CKNW Editorial
for July 4, 2000

I come, this morning, to the defence of Stockwell Day who is accused, by the strongest possible implication by John Cummins, a prominent BC Canadian Alliance MP, of anti Semitism.

In a press release last Friday Mr Cummins refers to Mr Day’s association with a school in Bentley, Alberta at which, many years ago, Day was administrator. The school used what is known as the Accelerated Christian Education program which was, and is, strongly fundamentalist Christian. As fundamentalist Jews, Muslims and indeed Roman Catholics do, this program teaches that their path is the true path. To infer from the teachings of any religion a bias against other religions by any member of that faith, without proof of same, is grossly unfair.

Retired Alberta Senator Ron Ghitter, who is Jewish, looking at the ACE program thought that in fundamental Christianity one could find the roots of anti-Semitism in right wing parties but made it clear that this did not include the leaders. Unhappily for Mr Day, Jim Keegstra also lived in Bentley and, it is said, Mr Day even had his car fixed at Mr Keegstra’s garage once or twice and, worse, Mr Keegstra may have attended one or two of Mr Day’s prayer meetings. Imagine!

It should be noted that Mr Day did not teach at this school and when Senator Ghitter raised these concerns in 1985 he was careful to make it clear that he wasn’t suggesting that Mr Day was Anti-Semitic. Quite recently Senator Ghitter said "I would never make that allegation against Stockwell". For his part, Mr Day said emphatically that he was not anti-Semitic and that far from anti-Semitism being taught at the school, said "we refer to the Jews as the chosen people. The materials are against anti-Semitism" and went on to say "Jesus loves all people, all religions, all sinners. I do not want to see any law passed to limit anyone’s freedom of religion or expression."

Mr Cummins says this.

"Although Day is not a teacher he does claim to have some operational control of the school … (I pause to note this was 15 years ago) and goes on "Unless Day’s involvement with the use of this flawed and racist curriculum is cleared up once and for all it could seriously compromise the Canadian Alliance’s efforts to do things differently with regards to native issues, immigration and multiculturism." He adds "Stockwell Day has got to answer the tough questions about his past now, not during an election campaign."

Now where do you suppose Mr Cummins got these notions? I’ll tell you where. From a left wing tabloid called Now out of Toronto, and two articles in it by one Gordon Laird who has it all up on a website. Taking Mr Day’s position as administrator, connecting it to what he sees as an anti Semitic curriculum then tying it all into the fact that Jim Keegstra lived in Bentley, Laird concludes that Day is an anti-Semite. Never mind that then Senator Ghitter, a Jew, and a man roundly criticized by Preston Manning and others for taking the senatorship … thus no political fan of Day’s … went out of his way to say that he would never make the allegation of anti-Semitism against Stockwell Day … according the Gordon Laird, as lapped up by John Cummins, Stockwell Day has a lot to answer for.

This is just about as dirty as it can get. The Reform Party, now the Alliance, has had to fight the suspicion of anti-Semitism from the start. And there was a reason – there is no question that racists and bigots like Doug Collins and his ilk saw Reform as a comfortable home. From the outset Preston Manning has fought this image and as, when all is said and done, fought back admirably. And it’s in this context that Laird and Cummins make their thinly veiled charges of anti-Semitism against Mr Day.

This is the stuff of Senator Joseph McCarthy in the fifties when, as famous movie star Humphrey Bogart put it, everyone who ever scratched his ass during the singing of the national anthem was considered a communist. This is smear by the thinnest association – imagine, Mr Day once had his car serviced by a man who is an outspoken anti-Semite so therefore he himself must be anti-Semitic.

Let’s look at this from another point of view. Considering that Mr Cummins supports Mr Manning and since Mr Cummins has, by strong inference, accused Mr Day of anti Semitism, and if, like I, you consider this to be a smear of the worst sort – doesn’t this make Preston Manning himself guilty of smearing by his association with Mr Cummins?

This is dirty pool. And, unless I miss my guess, it will backfire on Mr Manning whether he supports what Mr Cummins is saying or not.

Mr Cummins ought to be thoroughly ashamed of himself and owes Mr Day an unqualified apology – Mr Manning must disassociate himself from this nastiness forthwith or rightly run the risk of losing serious support.