involvement with the movement that he grew to detest.  According to his son, Francis Jr. (Frank), in his book Crazy for God:

Falwell, Robertson, Dobson, and others would later use their power in ways that would have made my father throw up. Dad could hardly have imagined how they would help facilitate the instantly corrupted power-crazy new generation of evangelical public figures like Ralph Reed, who took money from the casino industry while allegedly playing both sides against the middle in events related to the Abramoff Washington lobbyist scandal.
... Long before Ralph Reed and his ilk came on the scene, Dad got sick of "these idiots," as he often called people like [James] Dobson in private. They were "plastic," Dad said, and "power-hungry They were "Way too right-wing, really nuts!" and "They're using our issue to build their empires." (9)

Rick Salutin was fired as a columnist for the Globe and Mail, because he reminded Canadians of Harper's links to Leo Strauss.  His only error in the column was calling him the "last" Straussian.  Those guys breed like rabbits.

In March of 1995, former leader of the Reform Party, Preston Manning, was invited to speak to the editorial board of the Washington Post.  Newt Gingrich had been singing Manning's praises with the American media, as an important factor in his 1994 election victory.

Naturally they wanted to meet the Canadian neocon guru.

The late Dalton Camp, wrote a column about the visit, under the heading: Mr. Manning Goes to Washington.

"The Reform agenda includes a host of issues with American analogs—opposition to abortion rights, gun control and gay rights"—and lower taxes, less government, fewer rights for consumers, and "family values."

This does remind me once again of Senator James M. Inhofe* (R. Oklahoma), who has said he campaigned last fall, and won, on "God, gays, and guns."** No doubt Preston could arrange through Newt to meet with Inhofe, who is a great admirer of Jesse Helms who is a good friend of Al D'Amato who knows Dick Armey who needs no introduction to Ralph Reed of The Christian Coalition warmly supported by Pat Buchanan who knows Pat Robertson.

Knowing our man Manning has direct access to those guys makes you feel warm all over, doesn't it? (9)

"Warm all over?"  Not exactly.  I'm more inclined to feel like Schaeffer.  It makes me want to "throw up".

Footnotes:

*James Inhofe is the former boss of Conservative MP Rob Anders.

** Not one to leave a Republican quote unplagiarized, Stephen Harper wrote a piece for the Globe in March of 1995, in which he defined his Reform Party as being based on "three g-issues"- guns, gays, and government grants." (10)

Sources:

1. God's Profits: Faith, Fraud, and the Republican Crusade for Values Voters, By Sarah Posner, PoliPoint Press, 2008, ISBN: 0-9794822-1-6

2. Wikipedia: Jack Abramoff Indian lobbying scandal

3. The Deceptions of Ralph Reed, By Alex Gibney, The Atlantic, September 26, 2010

4. Leo Strauss and the American Right, By Shadia B. Drury, St. Martin's Press, 1999, ISBN: 0-312-12689-1, p. 19-21

5. The Armageddon Factor: The Rise of Christian Nationalism in Canada, By: Marci McDonald, Random House Canada, 2010, ISBN: 978-0-307-35646-8 3, p. 5

6. The Christian Coalition Comes to Canada, by Kim Goldberg, The Albion Monitor, May 5, 1996

7. US Political Wiz Ralph Reed Urges Canadian Social Conservatives to “Make History” This Election, LifeSite News, December 2, 2005

8. Whose Country is This Anyway? Mr. Manning Goes to Washington, By Dalton Camp, Douglas & McIntyre, 1995, ISBN: 1-55054-467-5, Pg. 185

9. Crazy For God: How I Grew Up a One of the Elect, Helped Found the Religious Right, and Lived to Take it All (or Almost All) of it Back, By Frank Schaeffer, Carroll & Graf, 2007, ISBN: 13-978-0-7867-1891-7, p. 299-300

10. Where Does the Reform Party Go From Here, By Stephen Harper, Globe and Mail, March 21, 1995

Dirty Deeds and the Selling of Souls

The Canadian Manifesto: How the American Neoconservatives Stole my Country

The state should take a more activist role in policing social norms and values ... To achieve this goal, social and economic conservatives must reunite as they have in the U.S., where evangelical Christians and business rule in an unholy alliance. Red Tories must be jettisoned from the party ... Movement towards the goal must be "incremental, so the public won't be spooked." Stephen Harper (1)

In 2000 when Stockwell Day decided to run for the leadership of the Alliance Party against Preston Manning, a young pastor named Roy Beyer joined his team, wanting to promote a candidate who would preserve "Christian Values'. Jason Kenney acted as campaign chair and head speech writer, while Beyer set up a website "Families for Day". (2)

Stockwell won the leadership and went on to claim a seat in a by-election where he reportedly bought off the man then holding the riding of Okanagan-Coquihalla, Jim Hart. The bribe came to light when Hart was forced to sue Day (3) because he hadn't received the promised money. Day paid up, and the case went to the RCMP.(4) (Day was in charge of the ministry that oversaw the RCMP at the time, and he got off)

Beyer would also work doggedly during the federal election of November 2000, but gaffes and revelations of Day's past while teaching at the Bentley Bible Schools went public (5), and the electorate got scared.

Another Important Election:

Meanwhile south of the border, another man had thrown his hat into the ring to lead his country: George W. Bush, and like Stockwell Day, he had many young devotees eager to see him get elected. One of them was the born-again Christian Ralph Reed, an up and coming preacher and political activist for the Republican Party.

When evangelist Pat Robertson failed to make headway with his moral majority the media thought it was the end of the Religious Right in the United States. However, Robertson was smart enough to hire a young doctoral student named Ralph Reed "... to build a grassroots network, focusing first on the takeover of school boards and town councils before ultimately commandeering the Republican National Committee itself. This took place almost entirely beneath the media's radar, and by the time it caught their attention, Reed's Christian Coalition controlled both houses of Congress and would later play a major role in putting George W. Bush in the White House, not once but twice." (6)

After this success, the Canadian Religious Right believed that if Reed and his Christian Coalition could get George Bush elected, maybe he could show them how to get Stephen Harper elected in Canada. Harper had taken over as leader of the Alliance, after a mutiny forced Day from the spot, and they were now calling themselves the Conservative Party of Canada. (The Progressive Conservatives disbanded in 2003, ending a century and a half tradition)

So in December of 2005, Reed headed north to address a gathering of social conservatives to offer tips on how to win the election for Stephen Harper:

“How are you gonna do it?” he rhetorically asked and gave four points. “Number one”, he emphasized, “you have to build a grassroots organization that will touch every single voter in the country between now and election day”. Point two was “train your people to be effective”. Next was set and meet “achievable goals” and lastly Reed told the assembled group of leaders anxious to influence this crucial election that they had to work very hard “to get out the vote”.

His very attentive listeners were challenged by Reed to “get on your work boots and tennis shoes and go out there like it all depends on you, pray like it all depends on God and let’s usher in the greatest victory in the history of this country.” A few Conservative candidates from the Toronto region also attended the event, including Ontario PC Jim Flaherty, John Carmichael, Rondo Thomas, Michael Mostyn, and Tim Dobson. (7)

But then the wonder boy got caught up in a scandal when his ties to the convicted former G.O.P. super lobbyist Jack Abramoff, surfaced:

For a high-profile religious conservative like Reed, the stories of being paid millions by one Indian tribe to run a religious-based antigambling campaign to prevent another tribe from opening a rival casino made him look like something worse than a criminal--a hypocrite. He had once called gambling a "cancer" on the body politic. And the e-mails to Abramoff didn't help, especially those that seemed to suggest that the man who had deplored in print Washington's system of "honest graft" was eager to be part of it. "I need to start humping in corporate accounts!" he wrote Abramoff a few days after the 1998 election. (8)

Canada Family Action Coalition

Meanwhile Roy Beyer fearing that there was a plot under way to destroy families, by "legalizing" homosexuality, decided he should do something about it. Though he had never been to divinity school, he and fellow pastor at the Victory Church, Brian Rushfeldt, began taking a correspondence course offered by Canada Christian College, run by Charles McVety.

It was later decided that the two should try to turn McVety's Canada Family Action Coalition into the same kind of activist group created by Ralph Reed, that would become a political force demanding the restoration of biblical principles to government.

The Canada Family Action Coalition (CFAC) is a social conservative organization that actively promotes anti-choice, anti-same sex marriage agendas. Sandy Rios, then President of Concerned Women for America, recommended in 2003 radio show that Canadians interested in opposing same sex marriage enlist with CFAC. CFAC also has close ties with Focus on the Family Canada, including joining forces with that organization as part of the Coalition for Family Autonomy (CFA), a group of “pro-family” organizations which joined forces to advocate on behalf of parents right to spank their children.

Based in Calgary and founded in 1979, CFAC seeks to promote a Bible-based society by equipping “citizens to take back their rightful place as part of the decision-making process of our courts, tribunals, legislatures and Parliament.” It concentrates its efforts on grassroots organization in order to provide training, tools, strategy and networking opportunities to permit Canadians to influence their government. CFAC’s founder and President, Dr. Charles McVety, is also President of the Canadian Christian College. Dr. McVety strongly supported the provincial Tory leadership bid of Jim Flaherty . (9)

So Beyers and Rushfeldt went to Washington to speak with Reed and convinced him to help (10):

On November 29th, 2005 [CFAC] it organized a seminar in partnership with the Institute for Canadian Values at which Ralph Reed, a “senior advisor to President George W. Bush’s election campaign,” counselled attendees on strategy for the current election. Previously, Mr. Reed has counselled social conservatives to practice “stealth politics” and “fool voters” by “hiding, or disguising, their religious agenda by promoting popular issues such as tax reform.” Dr. McVety highly praised Mr. Reed just weeks before he came to Canada, writing that Mr. Reed “has motivated millions of Americans to participate in the election of their leaders and has taught millions how to mobilize others based on sound middle class, common sense moral principles, and solid organizations." (9)

Their "stealth" helped to bring Stephen Harper to power, though the real "power" is now in the hands of Charles McVety. Harper couldn't say no to him if he wanted to. And considering that McVety's inner circle includes Jim Flaherty, Stockwell Day and Jason Kenney, we know who's really calling the shots, and those are three members of his caucus that he will never reprimand.

World Congress of Families

Canada Family Action Coalition falls under the umbrella of the World Family Congress, and includes several other Canadian faith based advocacy groups, like Focus on the Family. Many Reform-Conservatives belong to both CFAC and FOTF.

In 2000 they hosted the World Congress of Families Millennium Youth Assembly, in Lethbridge, Alberta, where the young people were asked to write personal statements about one of the pro-family statements, "which use international consensus language."

Here are some sample responses:

1. "Recognizing the dignity and worth inherent in the human person," and that "the child, by reason of his physical and metal immaturity, needs special safeguards and care, including appropriate legal protection, before as well as after birth, motherhood and childhood are entitled to special care and assistance."

2. "The family is the child's first introduction to society and is the essential link between the child and the society they live in. Children can best learn these values when a mother and father who are legally married are present in the home to teach them. The values taught in the family can never be replaced and will guide them all their lives."

3. "I believe that enough emphasis isn't being focused on the family, that is, the nuclear/biological family. The "family" should consist of a mother and a father. Allowing gay and lesbian marriages is a step in the wrong direction and is a mockery to what was and will always be a sacred institution, which is marriage. I think the rights of parents should be put back into law and parents should have the right to discipline their own kids but not to the point of abusing their children."

4. "Human Life is very important, but the world does not see this. Our population is becoming very few because families are having less kids and abortion is killing off a number of people too. Life is a great thing even through all the trials. At the end of these trials comes happiness." (11)

These children are being indoctrinated into the social conservative agenda. Their statements marginalise any family that does not have a married heterosexual couple at the helm.

What Else Did Ralph Reed Teach Roy Beyer?

Roy Beyer also belongs to an investment group that falls under the auspices of Harvest Capital Management Inc., a faith based investment corporation involved in mostly real estate transactions. They have many little offshoot groups and projects, and Beyer's includes Foundation Capital Corporation:

A Lethbridge land development firm will pay a $100,000 penalty as part of a settlement with the province’s securities regulator. Foundation Capital Corporation was asked to answer a claim it made misleading statements in marketing a 923-acre residential development south of Calgary. Its president, Ronald Aitkens, will also pay $30,000 to settle the allegations against him along with $15,000 toward the costs of the Alberta Securities Commission proceedings. Foundation Capital Corporation, registered as a Lethbridge company, was cited earlier this year along with two related businesses, Spruce Ridge Capital Inc. and Spruce Ridge Estates Inc. A 20-day hearing into those claims had been scheduled for next January. All allegations of misleading statements about the Priddis project were withdrawn after the company’s officers reached an agreement with ASC officials, says Foundation Capital spokesperson Roy Beyer. But company executives agree “confusing statements were made about the exact nature of the company’s bonds.”

Beyer, an Edmonton-based consultant who provided marketing and promotional services for the development, will also pay $20,000 plus $5,000 costs to settle the allegations against him.

Oh but there's more. From a personal testimonial:

"... I received an email from one of Harvest's [Capital Management Inc.] ex-pastor 'financial planners' recommending a couple of investments. One of them was the land development company, which I promptly warned him about as the president had been penalized by the securities commission and had been involved in another real estate scam, Eagle Lake. About a year later it was closed down by the securities commission.

The marketing director, Roy Beyer, formerly sold 'charitable donation tax shelters' for the ParkLane Group. Google it if you want to find out the gory details."(13)So I did, and this is what I found:

Canada's coffers have been cheated of more than $1.4 billion by scams that provided taxpayers with inflated charitable receipts they used to reduce their income tax. From coast to coast, donors wrote cheques to charities and tax scheme promoters that boasted they were saving the deathly ill, the poor and disabled, overseas and in Canada.

Now, at least 106,000 individual Canadians are learning the Canada Revenue Agency considers these schemes a sham, and wants to claw the money back. Some also are being hit with major financial penalties. Among the shelters operating recently (according to research by the Star) are: Canadian Organization for International Philanthropy (COIP); Canadian Literacy Initiatives; Initiatives Canada Corporation; ICC Worldwide Missions; Canadian Gifting Initiatives; Global Learning Gifting Initiatives; the Banyan Tree Foundation; and ParkLane Donations for Canada. (14)

Like Reed, the goal may be to force the government to work using the literal word of the Bible, but they clearly don't live under any such notions.

Because it all boils down to what it always boils down to: MONEY!

Sources:

1. Harper, Bush Share Roots in Controversial Philosophy: Close advisers schooled in 'the noble lie' and 'regime change', By Donald Gutstein, The Tyee, November 29, 2005

2. The Armageddon Factor: The Rise of Christian Nationalism in Canada, By: Marci McDonald, Random House Canada, 2010, ISBN: 978-0-307-35646-8

3. Requiem for a Lightweight: Stockwell Day and Image Politics, By Trevor Harrison, Black Rose Books, 2002, ISBN: 1-55164-206-9, Pg. 116

4. Day under fire: Liberals ask the RCMP to investigate the nomination of the Public Safety Minister nearly seven years ago, By Kady O'Malley, Macleans, March 23, 2007

5. Bentley, Alberta: Hellfire, Neo-Nazis and Stockwell Day: A two-part look inside the little town that nurtured a would-be prime minister - and some of the most notorious hate-mongers in Canada, By Gordon laird, Now Magazine, November 2000

6. McDonald, 2010, Pg. 5

7. US Political Wiz Ralph Reed Urges Canadian Social Conservatives to “Make History” This Election, LifeSite News, December 2, 2005

8. The Rise and Fall of Ralph Reed, Time Magazine, By James Carney, July 23, 2006

9. Conservative Party links to Right-Wing American Groups, January 13, 2006

10. McDonald, 2010, Pg. 69

11. World Congress of Families Millennium Youth Assembly, Lethbridge, Alberta, April 28 - 29, 2000

12. Lethbridge Land Developer Fined: Firm hit with $145,000 in penalties, by Dave Mabell, Lethbridge Herald, August 26, 2009

13. Harvest Capital Management? Canadian Business Forum, February 24, 2007

14. STAR EXCLUSIVE INVESTIGATION $1.4B tax scams nail donors, By Kevin Donovan, Staff Reporter, Toronto Star, September 29, 2007