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The Regina German Club is facing criticism following a booking at its facility.
The Saskatchewan Buffalo Party booked the venue for an upcoming fundraiser, where speakers will discuss the idea of the province becoming America’s 51st state. It’s scheduled for March 1.
News of the event caused an uproar online, with people flocking to the club’s social media pages to voice their displeasure.
Kerri Van Loosen, president of the German Club, said the backlash is causing a serious headache for the organization.
“I can’t even express the extreme hate we’ve been receiving through emails, phone calls, all over social media, on Reddit, Facebook platforms and people’s personal platforms, basically stating that we’re fascists, that we’re a neo-Nazi regime supporting this political group,” she said.
She emphasized that the club is only renting the space and has no affiliation with those who book it.
“I’ve stated on all of our social media platforms that we do not endorse or promote or share the beliefs of any of the groups that book our space,” Van Loosen said.
“We’ve had other political parties that have booked our space, and to us it is just a catering opportunity for us to make some money to pay the bills.”
The discussion fundraiser includes speakers like Tim Kasprick, Lee Harding, Lise Merle and party leader Phillip Zajac. Following the discussion and a Q&A segment, audience members will take part in a mock vote.
Van Loosen said the event’s theme has caused some hurtful messages to be flung the club’s way.
“So right away, (people were saying) we’re traitors,” she said.
“That we should go back to the country we came from and be treated like how traitors were treated back then during wartime and such. It’s absolutely just ludicrous. I don’t even have a word to sum up the ignorance of the people in this city, and some of these people were our members who have now stated publicly that they will not, ‘support a Nazi regime.’ We’ve done nothing in that manner to have people call us that.”
A protest is now expected to take place in front of the German club on the day of the event.
Van Loosen said if people do choose to protest, she hopes that it be a peaceful assembly.
“If people want to peacefully protest the Buffalo Party during their event, feel free,” she said. “But do not destroy our building. Do not hurt our people. Don’t make accusations at our people. Make it about the fact that it is a political thing. Do not make it about a cultural thing.”
Buffalo Party calls for critics to join discussion
Buffalo Party president Reese Hunstad said the party didn’t pick the venue for any specific political reason.
“We wanted to try to get a location that was central for people, and the German club was priced efficiently and they have catering there,” he explained.
“It has everything that we need right there at that location. We did our very first policy and governance convention at the Regina German Club, so it just seemed that the venue worked out well for us, so we just thought about trying and seeing if it was available again,” Hunstad said.
Hunstad said he wasn’t shocked to hear about the backlash. It also happened when the party held an event at the German Club a few years ago.
“To me, it almost seems like there’s a group of people in Regina that just don’t like the German club, or don’t realize that the Nazis were 80 years ago and that the German people are not Nazis,” he said. “They just haven’t come around to the fact that you can be a German or have German ancestry and not be a Nazi.”
Hunstad said it’s disheartening that something like this could happen in Saskatchewan.
“We should be able to have conversation and discourse if we have a difference of agreement, and not jump to violent threats or accusations,” he said.
Hunstad encouraged those attacking the business online to join the party’s conversation.
“We have a democracy where everybody has the right to participate and get involved in politics or the policies of life,” he said.
“It doesn’t necessarily have to be politics, but you can get onto any educational board or community board. Everybody has that right to engage. So I would say, rather than just protest and threaten, maybe think about joining the conversation and having your side of the argument be presented to people.”
The event is scheduled for March 1, with speakers starting at 9:45 a.m.