Jews Move to Stop New Age Seminars
Source: The National Post | June 2, 2001
Immigration Poised to Nab Visiting Authors
Jonathon Gatehouse
Canadian Immigration officials have been put on alert for two controversial authors accused of spreading anti-Semitic propaganda, in advance of scheduled lectures this week in Eastern Canada.
Eustace Mullins, a Virginia writer whose works deny the Holocaust, and David Icke, a former sportscaster from England who claims a secret cabal of Jews control the world, are planning to give three joint seminars to hundreds of New Age devotees in Montreal and Toronto.
But yesterday, an official with the federal ministry of Citizenship and Immigration raised questions about whether the pair will even be allowed to set foot in the country.
“Theoretically, it takes a work permit to give a lecture like this,” said Richard St. Louis, a spokesman with CIC’s Quebec region offices in Montreal.
“If these people ever show up at the border they will be interviewed by immigration agents who will determine if we can let them into Canada.”
The speaking tour, organized by Sumari Seminars, a Toronto group specializing in alternative medicine and self-help workshops, has been quietly promoted through e-mails and word of mouth for several weeks.
According to promotional material, hundreds of tickets for the talks on the world banking system have already been sold, despite the steep asking price of $65 in Ontario and $110 in Quebec.
Past lectures by Mr. Mullins and Mr. Icke have sparked protests in a number of Canadian cities. In March, an alternative health convention in Toronto was forced to drop the U.S. author from its bill after a backlash from sponsors and the public.
Anti-racist organizations and Jewish groups, alerted to the speaking tour this week, have been talking with police forces and the scheduled venues about halting the events.
“We’re doing everything we can to make sure Canadians are not duped by this new age mumbo jumbo that often obscures their hateful message,” David Birnbaum, the Canadian Jewish Congress’ executive director in Quebec said on Thursday.
Yesterday, Mr. St. Louis said efforts to intercept the pair at the border have been “beefed up” in light of the appeals from concerned community groups and media attention.
“Our officers at the border are instructed to examine them seriously, check if they have any criminal activities or anything that could render them inadmissable to Canada,” he said.
Negative publicity has already caused one Toronto venue — the Lithuanian Community Centre –to break its contract with the seminar company and cancel talks scheduled for Monday and Tuesday night.
But it appears that tonight’s lecture at the Renaissance Hotel du Parc in Montreal will go ahead unless the government denies Mr. Mullins and Mr. Icke entry to the country.
Michel Bourbeillon, manager of the Renaissance Hotel, a Marriott property, said the company consulted its lawyers about breaking its contract with Sumari Seminars, but has been told that there is nothing it can do.
Loreta Stribys, the woman who is organizing the talks, did not return calls.
