Editor’s note (posted Oct 5, 2025): On January 27, 2025 (International Holocaust Remembrance Day), No Hate in Huron sent the letter below to Huron-Bruce MP Ben Lobb, Huron-Bruce MPP Lisa Thompson (Minister of Rural Affairs), and Huron County Warden Jamie Heffer. The letter documents that, despite prior requests, no clear public denunciation of neo-Nazism and white supremacy from these officials was on record at that time. It was shared with 175 organizations representing communities targeted by these ideologies.
The number 175 marked 175 days since our original call for a public statement and is a nod to Paragraph 175 of the German Criminal Code, expanded by the Nazi regime to persecute and imprison gay and bisexual men, many of whom were sent to concentration camps. We also explicitly recognize the persecution of trans and gender-diverse people under Nazism and stand with them today.
Click here to view our original petition, containing key updates.
Click here to access the original PDF of this letter.
To MP Ben Lobb, MPP Lisa Thompson, and Warden Jamie Heffer:
Today, January 27, 2025—International Holocaust Remembrance Day—the world pauses to remember the millions of lives stolen by the Nazi regime and to reflect on the consequences of unchecked hatred, discrimination, and violence. This day serves as a solemn reminder of what happens when leaders and societies remain silent in the face of organized hate.
As you all know, last August Huron County became a gathering ground for modern-day adherents of Adolf Hitler’s ideology. Compounding this alarming presence, local landowner Gord Leamen installed homemade signs at the entrance to Goderich, Ontario, openly promoting an international hate network rooted in Nazi beliefs. For nearly six months, these symbols of hatred have cast a shadow over our community.
All of you, along with the former Warden of Huron County, Glen McNeil, are abundantly aware of these facts. For the past 175 days, No Hate in Huron has repeatedly called on you to denounce Nazi, neo-Nazi, and white supremacist ideologies, including the White Lives Matter movement.
Through our petitions, numerous correspondences, and media outreach, we have asked for nothing more than a clear and unequivocal condemnation of these forms of hate.
In the words of the great James Baldwin: “not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced.”
In response to our pleas, you have consistently chosen deflection, evasion, and silence. Hate is not a partisan issue. Your inaction is not neutrality.
You have turned your backs on the very communities you were elected to serve. You failed to speak out and you failed to act when Huron County became a platform for extreme ableism, antisemitism, bigotry, homophobia, misogyny, racism, transphobia, and xenophobia.
What happens in Huron County matters everywhere. We are all interconnected. Our rural and isolated geography must never be weaponized into a shadowy lair for hate to multiply.
You have betrayed those of us who strive for a world in which all people are free to pursue joyous lives without fear of harassment, cruelty, or violence. In your silence, you have protected and emboldened those who promote hate.
With this letter, I formally end my efforts to persuade you to denounce the violent extremist ideologies of the Nazi regime and their modern-day proponents. After 175 days of waiting, the window for meaningful action has closed. I would view any shift in stance at this point with profound skepticism, perceiving it as driven by political expediency and cynical opportunism.
The violent ideologies you have refused to condemn are not abstract—they have led to campaigns of harassment, terror, violence, and genocide since the 1930s.
In addition to the millions of Jewish people killed in the Holocaust, Nazi and neo-Nazi movements have systematically targeted: 2SLGBTQ+ people; artists, intellectuals, and academics; Black people; Communists; conscientious objectors; Freemasons; Indigenous people• Jehovah’s Witnesses; journalists and media workers; Muslims and other religious minorities; neurodivergent people; older adults; People of Colour; people with disabilities and/or chronic illness; people experiencing homelessness and poverty; Polish people; political opponents; refugees and asylum seekers; Romani and Sinti people; Slavic people; social democrats; Soviet prisoners of war; trade unionists and labour organizers; women.
Having failed to defend these communities, you have failed in the most fundamental duties of your office. You have failed to honour the safety and well-being of all constituents. You have failed to uphold human rights and democratic values. You have failed to lead with moral integrity.
Although our petition did not compel you to act, it did reveal the true content of your character. As we enter early elections, may your silence, your apathy, and your cowardice be known to all.
I am providing a copy of this letter to our main political party leaders at the provincial and federal levels. I am also providing a copy of this letter to 175 diverse organizations representing the interests of communities targeted by Nazi, neo-Nazi, and white supremacist ideologies.
Although I close this chapter of our advocacy, No Hate in Huron will continue to stand in solidarity with those who embrace diversity, inclusion, compassion, and courage.
History will remember where you stood.
Sincerely,
Patrick Corvyn
Founder, No Hate in Huron
Goderich, Ontario, Canada