January 25, 1997
For Immediate Release
_Doug Christie for the Defence in
Fromm Case_
Victoria lawyer Douglas Christie will act as advisor
and representative for Peel high school teacher Paul Fromm at a meeting
of the Peel Board of Education, January 28, to consider a staff recommendation
that Fromm be fired.
Fromm, who has taught English in Peel for the past 23 years, has come
under attack from a number of special interest groups for his outside political
activities. His alleged criticism of federal multiculturalism policies
have landed him in trouble with the Board.
In a January 20 letter to the Board, Christie accused Board staff of
"a serious breach of fundamental justice. You have adopted as truth
and stated as fact, allegations which were first made plain to Mr. Fromm
... January 10, 1997. Mr. Fromm takes serious exceptions to all these allegations
and can provide evidence of their falsehood and the malicious nature of
their origin."
By accepting the allegations in a complaint by Vancouver activist Alan
Dutton as fact, the Board staff "have even more seriously prejudiced
the appearance of a fair and impartial hearing," Christie argued.
"These precipitous steps have all the appearance of a flagrant
railroading of Mr. Fromm, out of his job without a hearing," Christie
added. "Fromm like anyone else before any administrative decision-making
body of a public nature has a right to natural justice, fundamental justice
and Charter rights. This is so because it involves government's actions"
Christie accused the Board staff of imposing a penalty -- job loss
-- prior to a hearing to test allegations and determine facts: " You
state 'a recommendations till be made that [Fromm] be dismissed for cause.'
...Has there been any impartial hearing to hear Fromm's side of the matter?"
Christie called on the Board to use the Janaury 28 meeting to set a
date for a proper hearing where the Vancouver complainant Dutton could
be cross-examined and where Fromm could call witnesses and play tapes of
meetings that would demonstrate the responsible nature of the political
activities in which he's involved.
In another development, University of Western Ontario History professor
Kenneth Hilborn has written to Peel Board Chair Beryl Ford defending Fromm.
As editor of the Canadian Issues Series of booklets published by Citizens
for Foreign Aid Reform of which he is a director, Fromm has published several
booklets by Prof. Hilborn. Hilborn stated that in the booklet The Quest
for Equality, "I write: 'Non-Western civilizations, like those of
China and the Islamic world, developed rich cultures and deserve our respect
for their art and craftsmanship, their literature and contributions to
scientific knowledge.' I understand that Mr. Fromm stands accused of not
respecting other cultures, but he made no objection whatever to publishing
the statement quoted."
In his January 22 letter to Ford, Hilborn concluded: "A governmental
body should also take into account the implications of penalizing an individual
professionally for the lawful exercise of rights (such as freedom of expression
and freedom of association) that enjoy constitutional protection under
the Charter of Rigfhts and Freedoms."
--30--
For more information, contact: Paul Fromm - 905-897-7221 - c-far@df.org
[Attached]
FAX TO (905) 890-6747 (on University of Western Ontario letterhead)
22 January 1997
Ms. Beryl Ford Chair, Peel Board of Education Mississauga, Ontario
Dear Ms. Ford:
I was disturbed to learn of the action taken and contemplated regarding
Mr. Paul Fromm.
As research director of C-FAR, Mr. Fromm has been responsible for publication
of several booklets of which I am the author -- most recently The Quest
for "Equality," from Robespierre to Rae and Beyond. On pages
14-15 of that booklet I wrote: "Non-Western civilizations, like those
of China and the Islamic world, developed rich cultures that deserve our
respect for their art and craftsmanship, their literature and contributions
to scientific knowledge." I understand that Mr. Fromm stands accused
of not respecting other cultures, but he made no objection whatever to
publishing the statement quoted.
In terms of protecting individual freedom, of course, Western (especially
British) culture has been demonstrably preferable to many others (e.g.
Saudi Arabia, Iran, etc.). I noted in The Quest for "Equality",
for instance, that many societies have been "more resistant than ours"
to recognizing women as "autonomous individuals" and to "abandonment
of their traditional subordination." Surely such differences between
our culture and those of various societies overseas are a reality not to
be denied.
On pages 16-17 of the booklet. I quoted at some length from Dr. Stephen
Stern's argument (published originally in the Canadian Jewish News) that
many immigrants are attracted to countries like Canada because of "political
and economic virtues . . . primarily and ultimately Anglo-Saxon in origin,"
such as the British parliamentary and judicial systems.
"For these reasons," wrote Dr. Stern, "this writer passionately
believes that it behooves every immigrant to Canada (and perhaps most of
all, the relentlessly persecuted Jews who found safe haven here) to pay
perpetual homage to our Anglo-Saxon patrimony." He warned that "unlimited
multiculturalism" could endanger "this glorious inheritance,"
posing a threat to minorities of non-British origin.
This view of multiculturalism, which I share, is surely an intellectually
defensible one, and nobody in the teaching profession should be penalized
for devoting spare time to giving such opinions (however strongly expressed)
a wider circulation. A governmental body should also take into account
the implications of penalizing an individual professionally for the lawful
exercise of rights (such as freedom of expression and freedom of association)
that enjoy constitutional protection under the Charter of rights and Freedoms.
I hope that those who make decisions about Mr. Fromm's teaching career
will pay close attention to the material that he has been responsible for
publishing, rather than to politically- motivated allegations not substantiated
by the views actually expressed in C-FAR publications -- including my own
booklets.
Please bring this letter to the attention of your colleagues on the
Board of Education.
Yours sincerely,
(Professor) Kenneth H.W. Hilborn