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“I am a Canadian, free to speak without fear, free to worship in my own way, free to stand for what I think right, free to oppose what I believe wrong, or free to choose those who shall govern my country. This heritage of freedom I pledge to uphold for myself and all mankind.” ~~ John G. Diefenbaker

FELDSTED: Looking back at 1939, knowing about the horrors of WW II and the holocaust, is far different from trying to look forward to the six years between 1939 to 1945


Trudeau apologizes for Canada's 1939 refusal of Jewish refugee ship
Steve Scherer  ~~  Reuters News  ~~  November 7, 2018

OTTAWA (Reuters) - Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau formally apologized on Wednesday for the country’s 1939 refusal to take in a ship carrying more than 900 Jewish refugees, adding that the country would do more to protect Canadian Jews from violence.

The St. Louis left Hamburg in May 1939 in a desperate search for a safe haven from persecution by Nazi Germany. After it was rebuffed by Canada and other nations, it returned to Europe, where historians have estimated that more than 250 of the passengers were murdered in Nazi death camps.

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Our Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, seems unwilling to understand that he can only apologize for his own actions and behaviour.

There is something ironic and hypocritical about apologizing for a Liberal Prime Minister who made a poor decision 80 years ago.

William Lyon Mackenzie King has been repeatedly, and thoroughly, disparaged for his decision not to allow the MS St. Louis to land; history has not been kind on the issue, and rightly so. However, to keep the event in perspective, Canada was not the only nation to refuse acceptance of the St. Louis and her Jewish passengers.


As we age, we reminisce and think to ourselves how life would differ if what we know now, we could have known when we were 20 years of age. Looking back at 1939, knowing about the horrors of World War 2 and the holocaust, is far different from trying to look forward to the six years between 1939 to 1945.

We can acknowledge unacceptable discrimination of the past and commit to erasing discrimination in the present.  We can also be ashamed of a government decision made in 1939, but we cannot apologize for it.

Our grandchildren will judge us on the decisions our government is making today, because actions speak louder than words.

Vowing to protect Jewish and Muslim places of worship is an admission that hatred is still stalks our society. We have not erased racial and religious hatreds. Christians also face faith-based discrimination and that is a glaring omission from the apology statement.

As equals we have the right to worship in peace and safety. We cannot accept anyone to be targeted by hatred.  


John Feldsted
Political Consultant & Strategist
Winnipeg, Manitoba
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