TODAY IS DAY 80. It's Time for An Online Action

Today, Thursday October 24, 2024, marks 80 days since August 5 when we first called upon local Huron County leaders to denounce neo-Nazi ideology through our original email petition.

Who could have ever imagined that getting our leaders to say “Nazis had a lot of really horrible ideas” would prove to be harder than pulling teeth?

I keep saying that for any Canadian politician there couldn’t possibly be any lower hanging fruit than denouncing Nazi and neo-Nazi ideology when called upon to do so.

And yet, here we are, 80 days later and not a single elected official or governing body in Huron County has brought themselves to come out publicly and say: “I (or We) denounce neo-Nazi ideology.”

This week, Goderich Town Council came so close!! They accepted my draft motion. They rewrote it in their own words (which I get), but they left out the most important part!

Today, I invite you all to show our leaders just how incredibly easy it is to say: “I denounce neo-Nazi ideology.”

I invite everyone to join in and post to your social media accounts, add an email signature, update your Facebook status, send a Tweet/X, post on Instagram, or upload a TikTok that proudly states: 

“My name is ____ and I denounce neo-Nazi ideology.”

Let’s make sure our elected officials hear our voices!

I already mentioned that Goderich Town Council came close. They have been sincere good-faith allies in this movement. They have my respect, trust, and admiration. I look forward to continuing this important dialogue with Goderich Town Council.

But there are three very key elected leaders who have said absolutely nothing on the topic in 80 days, despite numerous calls for them to do so. They have decided that hate activity in our community is unworthy of their attention or public comment. They have stayed silent during a time when the safety and well-being of our friends, neighbours, and loved ones are under threat. We have asked for their leadership, and they have provided none.

These three elected officials offered zero comfort or support to our community when neo-Nazis visited Goderich from the United States, Quebec, and across Ontario to check the place out and to plaster our shoreline with their recruiting stickers. This brand of callous, cynical, and uncaring leadership will have a defining influence on their personal political legacies and their respective parties.

Shame. On. Them.

Conservative MP Ben Lobb
Email: Ben.lobb@parl.gc.ca
Instagram: benlobbmp
Facebook: BenLobbMP
X(Twitter): @BenLobbMP
Tel: 519-524-6560
Toll free: 877-524-6560

Conservative MPP Lisa Thompson
Email: lisa.thompsonco@pc.ola.org
Facebook: lisathompsonpc
X(Twitter): @LisaThompsonPC
Phone: 519-396-3007

Huron County Warden Glen McNeil
Email: gmcneil@huroncounty.ca
 

I encourage everyone to publicly denounce Nazi and neo-Nazi ideology in their own way. Email, social media, phone calls, faxes, letters, in-person visits, carrier pigeons, you name it!

If you want a more robust statement here’s one that I’d love for you to use. It preserves the wording from the draft motion that I submitted to Goderich Town Council:

“I _______, am a (resident/friend) of (Goderich and/or Huron County). 

I strive for a world in which all people are free to pursue joyous lives without fear of harassment, cruelty, or violence. 

I celebrate and cherish diversity, inclusion, compassion, and courage. 

I unequivocally denounce Nazi and neo-Nazi ideologies in all their original and modern forms.”

Sometimes our leaders need to be led.

Let’s show them just how simple and straightforward peaceful, caring resistance against hatred truly is.

Please join our e-mailing list and/or let us know about your action by reaching out to nohateinhuron [at] proton.me.

(Just change the [at] to "@" We write it this way to help prevent online bots from spamming us). 

In your online actions we invite you to use the hashtag #nohateinhuron. 

I’m hoping we can make some beautiful real world art out of this online action and continue this online action until the Community Cabaret on Saturday, November 23, 2024 at the Goderich Legion.

To quote Fred Rogers:

“We live in a world in which we need to share responsibility. It's easy to say ‘It's not my child, not my community, not my world, not my problem.’

Then there are those who see the need and respond. I consider those people my heroes.”

We must never let the seeds of hatred take root in our community. Let’s all make Mr. Rogers proud!

Yours in solidarity,

Patrick Corvyn

P.S. Please share this with friends!!

Please feel free to share our beautiful brand-new logo to help spread the word!!

I, Patrick Corvyn, am a resident of Goderich and Huron County. 

I strive for a world in which all people are free to pursue joyous lives without fear of harassment, cruelty, or violence. 

I celebrate and cherish diversity, inclusion, compassion, and courage. 

I unequivocally denounce Nazi and neo-Nazi ideologies in all their original and modern forms.