Ron Gostick

Ronald A. Gostick
Born(1918-07-18)July 18, 1918
Merthyr Tydfil, Wales, United Kingdom
DiedJuly 16, 2005(2005-07-16) (aged 86)
Canada
NationalityCanadian
Known forFounder of the Canadian League of Rights

Ronald A. Gostick (July 18, 1918 – July 16, 2005) was a long-time figure on the Canadian far right and founder of the Canadian League of Rights.[1] Gostick was involved in the Canadian social credit movement and later published far-right and antisemitic material over the course of 50 years, including the Canadian Intelligence Service and On Target! and numerous books and pamphlets.[2]

Gostick influenced several figures on the Canadian far right. Jim Keegstra got most of his reading material through his membership in Gostick's League.[3] He also collaborated with John Ross Taylor and was a mentor to Paul Fromm and an associate of Patrick Walsh, a fellow traveller who worked as research director at the CLR.[2] He was also associated with former Member of Parliament John A. Gamble, who worked with Gostick as Canadian leader of the World Anti-Communist League in the 1980s.[4]

David Lethbridge, an anti-fascist activist and Communist Party member, described the CLR and Gostick as a "danger" because they soft-pedaled an essentially "fascist" message. Lethbridge told The Globe and Mail that "What made them dangerous was that they came across as mainstream."[3]

  1. ^ "The two faces of Paul Fromm Archived 2006-06-16 at the Wayback Machine, Now Magazine, December 14, 2000, retrieved May 28, 2006.
  2. ^ a b Jew-haters and red-baiters: The Canadian League of Rights, February 2, 1999, retrieved May 28, 2006.
  3. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference globe was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ The Heritage Front Affair Report to the Solicitor General of Canada, Security Intelligence Review Committee, section 7.6.8, December 9, 1994.