12 Comments
Jul 1, 2022Liked by Terry Glavin

Nice work you two. Voices of sanity in a world of howling absurdities

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Jul 2, 2022·edited Jul 2, 2022Liked by Terry Glavin

What an incredible socially bullying and rude, damaging to many, narcissistic movement the LGB….. activist community has become. No wonder there is growing pushback. Please just get out of others’ faces and live their lives like everyone else. We have had gay neighbours for over fifteen years in two different locations and a gay family member. All would be embarrassed to cavort in one of these parades or even to attend.

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Wonderful. We are in such trouble with the media sleeping at the switch. People really need to read Irresistible Damage by Abigail Shier. Queer identites are being pushed onto vulnerable youth. I have no hate in my heart, but when school changes your name snd pronouns without telling parents (current policy in Ontario schools), we need media to do its job.

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founding

Nuance, it's a wonderful thing. Nice to hear from rational voices like Fred Letwin (whom I'd never heard of until now). I would be remiss to mention that protesting against mandatory vaccinations, with a therapeutic that doesn't prevent infection, transmission, illness or death does not equate to insurrectionism.

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author

That was me being kinda sarcastic.

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founding
Jul 1, 2022·edited Jul 1, 2022

I know. You're beyond reproach, and I mean that sincerely. It's a very rare thing these days (integrity, not sarcasm) and worthy of mention when it happens. Have a great Canada Day weekend.

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Terry, I took a look at the anti-racism guidebook. IMO you have overflown the flag issue as the context is clear on how it is used. I also looked at the use of "conservative" and again the context of being more vulnerable to alt-right groups is clear (I would have never capitalized conservative to make it a more generic point. But certainly the PPC and the PP leadership campaign are aimed in part at attracting those groups. As to the "snitch" line language that you raise concerns about, hard one to finesse. I also don't like them in principle but on the other hand, do we want students and staff to remain silent? There is of course a real risk that some may report stuff that shouldn't be reported, and that institutions may over-react (enough examples out there), so it is not easy to find the balance between silence/complicity and reporting incidents.

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author

Do you trust the government to be even in the business of encouraging schoolteachers to ferret out political inclinations averse to the politics of the party in power? Quite a few Canadians associate the Trudeau government itself with extremism. You're right, it's hard to find the balance. Every section of that teaching guide tips the balance in the ruling party's favor. That's what it's for.

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Jul 4, 2022Liked by Terry Glavin

Fair point. And I don't. But there is a difference between "ferreting" out hate speech and groups, and the overlap with some on the conservative side of the spectrum. And the Canadians who associate the Trudeau government with extremism range from extremists themselves to those with legitimate concerns about the government's handling of the economy and priorities. And there are too many examples where neither party gets the balance right, unfortunately.

All governments tend to fund or write guides that support their narrative. I was involved in Discover Canada citizenship guide which was shaped by the Conservative government (e.g., higher profile of monarchy, initial virtual absence of LGTBQ, "barbaric cultural practices" reference which presumably, the revised guide will reflect a Liberal bias.

Will be interesting to see the degree to which the guide is used or not used.

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OMG! Two very powerful articles. I really appreciate the two of you bringing these topics to our attention. I just happened to read retired Cdn Professor Tom Flanigan's article on the British web site UnHerd re how the "indigenous industry is thriving off fake news", thanks to the clout the New York Times has.

https://unherd.com/2022/06/the-truth-about-canadas-indian-graves/

For all the money spent on reporting on our Indigenous and LGBTQ+++++++ issues, I shake my head that we still can't provide all of our Indigenous communities with potable water. How much farther are we going to sink before we wake up?

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founding

The federal government has provided all indigenous communities with the latest portable technology. The problem is the communities do not have the knowledge, skills to maintain these systems.

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founding

Potable water technology.

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