05.25.2018 10:24 AM

Ontario NDP candidate quotes Hitler approvingly

The Ontario NDP candidate in Scarborough-Agincourt called Adolf Hitler “the Ruler.”

There’s no apology, no retraction, that can cover something this disgusting.  Fire her now.

 

31 Comments

  1. Ronald O'Dowd says:

    Warren,

    As you’ve suggested, this should be a Horwath litmus test. She can’t afford to delay or dither on this one. And if as rumour has it, it will eventually affect more than one candidate, she has to denounce in the strongest possible terms and can all of them.

  2. GM says:

    Sounds like she reposted the quote without realizing who said it. While Hitler dominates the recollection of the 20th century for Europeans and North Americans, the fact is that many Asians are barely aware of who he was since World War II, at least the European Theatre, was not a significant event in their collective memory. I don’t think this is evidence that the candidate supports Hitler but just of her ignorance of European history.

    • Warren says:

      I don’t give a fuck, anonymous new commenter. Fire. Her. Now.

      • CanadianKate says:

        The Global News article I read spoke of her work in her community. I’d prefer to judge her on her actions and not on a single quote from 5 years ago that she doesn’t recall making. I prefer to trust the NDP members in her riding as knowing her to be a good person and not tar them all as unwittingly supporting a Nazi.

        Lately I’ve been fed up with people wanting change but expecting everyone else to bring it about.

        Riaz seems to be living the words in the quote not the political agenda of the person who said the words. She seems to be trying to be a change for the better by working within the system. The NDP members in her riding believe she will be a way to effect change for the better.

        Warren, you are proud that people from all political parties come to your website and share viewpoints in a respectful way and it gives all of us a way to see how people of other political leanings think.

        That respect is missing from your comment. I’m disappointed.

        ..Kate (who is not an anonymous new commenter but an anonymous, long-time reader, and occasional commenter)

        • scott l dobson says:

          Will be too nuanced for some.

        • Paul says:

          How could she not know that was Hitler? I find that rather incredulous.
          And for Andrea to say, “ya but Doug cheated in a nomination” shows that Andrea just does not get the gravitas of this situation.
          I can appreciate all the good things this person may have done. But, no one posts a meme like this without intent.

          • doconnor says:

            Actually she would say ya but a PC candidate said many racist things on social media rather then one anomalous post from someone who opposes violence to a fault.

        • Peter says:

          Lately I’ve been fed up with people wanting change but expecting everyone else to bring it about.

          Interesting. As a longtime con, I’m fed up with people wanting change for the sake of change without bothering to say what or how. Maybe we can find some common ground here. Then again…

          You will see from my comment below that I agree she shouldn’t be dropped for this alone. There are several reasons. The fact that she has been active in her community is not one.

      • Gyor says:

        Fire someone for posting the wrong meme by accident. Heck no, its doing that that would show Horwath is unfit for office. If it was on purpose and honestly reflected the views of that person yes, but if ypu look into the background of this person and what she does she is in no way or shape is a neonazi. So no firing her isn’t justifible.

  3. J.D. says:

    Freeze peach!

  4. Lou says:

    Expressing support for this candidate tells us more about the anti-jew sentimant that is growing among the far left. This is dangerous.

  5. Christian says:

    Not good. Whatever the reason, it doesn’t matter. Whether she posted it or someone hacked her FB page and did it – it doesn’t matter. It is her FB page, her name, her responsibility. The dignified and right thing for her to do would be to resign.

    As for the Tories making noise about this: please. Until Andrew Lawton gets the axe, they have nothing to say.

  6. Peter says:

    How about some confirmation evidence before we cast her out to the wilderness? I’m no Dipper fan, but I’m having trouble with this one, specifically with the idea that party war rooms are staying up all night to comb through years of Twitter, Facebook and blog posts in order to play “Godwin Gotcha”. In these days of mass social media addiction, they’ll likely find smoking guns for everyone. I really have a hard time believing she’s a closet Nazi admirer. If people in her riding think she’s stained they can vote for somebody else. My only reservation is that is that Horvath & co. would be screaming for hard time if it were a member of any other party because, of course, they don’t sing with the angels like the Dippers.

    • Gyor says:

      I agree its a sick twisted thing and far more vile than anything any of these people have said or done on twitter. I want debates on policies of substance on issues like Pharmacare, Dentalcare, Childcare, Taxes, Proverty issues, the Enviroment, no cheap twitter based gotcha politics.

  7. Miles Lunn says:

    Agreed, whatever she may be like in person, anyone who in any way shape or form praises a monster like Hitler deserves to be fired. Over a million Canadians put their lives on the line against Nazi Germany and 50 million people died in the war including 11 million in the Holocaust (It was 6 million Jews, but death camps also killed Gypsies, homosexuals, mentally disabled and others Hitler saw as undesirable).

  8. CanadianKate says:

    Meme is, “The ruler said about the rule

    If you don’t like a rule…
    Just follow it…
    Reach on the Top…
    and Change the Rule”

    On reddit a large number of posters see the irony in this. It is ironic to me, especially when you pair it with Ghandi’s “Be the change you wish to see in the world.”

    Ghandi is assuming one wants to change the world for the better. But change can go the other way. Hitler showed that.

    Through it all, I don’t have evidence to show that Riaz was praising hitler. I’ve liked things on FB by accident before so if this doesn’t fit her overall online presence, I’d give her the benefit of the doubt. I’m not in her riding so how this plays out means nothing to me except as side-show entertainment.

    I’d like to know what her comment was when she posted the picture but that’s not included in any coverage. B’nai Brith has yet to verify the authenticity of the photo.

    I’m suspicious of the whole thing and personally I think Horwath waiting for explanations and facts rather than acting immediately shows leadership quality.

    Our southern neighbour shows what good comes from reacting instantly to every thing he sees on TV.

    This is the first indication I’ve had that Horwath shares some of my values, because I haven’t been paying attention to her and her values until these past two days when I struggle to think how to cast my vote.

    Here’s the national posts take on the scandal.

    http://nationalpost.com/news/politics/from-hitler-memes-to-9-11-truthers-ontario-ndp-candidate-controversies-whip-up-as-party-enters-spotlight

    • Fred from BC says:

      My thoughts as well. When my first impression is “this doesn’t make sense”, there is usually a reasonable explanation to be found somewhere…

  9. Sean says:

    She should just say she was mentally ill when she posted it. According to Andrew Lawton, that’s a catch-all for any bad behavior, and Doug seems to agree.

  10. angelica says:

    I am Jewish and in my 70s. My entire family was slaughtered in Germany – all horribly. But that does not mean that I automatically and reflexively hate someone because of what they may or may not have said. Or understood. Hatred and blind condemnation of other human is why monsters like Trump or Hitler or Stalin or Duerte succeed.

  11. p bre says:

    …strike one your out ….

  12. Des says:

    I read one piece on this story today (I forget the news outlet) and the candidate mentioned that she doesn’t remember the post and believes she didn’t think she would post such a thing… ever. Seems to me she’s pulling an MSNBC Joy Reid who wrote anti-homosexual sentiment on her blog a few years ago. Reid claimed her blog, which is not accessible because it was basically deleted, was “hacked”. However, everything on the Internet is archived including the blogging website she used. I listened to her statement and it was was one of the most insincere piles of horseshit saying “it wasn’t me” and “I’m a progressive, work for MSNBC, am anti-Trump, therefore would never say such a thing”. I’ve ever heard and even her supporters and viewers couldn’t swallow it. The ratings for her show have been down 25% since and haven’t returned. It’s better to take responsibility, take the L, and move on. If the NDP candidate would apologize and say that it was a stupid thing to do I would have had more respect for that. I think the general public also feels the same way. Based on her response, this candidate needs to go by tomorrow at the latest.

  13. rww says:

    This would have a lot more impact if the candidate was not clearly the opposite of what this makes her appear to be.

    http://www.cjnews.com/news/canada/multifaith-community-leads-anti-poverty-walk

  14. T Jackson says:

    All easily explained:

    11 September 1972, Idi Amin Dada, armed with a battered copy of the Protocols of the Elders of Zion, sent telegrams to Kurt Waldheim, Yasser Arafat and Golda Meir: “Hitler and all German people knew that the Israelis are not people who are working in the interest of the people of the world and that is why they burnt over six million Jews alive on the soil of Germany. The world should remember that the Palestinians, with the assistance of Germany made the operation possible in the Olympic village.” The “operation” was the Munich Massacre – 11 Israelis and 1 police officer killed.

    Back in 2016, Hillary Clinton held a fundraiser at the State Room – the “urban chic event venue in Boston”. Tickets ranged $2,700 for “Champions” down to $45 for “Young Professionals”. The event: “Evening with Hillary and Forest Whitaker, Academy Award Winning Actor and Social Activist.” Of Idi Amin Dada, whose portrayal garnered an Oscar for Whitaker: “…one of the few leaders of Africa that had spoken up and rose up against the British, the Israelis, against the Western powers, and said, “Get out!”. As a result, he ran the African union for quite a while. He was a spokesman for them. He went to the UN and spoke in Swahili, in his native dialect. They had to translate it, which is unusual for African leaders. It was a statement. I think that they also recognize that as tragic as it was when he kicked the Asians out of Uganda, they did control 80-90 percent of the economy, and once they were kicked out, they scramble around and the people were trying to figure how to work and survive and taking over these jobs and ultimately today, they have Uganda businessmen. They didn’t have Uganda businessmen then. There’s a lot of things that he did, implementing the constitution, there’s things he did; he started a radio station, he started to audition some plays there; he kicked out the British ex-patriots and all of a sudden, Uganda theatre began.”

    Said one British officer: “Idi Amin is a splendid type and a good (rugby) player, but virtually bone from the neck up, and needs things explained in words of one letter.” The point is Tasleem Riaz, Andrea Horwath and all the rest just aren’t that bright. “Only a complete moral idiot can believe for an instant that we are fighting against the wretched of the earth. We are fighting against the scum of the earth.” – Christopher Hitchens. So, we will follow the express opinions of our superiors as the Nazis. Jew and Brits to the oven go!

    • Chris says:

      In politics, if you’re explaining, you’re losing.

      Five dozen people read your explanation and even less will read my reply. One million people watched Lisa LaFlamme give twenty seconds of CTV’s national coverage this story. This candidate is toast.

      Sorry, Warren. Probably more than five dozen.

  15. Adam says:

    Right, because a Liberal calling for a candidate from their party’s biggest threat to be turfed immediately isn’t at least somewhat self-serving? Not to mention that the PCs love to take errant words out-of-context to play dog-whistle politics.

    Investigating properly before tossing is the right call, not the least because the ONDP needs to understand how this slipped by their already excessively-careful vetting committee.

  16. Ikea Baby says:

    Sweden. 3 men from Palestine and Syria were charged for fire bombing “the Jewish Assembly [synagogue] in Gothenburg as well as a neighboring property. The cars belonged to members of the Jewish Assembly”, December 2017. According to the prosecution, the crime should be considered gross “because the fire was built in a densely populated society where it could easily spread or otherwise endangered several people or property of particular significance.”

    https://www.svt.se/nyheter/lokalt/vast/tre-atalas-for-brandbomb-mot-synagoga

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