Niagara MP facing criticism for meeting with far-right German politician
Photos were posted on Christine Anderson’s Facebook page on Feb. 21
Niagara West MP Dean Allison is facing criticisms online after a series of photos surfaced of a luncheon he attended with a far-right German politician.
Allison and fellow Conservative MPs Leslyn Lewis and Colin Carrie were photographed with German politician Christine Anderson, who is serving as a member of the European Parliament.
Anderson is in Canada on her “What Would Christine Anderson Do?” tour promoting and supporting the “Freedom Convoy.”
Anderson is a member of the political party Alternative for Germany.
Often referred to as AfD, it is considered a radically right-wing populist political party, and is known for its opposition to immigration and Islam. The party is also against same-sex marriage, doesn’t believe humans affect climate change, and has been called antisemitic for its support of a ban on kosher meat.
In an email to Niagara This Week, Allison, a long outspoken supporter of the convoy, claims he did not know of Anderson’s “views or associations.”
“It is, of course, not uncommon for members of Parliament to meet with visiting elected officials from other countries,” he said. “During a visit, we recently met with an elected representative of the European Parliament while she was in Canada. We were not aware of the views or associations of her and her political party. We do not share or endorse her views and strongly condemn any views that are racist or hateful.”
Saleh Waziruddin, an executive member of the Niagara Region Anti-Racism Association, said this is not the first time this has happened in Niagara.
“Unfortunately, this is not the first time that elected officials in Niagara have openly associated with white supremacy or promoted white supremacist ideas,” he said. “Christine Anderson’s party is openly anti-immigration, Islamophobic. They want to ban kosher meat. They're against same-sex marriage. They are denying climate change. But we had a sitting mayor earlier who associates with some of those ideals … If regional councillors and others openly condemn that, as they should have, then this also needs to be condemned. It's really brazen.”
Waziruddin also questioned how Allison could not have known about Anderson's views before meeting with her.
“This is not just a social running into each other,” Waziruddin said. “This is part of a tour organized for Christine Anderson to Canada that he's participating in.”
Conservative Party Leader Pierre Poilievre told Niagara This Week Anderson’s views are “vile and have no place in our politics.”
“The MPs were not aware of this visiting member of the European Parliament’s opinions, and they regret meeting with her,” he said. “Frankly, it would be better if Anderson never visited Canada in the first place. She and her racist, hateful views are not welcome here.”
Allison has also spent part of the pandemic denying the severity of COVID-19, telling Newstalk 610CKTB it was “no worse than the flu” and promoting pseudo-cures such as Ivermectin.
“There's a tie in between white supremacist ideology and some of the other extreme right-wing campaigns, for example, about against mask and vaccine mandates,” Waziruddin pointed out. “Residents should be alarmed about the open promotion of white supremacy and its ideas and the associated campaigns against vaccination and mask mandates. It's pretty open here, and we need to wake up to that.”
Anderson started making headlines in Canada last March, when she took on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau at the European Parliament.
“Mr. Trudeau, you are a disgrace for any democracy," she said, before calling him a “a dictator who treats citizens as terrorists” regarding his use of the Emergencies Act during the trucker convoy protest.
Abby Green is a reporter and photographer covering the communities of north Niagara for Niagara This Week.
No comments:
Post a Comment