Grant Bristow (born February 1958 in Winnipeg, Manitoba) was an undercover spy, or mole, for the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS), who co-founded and successfully infiltrated the Heritage Frontwhite supremacist group for six years.[1] Several months after the assignment, Bristow was exposed by Toronto Sun reporter Bill Dunphy, in August 1994. His work inside the Heritage Front became highly controversial in Canada, when exposed, due to much of his activity being viewed as that of a contributory nature, reflected by an August 14, 1994 Toronto Sun headline, "Spy Unmasked: CSIS Informant 'Founding Father' of white racist group".[2]
Grant Bristow began his career as a private investigator, working with several Toronto-based investigation firms through the early and mid-1980s. Through this work, he developed both the personality and resources necessary to perform covert infiltrations and intelligence gathering. Bristow's CSIS involvement commenced in 1986 through an official at the South African embassy. He was hired to perform security work at their Ottawa embassy, which was the target of many demonstrations at the time due to the nation's continued Apartheid policy. According to an interview Bristow gave to The Walrus in September 2004, and as implied in the SIRC report of December 1995, one of two Embassy officials he had contact with at the time also requested he gather and provide intelligence on the Canadian anti-Apartheid demonstrators individually. He says he was opposed to this idea (gathering intelligence on Canadians for a foreign government), desiring only to provide security for the embassy. However, he feigned interest in the proposal and secretly arranged a meeting with a CSIS officer to report the Official's request. This meeting marked the beginning of Bristow's involvement with the intelligence agency. Following the meeting with the CSIS representative Bristow proceeded to co-operate, reporting details on the progression of the 'mission'. His work was successful and on August 20, 1986, the Canadian government expelled one of the South African officials and prohibited the other from re-entry to Canada designating him persona non grata.
Introduction to the Canadian far-right
He maintained his relationship with CSIS and the following year (while employed by day as an in-house investigator for a shipping firm), after being introduced through an acquaintance to far-right activist Max French, reported the introduction to his handlers. Satisfied with his previous performance, they encouraged him to befriend French and see what information he could gather on the activities of Canada's far-right. Due to his lack of any substantive knowledge, Bristow was given a crash-course introduction to the major players of the far-Right, as well as a copy of the Turner Diaries to familiarize himself with. His relationship with French bore little fruit and was short-lived. Fortunately for Bristow, an associate subsequently introduced him to another far-right sympathizer who provided an "in" via Don Andrews' Nationalist Party of Canada. It was through this introduction and his attendance of Nationalist Party meetings that he made the connections and gathered the information that allowed the commencement of what was to be called "Operation Governor".
Operation Governor begins
Operation Governor began in the autumn of 1988. Its original scope was extremely broad, with no particular targets or goals. Its primary function was basically nothing more than gathering any and all information available to him. The Autumn of 1988 was an ideal time for this mission to begin primarily because many of the groups were lacking in numbers and intelligent membership. As an educated professional, Bristow was an attractive prospect. These factors made it simpler for him to infiltrate without raising any eyebrows. Bristow quickly became friends with Party leader Don Andrews, crediting their fast friendship with "mirroring", an intelligence technique where one mimics the target's thoughts and feelings, forging a bond to gain trust. Through his friendship with Andrews, he attended a 'Welcome Home' party for Wolfgang Droege, returning from a US prison where he served time for cocaine trafficking and a weapons charge. This was his first encounter with Droege, with whom he immediately struck up rapport. After a few conversations he realized that unlike the primarily verbal Andrews, Droege was the real thing. He was interested in taking real action in support of his extreme ideas, which motivated Bristow to slowly move his focus and efforts from Andrews to Droege.
As time progressed and Bristow became further involved in the far-right, he was promoted from member to Security Chief of the Nationalist Party. Throughout this time his friendship with Droege continued to grow, with Droege revealing more and more about himself and his past. Looking back on these times in 2005, Bristow said, "I was keeping watch over violent hate groups, it was the right thing to do."[4] From this position, he screened and collected detailed personal information on all new members, which was promptly copied and forwarded to CSIS. By mid-1989 however, Droege was increasingly dissatisfied with Andrews and the Party and began considering a departure to form a new group more to his liking.
In late July 1989, Libyan head of state Muammar al-Gaddafi invited delegates from the Nationalist party to attend celebrations for the 20th Anniversary of his revolution, all expenses paid. Andrews was unable to attend due to legal obligations, so Droege and Bristow went together at Droege's insistence. Their flight to Libya took them to Rome, where Italian Intelligence officers detained them and unsuccessfully attempted to convince them to cancel their Libyan visit. They arrived in Tripoli with many other extremists from around the world (Qadaffi had invited many leaders of far-left and far-right movements around the world, hoping to unite them in opposition to their common enemy in Zionism), but despite their best efforts Droege left with only a $1,000(US) gift.
On their way home the plane stopped in Chicago, where due to his previous trafficking convictions Droege was arrested (having been barred from entering the United States) and detained, while Bristow was again detained as well and strip-searched. He was furious upon his return (Droege was still being held by US authorities), having gone through terrible stress worrying that either foreign intelligence service encounter could have blown his cover. He fumed at his CSIS handlers, accusing them of using him as "an expendable pawn."[5] This prompted the amendment of his agreement with them to include that he 'must be informed beforehand of any future takedowns'.
The Heritage Front saga
Prior to Droege's release from U.S. custody and subsequent return to Canada, he became convinced that Andrews had somehow arranged his arrest, the final catalyst in the formation of what was to be the Heritage Front. Bristow was along every step of the way, a close confidant of Droege's throughout this period. Bristow claims that he used this confidence to dissuade Droege from undertaking a number of potentially illegal or violent acts. As the Front was formed and began to grow, Bristow documented and relayed to CSIS details of an eco-terrorism plot against North American agriculture being promoted by an American Aryan Nations member to Droege. Bristow managed to talk Droege out of going to Libyan agents in New York with the information, which was altogether scientifically unsound anyhow. It was nonetheless a sobering indication of the extremes to which Droege would go, and provided further justification for the mission to CSIS.
During this period, Bristow got to know the upper echelons of Canadian and international white supremacy and revisionism, serving as a bodyguard for both David Irving and Ernst Zündel. As well, Droege sent Bristow to rendezvous with Terry Long, leader of the Canadian chapter of Aryan Nations. Immediately taking to Bristow, Long passed on the membership list of his group with 180 names for Droege's use, which Bristow copied and provided to CSIS. After this success (and a CSIS-sponsored British vacation), he left with Droege and Zündel for an international Far-right symposium in Germany. In his capacity as security for the Canadian contingent, he video and photodocumented the conference, again providing the data to CSIS. The conference was raided by German Police, however, and Droege and Bristow narrowly avoided arrest. The arrest of Zündel in the raid dashed CSIS' hopes of identifying the major foreign financiers of Canada's Far-right.
Shortly after his return to Canada he was dispatched by the Front to travel to Richard Butler's famed Aryan Nations compound in Idaho. CSIS agreed to this, hoping to acquire the identities of Canadian attendees. It was here that the interconnectedness of the North American Far-right became clear, and the prevailing danger evident. Visits from major American racists like Tom Metzger of White Aryan Resistance were cut short through Bristow's disclosing to CSIS of their whereabouts, so they could be arrested and deported.
Final days in the Front
It was from the publicity generated by these sorts of arrests that major opposition to the Front began to rise. Groups like Anti-Racist Action began to appear, and were present whenever the Front was in Court or on the streets. Tensions were building, and so were numbers on both sides. Bristow walked a very fine line, his role in CSIS preventing him from engaging in the ever-growing violence, a potential Achilles' Heel for his ongoing espionage. These demonstrations and counter-demonstrations culminated in a riot in Ottawa on May 29, 1993, with physical attacks taking place against parties on both sides. These events culminated in calls by the majority of young and angry Front members for retaliatory attacks, and when these calls went unanswered by the Front's leadership, a splinter gang of violent white power skinheads was formed. Bristow passed an emergency message onto his CSIS handlers. Immediately this gang sprang into action, robbing a donut shop the first night and threatening a major attack on the Canadian Jewish Congress. The group had a large weapons cache when police apprehended them.
Soon after these incidents and under the guise of job-hunting, Bristow took a US vacation to marry his girlfriend. Upon his return it became evident he would be forced to terminate his involvement with the front, as Droege was being charged with assault and if Droege was imprisoned, Bristow would become the de facto leader of the Front, an untenable position for a government-employed mole. The exit wouldn't be easy, but not terribly difficult either. Due to the legal hurdles and a general dwindling of support (both public and internal), the Front was beginning to fade. Bristow soon informed Droege of his plan to leave the movement for a job in Eastern Canada, Droege was sad but grateful for the friendship they had and Bristow's efforts for the movement. It was March 1994 when Operation Governor officially concluded, Bristow having prepared dossiers on remaining Far-righters who still posed a threat of some sort beforehand.
Bristow's exposure
On August 12, 1994, Bristow was contacted by Toronto Sun reporter Bill Dunphy, who informed him he was about to go to press with a story about Bristow's being a CSIS asset and exposing much of his Front activity through the duration of his work. Given the violent tendencies of his former targets, Bristow requested Dunphy not to publish the story, but Dunphy insisted and went to press just two days later — on 14 August 1994. Bristow realized he had to get his family and himself out of Toronto and into hiding immediately and CSIS obliged. They were first moved to Jasper for a brief stay and opportunity to evade the situation while plans were made. Eventually resettled in Alberta, his 1995 return to Toronto for a funeral again found him caught by the media, with a CSIS crisis team having to meet to deal with a Toronto Star reporter's questions and subsequent publishing of the identities of and photos of both Bristow and his wife. Feeling apathetic by this point due to stress, they decided simply to return home and hope for the best.
2004 media interview
For the first time, Bristow decided in September 2004 to break his silence regarding the whole issue, and granted an in-depth interview to the Canadian current affairs magazine The Walrus, which led to a resurgence of media coverage around the issue. In the interview, Bristow gives details about his time with CSIS, activities before and after the affair and his current life. While he remains concerned about retaliation, he has largely moved on in his life and has let go of the past.
Related Research Articles
Ernst Christof Friedrich Zündel was a German neo-Nazi publisher and pamphleteer of Holocaust denial literature. He was jailed several times: in Canada for publishing literature "likely to incite hatred against an identifiable group", and on charges of being a threat to national security; in the United States, for overstaying his visa; and in Germany for charges of "inciting racial hatred". He lived in Canada from 1958 to 2000.
The Canadian Security Intelligence Service is Canada's main national intelligence agency. It is responsible for collecting, analysing, reporting and disseminating intelligence on threats to Canada's national security, and conducting operations, covert and overt, within Canada and abroad. The agency also reports to and advises the minister of public safety on national security issues and situations that threaten the security of the nation.
The Western Canada Concept was a Western Canadian federal political party founded in 1980 to promote the separation of the provinces of Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta and British Columbia, and the Yukon and Northwest Territories from Canada in order to create a new nation.
The Nationalist Party of Canada is a Canadian white supremacist organization founded in 1977 by Don Andrews. The party describes itself as white nationalist and is known for its antisemitic and racist publications.
Anti-Racist Action (ARA), also known as the Anti-Racist Action Network, is a decentralized network of militant far-left political cells in the United States and Canada. The ARA network originated in the late 1980s to engage in direct action and doxxing against rival political organizations on the hard right to dissuade them from further involvement in political activities. Anti-Racist Action described such groups as racist or fascist, or both. Most ARA members have been anarchists, but some have been Trotskyists and Maoists.
Wolfgang Walter Droege was a German-born Canadian white supremacist, neo-Nazi and founding leader of the Heritage Front. He was killed during a bungled drug deal in 2005.
The Heritage Front was a Canadian neo-Nazi white supremacist organization founded in 1989 and disbanded around 2005.
Donald Clarke Andrews is a Canadian white supremacist. He is the leader of the Nationalist Party of Canada and a perennial candidate for mayor of Toronto, Ontario.
Frederick Paul Fromm is a Canadian former high school teacher, white supremacist, neo-Nazi, and perennial political candidate.
Douglas Hewson Christie, Jr. was a Canadian lawyer and political activist based in Victoria, British Columbia, who was known nationally for his defence of clients such as Holocaust denier Ernst Zündel, former Nazi prison guard Michael Seifert and neo-Nazi Paul Fromm among others.
In Canada, a security certificate is a legal mechanism by which the Canadian government can detain and deport permanent residents and all other non-citizens living in Canada.
In Canada, the Toronto Edmund Burke Society was a far-right organization formed by Paul Fromm, Don Andrews, and Leigh Smith in 1967 at the University of Toronto. The group presented a front of being anti-communist and promoting traditionalist values in order to recruit members into its real agenda. Its members soon became involved in violent confrontations with anti-war groups and leftists in Toronto.
Alan Overfield was born a First Nations person on Manitoulin Island and is considered to have been a Canadian white supremacist.
Bernie M. Farber is a Canadian writer, commentator, and the former chief executive officer of the Canadian Jewish Congress and a social activist. He has testified before the Canadian courts as an expert witness on hate crime.
Gary Schipper is a white supremacist and was a prominent member of the Canadian neo-Nazi Heritage Front which disbanded around 2005. He is best known for having been the Heritage Front's public voice in the early 1990s, acting as its spokesman in interviews and recording messages for telephonic broadcast on the group's controversial telephone hotline.
James Alexander McQuirter is a former Grand Wizard of the Canadian Knights of the Ku Klux Klan. In 1981, he was charged, along with Wolfgang Droege and other white supremacists, with plotting to overthrow the government of Dominica. McQuirter joined the white supremacist Western Guard as a teenager and first met Droege at the age of 16 in 1975. In 1976, he and Droege attended the "International Patriotic Congress" organized by American Klan leader David Duke and were recruited as Canadian organizers for Duke's Knights of the Ku Klux Klan. In 1978, McQuirter and Armand Siksna were charged with conspiracy to distribute hate literature following a police raid on Siksna's Toronto apartment.
Gerald C. (Gerry) Lincoln was one of the founders of the Heritage Front along with Wolfgang Droege, Grant Bristow and James Scott Dawson. Lincoln was editor of Up Front, the group's official magazine, designed the group's logo and also acted as one of its spokespersons.
A Libyan-Canadian, Mustafa Mohammed Krer left Libya in 1989, following the arrest of his brother al-Mukhtar Muhammad Krer. While living in Montreal, the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) accused him of being a former leader of Libyan Islamic Fighting Group and he was arrested in Libya in 2002.
Neo-Nazism is the post World War II ideology that promotes white supremacy and specifically antisemitism. In Canada, neo-Nazism has existed as a branch of the far-right and has been a source of considerable controversy for over 50 years.
Bronskill, Jim (August 11, 2004). "CSIS mole ends silence, defends role inside racist Heritage Front". Canadian Press.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
