You are currently browsing the category archive for the ‘Canada’ category.
Canadians need to be exposed to the end product of inducting the concept of gender identity into Charter and laws. The end result is that we have incarcerated male rapists in female prisons. It is the ultimate expression of placing the feelings of males above the *safety* of females in our society.
This is not about ‘being kind’ or being inclusive. This is ignoring the reality we all share for some kind of gender fucking fantasy land where what people say about themselves MUST be accepted by everyone around them. Our internal perception of ourselves is precisely that – it is ours – and there should be no expectations of others to abide with said perception.
Our laws must deal with the world as it is, not the world as individuals want to perceive it if we value the notion of a just and fair Canadian society (that also happens to be safe for females).
CA — Ottawa, Ontario. Women Are Human recently disclosed Anngela Valentino’s Parole Board of Canada (PBC) decision, which confirmed female prisoners’ reports of Valentino assaulting and/or threatening them while incarcerated at Grand Valley Institution for Women (GVI). Women Are Human has additionally obtained the July 2020 PBC decision for a different male prisoner, Steve Mehlenbacher, which also confirms a female prisoner’s report that Mehlenbacher repeatedly sexually assaulted her. Mehlenbacher’s sexual assaults were first reported by Women Are Human in August 2020, after Heather Mason sounded the alarm on social media. Mason is a former Canadian federal prisoner at GVI and is now an advocate for women in prison. At that time, Women Are Human reached out to Mason and another former prisoner, who detailed multiple instances of Mehlenbacher’s predatory and abusive behaviour, and who were thus completely unsurprised that Mehlenbacher had been charged with sexual assault. Continue reading Parole Decision Confirms Another Male Prisoner Was Violent Towards Incarcerated Women | Women Are Human. Read more at: https://www.womenarehuman.com/parole-decision-confirms-another-male-prisoner-was-violent-towards-incarcerated-women/
The first ten minutes encapsulate so much of what is wrong with this legislation.
The bitter partisan environment that dominates US politics is coming here. Three examples are have been captured and posted to Twitter – here the ‘freedom rallies’ exhibit hostility toward media crews on the ground who are there covering the event.
These two incidents may not be typical of the all the protests but I think are indicative of the misplaced skepticism and vilification of established news media sources that is becoming normalized in Canadian society.
I am not endorsing less media awareness or less critical thinking, on the contrary, triangulating news events and stories is vital for a more comprehensive grasp of the issues at hand. But this isn’t what is happening. It is outright hatred and physical violence against media outlets perceived not to be the home team.
These sorts of actions are not acceptable in Canadian society.
It certainly seems like the religious, libertarian hard right fringe has made its way from the US to Canada. The illegal occupation of Ottawa and border crossings are prime examples of the profoundly undemocratic/reactionary roots of this ‘movement’.
The police are reacting with a glacial slowness that is exacerbating the situation. Much more needs to be done to protect our civil society, public health, and democratic institutions.
I agree with Tim’s analysis of what is going on in Ottawa and in Alberta. People are circumventing the ways that make a functioning democracy work, and it should be a serious concern to everyone.
“It has been said, often, during this crisis that you can’t live in downtown Ottawa without becoming very, very familiar with protests and demonstrations. They are a regular thing here. It’s the seat of government, after all. For me, they are a feature of the place, not a bug.
Demonstrations and protests (they are different but related, but we’ll save the details this time) are a critical part of a functioning, pluralistic democracy. They allow particularly contentious issues to bubble to the surface, to gain exposure and, potentially, drive change.
Successful demonstrations grab attention but more importantly, they focus that attention on solving a particular policy problem in a particular way. They succeed by highlighting actions that *can* be taken and usually suggest *how* they might be taken.
It should be crystal clear by now that what is happening in Ottawa is not that. The *demands* that are being made are like a ransom note from a B-grade thriller. They are unintelligible in the extreme. Even if a government wanted to comply, where would they begin?
In our system, each geographical district elects a representative who goes to Ottawa and participates in policy development and law-making on our behalf. Once we choose them, they are free to do as they please, governed by the rules and foundational laws of our country.
If we don’t like the job they are doing, we pick someone better the next time. And so on, and so on. But what about mid-term? What if we hate what the government is doing? What can we do? We can get together with like-minded people and demonstrate.It lets the government know we’re displeased and want a change. If the ask is doable, and popular enough, demonstrations can move minds… because representatives want to get re-elected, yes, but also because the willingness of people to protest, en masse, is compelling.
But there are rules. The constitution lays out the form and function of government… including rules on how to change the rules. A protest that demands changes to *that* has a huge hill to climb. It’s complicated stuff. (For reference go read up on Meech and Charlottetown).
Which brings us to where we are. The manifesto of this occupation makes myriad, confusing, incompatible demands. They make no sense at all, really. There is no effective way to act on them, even if we wanted to.
Even the simplest, “end the mandates” (which ones? For whom? Which level of government?) is far from simple. It would require careful policy work and balancing of interests. But there, exactly, is the problem. These occupiers are not interested in balance.
This occupation wants its way. And only its way. Not compromise. They are a large, violent toddler thrashing about on the kitchen floor of our democracy. “Give it to me, or I will break shit,” they are telling us. They don’t care about me or anyone else in downtown Ottawa.
They don’t care about you, or anyone who disagrees with them. They want *it*. And they will smash stuff, people, and institutions until they get it. And that is what they are doing. With each thrash of their chubby, spoiled, toddler limbs, they are chipping away at us all.
Which brings us to the cries for toleration and appeasement. Those cries are cowardly nonsense. It’s basic to democratic principles that you need to be tolerant of widely divergent views. It’s essential. But…
It’s vital to understand that the one thing that cannot be tolerated is intolerance, itself. Democratic governance breaks apart when intolerance takes over. It needs to be stamped out, marginalized, disregarded. It should not be given centre stage and the keys to the city.
Which is what we have done. Almost literally. Our officials have cleared out the kitchen to make as much room as possible for the rampaging toddler. They are fanning the flames of intolerance by giving it deep, rich oxygen. They are failing us.
Our officials are failing us because they do not understand the limits of the system they safeguard. We have reached those limits. They must begin to push back—hard—or we risk losing it all.”
Thank you justdad7 for writing such urgently necessary thoughts.
This is the context we need to make any progress with the gender religious, as most seem to be under the notion that the rights they claim happen to be ‘apex rights’ – in other words gender identity should be given first priority when judging a situation.
They, in fact, are not. And we need to start framing issues of gender identity in the proper context of all the human rights we have in Canada and acknowledge that friction and conflicts do exist and must be discussed.
Sex an Sexual orientation are no less important in society, but the current blitz by the gender religious would have us overlook this key contextual aspect of the debate.
No longer. Like the rest of the adults in society Gender Identity proponents are going to have to learn to compromise and accept that not all their assertions are holy writ and must be accepted in their base form.
Did you ever need to see what ignorance and a banal level of patriotism looks like? Here ya be. The Rally for Freedom in my hometown. It is so very disheartening to see this level of absolute farce on display.
These individuals are demonstrating their absolute lack of social responsibility and disregard for others. Sadly, others will pay for their ignorance while they enter the healthcare system en masse pushing scheduled and necessary life saving surgeries down the queue because getting vaccinated and following public health measures is just too much of an infringement on their rights.
https://twitter.com/Jo_Tates/status/1487575992487247872
This is a near perfect clip of the level of malicious ignorance being celebrated. It illustrates not giving a fuck about others (even your own child) while basking in a glorious herd stupidity moment of social irresponsibility. Seems like the perfect video for the anti-vax/anti-responsibility freedum crowd.
Covid has brought the out the very worst of the selfish libertarian impulse in people. It confirms that selfishness wrapped in hyper-patriotic tat wins against the serious responsible fact based response medical science has painstakingly laid out for us.
If the situation were not so fucking dire, the irony on display here would be laughably delicious. This willful malicious ignorance will come to no good end.
I’m revolted to the core.
bleatmop
Mystro
The Arbourist
Dead Wild Roses 
Your opinions…