SUPPORTING MONIKA SCHAEFER’S RIGHT TO BUSK IN JASPER

SUPPORTING MONIKA SCHAEFER’S RIGHT TO BUSK IN JASPER

Dear Mr. Baker, please reverse your decision to deny Monika Schaefer a busking license in your fine city.

And please do not take part with Mr. Kuzminski of the Legion and others in your community who are demonizing her and acting in a truely disgraceful fashion.

My Grandfather fought for the priniciples of free speech/freedom of expression (and similar principles) in WW 1, was maimed for life, and received the Military Cross for bravery during various offensives. I wish I could have known him, but he died before I was born.

My Father fought for the principles of free speech/freedom of expression (and similar principles) in WW 2, was blown out of a tank, and miraculously survived. He is 92 now and living in a Veterans Care home.

But what a shame that he has survived to see you and others in Jasper demonizing a fine woman who is exercising the very freedoms he and his father fought so gallantly for.

Mr. Baker…, I beseech you to consult with your colleagues, and to collectively do the right thing.

Thank-you for your serious consideration of this matter.

Sincerely,

Lawrence Forbes

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WHAT IS YOUR TRUE FAITH? & THE MONIKA SCHAEFER STORY

THE CANADIAN RED ENSIGN

The Canadian Red Ensign

TUESDAY, JULY 26, 2016

What is your true Faith? & The Monika Schaefer Story

Do you call yourself a Christian?

If so, please permit me to ask you the following two questions.

If someone were to deny the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, to say that He did not rise bodily from the grave, would you want that person to be punished by the state with a fine or a prison sentence or to be driven from career and community and turned into a pariah?

The second question is the same as the first except that instead of denying the Resurrection of Jesus Christ the person in question denies that the Holocaust took place, or questions the veracity of certain elements of the Holocaust narrative, such as the death count of six million.

If your answer to the first question is yes then I would suggest you need to think through your faith. If you are a Christian then you yourself believe that Jesus Christ rose from the dead for you cannot be a Christian without believing this. If you believe that Jesus Christ rose from the dead then you believe that this was an actual event. The truth of that event does not depend upon your faith or that of anyone else and therefore cannot be harmed by anyone’s denial. Nor should another’s denial be able to harm your own faith in the Resurrection if you recognize that your faith relies upon the truth of what you believe, rather than the other way around, and are well-familiar with the evidence for that truth. The denier, therefore, can only harm himself by his denial, and so the appropriate response on your part, as a Christian, is to testify to your own faith in the Living Christ and to pray that the eyes of the denier would be opened that he might see the light of the Gospel, be converted, and believe.

If a yes answer to the first question suggests that the believer is insecure in his own faith, a yes answer to the second question, especially when joined with a no answer to the first, indicates a far more serious problem. It indicates that the Holocaust is of greater importance to you than the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, that the Holocaust is now in the space which the Gospel ought to occupy in the heart of the Christian believer.

These are all things that Canadian Christians ought to keep in mind in hearing or reading the recent news story about one Monika Schaefer and contemplating what they ought to think about the whole affair.

Schaefer, the Canadian born daughter of German immigrants who were of the generation that saw the Third Reich, is a violin instructor in Jasper, Alberta who has run, unsuccessfully, as the Green Party candidate in the federal constituency of Yellowhead on several occasions. In June she posted a video on Youtube, in which she played the violin and apologized to her parents for believing their generation to be guilty of perpetrating the Holocaust which she has come to believe to be “the biggest and most pernicious persistent lie in all of history.”

As you have probably guessed, certain people are rather upset about this. The head of B’nai Brith, an organization which, if I had as little class as they have I would describe with a considerably greater degree of accuracy than they have ever seen fit to exercise, as a Christophobic hate group, demanded that the Green Party “must denounce Schaefer and distance itself from all Holocaust denying groups and individuals.” Of course the party did just that, declaring that “The Green Party of Canada condemns in the strongest possible terms comments by Monika Schaefer, a former candidate, regarding her views on the Holocaust” and that at the next meeting of their Federal Council they will hear a motion to revoke her membership. Elizabeth May, the party’s leader, declared her condemnation of Schaefer’s “terribly misguided and untrue statements,” saying that Schaefer “does not represent the values of the Green Party nor of our membership.”

The matter of whom the fringe, leftist, eco-crackpot Green Party kicks out of their movement is of no concern to me in and of itself, although I find B’nai Brith’s bullying political parties into kicking out people they do not approve of for reasons that have nothing to do with the party’s policies and platform quite irritating. Schaefer faces more than just being kicked out of her political party, however. Thanks to Ken Kuzminski, the president of the Jasper legion who, according to the CBC was at one time a friend of Schaefer’s, a charge has been filed against her with both the Alberta and the Canadian Human Rights Commissions. That yet another person may find herself the victim of the injustice of being punished for expressing forbidden thoughts at the hands of these Stalinist inquisitions is something which concerns and ought to outrage all Canadians.

The Canadian and provincial Human Rights Commissions are fundamentally un-Canadian institutions if by Canada we mean the Dominion of Canada that fought against Adolf Hitler and the Third Reich alongside the United Kingdom and the other countries in the great British family of nations between 1939 and 1945. The Dominion of Canada was established in 1867 by the Fathers of Confederation on the Loyalist foundation of preserving in the new country they were building, our rich British heritage including our parliamentary monarchy form of government, our Christian religion, our English Common Law, and the basic freedoms and legal rights that developed in the course of over a thousand years of history that included such highlights as the constitution of Alfred the Great of Wessex and the Magna Carta Libertatum. These Human Rights Commissions and Tribunals, which investigate and pass judgement upon the expressed thoughts of Canadians to determine whether they have committed what in the Newspeak of George Orwell’s 1984 was called “crimethink,” are foreign to that heritage and tradition, being much more at home in totalitarian ideological states like the Soviet Union, Red China, and North Korea.

It was the ideology that drove these states – the ideology of Marxist-Leninism, more commonly known as Communism – to which the Liberal Prime Ministers who governed Canada from 1963 to 1984 subscribed, secretly in the case of Lester Pearson, more openly in the case of Pierre Trudeau who was responsible for the Canadian Human Rights Act which established these Soviet-style tribunals. This ideology was an enemy of National Socialism, the ideology behind the Third Reich, but the enmity was that of bitter rivalry between virtually identical twin siblings. The only significant difference between the two was that National Socialism, being racist and nationalist, rejected the liberal universalism, internationalism, and cosmopolitanism of Communism. Otherwise they were revolutionary ideologies that attracted young thugs, hated the old, traditional, order, and established virtually identical party-ruled, police states that governed by fear and required everyone to at least give lip service to the tenets of their ideology.

The British family of nations, including the Dominion of Canada, was forced to make a temporary alliance with the Soviet Union in the war against the Third Reich, but the wisest of our leaders, such as Sir Winston Churchill, recognized that the ideology of the USSR was just as bad and dangerous as that of Nazi Germany and it would serve us well in this day to remember that the two ideologies were twins. Those who think that ideas like those of Monika Schaefer ought to be punished by law maintain that they hold this position to prevent a resurgence of National Socialism. The Nizkor website, on its home page, asks the question “Given the evidence…why do people deny the Holocaust?” which it answers with a quotation from some American neo-Nazi group “The real purpose of holocaust revisionism is to make National Socialism an acceptable political alternative again.”

This, however, is clearly nonsense. The first holocaust revisionist was Paul Rassinier, a French Communist and pacifist, who joined the anti-Nazi resistance and was himself imprisoned in Buchenwald and Dora. The American history professor, Harry Elmer Barnes, who had Rassinier’s books published in English, was an American classical liberal. Calvinist theologian Rousas J. Rushdooney, after reading Rassinier and Barnes, pointed to the claims of the standard Holocaust account which they disputed as an example of bearing false witness against one’s neighbour in his commentary on the Ten Commandments in his Institutes of Biblical Law. David Cole, who became a Holocaust revisionist in his youth, going to the site of Auschwitz to investigate after the fall of Communism in Poland, is a fairly mainstream American conservative and certainly no Nazi-sympathizer. None of these men had or have an interest in making National Socialism “an acceptable political alternative again.” Most holocaust revisionists, according to journalist John Sack, in an Esquire article from 2001 in which he described his encounters with David Irving, Ernst Zundel, and other revisionists at a meeting of the Institute for Historical Review, were simply ordinary people of German descent who did not want to think ill of their ancestors.

It would be more truthful to say that it is the influence of Communism, National Socialism’s rival sibling, that lies behind the suppression of Holocaust revisionism. Due to the similarity between the ideologies, it is therefore also true to say that those who want to see people like Monika Schaefer silenced, dragged before Human Rights tribunals, and punished for their views, are closer to the spirit of Adolf Hitler than those they seek to persecute. It has been pointed out that the adherents of these totalitarian ideologies often had no problem switching from the one to the other and it is interesting to note that when the Dominion of Canada was fighting Hitler at the side of Great Britain, Pierre Elliot Trudeau, the author of the Canadian Human Rights Act who throughout his political career praised Communist tyrants like Mao and Castro, was riding around on his motorcycle, denouncing the war effort, with a German helmut on his head and a big swastika on his back.

Fellow Canadians, if any of the spirit of the old Dominion still lives on in you, I urge you not to remain silent while another Canadian is persecuted for expressing an unpopular point of view. It is those who wish to silence and punish Monika Schaefer, not Schaefer herself, who represent all of the things our country went to war to fight in 1939.

As for the Holocaust – make up your own minds about it. Read both sides – conventional history books, such as Raul Hilberg’s The Destruction of The European Jews – and those by the revisionists. David Cole, for example, has an interesting summary of his present views on the matter in the last chapter of his memoir Republican Party Animal. If you find the conventional history more convincing, believe it. If you find the revisionists have better arguments, believe them. If you cannot make up your mind, don’t be afraid to admit it and say that you just don’t know. Any of these options is fine. Just don’t let bullies like B’nai Brith tell you what to think.

Finally, Canadian Christians, when you see Holocaust revisionists being persecuted for their views, recognize this for the injustice that it is. This, and not the unevenness of the distribution of wealth, is what real injustice looks like. Do not be fooled by the wolves in sheep’s clothing, who preach social justice, while licking the jackboots of the ideology responsible for these injustices, an ideology that has been dedicated to the destruction of our faith since the moment its founder penned his foul Manifesto in 1848. If you do not want people thrown in jail or otherwise persecuted for denying the Resurrection – and you should not want that – then you ought to be opposed to their being persecuted for denying the Holocaust. Otherwise, you testify that the Holocaust is more important to you than the Resurrection, raising the question of where your faith truly lies.

Alberta Al’s letter to the Jasper Fitzhugh on the smearing of Monika Schaefer and her right to freedom of speech July 22, 2016 by admin 3 Comments ALBERTAALNEWHDR copy From: “Al Romanchuk” romanesq@shaw.ca Subject: The smearing of Monika Schaefer and her right to freedom of speech Date: July 22, 2016 To: editor@fitzhugh.ca Mr. Clarke, Not only was I disappointed in your article allowing the printing of the condemnation of Miss Schaefer by Ken Kuzminski and the two Jewsish organizations, I became downright angry. I am an 80 year old now retired in Kelowna but was once the alderman and Mayor of Grande Prairie where I lived and worked as a lawyer for 15 glorious years. Allowing Mr. Kuzminski to smear and degrade Miss Schaefer, along with the Jewish organizations THE CENTRE FOR ISRAEL & JEWISH AFFAIRS and the EDMONTON JEWISH FEDERATION, for no apparent good reason other than in your OPINION she went too far in her video questioning the so-called Jewish holocaust. I have been an avid free speech advocate all my life. I believe that freedom of speech INCLUDES the right to offend. If people don’t like what I say or write they don’t have to hear me nor read my articles. But here you have allowed self-seeking groups and an individual to perpetuate a lie about Miss Schaefer when all she REALLY did was IN HER OPINION deny the holocaust. And there are many deniers out there. As a lawyer I have been taught to question, question, question and question because you’ll never get an answer without questioning. So I took the liberty of writing to these two Jewish organizations, one of which labelled Miss Schaefer an “ignoramus” and “anti-semite”, and asked them a simple question: SINCE YOU HAVE ASSERTED THE POSITIVE THAT THE GERMANS WERE RESPONSIBLE FOR THE KILLING OF EXACTLY 6 MILLION JEWS DURING WW2, PLEASE PROVIDE ME WITH WRITTEN AND SUBSTANTIATED EVIDENCE OF YOUR ASSERTION BECAUSE IT IS YOU THAT HAS THE BURDEN OF PROOF. I have yet to receive answers. KuzminskiNDP As for Mr. Kuzminski he ought to be ashamed of himself as President of the Jasper Legion to inflame the public against Miss Schaefer for expressing her opinion. Quite frankly I don’t think that Mr. Kuzminski knows the first thing about the history of the so-called Jewish holocaust of WW2. His bigoted opinion against Miss Schaefer deserves the worst condemnation because as the grand pooh-bear of a prestigious organization he should know better. If he doesn’t believe in free, unfettered speech then he should have the guts, the mettle, to say so. The same goes for every Jewish organization in Canada. I support Miss Schaefer and HER DEMOCRATIC RIGHT to say what she wants in a non-aggressive manner and her video is no exception. Blocking freedom of speech and of the press is nothing short of silencing those of us who believe in the unrestricted right to our freedoms. ALEXANDER S. ROMANCHUK Kelowna, BC Email: romanesq@shaw. ca

Alberta Al’s letter to the Jasper Fitzhugh on the smearing of Monika Schaefer and her right to freedom of speech

July 22, 2016 by 3 Comments

ALBERTAALNEWHDR copy

From: “Al Romanchuk” romanesq@shaw.ca
Subject: The smearing of Monika Schaefer and her right to freedom of speech
Date: July 22, 2016

 

Mr. Clarke,

Not only was I disappointed in your article allowing the printing of the condemnation of Miss Schaefer by Ken Kuzminski and the two Jewsish organizations, I became downright angry.  I am an 80 year old now retired in Kelowna but was once the alderman and Mayor of Grande Prairie where I lived and worked as a lawyer for 15 glorious years.  Allowing Mr. Kuzminski to smear  and degrade Miss Schaefer, along with the Jewish organizations THE CENTRE FOR ISRAEL & JEWISH AFFAIRS and the EDMONTON JEWISH FEDERATION, for no apparent good reason other than in your OPINION she went too far in her video questioning the so-called Jewish holocaust.

I have been an avid free speech advocate all my life.  I believe that freedom of speech INCLUDES the right to offend.  If people don’t like what I say or write they don’t have to hear me nor read my articles.  But here you have allowed self-seeking groups and an individual to perpetuate a lie about Miss Schaefer when all she REALLY did was IN HER OPINION deny the holocaust.  And there are many deniers out there.

As a lawyer I have been taught to question, question, question and question because you’ll never get an answer without questioning.  So I took the liberty of writing to these two Jewish organizations, one of which labelled Miss Schaefer an “ignoramus” and “anti-semite”, and asked them a simple question:  SINCE YOU HAVE ASSERTED THE POSITIVE THAT THE GERMANS WERE RESPONSIBLE FOR THE KILLING OF EXACTLY 6 MILLION JEWS DURING WW2, PLEASE PROVIDE ME WITH WRITTEN AND SUBSTANTIATED EVIDENCE OF YOUR ASSERTION BECAUSE IT IS YOU THAT HAS THE BURDEN OF PROOF.  I have yet to receive answers.

KuzminskiNDP

As for Mr. Kuzminski he ought to be ashamed of himself as President of the Jasper Legion to inflame the public against Miss Schaefer for expressing her opinion.  Quite frankly I don’t think that Mr. Kuzminski knows the first thing about the history of the so-called Jewish holocaust of WW2.  His bigoted opinion against Miss Schaefer deserves the worst condemnation because as the grand pooh-bear of a prestigious organization he should know better.  If he doesn’t believe in free, unfettered speech then he should have the guts, the mettle, to say so.  The same goes for every Jewish organization in Canada.

I support Miss Schaefer and HER DEMOCRATIC RIGHT to say what she wants in a non-aggressive manner and her video is no exception.  Blocking freedom of speech and of the press is nothing short of silencing those of us who believe in the unrestricted right to our freedoms.

ALEXANDER S. ROMANCHUK
Kelowna, BC
Email: romanesq@shaw. ca

LETTER TO EDITOR OF THE FITZHUGH, SUPPORTING MONIKA SCHAEFER

LETTER TO EDITOR OF THE FITZHUGH, SUPPORTING MONIKA SCHAEFER

Canadian Association for Free Expression

Box 332,

Rexdale, Ontario, M9W 5L3

Ph: 905-566-4455; FAX: 905-566-4820;

Website http://cafe.nfshost.com

Paul Fromm, B.Ed, M.A. Director

Paul Clarke, Editor of The Fitzhugh

Jasper Alberta

July 20, 2016

editor@fitzhugh.ca

RE: MONIKA SCHAEFER — FOR PUBLICATION

Dear Sirs:

I was disappointed to read the article “Video Denying Holocaust Causes Uproar”  about Monika Schaefer in trhe current issue of The Fitzhugh.

I was especially saddened to see that the Ken Kuzminski, head of the local Legion, is leading a campaign against Miss Schaefer for her having posted a very personal You Tube explaining why she doubts some of the details in the much publicized stories of the holocaust. He’s banned her from the local branch? Is that legal? Banned her for her views? What other views are banned, I wonder?MonikaSchaeferTruth Revealer

Furthermore, he’s 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’ve defended victims hauled before human rights tribunals for their opinions. These are kangaroo courts where truth is no defence. Google Ezra Levant’s famous confrontation, available on You Tube, with the thought police of the Alberta Human Rights Commission. It’s a shocker.

Frankly, Mr. Kuzminski is a disgrace to a generation who fought for freedoms. My parents both fought for Canada in WW II — my 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 ‘King and Country and democracy’ and democratic rights. They’d be horrified to see a woman punished for the non-violent expression of her views. Wasn’t that the sort of tactics of the dictators they thought they were fighting against?

Mr. Kuzminski claims “he’s heard from several young people in town that they no longer feel safe.” Really? Because a gentle, middle aged  violin teacher posts her views on WW II 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 “diversity”? Shouldn’t that also mean diversity of opinion?

I wonder whether it’s relevant that Mr. Kuzminski was an  NDP candidate in 2006 and 2008. The NDP is often a bitter opponent of the Greens for votes on the left. He has, so to speak, a horse in this race.

Paul Fromm, B.A., B.Ed., M.A.

Director

CANADIAN ASSOCIATION FOR FREE EXPRESSION