Alberta Premier Promises Campaign to Combat Racial, Religious Bigotry

Premier Peter Lougheed of Alberta has promised to introduce an educational campaign to combat racial and religious bigotry in the aftermath of two recent incidents in which holders of public office in the province questioned the authenticity of the Holocaust.

Lougheed addressed the problem of tolerance and respect for minority groups after Stephen Stiles, a member of the Alberta Legislature, claimed publicly that the slaughter of Jews by the Nazis has never been proven. Stiles, a 38-year-old lawyer and a member of Lougheed’s Progressive Conservative Party, subsequently apologized to the Legislature for offending anyone, but he did not clearly renounce his doubts about the Holocaust.

Loughheed’s seven page letter to the Legislature, promising a campaign to promote understanding and acceptance of minorities, made no mention of Stiles’ comments.

Only a few weeks ago, a Queens Court Judge upheld the dismissal from the Alberta school system of James Keegstra, a public school teacher and Mayor of the village of Eckville, who had been preaching anti-Semitism to his classes, including the claim that there was no Holocaust. Keegstra was also ousted from the right wing Social Credit Party which had just elected him to a high party office.

Lougheed has been criticized for not responding until now to these incidents although he had been urged to do so by Alberta’s Jewish community and in a cable from Simon Wiesenthal, the Vienna-based Nazi hunter. Lougheed said in his letter that “History shows that elements of bigotry such as anti-Semitism in this recent case can grow like a cancer if not challenged and vigorously condemned by those in a position of responsibility. “

Howard Starkman, president of the Jewish Federation of Edmonton, the Alberta capital, said he was “very pleased ” with the Premier’s response.