A Tory MP is criticizing his own government for spending $2.5 million on a memorial centre for Canadian physician and communist supporter Norman Bethune.
Treasury Board President Tony Clement officially opened the new centre at the Norman Bethune Memorial House National Historic Site last week in Gravenhurst, Ont., where Bethune was born. The centre is also in Clement’s riding of Parry Sound-Muskoka.
Calgary West MP Rob Anders says the tribute is essentially a “bow” to the Chinese regime. In China, Bethune is something of a national folk hero, having been an ardent supporter of Chairman Mao and his policies.
“You really do have to take into account the fact that this shrine, this memorial, in some ways glorifies and lionizes Mao Tse Tung and the Communist Party of China,” says Anders.
“When you consider that Mao is the largest mass murderer in human history, with 80 million deaths attributed to him, that’s a pretty serious thing.”
