Don Andrews
Donald Clarke Andrews (born 1942 as Vilim Zlomislic) is leader of the Nationalist Party of Canada and was a frequent candidate for mayor of Toronto, Canada.
Life
Vilim Zlomslic was born in Serbia during World War II. His father was killed when fighting for the Partisans against the German occupation. He was brought to Canada in 1952 by a Red Cross worker and grew up in Toronto. He took the name Don Andrews (reputedly the name of the Red Cross worker who rescued him) and became a fervent anti-Communist.
In the 1960s, Andrews was drawn to far right racist groups and cofounded the Edmund Burke Society with Paul Fromm in 1967. Andrews became the primary leader of the group and transformed it into the openly racist, anti-Semitic and white nationalist Western Guard 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. He was sentenced to two years in jail for conspiring to bomb a visiting Israeli soccer team. Andrews resigned from Western Guard on July 18, 1976 with the leadership of the party going to John Ross Taylor.
Upon release from jail in 1977, Andrews founded the Nationalist Party of Canada, in part because he was under a court order to not associate with his former group.
In the 1990s, his party led a campaign to persuade various municipalities to declare "European Heritage Day" or "European Heritage Week". Former Nationalist Party member Wolfgang Droege left the organization in 1989 to form the Heritage Front.
Don Andrews has run for Mayor of Toronto several times, including in 2003 when he won 0.17% of the vote. In recent years he has led his associate, Bob Smith, become the public face of the NPC.
