Chuck Crate

[[File:Chuck Crate.webp|thumb|165 px|Crime doesn't pay.]]
'''Charles Brandle Crate''' {{lived|1914/1915|1992}} was a [[Canadian]] [[fascist]] and the leader of the Canadian Union of Fascists (one of the earliest fascist groups in Canada).<ref>https://prabook.com/web/chuck.crate/2495166</ref><ref>{{cite news |work=Winnipeg Tribune |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/3759619/ottawa_chuck_crate/ |title=Reported Former Winnipeg Fascist in Defense Areas |date=July 1, 1943 |page=1}}</ref> Alongside Adrien Arcand, he was a significant progenitor of fascism in Canada and a major leader in Canadian fascist parties.<ref>https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt1rfsnms</ref>

In 1936 when he was 21, he was named as Canada's #1 fascist by The Globe Mail.<ref name="globe">CANADA'S NO. 1 FASCIST
The Globe (1844-1936); Toronto, Ont.. 22 Oct 1936: 1.</ref> His party was banned in 1940 by the Canadian government during the midst of [[World War 2]].<ref>Canada Outlaws 16 Groups as Subversive: Membership Illegal Under Regulations; Conant Asks Teeth Red-Tinged Bodies Banned Along With 'Cultural' Societies FASCISTS ALSO Sees Move Helpful but Ineffective if Courts to Be Used WOULD INTERN Beamish, Roy.  The Globe and Mail; Toronto, Ont.. 06 June 1940: 1</ref>

==Life==
Crate hailed from a working class family in northern [[Ontario]]. Crate became radicalized into fascism as a result of the [[Great Depression]]. He joined the navy during World War 2 as a postman and a gunner. He also worked for several years as a [[gold]] miner, a mine mill and smelter worker shop steward, and [[labor union|union]] organizer where he actually helped get equal pay for [[Native American]] mine workers.{{cn}}

At the age on 17, he became a member (and later the leader) of the Canadian Union of Fascists (CUF) during his time as a student at York Memorial Collegiate Institute. He eventually became a teacher in his later years as he taught and lived in various small towns across Canada. The subjects he taught were mainly English and [[history]] to Native American children.<ref>https://www.newspapers.com/article/3759619/ottawa_chuck_crate/</ref>

===Fascist political activity===
After joining the CUF at the age of 17, he became the leader of the organization and made them lobby for native rights. However, they did also ally with the British Union of Fascists, as well as having close ties with and inspiration from Adrien Arcand, another Canadian fascist.<ref>https://persagen.com/docs/neofascism.html#fascism-canada</ref> He also wrote for ''The Thunderbolt'', a fascist newspaper, in which he blamed Canada's ills on Catholics, Jews, and Freemasons.<ref>{{cite news |work=Ottawa Journal |page=1,12 |title=Reluctant to Legalize Communism |date=July 31, 1942}}</ref><ref>Reds Still Outlawed, St. Laurent Emphasizes E G SMITH The Globe and Mail. The Globe and Mail (1936-); Toronto, Ont.. 01 Aug 1942: 15.</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Now Socred Splinter Party is Splintered |work=Toronto Daily Star |date=September 25, 1963}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Three Police Bodies to Act Against Outlawed Groups |work=Toronto Daily Star |date=June 6, 1940}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |work=Ottawa Journal |page=1,12 |title=Reluctant to Legalize Communism |date=July 31, 1942}}</ref><ref>Reds Still Outlawed, St. Laurent Emphasizes E G SMITH The Globe and Mail.  The Globe and Mail (1936-); Toronto, Ont.. 01 Aug 1942: 15.</ref>

In their time of political activity, Crate and CUF often clashed with Canadian anti-fascist protestors.<ref>"Principal Fears 'Vesuvius' He Tells Collegiate Board", Toronto Daily Star (1900-1971); Toronto, Ontario. 29 Jan 1935: 6</ref> Crate was even arrested later in Edmonton, Alberta on June 21st, 1943 after the Canadian government learned of his ties to other fascist parties.<ref name="review">"Reviews Crate Case", Toronto Daily Star (1900-1971); Toronto, Ontario. 08 July 1943: 4.</ref>

==Legacy==
While Crate himself has long been forgotten in modern Canadian politics, his tactics and rhetoric have evolved and been adopted by modern Canadian fascist and [[far-right]] movements, most notably the [[Canada convoy protest|Canadian convoy protest]] (also called the "Freedom Convoy").<ref>https://www.wbfo.org/national-international/2022-09-19/right-wing-extremism-on-the-rise-in-canada-after-freedom-convoy-protests-anti-hate-experts-say</ref>

==References==
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[[Category:Canada]]
[[Category:Canadians]]
[[Category:Canadian politics]]
[[Category:Canadian politicians]]
[[Category:Conspiracy theorists]]
[[Category:Fascists]]
[[Category:Racists]]
[[Category:Right-wing activists]]

Categories: Canada, Canadians, Canadian politics, Canadian politicians, Conspiracy theorists, Fascists, Racists, Right-wing activists