Al Overfield
Encyclopedia
Alan Overfield is a Canadian white supremacist.
He was a founding member of the Edmund Burke Society
established by Paul Fromm, Don Andrews
, and Leigh Smith. He was also part of an attempted takeover by Fromm of the Ontario
wing of the national Social Credit Party of Canada
. Overfield appears to have run for office under the banner of the Social Credit Party in the riding of Beaches-Woodbine. Though he was expelled from the national party, he remained a member of the Ontario Social Credit Party which had been taken over by the Edmund Burke Society in the early 1970s.
In 1973 after the Edmund Burke Society became the Western Guard
, Overfield claims to have founded the Canadian Liberty League as an alternative to the Western Guard. Overfield later became a member of Don Andrew’s Nationalist Party of Canada
. It was through his involvement with Andrews that Overfield became acquainted with Wolfgang Droege
whom Overfield employed as a part-time bailiff.
he claims to have “let the Reform Party executive know about his political past, and they had no problems with it." Overfield stated that Reform Party member Harry Robertson admitted him to the Party and that future Prime Minister of Canada
Stephen Harper
was well aware of Overfield’s past involvement in far right groups. Harper denied such knowledge and stated that he had been “building issues into the Reform Party's platform to actively discourage extremists and ‘nut cases’” at the time of Overfield's membership. One claim for Overfield’s involvement in the Reform Party was an attempt to discredit the party for Preston Manning
’s involvement in placing the Ontario wing of the Social Credit Party under the personal trusteeship of the national leader to counter Paul Fromm’s activities. However it is also on the record that Overfield’s confided in Paul Fromm that his plan was “to unify all the right wing people into one cohesive organization. He was pushing to infiltrate, literally take control of, ten or twelve Riding Associations in Metro (Toronto). Even if they did not win the Riding Associations in an election, at least they would have control. The attraction of Reform for Overfield and like-minded persons, he said was that it was strictly white bread, 100 percent white Canadians, really anti-immigration; there was really no difference between those people and them (Overfield's group).”
While a member of the Reform Party, Overfield claimed to have signed up 22 members, including Heritage Front
members Peter Mitrevski, Nicola Polinuk, Droege, Zvominir Lelas and Tony Cinncinato.
security and was instead dependent upon local organizations. On May 27, 1991, Andrew Flint, then the Ontario Regional Coordinator for the Reform Party, was approached by Overfield who offered his bailiff’s as Reform Party security. Among those who worked as security for the Reform Party were Wolfgang Droege, James Dawson, Peter Mitrevski, other Heritage Front members, and Grant Bristow
, who was later discovered to be a Canadian Security Intelligence Service
mole. Bristow became Manning’s personal bodyguard for a time when Overfield’s men were providing security at Reform Party meetings and rallies.
broke the story that the Heritage Front had infiltrated the Reform Party. Droege claimed as many as 150 to 200 Heritage Front members were also members of the Reform Party, including some at the riding executive levels, though only a handful were discovered to be actual Heritage Front members. When Reform Party executives became aware that Heritage Front members had joined the Reform Party, A Special Committee of the Executive Council began an investigation. The Special Committee revoked the membership in the Reform Party of Droege, Dawson, Polinuk, and Mitrevski. Overfield was expelled from the Reform Party, for showing “poor judgement in the hiring of known neo-Nazis."
He was a founding member of the Edmund Burke Society
Edmund Burke Society
The Edmund Burke Society was a far right organization formed by Paul Fromm, Don Andrews, Al Overfield and Leigh Smith in 1967 at the University of Toronto. The group was anti-communist and promoted conservative values...
established by Paul Fromm, Don Andrews
Don Andrews
Donald Clarke Andrews is a Canadian white supremacist. He is also the leader of the neo-Nazi Nationalist Party of Canada and a perennial candidate for mayor of Toronto, Ontario, Canada.-Early years:...
, and Leigh Smith. He was also part of an attempted takeover by Fromm of the Ontario
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
wing of the national Social Credit Party of Canada
Social Credit Party of Canada
The Social Credit Party of Canada was a conservative-populist political party in Canada that promoted social credit theories of monetary reform...
. Overfield appears to have run for office under the banner of the Social Credit Party in the riding of Beaches-Woodbine. Though he was expelled from the national party, he remained a member of the Ontario Social Credit Party which had been taken over by the Edmund Burke Society in the early 1970s.
In 1973 after the Edmund Burke Society became the Western Guard
Western Guard Party
The Western Guard Party was a white supremacist group based in Toronto, Canada. It evolved out of the far-right anti-Communist Edmund Burke Society that had been founded in 1967 by Don Andrews, Paul Fromm, Leigh Smith and Al Overfield.Andrews became the dominant figure in the EBS, and relaunched...
, Overfield claims to have founded the Canadian Liberty League as an alternative to the Western Guard. Overfield later became a member of Don Andrew’s Nationalist Party of Canada
Nationalist Party of Canada
The Nationalist Party of Canada is an unregistered Canadian political party that was founded in 1977 by Don Andrews , who continues as leader of the party...
. It was through his involvement with Andrews that Overfield became acquainted with Wolfgang Droege
Wolfgang Droege
Wolfgang Walter Droege was a Canadian white supremacist, neo-Nazi and founding leader of the Heritage Front.-Early life:...
whom Overfield employed as a part-time bailiff.
The Reform Party of Canada
Overfield claims to have been out of politics for 15 years when he decided to become active again. When he joined the Reform Party of CanadaReform Party of Canada
The Reform Party of Canada was a Canadian federal political party that existed from 1987 to 2000. It was originally founded as a Western Canada-based protest party, but attempted to expand eastward in the 1990s. It viewed itself as a populist party....
he claims to have “let the Reform Party executive know about his political past, and they had no problems with it." Overfield stated that Reform Party member Harry Robertson admitted him to the Party and that future Prime Minister of Canada
Prime Minister of Canada
The Prime Minister of Canada is the primary minister of the Crown, chairman of the Cabinet, and thus head of government for Canada, charged with advising the Canadian monarch or viceroy on the exercise of the executive powers vested in them by the constitution...
Stephen Harper
Stephen Harper
Stephen Joseph Harper is the 22nd and current Prime Minister of Canada and leader of the Conservative Party. Harper became prime minister when his party formed a minority government after the 2006 federal election...
was well aware of Overfield’s past involvement in far right groups. Harper denied such knowledge and stated that he had been “building issues into the Reform Party's platform to actively discourage extremists and ‘nut cases’” at the time of Overfield's membership. One claim for Overfield’s involvement in the Reform Party was an attempt to discredit the party for Preston Manning
Preston Manning
Ernest Preston Manning, CC is a Canadian politician. He was the only leader of the Reform Party of Canada, a Canadian federal political party that evolved into the Canadian Alliance...
’s involvement in placing the Ontario wing of the Social Credit Party under the personal trusteeship of the national leader to counter Paul Fromm’s activities. However it is also on the record that Overfield’s confided in Paul Fromm that his plan was “to unify all the right wing people into one cohesive organization. He was pushing to infiltrate, literally take control of, ten or twelve Riding Associations in Metro (Toronto). Even if they did not win the Riding Associations in an election, at least they would have control. The attraction of Reform for Overfield and like-minded persons, he said was that it was strictly white bread, 100 percent white Canadians, really anti-immigration; there was really no difference between those people and them (Overfield's group).”
While a member of the Reform Party, Overfield claimed to have signed up 22 members, including Heritage Front
Heritage Front
The Heritage Front was a Canadian neo-Nazi white supremacist organization founded in 1989 and disbanded around 2005.The Heritage Front maintained a telephone message line with a different editorial each day. The voice on the hotline was Gary Schipper...
members Peter Mitrevski, Nicola Polinuk, Droege, Zvominir Lelas and Tony Cinncinato.
Security for the Reform Party
In the early 1990s when the Reform Party was making inroads into Ontario, there were concerns about groups that would try to disrupt Reform meeting. Also, Reform Party leader Preston Manning did not have Royal Canadian Mounted PoliceRoyal Canadian Mounted Police
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police , literally ‘Royal Gendarmerie of Canada’; colloquially known as The Mounties, and internally as ‘The Force’) is the national police force of Canada, and one of the most recognized of its kind in the world. It is unique in the world as a national, federal,...
security and was instead dependent upon local organizations. On May 27, 1991, Andrew Flint, then the Ontario Regional Coordinator for the Reform Party, was approached by Overfield who offered his bailiff’s as Reform Party security. Among those who worked as security for the Reform Party were Wolfgang Droege, James Dawson, Peter Mitrevski, other Heritage Front members, and Grant Bristow
Grant Bristow
Grant Bristow was a mole for the Canadian Security Intelligence Service working inside the Heritage Front for six years, who was exposed by Toronto Sun reporter Bill Dunphy in August 1994...
, who was later discovered to be a Canadian Security Intelligence Service
Canadian Security Intelligence Service
The Canadian Security Intelligence Service is Canada's national intelligence service. It is responsible for collecting, analyzing, reporting and disseminating intelligence on threats to Canada's national security, and conducting operations, covert and overt, within Canada and abroad.Its...
mole. Bristow became Manning’s personal bodyguard for a time when Overfield’s men were providing security at Reform Party meetings and rallies.
Expulsion from the Reform Party
On February 28, 1992, the Toronto SunToronto Sun
The Toronto Sun is an English-language daily tabloid newspaper published in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is known for its daily Sunshine Girl feature and for what it sees as a populist conservative editorial stance.-History:...
broke the story that the Heritage Front had infiltrated the Reform Party. Droege claimed as many as 150 to 200 Heritage Front members were also members of the Reform Party, including some at the riding executive levels, though only a handful were discovered to be actual Heritage Front members. When Reform Party executives became aware that Heritage Front members had joined the Reform Party, A Special Committee of the Executive Council began an investigation. The Special Committee revoked the membership in the Reform Party of Droege, Dawson, Polinuk, and Mitrevski. Overfield was expelled from the Reform Party, for showing “poor judgement in the hiring of known neo-Nazis."