I've spend the last few days flying around all over the place, so it's great to be back home.
And to make matters even better, the rink is fully functional.
But just as I was saying to myself, yes, that's MY Canada.
Then I saw this.
And it couldn't be less Canadian or more disgraceful.
The number of police-reported hate crimes reached an all-time high in 2017, largely driven by incidents targeting Muslim, Jewish and black people, according to Statistics Canada data released Thursday. The federal agency said hate crimes have been steadily climbing since 2014, but shot up by some 47 per cent 2017, the last year for which data was collected.
In total, Canadian police forces reported 2,073 hate crimes – the most since 2009, when data became available.
Or more predictable.
For when people like Andrew Scheer are allowed to stir up racist and xenophobic feelings with impunity.
You know he is capable of anything.
And who knows to what monstrous place he might take us.
And when professional hate mongers like Ezra Levant are able to make a good living peddling hate as if it was just another day at the office.
And not only does not have any charges ever laid against him, but gets to be praised by Britain's most notorious bigot Tommy Robinson.
And giggle with obscene delight.
When all of this is allowed to happen, and the media records the facts, but has nothing more to say about them, lest it make its Con friends look bad.
So it doesn't even bother to take a closer look at the latest Stats Can report.
And leaves out chilling stuff like this:
Hate crimes targeting sexual orientation accounted for 10% of all police-reported hate crimes in 2017, rising from 176 incidents in 2016 to 204 in 2017, marking a second consecutive annual increase.
Those were offset somewhat by 18 fewer incidents in British Columbia. As has been seen in previous years, violent crimes accounted for a higher proportion of crimes targeting sexual orientation when compared with other types of hate crimes.
So some are more equal than others, violence mingles with indifference, bigotry becomes normalized.
And is allowed to poison even the young.
It's beyond ugly, it cannot be allowed to continue...
We need better laws to control the spread of hate, we need to let Andrew Scheer and his monstrous Cons know that hate speech is not free speech.
And of course we need to hope that Justin Trudeau, who whether you support him or not does stand for decency, and our Canadian values.
Will hopefully teach Scheer and all the filthy bigots in this country a lesson they'll forget.
The situation couldn't be clearer, and the solution couldn't be more obvious, or more urgent.
The bigots must be beaten before they kill this country.
And so I can say again, this is MY Canada happy and decent...
P.S. I'm sorry I wasn't able to answer your comments properly while I was travelling. But all should be back to normal by the weekend...
15 comments:
Granted, Canada like any other country has its own set of homegrown boneheads, white/male/"Christian" supremacist thugs, and Republican/Fox News wannabes in Parliament and the Con media. But there's no discounting the global Trump effect that's emboldened these hate-mongers to act with impunity. Or the Internet, which has its origins here and where Facebook, Twitter and the like are headquartered and use the Constitution to wipe the blood off their hands. The U.S. has proven itself to be the #1 net exporter of hate. I'm sorry to say that our laissez-faire interpretation of "free speech" has been an odious and grotesque mistake. Hopefully Trump is gone soon, and Emmanuel Macron's "European model of the Internet" is allowed to take hold and bring some much-needed order and decency to the out-of-control chaos that the weaponized trolls have been allowed to foment. Canada, meanwhile, ought to bring back and strengthen those anti-hate provisions that Herr Harper got rid of, so that Levant, McInnes and their ilk can face the necessary and overdue consequences for what they've said and done.
I too find it hard to believe that the hate crime rate can jump by so much and the media has nothing to say about it. You have mentioned many times the danger of normalizing this kind of behaviour, and now that danger should be obvious
That picture of Levant with Tommy Robinson is absolutely disgusting. I’ve seen the video and Levant practically squeals with delight when Robinson thanks him for his support. Robinson had just been released from prison, which is where hate mongers like Levant belong.
I don't know if hate crimes are actually up What is see happening is more people are willing to report hate crimes against them and that is a good thing. Many, especially in the LBGTQ community, previously did not report violence or hate against them. In the Vancouver area a number of gay couples have reported to the police cases of harassment and done t.v. interviews. it clearly demonstrates the LBGTQ community is fighting back.
Acts of racism are up. We see it with attacks on religious buildings and that won't change until the president of the U.S.A. is gone and racism becomes unfashionable again. scheer/ford peddle it in their own way, but here in B.C. you don't it that much, what we do see is the president of the u.s.a. AND All his republicans and their attacks on Muslims and Migrants. When the President of the U.S.A. is calling people of colour names and portraying them as 'invaders" and "bad people" it doesn't help. what would help, is if t.v. news stations stopped showing trump saying these things. It is one thing for a reporter to report Trump has said, this or that. It is quite another thing to show the video of him doing it. It has a major impact on people. They see the president doing it, so they think, why not me. The media has played a large role in this and they need to stop
People need to get over their hate for people they think aren't like them. It doesn't make their lives any better to hate and the people they hate are not going away. as Bambi's mother said, if you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all.
Nothing is gained by attacking religious buildings. The religion isn't going to go away and neither are the people. do these idiots think if you attack a synagogue or Muslim house of worship the people go attend there are suddenly going to become catholic or join the United Church?
Every time I hear a Con quote JT's tweet as causing the migrant crisis I can picture their hateful mugs blowing their dog whistles to rally their racist supporters and it is working. Though they may not be as outlandish as the current King of Hate, Donald Trump, they are continuing what Harper started long ago and with the help of their brethren rebel we are at the place we are today.
The laws surrounding "free speech" requires that an asterisk be added that explains that free speech does not include the hateful rhetoric we are exposed to on a daily basis that could cause and usually does harm to peaceful, law abiding people for the "crime" of not being a white heterosexual person.
JD
The left has mishandled these issues because of intersectional feminism, and that is what has lead to this, not Trump is a symptom, not a cause.
Your analysis and conclusion is incorrect: Trump is the cause!
Hi Jackie...you're absolutely right, Trump is at the very centre of this explosion of bigots all over the world. That depraved hustler has encouraged political thugs all over the world to give vent to their lowest instincts. It has been a hideous revelation, but at least now we know how many Trumplings are out there and we can make plans to destroy them. Which means reinforcing our ridiculously weak hate laws and making them pay for their crimes against decency. Unless we act quickly and firmly they will breed like rats and cleaning up our country will take years. However, the way I see it is if Alberta can be rat free, so can Canada...
Hi anon...yes, that's the part that really depresses me. How people and especially the media can be so indifferent to such a large jump in hate crimes is beyond me. Just because it doesn't happen to them they don't care? A country where hate is normalized isn't much of a country...
You cant just blame Trump. the racism and hate was already there. What Trump did was make it "O.K." to verbalize it all. trump light the match which started the fire, but the wood was already there.
Hi anon...I've seen the video too, in fact I believe the picture I used is a screen cap from it. And yes it is disgusting. The thug Robinson is Levant's hero so you're right, when Tommy thanks Ezra our grotesque bigot does squeal with delight. I would advise Levant to stay out of Britain or he may find himself in serious legal trouble...
Hi e.a.f...I reject the notion that hate crimes are up only because people are reporting more of them. They are up because they are up and Canada has a serious problem.Period. And the situation is only going to get worse if groups that have been targeted by bigots form vigilante squads and strike back. We need stronger hate laws to deal with bigots or there could be a bloodbath...
Hi JD...Justin Trudeau's tweet was simply stating the difference been this country and Trump's America, and any Canadian who has a problem with it is obviously a bigot and a Trumpling as far as I'm concerned. Tolerating bigots who should not be tolerated is the road to fascism as far as I'm concerned. And my contempt for bullies has, is, and will always motivate me to fight the Cons...
Hi Gyor...intersectional feminism? Remind me to Google that one, just not today. I know you are biased against feminists, but blaming them for this wave of hatred aimed at all sorts of groups is ridiculous. You need to put your hate aside, and move on...
Hi e.a.f...I think that we can safely say that between Trump and our own Cons and people like Ezra Levant hate criminals have been empowered and are now out of control. If the police can't control them then we must...
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