Authenticity

On the Sinking of the Costa Concordia

2012-01-20T15:15:00.001-08:00

The captain abandons his ship and claims he fell overboard. This is a metaphor for more than the Italian political scene. All current leadership in the Western World -- Britain, Europe, USA, Canada, Australia -- all are sleep walking to disaster with the same attitude as the Captain of the Costa Concordia who ordered dinner after the ship struck a rock over which he had driven his 3000 passengers, a cock which eviscerated his boat.

The political leaders of all major nations are driving by disastrous shallow waters in the Middle East, Afghanistan, Iraq, and beyond, to waive to the lobby in their domestic political scene. They preen and perform their ritual dances at elections, while enormous unfunded liabilities are increased and they build up burdens on people and powers of oppression in their governments. soon, they will strike a rock.

When they do, you can expect them, like the Italian captain, to blame their circumstances on others and leave no one in charge to handle the disaster they created. They will Schettino us all and scuttle the ship. The collapse of Rome was followed by almost 1,000 years of retrogressive disaster. For example, the bridge over the Danube the Romans bad built and abandoned after 450 AD was not replaced until 1840.

The real progress of the last 500 years is in jeopardy from the world's shallow leadership, who dress like a captain but don't really know how to drive the boat or why.

Wikipedia’s Brave Stand

2012-01-19T14:29:00.000-08:00

Wikipedia has done no favours for me. In fact, their reports on me are evidhttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifently slanted to portray me in a negative way, but I agree with and admire their stand on SOPA and PIPA. The U.S. Congress and legislators around the world are always looking for some altruistic or moral excuse to control the flow of influence and knowledge.

It is vitally important that everyone becomes aware of the inherent danger of allowing any government regulator anywhere to control, regulate, and thus cripple the small independent sources of unofficial information on small websites around the world who can’t afford to fight. In essence, the Congress and Senate in total ignorance (I hope) are sounding more and more like the Communist Party of China. Media control, knowledge control, thought control… stop it now or regret it later!

America has been the last best bastion of freedom. This fight is worth the effort. Congratulations to Wikipedia. I will write the State Department, or better still phone the consulate of the United States where I live.

Equal Rights for All!

2012-01-12T11:24:00.000-08:00

The above article, which appeared in the Times Colonist on January 11, 2012, clearly demonstrates the great danger of special rights based on race. The inherrent capacity for convoluted interpretations of these special rights is indicitive of the confusion that will emerge when these rights are gradually expanded, as they appear to be. We as a country have disavowed the concept of discrimination on the basis of race, with the exception of course of all the special status accorded to those who consider themselves "First Nations." The concept of a nation state attributable to a small indiginous band is inherrently falacious and contradicts the importance of equality rights for all citizens. There cannot be a stable, sensible society with concepts of "Indiginous rights" which are distinct from those of the general population. It will, in the end, produce resentment and inequitable distribution of legal rights, which after all should be accorded without distinctions as to race.

It is part of the inherrent nature of Canada, inherited from the British Crown and its declarations of the ancient past (like the Royal Proclamation of 1764) in circumstances vastly different than present day circumstances that these special rights exist.

Western Canada, if independent, would not be a successor government of the government of Canada or of the Imperial Parliament of England. As such, we could define our legal and political rights in a distinct and fair manner. This is impossible under the present constitutional arrangement, as the Supreme Court of Canada has consistently upheld various versions of legal rights based on racial distinctions of supposedly indiginous origin. This is another reason why, unless independence is accomplished for Western Canada, the end result will be a demoralized, chaotic conflict between racial groups and rights based upon racial categories. This is quite the contrary to what everyone claims to espouse in the Canadian political system.

The Futility of Foreign Aid

2012-01-11T14:49:00.000-08:00

Canada, I am told, gave $1-billion to Haiti for reconstruction, where I am also told that 500,000 are still homeless.

One wonders if there is actual effective assistance given for this money since so little is achieved, or if the systemic corruption which plagues Haiti is the cause. What value is there to sending money to a broken system like Haiti or Afghanistan?

The Irony of Modern Tolerance

2011-11-22T13:57:00.000-08:00

In the middle ages, you would be burned if you did not actively proclaim your faith in Jesus Christ. In the modern age, you can be burned if you do.

The irony of modern advocates of tolerance is their intolerance of moral or ethical absolutes. They can only tolerate views which conform with their own, which in most cases are of complete amorality, syncretistic, and based on ethical relativism. This is the current dogma of our age, which is just as intolerant as the middle ages, though in a different direction.

Property in Canada in the 21st Century

2011-11-17T08:13:00.000-08:00

All my life, I have fought for the rights of the individual against the power of the state. I have never fought a battle where I wasn’t out-gunned, out-horsed, out-manoeuvred, out-manned, and out-supplied by the enemy. The state and its endless minions have all the money they ever require to take away the rights of the individual. The individual stands alone.

It is, however, the individual, not the mass of any state that makes the state great or small, significant or insignificant. England without Drake, Churchill, Sir Walter Raleigh, Captain Cook, Wellington, or Nelson might be England, but what would it be in the world of conquest? England without Chaucer, Shakespeare, Milton, Wesley, Newman, Woolsley, Byron, Tennyson, and many other great writers would still be England, but where would it be in the world of literature?

The great statesman, warriors, poets, priests… It was their individual achievements which shine in history. It was the great Romans from Cicero to Seneca who made the history of Rome great, not the mass minions of subservient, obedient slaves. Freedom is their one distinction. They lived in societies where they could buy, beg, borrow, or steal the freedom they needed, and thus could rise to who they really were – divine creators of the great destiny of man. Nothing else will ever change the world for the better. Why did they strive to so achieve? Because they desired to better themselves and acquire property, in the main. Without property, none could or would have the time and leisure to create anything. They would be busy with the necessities of life.

What distinguishes an Indian reserve, with its uniform under-cared for homes and mess? Is it really race or culture which is so indelibly fixed in the Indian psyche? No, race and culture quickly adapt and adopt, as is the case today. Few Indians today could survive as their ancestors did, having too often adopted the lethargy so easily available in modern culture in Canada and North America. Is it the lack of enough government funds to build new homes as the old ones deteriorate from lack of care? No, it is the lack of individual ownership of private property, which would motivate each individual to take pride and care of what they have earned and own.
The destruction of private property, be it by overt arbitrary, brutal forfeiture, or forfeiture by the gradual increase in taxation will eventually result in the equal distribution of poverty.

Why do we work? For money, so we can buy nice things for ourselves and those we love. The nice things are property. This gives us comfort, joy, satisfaction, and security which the state cannot give. Living in a state-funded apartment quickly deteriorates into living in a violent, drug-ridden ghetto. Without respect for, and security of property, all life, all work, all human endeavours become equally worthless and meaningless.

What we do to the Montague property, we can and will do to anyone else’s property. I am, at present, and have been since Monday the 14th of November, for the last two days, in a courtroom in Kenora, Ontario, deciding whether about $120,000 worth of firearms and other personal property is forfeit to the state because Mr. and Mrs. Montague possessed it without a license to possess it from and issued by the government. That, simply put, is the crime of the Montagues for which Mr. Montague was sent to jail for eighteen months, and Mrs. Montague was to forfeit all her firearms. They did not commit a crime with the firearms, have never threatened anyone’s security with the firearms, and did not take anyone’s property with the firearms. They held the firearms without a license from the government.

In ancient Rome, property was secure. In Rome of the decline of the 4th Century AD, magistrates would multiply laws to create new offences, to confiscate property to pay the magistrates. Law can become an extortion racket through civil forfeiture, through arbitrary forfeiture, created by regulatory offences.

Newer and various forms of the modern version of the decline of Rome is accomplished by the legislation called civil forfeiture laws, which make it possible for the state to take from the individual property for criminal offences that are deemed to have occurred in relation to or in connection with firearms for the mere act of possessing them. In some cases, this may be justified. In other cases, it may not. However, the arbitrary actions of the government in passing Section 491(1)(b), have determined that no court shall ever have discretion to decide whether the firearms should be forfeit to the government or not. As it’s written, it automatically occurs, whether it is justified in fact or not in the circumstances. No court is allowed to consider that issue.

One of the more frightening aspects of this arbitrary law, and of the interpretation of it placed on that legislation by the prosecution, were the words in the factum of the Crown attorney: “the Bill of Rights is just another statute. The Bill of Rights, although it has property rights included, is not of any effect on the legislation passed by Parliament.”

To hear those who advocate for the absolute dissolution of property of any kind, express their views, one can see how readily mobs could be swept along, out of ignorance, to the society in which the Soviet Union eventually was obliged to live. Those institutions based on the destruction of private property will eventually fail, because no society is greater than the individual, and no individual will work without the hope of earning private property. That’s why the Montague case is so significant. That’s why whatever happens to the Montague property could happen to your neighbours tomorrow and yours the day after.

Life Since 2010

2011-11-08T20:10:00.000-08:00

Since 2010, when I last posted, I have fought for free speech in a number of cases, such as Tremaine, before the Federal Court and Federal Court of Appeal. I will be seeking leave in the Supreme Court of Canada. Jack Klundert's cases (all four trials in Windsor) for alleged income tax evasion, and his third appeal to the Ontario Court of Appeal have demonstrated the power of Canada Revenue Agency and the limits of resistence to state-sanctioned authority. The Von Dehn case demonstrates that even distributing copies of the law can be a word-crime in Canada. All this indicates the battle continues to preserve what's left of our freedom.

The Montague case demonstrates even the lawful possession of firearms can be rendered criminal by imposing licensing conditions on peaceful gun owners and then seizing their guns and even their homes. The power of the state grows daily. Resistence is the duty of all lovers of liberty.

I intend to write more often of the importance of the struggles I engage in, and to more frequently post on my YouTube channel, which I hope you will view. The frustration of not having a voice, or hearing others speak the truth, incites me to communicate.

My cancer diagnosis has made me realize the importance of expending every moment in pursuit of our highest, best goal. This, I intend to do.

Ottawa Radio Interview

2010-04-11T16:30:00.000-07:00

Here is an interview that I did with the University of Ottawa radio station while I was in Ottawa last week.

Speech at the University of Ottawa -- April 8, 2010

2010-04-09T21:20:00.000-07:00

I’m here to talk about free speech. I’m not here to practice it.

Unlike Ann Coulter, I don’t need a warning from the provost. I am a Canadian, trained by law in the way of silence, sullen silence, and code language. I have been trained by the Supreme Court not to engage in hate speech, even though no one can define it in advance, so I can avoid it.

There are general taboo topics which I must avoid or tread lightly around, like race, religion, ethnic origin, sex, sexual orientation, mental or physical disability or mental status. Then there are peripheral taboo topics like multiculturalism, immigration, affirmative action programs and a host of other ill-defined topics.

I have been trained to remain very sensitive to the broad political implications of these topics lest I face a very expensive lesson in the Human Rights Tribunal.

What the Supreme Court taught me when I appeared in Taylor and Zundel and Keegstra was that free speech has its limits in “hate” which means “extreme dislike.” So presumably I must like all races, religions, ethnic origins, etc. equally or at least dislike them only moderately. Or at least pretend to, which is more Canadian. I cannot denounce any one as evil.

The Law Society, through its decision of Harvey Strosberg taught me that if I speak in public, “law students” may tape some but not all of my words, and the Chairman of the Discipline Committee can issue a statement to the media condemning me as “identifying with a lunatic fringe,” even in the very act where he decides not to give me the benefit of a hearing where I could answer the allegation with evidence where both sides could be heard.

I learned in McAleer and Malcolm Ross, both of which went to the Supreme Court of Canada, that expressing your religious beliefs on your own time, is no defence and placing the messages in the United States where it is legal, is no defence if you mention where you can get the message to someone in Canada.

I learned that our parliamentarians of all parties love free speech so much that they banned someone from the precincts of Parliament who wanted to rent the parliamentary press gallery, a place anyone can rent for a press conference.

What was the press conference about? That the Human Rights Tribunal had ruled in Zundel’s case that “Truth was no defence,” and the truth of the statement could not be proven by any evidence. I know because that someone was me, the only lawyer in Canadian history to be banned by all party agreement from the precincts of parliament. Because in Canada truth is no defence. Orwell was right about double speak. Randy White a so-called Reform MP said he did not want me in his work place. Orwell was right about a lot of things.

I have learned and been carefully taught to avoid the taboo topics, to measure every word lest a tape recorder in the audience be taken to the Human Rights Commission, the police, the Law Society, or someone who likes to complain to the Human Rights Commission.

I have learned to talk about free speech but never practice it. Never say anything like Ann Coulter would say, coming from a free society. And being in a university setting is all the more reason to be very careful about how you chose your words. The left-wing political giants who run most universities are able to let loose the mob with a wink and the students know their success with many professors depends on how successfully they can entrap a political foe.

Universities are the most dangerous place to practice free speech. Even topics like abortion which you would not normally involve a taboo topic can quickly be spun into forbidden territory and sexism can result in expulsion or criminal charges. The civility of universities is accorded to those who can mobilize the largest screaming mob. No one listens.

I have to even be careful how I speak about Freedom of Speech.

So let me just speak about freedom of speech. I have come here to praise freedom of speech, not to bury it. I do not want to be cynical or bitter. But since 1984 when I took up the cause of freedom, I have become aware of the price to be paid for this precious legacy of freedom.

My office has been vandalized, repeatedly; my name has been defamed in the press; I have been the target of spurious complaints to law societies, I haven been banned from the precincts of parliament. The very press who today became the target of complaints themselves because they post on the internet, who have come late to the battle, because of their money and power, are turning the tide. They were not long ago in the forefront of the mob, vilifying my clients and myself, since it was not their ox that was gored. Irony, thy name is Canada.

1984, the year Orwell entitled his most famous work was actually the year I got involved in the defence of James Keegstra. From that moment on, the lawyer who had defended successfully all manner of criminal cases from drugs to rape to murder and with no ill effects to his reputation other than professional jealousy became in the eyes of many, through the window of the media, a hated nazi-lawyer. This title, I have worn to this day, at first reluctantly and gradually resigned myself to it, knowing as “Human Rights” law tells us, “Truth is no defence.” Promoting hatred of an individual is no offence.

I would never be elected anywhere to anything. Any party would expel me, the right of left for fear of the media. I was warned this would happen. “Better alone than in the company of hypocrites,” I reasoned.
There is one hope and that is that truth cannot be buried forever, and people will tell it come what may, even about race, religion, or ethnicity. There are some truths to be told on that score. They are the building blocks of culture and even the government of Quebec is recognizing this, even though they wrap it in convoluted language. Oops! I almost practiced free speech!

The best indication of what is the true value of free speech is provided by what happens when it is taken away. The thinking people become “bush league.” The first reaction to a controversial idea is not to hear the person about whom you heard, but to adopt the mob-mind view.

Left-wing, multicultural, tolerant, good. Right wing, xenophobic, intolerant, bad. A few code words and the mob takes the argument to the streets. The psychological guillotine cuts off debate and civility like the real guillotine cut off heads in Paris in the revolution till there were no heads to cut off. Everybody was at the same low level of passive, intellectual obedience to the omnipotent state. Then a forceful tyrant like Napoleon can impose his will with very little difficulty. Do we really have to go through these cycles of oppression, revolution, depression? Have we no intellect to listen for ourselves, evaluate for ourselves, accept or reject an idea with a civil attitude of tolerance? Do we need to have a hysterical violent reaction to every idea of a different perspective?

The Roman maxim: “Audi Alteram Partem” was over the door of the law library at McGill University where I once spoke. I entered through that doorway to face a hostile screaming mob, much like ann Coulter faced. They had never met me. They could never hear me. Why did they reject me before hearing me? Why not hear both sides? Sometimes all sides need to be heard. Until they are, how can you really form an intelligent and informed opinion?

I believe the truth is that the idea of tolerance has been used as an Orwellian doublespeak smoke screen for intolerance and is really about narrowing the scope of debate before the debate begins. This is consistent with Marxism, but it is not consistent with liberalism or of constitutional principles of free speech. Certain topics cannot be discussed.

We don’t absolutely make it illegal to talk about certain subjects, we just make it so dangerous, with so many obscure and complex rules that no one dares to go there. Somewhat like gun laws. We don’t overtly ban all fire arms. No, we would find too much resistance and rational criticism. The hypocritical Canadian way is simply to regulate them out of existence, gradually, just like controversial speech. Hate laws mean whatever we say they mean. We will only tell you after you say something if you have offended. This is the process of gradual Marxism. The state gradually disarms the citizen of their weapons and their free speech by slow degrees so that absolute control both physical and mental will be with the state.

The other side of this equation is the enforcers, state agents, professional complainers, the enablers of state power. These are the people who go from politicians to judge or from politician to president of a University. They create a network of willing and compliant officials who can be counted on to cleverly manipulate and manage the progress from freedom, which they call “anarchy,” to the tyranny they call a “benevolent oligarchy.”

Thus they acquire through a system of servants and paid enforcers, through Human Rights Commissions and police forces where they are the only persons authorized by law to break into your house, seize your computer, examine your files, your books, your speeches, your appearances and even your surreptitiously recorded comments as in the case of David Ahenakew.

They can ruin you. They can prosecute you. They can and will vilify you in the press. As was done to David Ahenakew and then even if you win, you still lose. You go through court for four years of stress and when you are finally acquitted, no one says “sorry” or pays your costs. On the contrary, they repeat in the media around the world the words of the judge condemning you in the very act of acquitting you.

And the state has all the gun s, police, sheriffs, jails, probation officers, all paid by the state which you support with your taxes. If you want to be a paid bully, there’s a job for you. If you want to shoot people, just don’t say so, join the RCMP. You can taser people like Dziekanski. If you want to shoot teenagers like Ian Bush, or misfits like Jeff Hughes, and never be charges, join the RCMP.

Just be sure you don’t admit what you did and the establishment will protect you. You are after all, protecting them. We are paying for our own enslavement. Only a few really know where we are going. The rest are following along for the ride, and the free lunch.

(Oops! Too much free speech!)

So if you want to carry on down the road to tyranny, just shout me down. If you want to go quietly into the night of tyranny, just ignore what I have said. Put it out of your mind and never think of it again. But if you want to move forward to a better world keep this in mind. The legitimate function of the state is to preserve and maximize the freedom of the conscience, belief and opinion of the individual. It is not to create a social model of artificial cultural stew, enforced by law. We have inherent rights to survive as a free people only to the extent we articulate, manifest with rigorous debate, and listen to, all opinion with an enlightened and critical mind. Let us not presume we are possessed of all knowledge before the discussion starts, and set a limited agenda for social and acceptable speech.

Where once sex was a taboo topic, it has now become an obsession. Speech about race, if suppressed becomes an obsession and if further suppressed, leads to violence. Let’s get debate out of the closet on all matters. Let’s use it, or we’ll lose it.

I have not said anything. More than anything, I have been allowed to speak here without interruption on the belief I would be ineffectual and secondly I would make the administration look better than the last speaker who was cancelled. I realized this at the beginning, but it is an opportunity to make the point that the redemption of an individual like me, or a society like your university, or of a country like Canada, is only possible if we listen to each other and talk openly about all of our serious and sensitive issues. Unless this really happens, Canada isn’t worth saving and neither is this university.

I will leave here knowing more than anyone in this room about the battles for free speech that have gone on in this country in the last thirty years. I see only minor changes occurring. This is your chance to ask what you need to know to make a difference.

Section 13(1), Marc Lemire and Me

2009-09-07T09:44:00.001-07:00

It would be nice to have history record that only two lawyers stood up for free speech in Marc Lemire's case. Barbara Kulaszka and I were those two lawyers. Even though Barbara invited the Canadian Civil Liberties Association to intervene, they never did.

It would be nice if people recognized that I have appeared for free speech cases in the Supreme Court of Canada more than any other lawyer in Canadian history. I argued for free speech in the orginal case of John Ross Taylor where the Supreme Court of Canada for the first, last and only time upheld section 13(1) of the Canadian Human Rights Act. I stood there against about 15 other lawyers on the other side. I appeared in the Supreme Court of Canada in Zundel's case twice, in Keegstra's case, in Tony McAleer's case, and in Keegstra's case again. I argued before the Supreme Court of Canada in Malcolm Ross. In all but Zundel's Case, I lost, usually by 4 to 3 or 5 to 4.

But now the tide is turning. The slippery slope I warned them about has now demonstrated that power over the speech of political adversaries is a deadly combination, prone to abuse. After Ezra Levant's and Mark Steyn's cases, it became a "dangerous" law because it stifled "good people" not "neo-Nazis" and "racists." It would be nice if the media and the people recognized I was right all along. It would be nice to be recognized as the one who for the principle, and alone, stood for what is right.

It will never happen.

But why should I care? What part of me now cries out for justice, for me? For consolation for the pain of a thousand defamations? I'll tell you: the part that is not authentic, that's what part.

The day that I or anyone lives not for the truth of what they believe, for the truth itself, for the principle, they have become a sounding brass or a tinkling cymbal. They have ceased to be who they really are. They have become a plaything of the fickle fortunes of the mass mind. They have become a mere actor, playing for applause. They are living for approval and not of their God or the truth, but for the fleeting popularity of the latest public opinion poll. They have lost the power to lead because they are not authentic. They are not sincerely true to the facts and truth they possess. They lose track of who they are, much like actors do in becoming their role.

So what am I saying? Have I become irredeemably lost because I long to be recognized, approved of, admired and extolled as a man of courage and wisdom? No, because I recognize this is an area of weakness and foolishness in myself. Everyone of us every day has to struggle with the temptation to be what others want us to be, rather than what we ought to be. We must strive to be our authentic self, which is the best person we can be.

I believe authenticity is not just spontaneity and mindless pursuit of adulation. It is the constant struggle to re-examine our motives, to assess our principles in light of our behaviour, to seek to overcome the part of ourselves which is always saying, "Surrender! The fight is too hard, the way is too lonely! No one will understand, or appreciate you! See, you are hurting those who love you. Give up your long-suffering principles and become like the rest of them!"

This voice is always there. It tempted the greatest of persons and it speaks to me. But the authentic person will struggle against this, as we all must do, all our lives.

The Integration of Two Fundamental Themes

2009-08-11T20:17:00.000-07:00

If you watch my YouTube videos -- and I hope you do -- you will see what appear to be two themes which are unrelated. The first is the theme of attacks on freedom by the New World Order. This may cover day-to-day topics from the United Church boycott motion to a Tim Hortons boycott in Rhode Island. Always, the free speech theme observes the state's intrusion by regulation into the free communication of ideas, analysis, music or poetry, and basically the control of communication through such altruistic camoflage as "human rights," "fighting terrorism," "preventing disturbances," "regulating markets," "preserving the environment," "combatting climate change," "stabilizing banking," and "sustainable development," to name a few.

My fight against all these euphemisms and their tyrannical implementation is in favour of freedom of thought, belief and opinion. It is essentially populist, believing as Lord Randolph Churchill said, "Properly informed, trust the people."

As a corollary, I believe we must trust the people to inform themselves.

In contrast to this, in my second theme, I continually end my comments with the seemingly incongruous words, "We must Free the West." By that I mean Western Canada must separate and form a new nation.

These two themes are really just one. Canada is an experiment in mind control, mass manipulation and indoctrination. The socialists have given up on communism and in Canada they practice coercive environmentalism and multiculturalism.

In Canada, with its controlled parliamentary system and phony elections, change is really impossible. Other countries control their populace using similar strategies. Government from the top down is the New World Order.

So for the sake of individual freedom, smaller nations must emerge by peaceful means to assert that the ultimate purpose of the state is to secure and preserve the liberty of the individual. By a common understanding of this necessity, free speech and Western Canadian separatism are mutually supporting themes, in which I believe, and to which I have dedicated much of my life. This is my authenticity.

How to be Free, Nevertheless

2009-05-17T19:26:00.000-07:00

Public Speaking

2009-05-13T18:56:00.000-07:00

Once a person has received what they believe to be an authentic message, a moral duty arises to attempt to communicate it. The most intimate, effective and authentic method of communication is public speaking. This is true for me.

In the absence of an audience I have resorted to YouTube videos because it is the closest thing to being there. Observation of a speaker's presence is essential to understanding, but a video is the next best thing. Through this means, we are raising a whole new generation of speakers and performers who would otherwise never have an audience. They have a virtual audience, conceived in their mind and eventually realized. Thereby, the monopoly of the public mind, held by the mainstream media, is broken.

The only sad deficit is the sensation missed by the performer in the absence of approbration by a real audience. By real, I mean physically present. However, if a speaker is effective in virtual reality the possibility exists of a real audience in physical reality. A level playing field gives them an equal opportunity. This is the ultimate freedom.

Please see and give me your comments on my YouTube videos at channel DHChristie.

Who I Am

2009-03-30T19:41:00.000-07:00

Authenticity

2008-11-12T17:25:00.000-08:00

Why do I call this "authenticity"? Simply because I believe authenticity is the essence of personal honesty.

Once I was told by an old friend who hoped I would climb the conventional ladder to success in politics, that she was very disappointed in me leaving the Conservative party and doing what I have done in life. I replied to her, "This above all else: to thine own self be true."

It is authenticity which characterizes my life. Each person receives and can become a unique message to the world. To be true to that message is what I have tried to do. This may be Western Canadian separation and the creation of a new nation of Western Canada, or fighting as a lawyer for liberty against the tax man, hate speech laws, war crimes, in defamation or other actions where I defend the weak against the powerful or the individual against the state. It may be the way that I treat my land, my friends, my family, my country or my God. It may be building a rock wall. It is what I strive for: authenticity.