This article was last updated on April 16, 2022
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An overly controversial Victoria lawyer, Doug Christie, passed away in a hospital on Monday night at the age of 66. Admirers of Christie remember him as a stark defender of free speech, whereas on the other hand, his critics often targeted his choice of legal defence of people exclusively charged with hate crimes. Christie’s wife, Keltie Zubko, confirmed the news of her husband’s death, while explaining that he was initially diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2011 and now expired due to metastatic liver disease. She revealed that Christie was surrounded by his family during his last breaths.
Controversial, notorious and highly criticized list of Christie’s client includes former Nazi prison guard, Michael Seifert, Holocaust-denier, Ernst Zundel, and self-proclaimed Nazi-sympathizer, Paul Fromm. Court found Michael Seifert guilty of war crimes and decided to extradite him to Italy where he was sentenced to life imprisonment. Whereas, Ernst Zundel asserted in court that Holocaust never occurred, and was hence convicted in 1985 for “spreading false news” regarding Jewish people and sentenced to 15 months in jail.
One of Christie’s cases dealt with an aboriginal leader, David Ahenakew, who was cut off from his Order of Canada due to disturbing comments regarding Jews. The highly notorious and long-lasting case of Ahenakew ended in 2009, when Saskatchewan justices chose not to appeal his acquittal, while Christie went on emphasizing that Ahenakew shall be returned back to the Order of Canada. Christie was once troubled by entanglement with the B.C. Law Society in 2008, as he was accused of professional misconduct, and forced to pay bulky fine.
I’m a lawyer myself, and I knew the late Doug Christie. It is wrong to say that he exclusively represented those charged with “hate crimes” (a recent innovation in the law); that was only a part of his litigation practice. He acted for, and was friends with also, people of ALL ethnic and racial backgrounds. He was much misunderstood and maligned, and was the victim of a lot of HATE himself: vandalism, death threats, because some people seem to think that there are certain people that should be DENIED the right to legal representation. Christie was no racist, no hate-monger, no anti-Semite, himself, just a lawyer passionate about upholding the rights of free speech + expression. He defended these people b/c no one else would, so bad is the ORGANIZED hostility against lawyers who represent unpopular clients. I’m proud to have been able to call him friend. RIP.
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