Some have called him the Sol Alinsky of Canada, others likened him to human rights legalist Alan Dershowitz, and still others contend that he reminded them of Atticus Finch from To Kill a Mockingbird.
Truth be told, he was a bit of them all and much more. Alan Borovoy General Counsel Emeritus of the Canadian Civil Liberties Association (CCLA), probably Canada’s best-known defender of civil rights, a human rights driver in a career spanning more than 60 years fighting for the little guy, has died.
Alan was a man of deep principle, stark honesty, razor wit and man with a whole lot of heart for the most vulnerable amongst us. He was also a mentor.
His fights were often lonely, though arguably he relished being the lone fighter for a cause he believed in. He took on popular concepts that were populated by unpopular people. He cherished freedom of speech as an absolute and in order to defend the concept against new hate laws he had to bear hateful anti-Semites and Holocaust deniers.
In a column I wrote last year for the Globe and Mail on what was to be his last book, At The Barricades, I recounted a story in which Alan was a guest on an open line radio program. One of the callers turned out to be famous Holocaust-denier Ernst Zundel. Borovoy seized the moment. “While I feel obliged to defend Mr. Zundel’s legal rights, I have no comparable obligation to treat him with respect.” It was quintessential Borovoy.
Growing up as a young boy in the downtown core that was the home of many other Jews in the 1930s and 40s, Borovoy learned firsthand what it meant to be a minority. It led him into seeing the world for what it was and his goal was always to try and level the playing field.
It was while he was at the University of Toronto that political schisms most dominated the Canadian Jewish scene. A young Canadian Jewish activist community became fertile ground for an even younger and altruistic Borovoy. He saw how communism could become a destructive force and railed against it, but always with the view to achieve what he called “a responsible anti-communism.”
Said Borovoy: “For me the challenge had become how to [avoid] the pitfalls of the American hysteria.”
And indeed it was always this balance that Borovoy fought to attain. His skills were honed as an executive member of the Toronto Jewish Youth Council. In this position he represented the council at the table of the Canadian Jewish Congress (CJC). It was 1951, the same year I was born.
It’s not hard to understand the level of commitment Borovoy had to the community which allowed him to grow and the issues he took on as his own. Very often these issues were in consonance but when they parted ways Borovoy, true to his principles, never faltered.
As editor of a Jewish university newspaper, Borovoy held strong to his conviction that free speech trumped everything. He advocated strongly in favour of a letter written by a Communist sympathizer. The establishment came down on him like a ton of bricks but he held strong.
But perhaps his most controversial stand was as an opponent of Canada’s anti-hate laws. This put him on the outs with the leadership in the Jewish community which strongly supported it. When confronted about the evil of hatemongers, Borovoy’s favorite retort was that “They should be left to wallow in the obscurity they so richly deserve.”
And so it went throughout Alan Borovoy’s tumultuous career. Whether it was our nation’s struggle with national security or victimized minorities fight for decent housing whether it was challenging the police complaints procedures or his battles with the Quebec government over the Oka crisis, Alan Borovoy was our moral barometer.
Yes, from time to time Alan Borovoy and I heatedly debated many issues of the day most predominantly our differences on hate speech laws. He was a formidable opponent so I was very touched therefore that upon asking Alan to autograph my copy of At The Barricades he wrote: “To Bernie, a favorite sparring partner – may our polemics go on in perpetuity.”
And to that I add, may the courage of A. Alan Borovoy be a testament to principle, determination and compassion for younger generations who follow.
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