When you think about it, there is nothing intrinsically wrong with national myths. They seek to convey something special about one’s country. For example, there is the American myth about being a country where anyone can become anything by dint of hard work. In Canada, there is the myth that
Continue readingTag: Islamophobia
Views from the Beltline: What about the atheists?
We hear a great deal about religious bigotry these days. Islamophobia so concerns the federal government that it recently appointed an anti-Islamophobia representative—Amira Elghawaby. (Ms. Elghawaby immediately got into hot water herself and had to apologize to Quebeckers for uncharitable remarks she had made about the good people of that
Continue readingViews from the Beltline: Why I support Collin May’s lawsuit
In May of this year, lawyer Collin May was appointed by cabinet order as chief of the Alberta Human Rights Commission after serving on the commission for three years. Then he was “outed.” Some sleuth discovered that in 2009 May had written a book review that supported the thesis that
Continue readingAlberta Politics: UCP appoints lawyer who wrote favourable review of book denigrating Islam to lead Human Rights Commission
Notwithstanding serious concerns raised about Collin May’s past praise for a tendentious book denigrating the Islamic faith, the United Conservative Party Government proceeded on Thursday with his controversial appointment as chief of the Alberta Human Rights Commission. Alberta Justice Minister Tyler Shandro (Photo: Government of Alberta). The Calgary lawyer who
Continue readingAlberta Politics: While Jason Kenney promises the best summer ever, it’s hard to shake the feeling of apocalyptic foreboding this Canada Day
ST. ALBERT, ALBERTA – It’s Canada Day. The pickup trucks with their maple leaf flags may or may not be screeching around Edmonton’s Whyte Avenue tonight, laying rubber in celebration of the provincial government’s edict the masks must come off, Delta variant or not. The Youville Residential School in St.
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Never mind the evidence, Jason Kenney insists he never called for a niqab ban in his Ottawa days
“I’ve always said that Canada is a country that protects and respects religious freedom and pluralism, and the government has no business regulating what people wear…” — Jason Kenney, yesterday. “Whaaat?” — Everybody else, also yesterday. Former prime minister Stephen Harper (Photo: Office of the Prime Minister). Is Jason Kenney’s
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Thought For The Day
H/t Theo Moudakis Recommend this Post
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: There Must Be A Better Word
The word phobia generally connotes an irrational fear of something. A definition of the term from a mental health perspective tells us it is a type of anxiety disorder that is characterized by extreme and debilitating fear of an object, place, situation, or creature (usually insects) which is usually not dangerous.
Continue readingPolitical Potshots: When Saying Nothing Is Worse Than Saying The Wrong Thing
I have often wondered what is worse, failing while leading or failing to lead. In many ways it describes our current Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, and the man who wants to be Prime Minister, Andrew Scheer. I don’t fault Justin Trudeau when he makes mistakes while leading – saying the
Continue readingPolitical Potshots: Andrew Scheer Goes Full Rebel Media
Lets follow a string. Andrew Scheer hired Hamish Marshall to be his campaign manager. First for the leadership of the Conservative Party of Canada, in fact Andrew Scheer ran his campaign from the offices of Rebel Media and paid them money for advertising. Now, Hamish Marshall is running the national
Continue readingdaveberta.ca – Alberta Politics: Calgary-Fish Creek bozo-eruption raises questions about “rigorous” UCP candidate screening process
Photo: UCP leader Jason Kenney and Calgary-Fish Creek MLA Richard Gotfried (source: Twitter) MLA Richard Gotfried fended off a nomination challenge on September 7, 2018 against opponent Cindy Ross, becoming the United Conservative Party candidate in Calgary-Fish Creek. It was a contentious nomination race, with accusations of negative campaigning being
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Didn’t care or didn’t know? UCP MLAs endorse author of offensive social media posts for nomination
Well, that certainly didn’t take long! Mere hours after AlbertaPolitics.ca published its semi-satirical, semi-serious “Jimmy the Geek” Vegas odds piece about the potential for bozo eruptions among the current members of the United Conservative Party Legislative Caucus than, well, some of the bozos erupted. Yesterday’s AlbertaPolitics.ca post assigned Rick Strankman,
Continue readingMontreal Simon: Ramadan and the Story of Ibraheem
As you may know, Muslims around the world are preparing to observe Ramadan, a month of fasting and religious reflection.And it comes at a difficult time.What with the horror in Gaza.And the rise of anti-Muslim bigotry everywhere including Canada, where scuzzy hate mongers like Ezra Levant make a living peddling
Continue readingMontreal Simon: The Hijab Girl and the Bigot Cons
By now I'm sure most of you have heard the story of the 11-year-old Muslim girl in Toronto who claimed a bigot had attacked her.And how that turned out not to be true. Just a child's make believe story. Like many Canadians I was relieved the attack didn't happen, and both
Continue readingThe Canadian Progressive: Trump may have emboldened hate in Canada, but it was already here
While many Canadians often associate the continuing rise in white supremacist hate in Canada to US President Donald Trump’s divisive rhetoric, the right-wing extremist movement was already “alive and well” in Canada, “with more than 100 active groups and well over 100 reported incidents of right-wing extremist violence in the
Continue readingThe Canadian Progressive: Quebec’s niqab ban uses women’s bodies to bolster right-wing extremism
Quebec’s recent passage of Bill 62, which bans the wearing of the niqab in Quebec for people seeking access to public services, appeases the political demands of the ultra-right in the province, argues Yasmin Jiwani, a Professor of Communication Studies at Concordia University. The post Quebec’s niqab ban uses women’s
Continue readingThe Canadian Progressive: New NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh battles racism in Canadian politics with love
Jagmeet Singh, a martial artist, Sikh lawyer, and newly-elected leader of Canada’s New Democratic Party (NDP), uses love to challenge racism, Islamophobia and white supremacy in Canadian politics and society. The post New NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh battles racism in Canadian politics with love appeared first on The Canadian Progressive.
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Arrant Nonsense
But then, I know to expect nothing more from an administration run by a clown. Recommend this Post
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: I Become Increasingly Disappointed
Only a naif would believe the myth that Canada is a country with a proud tradition of openness and acceptance. Attempts at indigenous assimilation, the the despicable treatment of west coast Japanese and Italian-Canadians during the Second World War are but two examples attesting to our checkered past. That being
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