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REUNION-ALL YEARS
APRIL 4, 1992
44
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 20, 1991
Your Old Fur Can
Be Styled Into A
Zip In And Out
All Weather
Poplin Coat
Hobert %lam
6 141.4
Highway
Northwestern er
352-7112
Toronto (JTA) — Malcolm
Ross of Moncton, New
Brunswick, an exemplary
teacher with 23 years of ex-
perience, was permanently
barred from the classroom
last week by a provincial
human rights panel because
of anti-Semitic views he has
expounded in books about a
so-called Jewish conspiracy
to govern the world and
destroy Christianity.
Proceedings against the
45-year-old Mr. Ross were
initiated in 1988 when
David Attis, a father of one
of Mr. Ross' students, filed a
complaint with the New
Brunswick Human Rights
Commission saying that Mr.
Ross' school district condon-
ed his views by employing
him.
Yona Attis attended
Magnetic Hill Collegiate,
where Mr. Ross taught.
In response to the com-
plaint, the commission ap-
pointed Brian Bruce, a
Fredericton, New
Brunswick, law professor to
investigate the complaint.
Mr. Ross' lawyer, Doug
Christie, known for defen-
ding Holocaust deniers, neo-
Nazis and accused ex-Nazis
who found refuge in Canada,
challenged the commission's
jurisdiction to hear the case.
But last year, Canada's
Supreme Court dismissed
the legal challenge, and Mr.
Bruce was allowed to pro-
ceed.
Yona Attis and two of her
classmates were among
those to testify against Mr.
Ross.
While Mr. Ross did not
teach his views in the
classroom, his ideas were
well known through his four
books, including Specter of
Hate and Web of Deceit.
Mr. Ross is believed to be
the first Canadian teacher to
lose his job because of views
expressed outside the
classroom. Former high
school teacher Jim Keegstra
of Eckville, Alberta, lost his
job after expounding anti-
Semitic views to his
students. The New
Brunswick Teachers Federa-
tion came out in support of
Mr. Ross' right to freedom of
expression.
But Mr. Bruce, never-
theless, ordered the school
board Aug. 29 to immedi-
ately suspend Mr. Ross
without pay for an 18-month
"leave of absence" and
either find him a non-
teaching job or dismiss him.
Mr. Bruce issued a gag
order forbidding Ross to
publicly express his opinions
about Jews. Violation of the
gag order would result in
termination either of Mr.
Ross' leave or of his job.
Mr. Bruce's decision was
sharply critical of the school
board, saying it had allowed
a "poisoned environment" to
develop which led to discrim-
ination against Jewish
students.
Ironically, the ruling could
mean a promotion for
Mr.Ross to an ad-
ministrative position with
higher pay and more prestige.
Previously, the board had
refused to fire or suspend
Mr. Ross but had ordered
him to keep his opinions to
himself.
Mr. Christie, in a tele-
phone conversation from his
office in Victoria, British
Columbia, called the ruling
unfair, saying his client is
"being punished for what he
believes to be the truth on a
religious subject."
The Canadian Jewish
Congress hailed the ruling.
"Teachers must not be
perceived by children or
parents as racist or hate-
filled if they are properly to
fulfill their function as a
positive influence and role
model in the classroom,"
said CJC spokesman Joseph
Wilder.
B'nai Brith Canada has
asked the New Brunswick
attorney general to press
charges against Ross under
Canada's anti-hate monger-
ing law.
In 1978 and 1985, Dr.
Julius Israeli, a retired
chemistry teacher and Or-
thodox Jew living in New
Brunswick, filed complaints
against Ross with the local
Royal Canadian Mounted
Police, asking that Mr. Ross
be charged under Section 81
of the Criminal Code.
Israeli said the attorney
general told him in 1978
that the statutory terms
"wilful" and "hatred" were
too nebulous to allow for a
strong enough case.
In 1985, following Mr.
Keegstra's conviction under
the same statute, police
launched a 13-month in-
vestigation of Mr. Ross. But
the New Brunswick attorney
general ultimately decided
not to prosecute, saying that
Mr. Ross' books were not
generally available.
Journalists reported that
public libraries were stocked
with his books and that they
enjoyed healthy circulation.