Statement from PPC spokesman Martin Masse in reply to defamatory accusations from B’nai Brith Canada

February 7, 2019 – B’nai Brith Canada’s Chief Executive Office, Michael Mostyn, an unsuccessful candidate for the Conservative Party of Canada in the 2004 and 2006 elections in the riding of York Centre, accused me in a press release yesterday of supporting, among other things, antisemitism, misogyny, and racism on the basis of articles that I wrote or published years ago in my libertarian online magazine, Le Québécois Libre.

Not a single one of these ridiculous accusations is true.

The press release claims that I “personally defend(ed)” French politician Jean-Marie Le Pen and Austrian politician Jörg Haider, both of whom were accused of making comments that trivialized the Holocaust, as if I shared their opinions on this matter.

What I did was to argue that nothing in the two men’s ideology and policy proposals justified calling them neo-Nazis, as they were often being described at the time by some critics, including B’nai Brith. They were democratic populist politicians. I quoted the famous Austrian Nazi hunter Simon Wiesenthal, who said at the time that Haider “represents no threat to democracy in Austria. He is not a pro-Nazi, but a right-wing populist.”

The press release claims that I published an article that discredits LGBTQ groups, implying that I am bigoted towards sexual minorities. If B’nai Brith had done a little research, they would have found that I am gay. The article was in fact a totally appropriate criticism of radical gay activist groups such as Act-Up who wanted to criminalize any opinion opposed to giving special rights to sexual minorities.

The press release says I called members of the media “parasites.” That article actually criticized journalists who were already asking, in 2009, for government financial support to bail them out. Calling them parasites was, and still is, totally appropriate.

The press release implies that I hold misogynous views because I denounced the fact that under pressure from radical feminist ideology, the law was forcing men-only taverns and gay bars to welcome women, thus violating the right to privately associate, while hypocritically allowing women-only gyms to continue to discriminate against men.

The press release implies that I am an anti-Semite because I denounced Zionism and repressive Israeli policies towards Palestinians. It fails to mention that in the same article, I wrote that from my libertarian perspective, Zionism is “a very telling illustration of how a good cause – finding a place in the world where Jews can live securely after centuries of persecution – will necessarily be perverted as it is hijacked by statist aims.” My evaluation of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict would probably be more nuanced today than 18 years ago, but absolutely nothing I wrote at the time can be described as anti-Semite.

The press release goes on to make several other insinuations based on quotes taken out of context from contributors to my magazine, all of which are perfectly acceptable when you read the full article.

B’nai Brith Canada has discredited itself with these blatantly false, distorted and defamatory accusations. Its Conservative CEO, Michael Mostyn, should not be playing this shameful political game.