Tag Archives: Mark Hecht

Canadian Forces reject recruitee over a 2019 op-ed he wrote about diversity; Political Commisars Insist On Political Correctness for New Recruits

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Canadian Forces reject recruitee over a 2019 op-ed he wrote about diversity

By Lindsay Shepherd -December 5, 2020 Share Facebook Twitter Linkedin ReddIt Email

Last year, an op-ed appeared in the Vancouver Sun titled “Ethnic diversity harms a country’s social trust, economic well-being, argues professor.” 

The author of the piece, Mount Royal University geography instructor Mark Hecht, reviewed current research on the issue of ethnic diversity and social trust, and posited that immigration policy should be informed by norms of cultural compatibility and cohesion.

You probably never got the chance to read the original article – it was only live for a matter of hours, after all.

Activists and journalists immediately took to social media to accuse Hecht, the Vancouver Sun, and Postmedia (the Sun’s parent company) of bigotry, hate and white supremacy. The editor-in-chief of the Vancouver Sun apologized for running Hecht’s article, and the article was quickly pulled from their website.

Most of the criticism directed toward the op-ed was filled with name-calling and hyperbolic accusations, while few critics refuted Hecht’s claims, which he himself admitted were controversial.

Mount Royal University publicly defended Hecht’s freedom of expression, but quietly cancelled the “Sustainable Europe” field school he was set to teach the following semester. 

Hecht then moved to Victoria, BC, and in February 2020 he applied to join the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) Naval Reserves. 

“I liked the idea of serving my country, and the camaraderie of the armed forces,” Hecht told True North. “I’ve also always been attracted to water and ships, which is why I applied to the Navy.” 

Over the next few months, Hecht completed “four-fifths” of the recruitment process: he met with a recruiter, passed his aptitude and physical fitness tests and completed his medical examination. The last task on Hecht’s checklist was a written exam specific to the Public Affairs Officer position, which he was encouraged to pursue by a Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) recruiter. 

But in late October, Hecht received a letter in the mail that told him, “at this time, your application to the Naval Reserves will be ceased. In light of an article that you published in 2019, it was deemed that the views you expressed do not reflect the Canadian Armed Forces policy on Discrimination, Harassment, and Professional Conduct.”

The letter went on to say that the CAF forbids verbal and written statements that “promote discrimination or harassment on the basis of a prohibited ground of discrimination, as defined in the Canadian Human Rights Act (CHRA).”

The letter Mark Hecht received from Commander Cameron Miller dated October 20, 2020.

“Nothing I said in the op-ed goes against the Canadian Human Rights Act,” Hecht counters. He points out that much of the article was a rehashing of existing social science research and data.

Hecht was “quite looking forward” to working with the Naval Reserves: “I was getting excited about it…I had invested a lot of time and energy, such as making sure I was fit as a 50-year old, because you’re going up against 18-year olds.”

“I was let down.”

True North reached out to the CAF and asked which line(s) from Hecht’s op-ed promote discrimination and harassment.

“The CAF is committed to increasing diversity and being an inclusive organization where diverse perspectives are welcomed and valued,” Captain Mathieu Dufour replied in a statement. “Mr. Hecht’s op-ed presents and supports an argument for a society with less ‘diversity, tolerance and inclusivity.’ By doing so, Mr. Hecht demonstrates opposition to the values and policies of the CAF.”

“The policies and direction that govern the conduct expectation of CAF members are incongruent with Mr. Hecht’s publically [sic] shared personal belief that diversity weakens Canada.”

Again, no one is refuting the facts and research findings that Hecht presents in his article: he discussed studies on Muslim integration in Denmark; a paper on diversity and economic growth written by a Harvard economist; and sociological research about self-segregation, ethnic enclaves and social trust.

Apparently, discussing this research in the public realm and challenging the de facto state religion of diversity and inclusion renders you unemployable in Canada.

Hecht is now seeking legal representation to take the CAF to court.

“There seems to be a real issue with freedom of opinion,” says Hecht. 

“A lot of people are afraid to speak their minds these days. It’s a threat to our democracy.”

RCMP called in after pushing and shoving breaks out at controversial UBC event

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RCMP called in after pushing and shoving breaks out at controversial UBC event

UBC says RCMP were called in due to concern for the safety and security 

Estefania Duran · CBC News · 

Campus security called police when things started to escalate after protesters started banging hard on windows, threatening to break them, an event organizer said. (Darryl Dyck/The Canadian Press)
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RCMP were called in as tensions rose outside a controversial event at the University of British Columbia Wednesday night.

The event organized by student-led group Students for Freedom of Expression invited two controversial speakers to attend. One of them was Mark Hecht, who wrote a highly-criticized anti-immigrant op-ed for the Vancouver Sun last month.

The other speaker was Ricardo Duchesne, who has been critical of multiculturalism and Canada’s immigration policies.

But the event was met by dozens of protesters, upset over the university’s decision to give a platform to what they say is far-right hate speech.

“We did get a call from campus security that some of the people demonstrating and protesting were banging on the windows,” said Const. Kevin Ray with UBC RCMP. “There was some pushing and shoving.”

He says campus security called police when things began to escalate.

Justice Centre@JCCFCanada

Tweeting from the UBC Students for Freedom of Expression’s event entitled Academic Freedom to Discuss Immigration featuring Drs. Duchesne and Hecht.

Protesters outside are pushing, blocking, & shoving attendees. Only way to enter is to be shoved in with help from security.

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“When everyone went inside, security thought it was possible that they would smash the windows with their banging,” said Nicholas Kosovic, founder of the group who organized the event. “Some of the attendees were frightened.”

According to the group, about 80 people attended the event.

‘Lawful expression of ideas’

In an email to CBC News, vice-president of academic Andrew Szeri confirmed RCMP had to get involved due to safety and security concerns.

In a statement released last month, the university defended its decision to go ahead with the event.

“Discussion and debate cannot occur without the free and lawful expression of ideas, even those we may fundamentally disagree with, find distasteful or even repugnant,” read the statement.

RCMP say no one was hurt and no arrests were made. Approximately 10 officers responded to the call and had to stay in place until the event was over, Ray added.

CBC News has reached out to Students Against Bigotry, the group that organized the protest outside the event.

“Students Against Bigotry” Threaten “Bold Response” to Lecture by Nationalist Author Prof. Ricardo Duchesne

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“Students Against Bigotry” Threaten “Bold Response” to Lecture by Nationalist Author Prof. Ricardo Duchesne 

 

The anti-free speech communists’ and Cultural Marxists’ only response to intelligent discussion of immigration is a chorus of “fascist” and “neo-Nazi” and efforts to shut the offending writer of speaker’s meeting down.

 

 

 

 

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The so-called “Students for Freedom of Expression” (not to be confused with the equally repugnant “Free Speech Club”) are at it again.

After hosting radical atheist and friend of the far right Armin Navabi last week, the Students for Freedom of Expression (SFE) have announced they plan to bring Ricardo Duchesne and Mark Hecht to UBC on Wednesday, October 9.

Duchesne, who joined the SFE at UBC last November, is the neo-Nazi University of New Brunswick professor forced to retire in June after more than 100 of his colleagues signed an open letter condemning his extremism. He regularly talks about the racial superiority of Europeans and his 2017 book, published by a fascist publishing house, is called “Canada in Decay: Mass Immigration, Diversity, and the Ethnocide of Euro-Canadians.”

Meanwhile, Hecht is the author of that white nationalist opinion piece in the Vancouver Sun arguing that “Canada should say goodbye to diversity, tolerance, and inclusion.” He’s a sessional instructor of geography at Calgary’s Mount Royal University, and his self-published 2016 book is titled “Why Europeans Naturally Invaded the New World.”

If this event goes ahead as planned, Students Against Bigotry will have to prepare a bold response. Will you join us in standing up to white nationalism and xenophobia at UBC?

Ricardo Duchesne taught sociology at UNB while moonlighting on white nationalist podcasts and spouting racist conspiracy theories

This exposé of the neo-Nazi professor in the US-based Huffington Post is what prompted his colleagues to start an open letter condemning him. “It’s a case that shows how, when white supremacists are left to fester, they can co-opt legitimate institutions and public discourse.”

 

 

Mark Hecht saw that the Vancouver Sun and Postmedia were sympathetic to white nationalist views, and he took advantage

Following the publication of his vile anti-immigrant op-ed and the backlash that ensued, there was no shortage of articles criticizing Postmedia, discussing how it happened, and linking it to the much bigger problem of the media’s shift to the (far) right.

The Hellenic Community of Vancouver hasn’t learned from its mistakes

In March, it was Stefan Molyneux and Lauren Southern. This time, it’s Maxime Bernier and the far-right People’s Party of Canada. A demonstration is being planned for Wednesday.

Have you told your friends and classmates about our Amazon petition?

We’re now at over 100 signatures, but that won’t be enough to draw the admin’s attention to this vital issue. Please share it widely and help us get our next 100 signatures! #NeverAgainIsNow

SAB supports the climate strike!

Climate catastrophe isn’t just an environmental issue — it’s also a social, political, and economic one. In short, it’s an everything issue. And to change everything, we need everyone. With this in mind, we hope to see you on Friday!