Peter Halasz’s Expulsion From SF Canada Leaves More Questions Than Answers
On February 2, an article posted to File 770 detailed the decision by SF Canada to do something unprecedented in its 32-year history - forcibly expel one of its members.
The organization, which bills itself as “Canada’s National Association of Speculative Fiction Professionals” held the vote at their Annual General Meeting for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2021. The virtually-held gathering dealt with, among other things, a motion brought forth by member Robert Dawson. It read in part:
“In light of various actions by Peter Halasz incompatible with a collegial relationship with the members of SF Canada, including but not limited to his release of members private email addresses on January 18, 2022, I move that he be required to resign effective immediately, as provided in the sixth clause in the section of our bylaws concerning conditions of membership; and that he not be permitted to rejoin.”
The ‘sixth clause’ of the organization’s by-laws referred to in the motion states: Any member may be required to resign by a three-quarters (3/4) majority vote at the annual general meeting or a special general meeting, for any cause which the membership may deem reasonable.
The motion was seconded by fellow member Margaret Curelas and kicked off a long thirteen-day deliberation period that ultimately resulted in 78% of the 45-member body to vote 35-10 in favor of Halasz’s permanent and apparently irrevocable ouster. Additionally, a motion was included to create a Code of Conduct and Anti-Harassment Policy for SF Canada.
SF Canada, unlike SFWA, doesn’t require its members to be authors or industry-adjacent professionals. While Halasz is one of the founders of the Sunburst Award for Canadian Excellence in Literature of the Fantastic, has had work published in The New York Review of Science Fiction and acted as a consultant for The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction, he’s known more as a collector than a writer, and his involvement within the community saw him serving as the group’s president at one time. Despite this legacy however, Halasz’s page from the SF Canada website was quickly scrubbed following the decision (here’s a link to the page on the Wayback Machine). The severe punishment doled out by SF Canada, lacking additional context, has many asking a simple question: Why?
Requests for comment by us from SF Canada returned a form email revealing nothing more than what was originally stated in the extremely guarded language posted to File 770. The whole affair leaves one with more questions than answers; were politics at play, with the leaked email address charge little more than a pretense for removal? How many addresses got released, and to what extent could members have realistically been affected? And what of the vague mention of other “various actions”? If the crux of the complaint seemed to be over released email addresses, why the implementation of an anti-harassment policy? What exactly did Peter Halasz do to warrant such an extraordinary response from Robert Dawson and company? One thing that’s clear is that neither side has much love lost for the other, and Halasz for his part isn’t taking any of this lying down.
The severe punishment doled out by SF Canada, lacking additional context, has many asking a simple question: Why?
I spoke via email to Hugo and Nebula award-winning novelist and one-time SFWA president Robert J. Sawyer, who was among the voters at the AGM. He shared a partial statement Halasz made to the members of SF Canada on January 18 that was furious:
"The slurs and allegations [name redacted] makes her [sic] are false. And I believe they are defamatory. Needless to say I will be seeking legal counsel. I will say no more on the subject until it's in a legal forum."
Sawyer feels that Halasz’s apparent readiness to take legal action may be part of why people are keeping details close to their proverbial vests: “In my opinion, this has had a chilling effect, dissuading people from commenting substantively in public,” he said, before dispensing with the notion that the proceedings were a witch hunt, emotional or rushed: “I have no direct knowledge of the truth or falsehood of the allegations Halasz refers to, although I, and everyone else who voted, do have direct knowledge of multiple other matters cited during the thirteen days allowed for discussion before the vote was closed on the motion to expel Halasz.”
Robert Dawson, who filed the original motion, was similarly tight-lipped, but did offer this: “I can confirm that I was the member who made the motion - in the old-fashioned belief, often stated by the late Robert Heinlein, that certain forms of rudeness should not be tolerated.” Margaret Curelas, who seconded the motion, did not respond to my request for comment.
What was a week ago a relatively unknown story is now breaking through on social media. Sawyer recently tweeted about the event to his more than 12,000 followers, and it will quickly make its way into more feeds and timelines.
SF Canada’s choice to remain mum will surely provide plenty of conspiracy theory fuel in the meantime. Some posting online have called the move nothing more than a vendetta against Halasz. Others claim the comeuppance was long time in the making. For now the board is set. And we’re all waiting for Halasz’s next move.