Dear editor,
I consider Fort Frances to be a very nice community in which to live. I have always considered myself fortunate to have come to live here. It is the place I have chosen to be my home. One of the positive attributes of my community is the people. Most of the people I have come to know are friendly, kind and generous.
In light of recent events, it is impossible not to contrast the people I meet in Fort Frances with the terrorists who have exhibited such rather negative human characteristics in the City of Ottawa. We have seen the banners of the racists and Neo-Nazis and the Confederate pro-slavery bunch alongside the homophobes, the misogynists, the transphobes and the outright thugs and the extreme far right hatemongers. We have seen their dupes among the ignorant and sparsely educated.
We know where these deplorable ideas come from. Their source was exposed for all to see. We saw the Trump flags and large number of American flags. We recognize in their inability to understand some fairly basic scientific concepts the links they have to the American Republican Party. That so much shadowy American money funded the “truckers” should come as no surprise. The Americans had their January 6 insurrection; we had the siege of Ottawa. The same deep well of fascist money funded them both.
I must admit that I somewhat smugly followed the debacle in Ottawa safe in the belief that we do not tolerate such vile hatreds in Fort Frances. You can imagine the shock and horror I experienced when I saw the Fort Frances Times of February 16. It is almost unthinkable that such nauseating beliefs coexist with the decent people of Fort Frances.
That is truly sad. Even though they may represent only a tiny portion of our community, it is good to know they exist. Cancer cells are tiny but you want to know they are there.
Despite our revulsion, we shouldn’t turn our backs on them. We must hold out the hand of friendship and try to help them. After all, they are our fellow citizens. Perhaps the school board could offer some free courses or seminars on general science or biology to counteract the misinformation which animates this group. Perhaps the local clergy could reach out to them and give them hope that love can triumph over fear and hatred.
Canadians have defeated fascism before. We can do it again.
Yours truly,
Rudolf K. F. Zeitlhofer
