Dear Editor:
I was disappointed to read the article 鈥淰ideo Denying Holocaust Causes Uproar鈥� about Monika Schaefer in the July 14 issue of the 51暗网.
I was especially saddened to see that Ken Kuzminski, head of the local legion,聽is leading a campaign against Miss Schaefer for her having posted a very personal YouTube video explaining why she doubts some of the details in the much publicized stories of the holocaust. He鈥檚 banned her from the local branch? Is that legal? Banned her for her views? What other views are banned, I wonder?
Furthermore, he鈥檚 reported her to the Alberta Human Rights Commission, the RCMP and the German Embassy. He is clearly trying to damage this woman simply for the non-violent expression of her views, however controversial. I鈥檝e defended victims hauled before human rights tribunals for their opinions. These are kangaroo courts where truth is no defence. Google Ezra Levant鈥檚 famous confrontation, available on YouTube, with the thought police of the Alberta Human Rights Commission. It鈥檚 a shocker.
Frankly, Mr. Kuzminski is a disgrace to a generation who fought for freedoms. My parents both fought for Canada in the Second World War鈥搈y father in the Royal Canadian Navy and my mother as a nurse in the Canadian Army. They both believed, in the language of the day, that they were fighting for 鈥楰ing and Country and democracy鈥� and democratic rights. They鈥檇 be horrified to see a woman punished for the non-violent expression of her views. Wasn鈥檛 that the sort of tactics of the dictators they thought they were fighting against?
Mr. Kuzminski claims 鈥渉e鈥檚 heard from several young people in town that they no longer feel safe.鈥� Really? Because a gentle, middle aged violin teacher posts her views on Second World War on the Internet. Have we really become that feminized and wussified as a nation that dissenting opinions make young people feel unsafe. Whatever happened to all the cherishing of 鈥渄iversity?鈥� Shouldn鈥檛 that also mean diversity of opinion?
I wonder whether it鈥檚 relevant that Mr. Kuzminski was an NDP candidate in 2006 and 2008. The NDP is often a bitter opponent of the Greens for votes聽on the left. He has, so to speak, a horse in this race.
Paul Fromm, B.A., B.Ed., M.A.
Director of the Canadian Association for Free Expression
