Madam Speaker, the hon. member began his remarks by trying to distance himself from B.C. FIRE, the hate movement or the anti-Indian movement in B.C.
In an interview on CBC television, journalist Carol Off was interviewing Mel Smith, the author of Our Home or Native Land?: What Government's Aboriginal Policy is Doing to Canada . That is the book which has become the bible for the B.C. anti-Indian movement and is often quoted by the Reform Party. In fact, the Reform Party hired Mel Smith to head up its Indian task force hearings.
Ms. Off said: “In fact, a lot of FIRE organizers have Reform connections. Brian Richardson is running for the Reform Party in the next federal election (the 1997 election). Greg Hollingsworth was on the payroll of the Reform Party until he left to start B.C. FIRE. Georgeanne Sanders, who was an activist in the Okanagan and who was active in B.C. FIRE, is a member of the Reform Party. So are Marcia Gilbert and Judy Kilgour both prominent members in the anti-Indian movement in the Okanagan. Preston Manning only announced Reform's Indian policy last month, but yet it bears a striking resemblance to the policy of B.C. FIRE”.
Carol Off is a credible journalist with the CBC. She found in her own research example after example of direct links to the hate movement, the people who are promoting hatred in British Columbia. I am not saying it is the Reform Party that is promoting hatred; I am saying it is intricately linked with the people who are promoting hatred. We all know it is a lot easier to promote hatred than it is to promote tolerance.