Alan Overfield was born a First Nations person on Manitoulin Island and is considered to have been a Canadian white supremacist.
He was a founding member of the Edmund Burke Society, established by Paul Fromm, Don Andrews, and Leigh Smith.
Harper denied such knowledge and stated that he had been "building issues into the Reform Party's platform to actively discourage extremists and 'nut cases'" at the time of Overfield's membership.
Also, Reform Party leader Preston Manning did not have Royal Canadian Mounted Police security and was instead dependent upon local organizations.
[5] Bristow became Manning's personal bodyguard while Overfield's men were providing security at Reform Party meetings and rallies.