Abusing the Holocaust to further a political cause is sinking to nauseatingly low depths. But not too low for Alberta Federation of Labour President Gil McGowan, who accused members of UCP ginger group Take Back Alberta of spreading hate and used holocaust imagery to bolster his point. It was an offensive, soulless and dirty tactic..It’s also a sign of desperation as the May 29 provincial election approaches with the UCP ahead in the polls. And it is wilfully dishonest..Will NDP Leader Rachel Notley have the courage and integrity to call him out?.After all, McGowan has seats on the Alberta NDP board. He’s a prominent voice of the NDP. And the Alberta Federation of Labour is one of the pillars holding up the contrapted structure of the NDP. .It is certainly a dilemma for her..Yet her silence would indicate tolerance of McGowan diminishing in one dumb tweet, the genocide of six million Jews and countless more who survived being tortured, starved and medically experimented on at the hands of the demonic Nazis during World War II..Her silence would indicate tolerance of wrongly accusing Albertans of being capable of harbouring similar hate in their hearts and inflicting horror. Hugely worrisome to the NDP as Take Back Alberta (TBA) is, because it has long swept the province and propelled frustrated, formerly apathetic voters to action, it's not exactly the SS. But yes, they do push Albertans to the voting booths in droves. But surely, getting cheap votes so that she can land back in the premier’s office, couldn’t make McGowan’s attempts to create unwarranted fear in Alberta voters acceptable to Rachel Notley.Could it?.And if Notley does address this, some vague word salad won’t suffice..Nothing less than outright condemnation of what McGowan did, will do..If Notley hasn’t seen the gripping video by Arnold Schwarzenegger about the effects of the Holocaust that McGowan retweeted, she should watch it. And if her conscience allows her to remain silent about comparing the unbridled evil actions of those responsible for the Holocaust to actions of decent Albertans — including those she would be obliged to fairly represent as premier — that’s an alarming red flag..Schwarzenegger’s sobering video truthfully lays out the utter horror of what Jews were subjected to. McGowan shamefully used his video to twist truth into a cheap political ploy to make voters he is trying to woo, fear their friends, coworkers, families and neighbors..“For those tempted to follow the 'take back Alberta' crowd and their ilk, listen to Arnold first,” McGowan posted on Twitter on Tuesday..“His point is this is where hate leads.”.“If you don’t see there’s a lot of hate at the centre of the movement currently animating the political right in this province, then you’re part of the problem. Could it be that the truth hurts?”.The audacity of McGowan preaching about painful truth while spewing this deceptive garbage, this twisted logic!.Of course, McGowan didn’t provide evidence of this alleged hate bubbling in the veins of Albertans. There is none to provide..But a leftie tactic is to throw an insane accusation out and hope it wreaks the intended damage..Hate is not what the moms, rural and urban voters, Albertans of all stripes who support TBA are about..That’s not what the union members — upon whom McGowan is said to be losing his iron grip — are all about. For the sake of their families and futures are about, many support TBA. But McGowan just trashed many of the union members he’s supposed to represent..Schwarzenegger reminded of the possessions, gold teeth, and hair taken from the Jews. The piles of shoes of victims sent to the gas chambers. The crematoriums. The sick, gaunt crowds behind barbwire fences on the verge of death..“This is my message to anyone who has chosen the path of hate. Please listen,” said Schwarzenegger to warn about rising anti-Semitism worldwide. “Today I want to talk to the people who might have stumbled into the wrong directions or the wrong path.”.He sympathized with Germans who didn’t support or fell for a “loser” Nazi ideology..But loser ideology manifests in on many levels and in many forms — including shameful union boss tweets..Is Notley OK with that?.We’ll see.
