Bernard Klatt
Encyclopedia
Bernard Klatt is a former Canadian internet service provider who ran what has been called "Canada's most notorious source of hate propaganda". In 1996, his Fairview Technology Centre in Oliver, British Columbia
hosted websites for "at least 12 groups promoting white supremacy and hate against minorities" according to the Simon Wiesenthal Centre. The sites included the Heritage Front
, the Euro-Canadian Defence League and the Canadian Patriot's Network - hosted at the Freedom Site, which is run by Marc Lemire
as well as Skin-Net, White Power Skinheads, Berserk, New Order and Nordland. A preface page to the site warned the "racially weak-at-heart" not to go any further if they are offended. The local cable TV company subsequently cut off Fairview's Public-access television
cable TV and ordered Klatt to get his server computer out of its offices.
Tyrone Mills, a former employee of Klatt's, told the media that Klatt gave him literature from the White Aryan Resistance
and invited him to an Aryan Nations
compound at Hayden Lake, Idaho
. "I said no, I had no interest at all, and that was that," said Mills, who worked for Klatt for seven months. "Another time he asked me, in 1995, to manage his (business) while he was down in Hayden Lake." Mills also said that Klatt voiced racist views at work and once asked him to take the literature to a friend.
In 1998, Klatt organized a meeting in the Okanagan town, coinciding with the United Nations
International Day for the Elimination of Racism, featuring Doug Collins
, Doug Christie
, Eileen Pressler and Paul Fromm. 40 members of the rural community picketed the meeting which was attended by a handful of people.
Klatt's internet service was closed in 1998 when BC Tel informed him of their refusal to accept legal liability for it.
British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...
hosted websites for "at least 12 groups promoting white supremacy and hate against minorities" according to the Simon Wiesenthal Centre. The sites included the 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...
, the Euro-Canadian Defence League and the Canadian Patriot's Network - hosted at the Freedom Site, which is run by Marc Lemire
Marc Lemire
Marc Lemire is a figure in the Canadian white supremacist movement. He works closely with leader Paul Fromm, and is the webmaster of the Hamilton, Ontario-based Freedom-Site which he began in 1996. He has been called a "bigot" by Jonathan Kay of the National Post...
as well as Skin-Net, White Power Skinheads, Berserk, New Order and Nordland. A preface page to the site warned the "racially weak-at-heart" not to go any further if they are offended. The local cable TV company subsequently cut off Fairview's Public-access television
Public-access television
Public-access television is a form of non-commercial mass media where ordinary people can create content television programming which is cablecast through cable TV specialty channels...
cable TV and ordered Klatt to get his server computer out of its offices.
Tyrone Mills, a former employee of Klatt's, told the media that Klatt gave him literature from the White Aryan Resistance
White Aryan Resistance
White Aryan Resistance is a neo-Nazi white separatist organization founded and led by former Ku Klux Klan leader Tom Metzger. Part of the American far right, it is based in Warsaw, Indiana and is incorporated as a business....
and invited him to an Aryan Nations
Aryan Nations
Aryan Nations is a white supremacist religious organization originally based in Hayden Lake, Idaho. Richard Girnt Butler founded the group in the 1970s, as an arm of the Christian Identity organization Church of Jesus Christ–Christian...
compound at Hayden Lake, Idaho
Hayden Lake, Idaho
Hayden Lake is a both a city and a lake in Kootenai County, Idaho, United States. Hayden Lake is one of several natural lakes in northern Idaho...
. "I said no, I had no interest at all, and that was that," said Mills, who worked for Klatt for seven months. "Another time he asked me, in 1995, to manage his (business) while he was down in Hayden Lake." Mills also said that Klatt voiced racist views at work and once asked him to take the literature to a friend.
In 1998, Klatt organized a meeting in the Okanagan town, coinciding with the United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
International Day for the Elimination of Racism, featuring Doug Collins
Doug Collins (journalist)
Doug Collins was a British-born Canadian journalist. He was also a figure of Canada's far-right and a Holocaust denier.-Military service:At the start of World War II he joined the British Army...
, Doug Christie
Doug Christie (lawyer)
Douglas Hewson "Doug" Christie, Jr. is a Canadian lawyer and far-right political activist based in Victoria, British Columbia.-Career:...
, Eileen Pressler and Paul Fromm. 40 members of the rural community picketed the meeting which was attended by a handful of people.
Klatt's internet service was closed in 1998 when BC Tel informed him of their refusal to accept legal liability for it.