DAY 175: International Holocaust Remembrance Day. Failure of local leadership. End of petition.
Today, January 27, 2025, marks the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz.
I am ending this petition in recognition of the abject failure of local leadership to act with moral integrity and to address neo-Nazi hate activity in our community after nearly six months of continuous advocacy.
My open letter to Huron County's elected leaders follows below:
To MP Ben Lobb, MPP Lisa Thompson, and Warden Jamie Heffer:
Today, January 27, 2025—International Holocaust Remembrance Day—the world pauses to remember the millions of lives stolen by the Nazi regime and to reflect on the consequences of unchecked hatred, discrimination, and violence. This day serves as a solemn reminder of what happens when leaders and societies remain silent in the face of organized hate.
As you all know, last August Huron County became a gathering ground for modern-day adherents of Adolf Hitler’s ideology. Compounding this alarming presence, local landowner Gord Leamen installed homemade signs at the entrance to Goderich, Ontario, openly promoting an international hate network rooted in Nazi beliefs. For nearly six months, these symbols of hatred have cast a shadow over our community.
All of you, along with the former Warden of Huron County, Glen McNeil, are abundantly aware of these facts. For the past 175 days, No Hate in Huron has repeatedly called on you to denounce Nazi, neo-Nazi, and white supremacist ideologies, including the White Lives Matter movement. Through our petitions, numerous correspondences, and media outreach, we have asked for nothing more than a clear and unequivocal condemnation of these forms of hate.
In the words of the great James Baldwin: “not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced.”
In response to our pleas, you have consistently chosen deflection, evasion, and silence. Hate is not a partisan issue. Your inaction is not neutrality.
You have turned your backs on the very communities you were elected to serve. You failed to speak out and you failed to act when Huron County became a platform for extreme ableism, antisemitism, bigotry, homophobia, misogyny, racism, transphobia, and xenophobia.
What happens in Huron County matters everywhere. We are all interconnected. Our rural and isolated geography must never be weaponized into a shadowy lair for hate to multiply.
You have betrayed those of us who strive for a world in which all people are free to pursue joyous lives without fear of harassment, cruelty, or violence. In your silence, you have protected and emboldened those who promote hate.
With this letter, I formally end my efforts to persuade you to denounce the violent extremist ideologies of the Nazi regime and their modern-day proponents. After 175 days of waiting, the window for meaningful action has closed. I would view any shift in stance at this point with profound skepticism, perceiving it as driven by political expediency and cynical opportunism.
The violent ideologies you have refused to condemn are not abstract—they have led to campaigns of harassment, terror, violence, and genocide since the 1930s.
In addition to the millions of Jewish people killed in the Holocaust, Nazi and neo-Nazi movements have systematically targeted:
• 2SLGBTQ+ people
• Artists, intellectuals, and academics
• Black people
• Communists
• Conscientious objectors
• Freemasons
• Indigenous people
• Jehovah’s Witnesses
• Journalists and media workers
• Muslims and other religious minorities
• Neurodivergent people
• Older adults
• People of Colour
• People with disabilities and/or chronic illness
• People experiencing homelessness and poverty
• Polish people
• Political opponents
• Refugees and asylum seekers
• Romani and Sinti people
• Slavic people
• Social democrats
• Soviet prisoners of war
• Trade unionists and labour organizers
• Women
Having failed to defend these communities, you have failed in the most fundamental duties of your office. You have failed to honour the safety and well-being of all constituents. You have failed to uphold human rights and democratic values. You have failed to lead with moral integrity.
Although our petition did not compel you to act, it did reveal the true content of your character. As we enter early elections, may your silence, your apathy, and your cowardice be known to all.
I am providing a copy of this letter to our main political party leaders at the provincial and federal levels. I am also providing a copy of this letter to 175 diverse organizations representing the interests of communities targeted by Nazi, neo-Nazi, and white supremacist ideologies.
Although I close this chapter of our advocacy, No Hate in Huron will continue to stand in solidarity with those who embrace diversity, inclusion, compassion, and courage.
History will remember where you stood.
Sincerely,
Patrick Corvyn
Founder, No Hate in Huron
Goderich, Ontario, Canada
cc:
Justin Trudeau, Prime Minister of Canada
Pierre Poilievre, Leader of the Conservative Party of Canada
Yves-François Blanchet, Leader of the Federal Bloc Québécois Party
Jagmeet Singh, Leader of the Federal New Democratic Party
Elizabeth May, Leader of the Green Party of Canada
Doug Ford, Premier of Ontario, Leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario
Marit Stiles, Leader of the Ontario New Democratic Party
Bonnie Crombie, Leader of the Ontario Liberal Party
Mike Schreiner, Leader of the Green Party of Ontario
Advocacy Centre for the Elderly
Alliance for Equality of Blind Canadians
Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists
Alliance of Canadians Combatting Antisemitism
Amnesty International Canada
ARCH Disability Law Centre
Assembly of First Nations
Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial and Museum
Autism Ontario
Black Health Alliance
Black Legal Action Centre
Black Lives Matter - Canada
Black Women Business Network
Broadbent Institute
Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives
Canada Council for the Arts
Canadian Actors' Equity Association
Canadian Alliance to End Homelessness
Canadian Anti-Hate Network
Canadian Arab Institute
Canadian Association of Elizabeth Fry Societies
Canadian Association of Journalists
Canadian Association of Latin American and Caribbean Studies
Canadian Association of Retired Persons
Canadian Association of Slavists
Canadian Association of University Teachers
Canadian Centre for Diversity and Inclusion
Canadian Civil Liberties Association
Canadian Council for Refugees
Canadian Council of Muslim Women
Canadian Down Syndrome Society
Canadian Federation of Musicians
Canadian Feminist Alliance for International Action
Canadian Human Rights Commission
Canadian Labour Congress
Canadian Mental Health Association
Canadian Multifaith Federation
Canadian National Institute for the Blind
Canadian Polish Congress (Kongres Polonii Kanadyjskiej)
Canadian Red Cross - Migrant and Refugee Services
Canadian Romani Alliance
Canadian Union of Public Employees
Canadian Women’s Foundation
CATIE
CBC
Chiefs of Ontario
Chinese Canadian National Council for Social Justice
Colour of Poverty - Colour of Change
Commonwealth Parliamentary Association
Communist Party of Canada
Community Living Ontario
Congress of Aboriginal Peoples
Council of Agencies Serving South Asians
Council of Canadians with Disabilities
Council of Ontario Universities
CTV News
Democratic Socialists of Canada
Dignity Network Canada
Disability & Neurodivergence Alliance (DNA) of Southwestern Ontario
Disability Without Poverty
Disabled Women's Network Canada
Easter Seals Ontario
Egale Canada
Equality Now Canada
Families of Sisters in Spirit
FCJ Refugee Centre
Fierté Canada Pride
Filipino Canadian National Congress
Fo Guang Shan Temple
Glad Day Bookshop
Global Project Against Hate and Extremism
Goderich Sun
Grey Bruce Labour Council
HelpAge Canada
Hindu Federation
Homeless Hub
Human Rights Watch Canada
Humanist Canada
Huron County Pride
Huron Women’s Shelter
Inclusion Canada
Independent Jewish Voices Canada
Indigenous Bar Association
Institute of Neurodiversity Canada
International Civil Liberties Monitoring Group
International Federation for Human Rights
International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance
International Network Against Cyber Hate
Islamic Society of North America Canada
KAIROS Canada
Kincardine Record
Konekt Polish Canadian Professionals
Latinx, Afro-Latin-America, Abya Yala Education Network
LEAF: Women's Legal Education and Action Fund
March of Dimes Canada
Métis Nation of Ontario
Métis National Council
Muslim Association of Canada
National Association of Friendship Centres
National Association of Japanese Canadians
National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation
National Council of Canadian Muslims
National Council of Women of Canada
National Safer Supply Community of Practice
Native Women's Association of Canada
Network for the Advancement of Black Communities
Neurodiversity Change Network
Omni News
Ontario AIDS Network
Ontario Alliance to End Homelessness
Ontario Arts Council
Ontario Association of Councils on Aging
Ontario Association of the Deaf
Ontario Black History Society
Ontario Coalition of Service Providers for Refugee Claimants
Ontario Community Newspapers Association
Ontario Confederation of University Faculty Associations
Ontario Council of Agencies Serving Immigrants
Ontario Federation for Cerebral Palsy
Ontario Federation of Indigenous Friendship Centres
Ontario Federation of Labour
Ontario Human Rights Commission
Ontario Humanist Society
Ontario Native Women's Association
Ontario Nonprofit Network
Ontario Nurses Association
Ontario Public Service Employees Union
Ontario Sikhs and Gurdwara Council
Ontario Society of Artists
Ontario Society of Senior Citizens' Organizations
Pan-Slavic Society of Southwestern Ontario
Parents of Black Children
PEN Canada
PFLAG Canada
Pink Triangle Press
Postmedia Network
Public Service Pride
Quaker Committee for Refugees
Queer Ontario
rabble
Radio Canada
Radio Television Digital News Association of Canada
Rainbow Health Ontario
Rainbow Railroad
Refugee Pathways & Integration Canada
Registered Nurses Association of Ontario
Rick Hansen Foundation
Roma Community Centre (Toronto)
SAFAR
Seniors for Social Action Ontario
Soka Gakkai International Canada
South Asian Women's Centre
Southern Poverty Law Center
Teamsters Canada
The 519
The ArQuives
The Citizen
The Federation of Black Canadians
The Grand Lodge of Canada in the Province of Ontario
The Michaëlle Jean Foundation
The Terry Fox Foundation
The Toronto Star
Toronto Holocaust Museum
Trans Wellness Ontario
Two-Spirited People of the First Nations
Ukrainian Canadian Civil Liberties Association
Unifor
United Nations Special Rapporteur on Contemporary Forms of Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia, and Related Intolerance
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
United Way Canada
Urban Alliance on Race Relations
Victim Services Huron Perth
World Press Freedom Canada
World Sikh Organization of Canada
Yad Vashem - The World Holocaust Remembrance Center