36 Facts About James Keegstra

James "Jim" Keegstra was a public school teacher and mayor in Eckville, Alberta, Canada, who was charged under the Criminal Code with wilful promotion of hatred against an identifiable group, the Jewish people, in 1984.

The charge led to lengthy litigation over the next twelve years, including three hearings in the Supreme Court of Canada, with Keegstra arguing that the offence of wilful promotion of hatred infringed his right to freedom of expression under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

The main Supreme Court decision, R v James Keegstra, became a landmark Canadian legal case upholding the constitutionality of the country's hate speech laws.

James Keegstra spent the rest of his life farming and working in a custodial position, dying at age 80 in 2014.

James Keegstra was born in Vulcan, Alberta, on March 30,1934, the seventh child to Dutch immigrant parents who were devout members of the Dutch Reformed Church.

James Keegstra's parents were strong believers in Premier William Aberhart's social credit views and political party, which strongly aligned with their religious beliefs.

James Keegstra followed his parents in his position on social credit, attending Aberhart's Calgary Prophetic Bible Institute and becoming a Social Credit Party member in 1957.

James Keegstra took an interest in auto mechanics and received his trade papers in Carstairs in 1957.

James Keegstra took summer courses afterwards in social studies to upgrade his degree.

In Medicine Hat, James Keegstra taught social studies "by the book" but found the content was largely "written by socialists".

In Eckville, James Keegstra held various community roles: He was a deacon and Sunday school teacher and in 1974 became mayor of the community.

James Keegstra then farmed with his brother and worked in a custodial position.

James Keegstra died in Red Deer, Alberta, on June 2,2014, and was survived by four children.

James Keegstra taught social studies in the high school in Eckville.

James Keegstra taught his classes that the Jewish people seek to destroy Christianity and are responsible for depressions, anarchy, chaos, wars, and revolution.

James Keegstra taught his students the myth of a Jewish world conspiracy whose blueprint allegedly came from the Talmud.

James Keegstra expected his students to reproduce his teachings in class and on exams.

The way James Keegstra taught his students was apparently known to the school principal, who ignored complaints from parents.

When James Keegstra's teachings came to light, he was fired by the school board in December 1982.

In 1983, James Keegstra was defeated in his bid for re-election as mayor of Eckville, by a vote of 278 to 123, with a 92 per cent voter turnout.

At his trial before the Alberta Queen's Bench, James Keegstra applied to have this charge quashed.

James Keegstra argued that the Criminal Code offence of promoting hatred against an identifiable group infringed the constitutional guarantee of freedom of expression, set out in section 2 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

James Keegstra held that the offence did not infringe freedom of expression, as the promotion of hatred was not the kind of expression that section 2 was designed to protect.

James Keegstra took his conviction to the Court of Appeal of Alberta, again arguing that the criminal offence violated the Charter's guarantee of freedom of expression.

James Keegstra brought a new challenge, relating to the defence of truth.

James Keegstra argued that this reverse onus violated the presumption of innocence guaranteed by section 11 of the Charter.

James Keegstra admitted he was not able to prove the truth of the many anti-semitic statements he made to his students.

James Keegstra did not agree with the Alberta Queen's Bench conclusion that some types of expression were not within the meaning of this guarantee.

James Keegstra agreed with Dickson that the offence infringed the guarantee of freedom of association, but she disagreed with him on the question of justification under section 1 of the Charter.

James Keegstra held that the offence was drafted too broadly, and the undefined nature of the term "hatred" was problematic.

James Keegstra concluded that the offence was not proportional to the effect it had on freedom of expression, and therefore could not be upheld under section 1.

At his original trial, James Keegstra was given a fine of $5,000.

James Keegstra was a longtime activist in the Social Credit Party of Canada and was a candidate for the party in Red Deer in the 1972,1974, and 1984 federal elections, coming in last place in each attempt.

In 1986, James Keegstra ran unsuccessfully for the party's leadership with the support of white supremacist Don Andrews and Holocaust denier Ernst Zundel.

James Keegstra lost by 67 votes to 38 to Harvey Lainson, an evangelical minister from Ontario.

James Keegstra was elected as the party's acting leader on July 27,1987, after the party's national executive ousted Lainson over his call to rename the party "Christian Freedom".