UCP rewards Nazi propaganda
Author who called for women to have more babies to offset a "drive for cultural suicide" received $200 from government panel
A panel led by the UCP’s associate minister for the status of women awarded $200 in legislature swag to the author of an essay spouting white replacement talking points, which placed third in a contest for women aged 17 to 25 to outline their vision for the province, dubbed “Her Vision Inspires.”
The winning essays, including the non-racist ones, were deleted from the Alberta government’s website after NDP MLA Janis Irwin drew attention to the bronze medalist, but thanks to Irwin’s screenshots and the fine folks at the Web Archive you can still read it for yourself.
The essay from one S. Silver reads:
While it is sadly popular nowadays to think that the world would be better off without humans, or that Albertan children are unnecessary as we can import foreigners to replace ourselves, this is a sickly mentality that amounts to a drive for cultural suicide. The first rule of health for any biological population is their ability to reproduce and pass along their way of life into the future. Women are not exactly equal to men. This biological reality is also under attack by present-day delusion. To try to promote that women break into careers that men traditionally dominate is not only misguided, but it is harmful. Such a focus detracts from the languishing unique strength and the truly important role that women have in the preservation of our community, culture, and species…
As a future parliamentarian, I would promote healthy appreciation for the value that young Albertan women have in their ability to carry our population forward into the future. I believe that the best approach would be to reward families for their reproductive service both with financial rewards to offset the financial burden they are taking on and with medals to symbolize their valuable achievement of having 2+ children. Encouraging our society to reorient in this healthier perspective would provide the greatest good for Alberta going forward and would alleviate many of the problems that we are currently facing. [Emphases mine]
It is no exaggeration to say this is some Nazi shit.
According to Holocaust historian Rebecca Erbelding, the Nazis offered financial incentives to encourage women “to give birth to supposedly racially superior children.” They even offered a medal dubbed the “Mother’s Cross,” with a bronze medal for four children, silver for six and gold for eight.
“There was immense pressure on women and girls to join this effort. It was seen as patriotic to get married to the right person and have the so-called ‘right children’ and lots of them,” Erbelding said in the video below. “A lot of women bought into this national duty.”
Associate minister for the status of women Jackie Armstrong-Homeniuk and Camrose MLA Jackie Lovely judged the essays, which had been advertised as a “panel” of female MLAs.
At first, Armstrong-Homeniuk issued a statement saying the essay shouldn’t have been chosen, but maintained “the essay contest was intended to reflect a broad range of opinions from young Alberta women” and that she stands by the intent of “giving women of all ages a voice.”
She followed that up with a statement where she actually apologized. "The selection of this particular essay and awarding it with third prize was a failure on my part as the head of the judging panel,” Armstrong-Homeniuk wrote.
Either Armstrong-Homeniuk is supremely incompetent or supremely mendacious.
The Globe and Mail’s Carrie Tait reached out to each female UCP MLA to ask whether they sat on the panel that awarded an essay that suggesting they’re not suited for public life. None responded.
Rebecca Schulz, Leela Aheer and Rajan Sawhney — all who just so happen to be running for the party leadership — did denounce the essay on Twitter.
After Tait tweeted that she didn’t receive a response from any MLA, Schulz’s team reached out to affirm she was not involved in the selection.
Through her characteristically indefatigable reporting, the CBC’s Michelle Bellefontaine got Lovely to acknowledge she was the only other MLA on the panel.
Bellefontaine also found out there were five essays submitted to the contest. I’m certainly not the only one who’d like to know what the two essays that didn’t make the top three look like.
Neither the Jewish Federation of Calgary, nor of Edmonton, have said a word about Alberta’s provincial government giving a financial reward to an essay echoing Nazi talking points.
The Edmonton fed did, however, find time to scold NDP foreign affairs critic Heather McPherson about the “complexities” of dead Palestinian children, in case you’re wondering where their priorities lie.
This piece has been updated to reflect the latest reporting on the developing story, namely MLA Jackie Lovely’s role in the award selection process and teh number of essays submitted.