In 1979, Richard Dildy, a Vietnam War veteran, was arrested for protesting against Santa Claus at the Eaton Centre in Toronto. He believed that Santa was a fantasy used to deceive children and advocated for teaching children science instead.
The area surrounding the Eaton Centre’s entrance at Yonge and Dundas has long been a magnet for people sharing their causes with the world. While pedestrians usually encounter street preachers and political activists there — sometimes they’ll face somebody pushing an agenda that stands out from the rest. Such was the case the night of December 6, 1979.
As holiday shoppers entered the mall that evening, they heard shouts from a man who declared Santa Claus a fake and bemoaned he was “tired of parents lying to their kids.” A crowd gathered to watch Richard Dildy, a computer technician and Vietnam War veteran, denounce Santa. Dildy, who lived in East York, believed Santa Claus was a shield of fantasy that adults used to confuse impressionable children. While some bystanders laughed at him, the police did not and ordered him to leave. A few hours later — after “imbibing some Christmas spirit,” according to the Toronto Sun — Dildy returned to resume his protest. Crowds gathered on both sides of Yonge Street to hear Dildy’s anti-Santa screed before police also returned and arrested him for causing a disturbance. He spent the night in jail. The next day, the Sun called Dildy a “grinch” and observed that he’d be lucky to receive a lump of coal that year. The experience didn’t faze him. “This is a scientific world we’re living in. We’re going to the moon and outer space, but we’re still telling our children that reindeer fly,” he told the Toronto Star. “All I was saying is that people have to stop lying to their children. I say give kids science and the new math. But don’t give them any fantasies and red-nosed reindeer flying around in the sky.” “I’m planning to get a sign and I’m going back to the exact same place,” he promised. “I have a right to express myself.” Dildy was no stranger to attentio
PROTEST SANTA CLAUS TORONTO CHRISTMAS FREE SPEECH
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