NDP candidate supported Nazi naval officer; unfit to run
Author of the article:
Brian Lilley
Publishing date:
Jan 16, 2022 • 8 hours ago • 3 minute read •
25 Comments
Still mayor of Ajax at the time, Steve Parish is pictured while speaking outside the Ajax Downs casino and racetracks on April 5, 2018.
Still mayor of Ajax at the time, Steve Parish is pictured while speaking outside the Ajax Downs casino and racetracks on April 5, 2018. Photo by Jack Boland /Toronto Sun
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There’s something about the NDP and its candidate selection that always makes me scratch my head. Even when they recently chose a popular former mayor to run for them, they have found a way to choose a candidate who has praised a Nazi naval officer in the past.
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Steve Parish, who served as mayor of Ajax for 23 years from 1995 until 2018, was tapped as the NDP candidate for June’s provincial election in the riding of Ajax last week. He cited education, the environment, and long-term care as his priorities.
“Under (Premier) Doug Ford, life has been getting harder,” Parish said in a statement issued last Tuesday.
By Friday, the race to be MPP for Ajax became more interesting with the announcement by cabinet minister Rod Phillips that he would not seek re-election and was resigning his seat in February.
With voting day just five months away, the Progressive Conservatives will likely appoint someone to replace Phillips. In addition to Parish as the NDP candidate, the Liberals have nominated Amber Bowen, an elementary school teacher and activist within the Elementary Teachers Federation of Ontario.
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With the riding now in play, there will be more scrutiny on all the candidates, which brings me back to the comments Parish made about a Nazi naval officer.
Hans Langsdorff was commanding the German battleship Admiral Graf Spee when it was engaged in battle with the HMS Ajax, the ship the city is named for. The Ajax suffered significant damage and seven men were killed, but they and other British ships inflicted enough damage on the Graf Spee that Langsdorff decided to scuttle the ship and commit suicide.
“I can now only prove by my death that the fighting services of the Third Reich are ready to die for the honour of the flag,” Langsdorff wrote in letters to his family. “I shall face my fate with firm faith in the cause and the future of the nation and of my Fuhrer.”
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Capt. Patrick Dove, a British merchant naval officer, was taken prisoner by Langsdorff and came to know him and write about the man he met. While he admired Langsdorff in many ways, Dove wrote that Langsdorff was committed to Hitler.
“The Fuhrer knows best how to guide the thoughts of the young. The Fuhrer is a prophet, not a politician,” Langsdorff told Dove in 1939 .
So how then did Parish come to describe Langsdorff as “a remarkable leader” in 2007?
Why did Parish defend Langsdorff when, in November 2020, Ajax city council was going through the process of removing Langsdorff’s name from the street he had once been honoured with?
To Parish, and to others looking at history with rose-coloured glasses, Langsdorrf was a man of honour because he saved the lives of his crew by scuttling the ship and avoiding a potential battle. He also sank nine ships in the early days of the war, and the battle that damaged his ship saw 100 allied sailors injured or killed.
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Why does Parish continue to say that Langsdorff wasn’t a Nazi and should be honoured? Parish believes that Langsdorff wasn’t a Nazi, yet the naval officer’s own words show his support for Hitler and the Third Reich.
In my view, Parish didn’t do his homework.
He either failed to properly research Langsdroff or failed to ask the civil servants working at Ajax City Hall to ensure they had done their due diligence. Neither answer speaks well of an elected official who now wants to move on to take a position of higher office.
When I asked NDP leader Andrea Horwath for comment on Friday, she declined, and instead, her office sent a statement from Parish.
“It would be highly unfair and inaccurate to suggest the people supporting the name at the time, including the local Royal Canadian Legion Branch and HMS Ajax veterans, were in any way supporting or condoning the Nazis and any of their atrocities,” Parish said.
In naming a street for a Nazi naval officer, one who saw Hitler as a prophet and said he would die for the Third Reich, that is exactly what they were doing. They may have been naive or foolish in believing propaganda, but it was still the outcome.
Ajax has since removed Langsdorff’s name from the map, but Parish still believes that was wrong. That speaks to his judgment, and it’s something voters should consider when they judge the candidates on June 2.
torontosun.com
Author of the article:
Brian Lilley
Publishing date:
Jan 16, 2022 • 8 hours ago • 3 minute read •
25 Comments
Still mayor of Ajax at the time, Steve Parish is pictured while speaking outside the Ajax Downs casino and racetracks on April 5, 2018.
Still mayor of Ajax at the time, Steve Parish is pictured while speaking outside the Ajax Downs casino and racetracks on April 5, 2018. Photo by Jack Boland /Toronto Sun
Article content
There’s something about the NDP and its candidate selection that always makes me scratch my head. Even when they recently chose a popular former mayor to run for them, they have found a way to choose a candidate who has praised a Nazi naval officer in the past.
Advertisement
Story continues below
Article content
Steve Parish, who served as mayor of Ajax for 23 years from 1995 until 2018, was tapped as the NDP candidate for June’s provincial election in the riding of Ajax last week. He cited education, the environment, and long-term care as his priorities.
“Under (Premier) Doug Ford, life has been getting harder,” Parish said in a statement issued last Tuesday.
By Friday, the race to be MPP for Ajax became more interesting with the announcement by cabinet minister Rod Phillips that he would not seek re-election and was resigning his seat in February.
With voting day just five months away, the Progressive Conservatives will likely appoint someone to replace Phillips. In addition to Parish as the NDP candidate, the Liberals have nominated Amber Bowen, an elementary school teacher and activist within the Elementary Teachers Federation of Ontario.
Advertisement
Story continues below
Article content
With the riding now in play, there will be more scrutiny on all the candidates, which brings me back to the comments Parish made about a Nazi naval officer.
Hans Langsdorff was commanding the German battleship Admiral Graf Spee when it was engaged in battle with the HMS Ajax, the ship the city is named for. The Ajax suffered significant damage and seven men were killed, but they and other British ships inflicted enough damage on the Graf Spee that Langsdorff decided to scuttle the ship and commit suicide.
“I can now only prove by my death that the fighting services of the Third Reich are ready to die for the honour of the flag,” Langsdorff wrote in letters to his family. “I shall face my fate with firm faith in the cause and the future of the nation and of my Fuhrer.”
Advertisement
Story continues below
Article content
Capt. Patrick Dove, a British merchant naval officer, was taken prisoner by Langsdorff and came to know him and write about the man he met. While he admired Langsdorff in many ways, Dove wrote that Langsdorff was committed to Hitler.
“The Fuhrer knows best how to guide the thoughts of the young. The Fuhrer is a prophet, not a politician,” Langsdorff told Dove in 1939 .
So how then did Parish come to describe Langsdorff as “a remarkable leader” in 2007?
Why did Parish defend Langsdorff when, in November 2020, Ajax city council was going through the process of removing Langsdorff’s name from the street he had once been honoured with?
To Parish, and to others looking at history with rose-coloured glasses, Langsdorrf was a man of honour because he saved the lives of his crew by scuttling the ship and avoiding a potential battle. He also sank nine ships in the early days of the war, and the battle that damaged his ship saw 100 allied sailors injured or killed.
Advertisement
Story continues below
Article content
Why does Parish continue to say that Langsdorff wasn’t a Nazi and should be honoured? Parish believes that Langsdorff wasn’t a Nazi, yet the naval officer’s own words show his support for Hitler and the Third Reich.
In my view, Parish didn’t do his homework.
He either failed to properly research Langsdroff or failed to ask the civil servants working at Ajax City Hall to ensure they had done their due diligence. Neither answer speaks well of an elected official who now wants to move on to take a position of higher office.
When I asked NDP leader Andrea Horwath for comment on Friday, she declined, and instead, her office sent a statement from Parish.
“It would be highly unfair and inaccurate to suggest the people supporting the name at the time, including the local Royal Canadian Legion Branch and HMS Ajax veterans, were in any way supporting or condoning the Nazis and any of their atrocities,” Parish said.
In naming a street for a Nazi naval officer, one who saw Hitler as a prophet and said he would die for the Third Reich, that is exactly what they were doing. They may have been naive or foolish in believing propaganda, but it was still the outcome.
Ajax has since removed Langsdorff’s name from the map, but Parish still believes that was wrong. That speaks to his judgment, and it’s something voters should consider when they judge the candidates on June 2.
Command Decisions: Langsdorff and the Battle of the River Plate
This compelling new study of the Battle of the River Plate concentrates on Kapitn zur See Hans Langsdorff, the commander of the German pocket battleship Graf Spee it is written from his point of view. The story of his mission at the start of the Second World War to prey on merchant shipping is...
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LILLEY: NDP candidate supported Nazi naval officer; unfit to run
There’s something about the NDP and its candidate selection that always makes me scratch my head. Even when they recently chose a popular former mayor to run…
