John Beattie tells how he created the British Peoples’ League for the first time in 1975, helped by his wife. John is proud of his Scottish-English family roots in Toronto, and remembers with pleasure that it was an all-white city during his childhood and youth.  He talks about the importance of keeping safe our White and national/ethnic identities – in his case among the British Canadians, but tied together with the British everywhere.

We get the story of John’s “nazi” past (1965-71), straight from the horse’s mouth.  Highlights include:

• John is agitated by a brochure “Who is tampering with the Soul of America?” written by Ron Gostick;
• He reads it to a meeting of the Social Credit Party where Canadian Jewish Congress members are present;
• These members adopt Beattie as the leader of a new political party they insist on calling The Canadian Nazi Party;
• Ronald Bottaro and John and Chris Dingle become Beattie’s bodyguards, but admit later on a CBC radio Don Simm’s show they were actually agents for the Canadian Jewish Congress;
• Beattie was carried along by the “excitement” and all the booze that was provided;
• His handler was John Charles Garrity, who wrote about it in Maclean’s Magazine;
• The rent check that proved there was no real nazi party organization or headquarters;
• Beattie’s account of the Paul Fromm/Ernst Zundel hearing in 2000.

Picture above right: June 1966, William John Beattie, protected by police, harangues a crowd of 4000 in Allan Gardens Park in Toronto.