I have been getting a fair bit of, well, “negative” mail, from my earlier post, to which I’ve already responded here and here. This letter, which I reproduce below in full (with minor typographic changes), is an excellent representative of the other side of the story.
I am grateful to Mr. Legge for throwing his oar in the water in support, and thank him for his kind permission to include his letter in full:
Dear Mr. Mckinnon,
I am a Jewish Canadian who considers himself a humanist and, as such, I wish to thank-you for your courageous proper use of a comparison with Nazism to a policy or practice of a party/government.
There can be no better use of remembrance of those horrors than that we produce them as warning to safeguard the better practices they caused to be created. “Never Again” was not created for, nor to be used selectively. It is non-specific for the excellent reason that it must be inclusive of all, against any policy or practice which would do less than cherish any and all.
Apart from the above, I hold it equally sacred that, as a Jew, I am admonished to “Do no thing to another which would be hateful to myself.” You point it out very well that the exclusion of these refugees is unacceptable because of the horrors which befell others, and we would sure hate it if the shoe were on our foot.
I believe myself safe in saying we share the same repugnance of those who would profit from any person forced to flee her or his country to save their and their families lives. Let the Tories, if they might be sincere, go after the “Traffickers.” But given some of their bedfellows, I doubt this to be likely.
I imagine you will catch all kinds of hell for your conscience and just wanted to show ya’ some appreciation. Keep it up!
Yours respectfully
Darrell Legge
Mtl. QC. – 2010-09-09
