A BC-based magazine responsible for organizing a December 9 ceremony at the BC legislature in the province’s capital — where effigies were hung — is being slammed by officials, but the publication says its event had nothing to do with the effigies..The event was organized by Common Ground magazine for the 75th anniversary of the Nuremberg Doctor’s Trial, where medical practitioners were charged for experimenting on people without informed consent..“We must never forget how those medical crimes against humanity crept into a modern culture, and, how corruption of civic values erodes a country where distracted citizens are fed fear by power-hungry leaders,” writes Common Ground..Common Ground organized the event in response to vaccine related policies implemented by the provincial and federal government — such as needing vaccine passports to work or access certain settings.The magazine argues this is medical coercion and therefore violates the Nuremberg Code..The portion of the event most focused on, however, involved outside demonstrators not connected to Common Ground..The demonstrators took to the stairs of the BC legislature and showcased hanging effigies with the faces of Premier John Horgan, Health Minister Adrian Dix, and Minister of Public Safety and Solicitor General Mike Farnworth..A fourth face is unclear in the videos posted to social media.. Screen-Shot-2021-12-14-at-10.48.27-AMCredit Facebook/Anne O’Neil .In an interview with CFAX 1070 host Al Ferraby, Farnworth referred to the demonstration as “incredibly disturbing” and “pathetic.”.“I told people to keep their ‘f—- Trudeau’ posters away, we don’t want that, we want a respectful event,” Common Ground’s publisher Joseph Roberts told the Western Standard..“We want it focusing on the Nuremberg core principles and the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The rest of that stuff you can do somewhere else, don’t do it here.”.Roberts’ stage manager asked those holding the effigies to leave, as no one involved with the event knew who they were. They did not leave, according to Roberts, which influenced him to ask a second time for himself..“I went over and explained very civilly how it is supposed to be a respectful event and the effigies have nothing to do with us,” said Roberts, explaining how this only caused the demonstrators to “smirk” at him and remain in place..Roberts briefly entertained a possibility that the effigy-bearing demonstrators may have been there to discredit the event..One of the guest speakers at the event was Brian Peckford, former premier of Newfoundland and the only living First Minister who helped craft The Constitution Act of 1982..Dr. Daniel Nagase also spoke at the event.. Nuremberg-Dec-9-pre-event-poster-2-1 .One day prior to the event, president of the Jewish Federation of Victoria and Vancouver Island (JFVVI), Jeff Kushner, released a statement regarding the planned protest..“The Jewish Federation of Victoria and Vancouver Island joins our elected leaders and the entire community in condemning the attack on our health care professionals by Common Ground magazine,” said Kushner..Kushner proceeded to “encourage” all members of his society to call upon elected leaders to speak out against what he refers to as “Jew hatred” on behalf of Common Ground, asking police to ensure the magazine not be permitted to use what he calls “age-old anti-Semitic tropes to promote harm to our health care professionals or the Jewish community.”.Common Ground’s article leading up to the event, however, is predicated on the assertion that past crimes against Jewish people are undeniably horrific — prompting confusion from its publisher in response to Kushner’s accusations of anti-Semitism..“Our stage manager is Jewish,” said Roberts, “she is certainly not anti-Semitic, and I am certainly not anti-Semitic.”.Reid Small is a BC-based reporter for the Western Standard.,rsmall@westernstandardonline.com,.Twitter.com/reidsmall
