Angry in the Great White North

Update: Less than 24 hours after this post went online, Volksfront International is announcing that the fundraising element of this gathering has been canceled.

Even as I write this, white supremacists from across North America are converging on British Columbia for a big party:

Oh boy!  Food (presumably only white meat), raffles, poker games, fundraisers for POWs...POWs?

This might refer to people like Paul Fromm who have lost defamation suits, but that's pure speculation on my part.  It's not clear who these POWs are.  It is significant that the event is to raise money for third parties, but more on that later.

In any case, Volksfront is a multi-national whites-only organization:

Volksfront, 'The Independent Voice of the White Working Class', is an international fraternal organization for persons of European descent. Since October 20th, 1994, Volksfront has long been at the forefront of the struggle for White autonomy, White self-determination and the issues of the White Working Class.

Volksfront activities are varied, and often unique, and have created many new tactics and programs imitated in the pro-White movement today. Volksfront activities and projects include, but are not limited to, our annual meeting/concert, the Volksfront 'Althing', land purchasing, business ownership and creation, contributions to, and distribution of, the world's longest running nationalist publication "Blood & Honour Magazine", Volksfront Radio, regular meetings and socials, political prisoner support though R.O.A. Publications, distribution of Folkish materials such as educational literatue and pro-White music, free web hosting for nationalist bands and organizations, political lobbying on a local level, supporting causes such as Afrikaner Charity and mutual support and defense of our members.

Volksfront does not employ reactionary 'race hate' or violence to achieve our aims.

The acronym "R.O.A." appears in this excerpt, and it refers to "Race Over All", a Volksfront concept in which members agree to put aside differences in religion or political affiliation or nationality and instead see race as their most important unifying characteristic.

I'm explaining it because I expect most, if not all, of my readers are not familiar with Volksfront or its philosophy.

Of course, the Volksfront website portrays something akin to Shriners.  Here is another point of view, less flattering of Volksfront, its membership and its aims:

Volksfront is an American neo-Nazi organization. The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) has added Volksfront to its list of hate groups.  The Anti-Defamation League has called the group "one of the most active skinhead groups in the United States." The group was founded in 1994 in the Oregon State Penitentiary by Randall Krager.

Since its formation, the group has expanded to four continents and seven countries, with chapters in states such as Oregon, Massachusetts, Arizona, California, New York, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, South Carolina, Washington, Illinois, and Missouri.  As of 2007, they had approximately 100 members worldwide.

The article then goes on to list members of Volksfront who have been prosecuted for racially motivated attacks over the last ten years.

The Anti-Defamation League summarizes the goals of the Volksfront, which the ADL describes as being composed primarily of young male neo-Nazi skinheads into assault, violent intimidation, and murder.oh, and rock music:

Volksfront, a virulently racist and anti-Semitic group, has become the most active neo-Nazi group on the West Coast and maintains close alliances with many other hate groups. Since its creation in 1994, the group has been growing nationally and internationally. One of Volksfront's primary goals is to establish an autonomous whites-only living space in the Pacific Northwest and, to this end, the group claims to have purchased several acres of property in Oregon and Washington State.

Volksfront says its members are not violent, that the organization does not condone violence, and that its goal is merely racial segregation.  Critics contend that the organization is violent and directs violence at specific groups.

In June 2007, the local RCMP in Trail, BC, where the Canadian branch of Volksfront in headquartered, said that no hate crimes had been committed, and no laws in general broken.  I've not seen anything to suggest that this has changed in the last eighteen months.

Except for that poster, which was being passed around online and posted on forums as recently as two weeks ago.

You see, in order to hold an event like this, you need a licence from the Gaming Policy and Enforcement Branch of the British Columbia Ministry of Housing and Social Development:

Most gaming in B.C. requires a licence. Your community group or organization may be eligible to receive a licence to hold a gaming event that earns revenue to benefit important programs and services in your area.

A licence must be applied for in advance of the proposed gaming event. Licensees are responsible for, among other things, following the guidelines and standard procedures related to the gaming event and for using the proceeds to support the eligible programs stated in the licence.

If your group or organization is planning to hold a gaming event for the purpose of raising funds to benefit the broader community or a third party, you must apply for either a Class A, B or D gaming event licence. The class of licence you'll want depends on how your group or organization is structured, how much money you expect to raise, the value of your prizes and the price of your tickets.

A Class C licence is for fairs and exhibitions, in case you were wondering. 

Given that the Volksfront people want to play poker in order to raise money for "POWs", I think that means they are "planning to hold a gaming event for the purpose of raising funds to benefit...a third party", making the acquisition of a licence obligatory.

To be allowed to play poker as a fundraising mechanism, you need a Class B licence.  Eligibility is restricted to "non-profit organizations raising funds to support programs or services they provide that directly benefit the broader community."

Call it a quibble, but by definition, white supremacists are interested in directly benefiting only one segment of the community, and actively work to deny benefits from flowing to anyone else.  From the Volksfront mission statement:

9. To promote and create European/White owned businesses, land ownership projects and other outlets to ensure our economic and social freedom as a people for future generations.

Yeah, not so much a "broad" focus.

The application for a Class B licence outlines reasons why a group might be ineligible:

An organization is ineligible if it:

• Is for-profit;
• Is a not-for-profit business or an ancillary group sustaining a for-profit business;
• Is a political party, political action group or lobby group;
• Is or is an agency of federal, provincial, regional, municipal, or other local government;
• Is a hospital, medical or health care facility;
• Is an educational institution or school;
• Is a penal institution or correction centre;
• Is a public or municipal library or provincial museum;
• Has objectives, programs, or expenditures that do not conform with all laws, regulations and the general public policies of the Province of British Columbia;
• Has programs that promote racial or ethnic superiority, religious intolerance, persecution or social change through unlawful action; or
• Has political, partisan or commercial activities as one of its primary purposes.

Organizations that provide services exclusively to their own membership may also be ineligible.

I've italicized those reasons that might be relevant in this case.  One that is particularly interesting is this one: "Has programs that promote racial or ethnic superiority, religious intolerance, persecution or social change through unlawful action".

So it is OK to promote these sorts of ideas as long as the promotional actions are not illegal.  Fair enough.  But then if Volksfront is attempting to raise money through an unlicenced, or incorrectly licenced, gaming event, then that would be an unlawful action, assuming that Volksfront is not eligible for a licence because of some other reason, or if it neglected to apply for a licence altogether.

And I suspect that the latter is the case, that is to say, Volksfront has not applied for a gambling licence.  If it had, it would have been issued a gaming event licence number, and the law requires that the number appear on promotional materials:

All materials must also include the gaming event licence number, as outlined in the Standard Procedures applicable to the gaming event (e.g., BC Gaming Event Licence #123456).

Your organization cannot advertise its gaming event until it has received a gaming licence for that event.

The poster is advertising the gaming event, and I don't see a BC gaming event licence number anywhere on it.

So I'm going out on a limb here, and I think this is an unlicenced fundraiser by a group that likely would never have been awarded approval for such a fundraiser in the first place.

It's only five days before the big party.  I wonder if anyone is going to check into this over there on the West Coast. 

Rich Coleman is the minister of Housing and Social Development.    His ministry's rules are the ones that I suspect are being ignored.  Funnily enough, Coleman is an ex-Mountie, and formerly the Minister of Public Safety and Solicitor General.  In other words, a law-and-order man.

I bet he wouldn't appreciate neo-Nazi skinheads ignoring the law under his watch.

Update: It occurs to me that Minister Coleman might not realize what is going on.  To be fair, these groups tend to fly in under the radar, deliberately.  So I've written to the minister asking for any comment on what is being planned, and to confirm that, with the exception of the lack of the gaming event licence number on the poster, Volksfront has met all the conditions required to hold a gaming event fundraiser and is otherwise following the rules.  Let's see if he responds.

Update: Less than 24 hours after this post went online, Volksfront International is announcing that the fundraising element of this gathering has been canceled.

Check out other stories from the Volksfront archive.