Welcome to the Chick Vs. Canada Wing
How big is Chick? Well friends, he's SOOOO big, that even the Country of Canada is scared of him! The following is the true story of how our big proud Neighbors in the North drew up their draw bridge on Chick's gospel efforts and deprived themselves not only of classic comics, but also free speech.
Many Americans think Canada is cool. It's a great place to run away and avoid the draft, plus it has socialized medicine. And how could the birth place of SCTV be anything but hip? But Alas! It seems like the same folks who look down their noses at American Pop culture have a dirty little secret we don't often hear about. Canada restricts free speech! It's true! The big democracy regulates what people can and can't say! And the man who tested Canada's tolerance for free speech was none other than Jack T. Chick!
It all started during the 1980s when a right wing anti-immigrant party called "The Freedom Front" started to distribute Jack's tracts to highlight how Jews, Catholics and Buddhist Asians were destined to hell (see Holocaust , The Death Cookie and The Tycoon). Okay, so maybe they were just trying to save some lost souls, but lets assume for the sake of paranoia that they distributed the tracts out of meanness instead of brotherly love. Whatever the motivation, the liberals assumed the worse and demanded an end to free speech. Although they didn't outlaw the actual tracts, sometime in the early 1980s, Attorney General Roy McMury went on nation wide Canada TV and announced a special ban on Chick's comic books of Alberto and Double Cross. It's been downhill ever since. The laws have since expanded to repress all sorts of politically incorrect speech, including pictures of naked women (which many feminists hate) or controversial educational views, including history books by David Irving (a WWII researcher who offends Jewish groups with controversial revisions of the Holocaust). There are even rules controlling what internet sites are allowed! (So much for the information super highway, since it appears to dead end on the 49th parallel.) Of course "Free Thought" is still permitted, so long as those thoughts are not openly expressed...
One can't help but chuckle at how Canadians condemn the US boycott of Cuba, while they themselves don't even enjoy the basic democratic right of free speech! The irony is juicy indeed. They say Americans are silly for being scared about Castro, when they're scared of Chick! At least Castro had nukes. Chick, on the other hand, has never threatened their nation with anything more dangerous than comic books. (Get thee behind me, Fredic Wertham!)
Of course, Chick is the only winner in this controversy. Although getting censored in Canada can't be good for business, it's the ultimate back handed compliment. His claim that Chick tracts make an impact is certainly given credence by the fact that an otherwise civilized country went to such extreme measures out of fear that his comics might determine the outcome of their elections.
Don't worry Jack. Canadians will get what's coming to them when they die off and stand naked before your #1 fan. They'll hear Matthew 25:41 shouted at them so many times, their heads wills SPIN!
Interesting Historical Footnote: Another country to openly ban Chick comic books was none other than Apartied South Africa. (And we all know know happened to them!) It seems Canada has some distinguished competition in their efforts to stomp out Chicks. Haw-haw-haw!
Go here to read visitor comments on the above.
For more amazing information on Canadian censorship, check out the Dec. 12, 1999 Washington Post article, reprinted here. You'll be stunned to discover how controlled their mass media has become since the early days of Chick bashing.
*A special thanks to the Henry D.T. Collection and Richard Lee for information about Canada's crusade against Chick. See also the October 1983 issue of Battle Cry for stories on both Canadian and South African bans of Alberto & Double Cross comic books.
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