Donald Clarke Andrews (born April 20, 1942 as Vilim Zlomislić) is a Canadian

white supremacist White supremacy or white supremacism is the belief that white people are superior to those of other races and thus should dominate them. The belief favors the maintenance and defense of any power and privilege held by white people. White s ...

. He is also the leader of the unregistered neo-Nazi

Nationalist Party of Canada The Nationalist Party of Canada is an unregistered far-right political party in Canada that was founded in 1977 by white supremacist Don Andrews. The party describes itself as white nationalist, and is known for its antisemitic and racist pub ...

and a

perennial candidate A perennial candidate is a political candidate who frequently runs for elected office and rarely, if ever, wins. Perennial candidates' existence lies in the fact that in some countries, there are no laws that limit a number of times a person can ...

for mayor of

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...

Early years

Zlomislić was born to

Croat The Croats (; hr, Hrvati ) are a South Slavic ethnic group who share a common Croatian ancestry, culture, history and language. They are also a recognized minority in a number of neighboring countries, namely Austria, the Czech Republic, Ge ...

parents in the region of

Vojvodina Vojvodina ( sr-Cyrl, Војводина}), officially the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina, is an autonomous province that occupies the northernmost part of Serbia. It lies within the Pannonian Basin, bordered to the south by the national capital ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

. His father was killed by the

Nazis Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in N ...

while fighting with the

Yugoslav Partisans The Yugoslav Partisans,Serbo-Croatian, Macedonian, Slovene: , or the National Liberation Army, sh-Latn-Cyrl, Narodnooslobodilačka vojska (NOV), Народноослободилачка војска (НОВ); mk, Народноослобод� ...

against the German occupation of Yugoslavia in late 1944. His mother, Rose, was shipped to Germany in 1943 to work as a slave labourer for the Nazis and Vilim was placed in an orphanage. In 1945, Rose was told that her son had been killed in an air raid. After the war, she met and married Frederick Andrews, a Canadian working for a United Nations agency in a German displaced persons' camp. The couple moved to Toronto."PORTRAIT OF A RACIST" by Arthur Johnson, ''Globe and Mail'', October 1, 1979 Vilim remained at the orphanage and was a member of the Communist Young Pioneers in the post-war

Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, commonly referred to as SFR Yugoslavia or simply as Yugoslavia, was a country in Central and Southeast Europe. It emerged in 1945, following World War II, and lasted until 1992, with the breakup of Yu ...

. He suffered an accident during a camping trip and a botched operation on his leg left him limping and permanently disabled. His mother continued to search for him after the war through the assistance of the

Red Cross The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a humanitarian movement with approximately 97 million volunteers, members and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ensure respect for all human beings, and ...

, which located Vilim in 1952 and brought him to Canada where he was re-united with his mother and re-named Donald Clarke Andrews. In Canada, Andrews developed a strong antipathy toward

communism Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a ...

, which he blamed for his physical disability. After graduating from high school he began reading far-right tracts by the

John Birch Society The John Birch Society (JBS) is an American right-wing political advocacy group. Founded in 1958, it is anti-communist, supports social conservatism, and is associated with ultraconservative, radical right, far-right, or libertarian ide ...

and

George Lincoln Rockwell George Lincoln Rockwell (March 9, 1918 – August 25, 1967) was an American far-right political activist and founder of the American Nazi Party. He later became a major figure in the neo-Nazi movement in the United States, and his beliefs, st ...

and adopted far-right and ultimately fascist ideas.

Education and work

Andrews was educated at

R. H. King Collegiate Institute (We care, we strive, we serve) , motto = la, Per Ardua Sapientia , motto_translation =Through the hard task of wisdom , streetaddress = 3800 St. Clair Avenue East , pushpin_map = Canada Toronto#Ontario#Canada , city = Scarb ...

Scarborough Scarborough or Scarboro may refer to: People * Scarborough (surname) * Earl of Scarbrough Places Australia * Scarborough, Western Australia, suburb of Perth * Scarborough, New South Wales, suburb of Wollongong * Scarborough, Queensland, su ...

and subsequently took a public health inspection course at

Ryerson Polytechnical Institute Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU or Toronto Met) is a public research university located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The university's core campus is situated within the Garden District, although it also operates facilities elsewhere in Toro ...

and earned his qualifications in 1964. He worked as a public health inspector in Scarborough in the 1970s. More recently, he has derived his income by being a landlord.Facing off with hate
", ''The Ryersonian'', March 21, 2007

Political activity

Edmund Burke Society

In the 1960s, Andrews was drawn to far right groups and cofounded the

Edmund Burke Society :''This organization is unrelated to the conservative debating society of the same name associated with the University of Chicago Law School, the University of Virginia, and the London School of Economics.'' In Canada, the Edmund Burke Society was a ...

with Paul Fromm and Leigh Smith in 1967.

Western Guard

Andrews became the primary leader of the group and transformed it into the anti-Semitic and

Western Guard ''The Western Guard'' is a newspaper serving Madison and Lac qui Parle County in western Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd m ...

in 1972. Paul Fromm split with Andrews shortly after the Western Guard was formed in 1972. Andrews was the first person in Canada charged with wilfully promoting hatred, and in 1975 he was charged with offences ranging from plotting arson, possession of weapons and explosives, and mischief, for which he was sentenced to two years in jail. Along with the Western Guard he also plotted to bomb a visiting Israeli soccer team, although he was never charged for this. Consequently, the leadership of the Western Guard fell to

John Ross Taylor John Ross Taylor (1913 – November 6, 1994) was a Canadian fascist political activist and party leader prominent in white nationalist circles. Early life and family Born into a well-known Toronto, Ontario family, the son of lawyer Oscar Taylor ...

in 1976.

Nationalist Party

Don Andrews has run for

Mayor of Toronto The mayor of Toronto is the head of Toronto City Council and chief executive officer of the municipal government. The mayor is elected alongside city council every four years on the fourth Monday of October; there are no term limits. While in ...

several times, most recently in

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

, when he came in seventh place with 0.10% of the vote. In the 1974 election, Andrews placed a distant second in the mayoralty race as no serious candidate ran against popular incumbent,

David Crombie David Edward Crombie (born April 24, 1936) is a Canadian former academic and politician who served as the 56th mayor of Toronto from 1972 to 1978. Crombie was elected to Parliament following his tenure as mayor. A member of the Progressive Cons ...

. As a result, the municipal law was changed so that the runner-up in the mayoralty contest no longer had the right to succeed to the mayor's chair should the position become vacant between elections. Andrews has only run on occasions when his name appears first on the ballot. He sat out the 2000 municipal election in which fringe candidate Enza "Supermodel" Anderson was a candidate. As of 1994, Andrews' organization had launched a campaign to celebrate "European Heritage Day," but when it was realized that the event was spearheaded by a neo-Nazi organization, the various cities approached rejected it or revoked their original decision. In 1998, Andrews tried a new tactic by attempting to get a European heritage week declared in London, Ontario. When it was recognized as a neo-Nazi attempt, an emergency vote was held by the municipal government, and the week was cancelled.

Dominica invasion attempt

Andrews was involved in the preliminary planning for Operation Red Dog, but left the group when they changed their target to Dominica.

References

External links

Nationalist Party of Canada
{{DEFAULTSORT:Andrews, Don 1942 births Living people Canadian neo-Nazis Canadian anti-communists Canadian people of Croatian descent Ontario municipal politicians Politicians from Toronto Yugoslav emigrants to Canada