History of Fred Christie

In 1987 James W. St.G Walker, a historian  (a "white" or EuroCanadian historian, I might say) at the University of Waterloo, published “Race,” Rights and the Law in the Supreme Court of Canada, which proved to be a groundbreaking work both in the history of racial issues in Canada and in Canadian legal history.

Once of its case studies was Christie v. York, a 1939 decision of the Supreme Court of Canada, which held that the York Tavern at the Montreal Forum was within its rights in refusing to serve Fred Christie, a black chauffeur hockey fan, because the tavern's freedom of commerce ("Any merchant is free to deal as he may choose with any individual member of the public.") negated Christie's claim to equal treatment.

This month marks the 80th anniversary of the decision (now-overruled -- but only since the Quebec Charter of Rights came into effect in 1975).  Montreal human rights activists wanted to find out a bit more about Fred Christie, who was believed to have left Montreal soon after the decision.

Well, Fred Christie died in 1985, but they found his descendants, with some help from CBC News. It's a nice story, and it even gives credit to Jim Walker's pioneering historical research.