Yesterday in Ottawa, Pierre Trudeau and over 160 candidates (inc. my friend Danielle Takacs) released a set of 32 democratic reform proposals called “Real Change”, which would significantly overhaul how democratic institutions and process work in the country. Everyone knows I’m a Liberal supporter, so hearing I’m excited about these
Continue readingTag: Liberals
OpenMedia.ca: Huffington Post: Liberals were caught off guard when candidate MacLeod stepped down over C-51 vote
After candidate MacLeod stepped down over Trudeau’s C-51 vote, the Liberal party issued a statement saying his resignation was for personal reasons… Article by Althia Raj for the Huffington Post OTTAWA — The federal Liberals are staying mum about a star candidate who just turned on them. read more
Continue readingThe Adventures of Diva Rachel: Don’t Break Out The Bubbly! Carding Continues Across Canada :-(
In Ontario (and elsewhere in Canada), race has been a factor in determining who rightfully belongs here, and who is, by default, an intruder to be wary of. Betraying Canada’s mantra of multiculturalism, a constant cloud of suspicion follows dark-skinned Canadian citizens every day. Whether they are walking while Black, driving while Black, flying while Black, banking while Black, bussing while black… People who look Aboriginal or Arab tell similar stories of being presumed risky guilty before being proven innocent.
All over Canada (not just in Toronto), police regularly stop law-abiding citizens in the hopes of finding a needle in a haystack gathering evidence or intelligence to supposedly reduce crime. There is no evidence to support this race-based targeting actually works, but the carding custom continues.
Carding is the practice by which law enforcement systematically stop, interrogate and document (mostly) dark-skinned citizens who are committing no crime and display no evidence of having committed a crime.
They coined the practice “stop-and-frisk” in the USA. Whatever the terminology employed, it’s called “racism”.
Notably, Ontario’s “activist” Premier Kathleen Wynne has sidestepped the issue. Wynne’s awkward silence follows a pattern of favouring her fetish demographics. Liberal Party leader Justin Trudeau did one better: his cronies recruited former Toronto Police Chief and carding defender Bill Blair to run in the upcoming federal election. It will take tornado of spin for the “multiculturalism-inventing” Liberals to square that circle: Trudeau has been travelling the country while waving a banner of “fairness.”
In the End, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.
~Martin Luther King, Jr.
One wonders when these elected leaders will frog-leap onto the right side of history.
Bravely breaking his counterparts’ deafening silence, deputy leader of the Ontario NDP Jagmeet Sing stood up and clearly verbalized his quest to quash carding, province-wide.
At first, former Progressive Conservative party leader and current Toronto Mayor John Tory didn’t seem bothered by bigotry behind the badge. In a stunning about-face enlightened evolution, Mayor Tory announced the end of carding in his city this week. As the congratulatory backslapping spread across the Center of the Universe Hogtown, the rest of the province and the rest of the country is left eating dust. For us, carding carries on.
Never put your hands up until the puck’s in the net and the goal light is on. Let’s see what happens in concrete terms with #carding #tps
— Anthony Morgan (@AnthonyNMorgan) June 7, 2015
Journalist Desmond Cole’s courageous and personal account of unrelenting and unwarranted police interrogations describes incidents in St. Catharines and Kingston. Neither are covered by this week’s partial victory.
THE DOMINO EFFECT
It was in 1956 that Ontario became the first province to enforce the Fairness Accommodation Practices Act, thus granting new equality rights to its Black and Asian residents. For the first time in Canadian history, racial equality was declared a civil right, and “racial discrimination in was confirmed as illegal“. Following Ontario’s lead, legislative civil rights flowed outward from coast to coast.
Today, since our provincial leaders are not willing to defend the most vulnerable citizens and uphold the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, individuals have to band together to force the issue. Just as Rosa Parks Bromley Armstrong and Ruth Lor served as the test cases for racial equality 50 years ago, Rohan Roberts has stepped up to the plate to challenge carding in Ontario. In what could be a landmark case, Roberts filed Human Rights complaint against Toronto Police. The defendants have access to a bottomless till of taxpayer dollars to fund their retort. Roberts is a working class guy. In the pursuit of justice writ large, Mr. Roberts will sacrifice himself and his financial security in a bid to realign law enforcement with the values we hold dear. (I’ve launched a crowdfunding drive to help defray his legal bills.)
To eradicate carding in Canada, this case must be heard in the highest courts. Judges must remind all citizens, including mayors, premiers and prime-ministerial hopefuls that equality and fairness are more than filatures for flowery speeches. Mayor John Tory was pulled, prodded into doing the right thing. The first domino has fallen. But we’ve not yet reached the promise land.
The Adventures of Diva Rachel: Don’t Break Out The Bubbly! Carding Continues Across Canada :-(
In Ontario (and elsewhere in Canada), race has been a factor in determining who rightfully belongs here, and who is, by default, an intruder to be wary of. Betraying Canada’s mantra of multiculturalism, a constant cloud of suspicion follows dark-skinned Canadian citizens every day. Whether they are walking while Black,
Continue readingThe Adventures of Diva Rachel: Don’t Break Out The Bubbly! Carding Continues Across Canada :-(
In Ontario (and elsewhere in Canada), race has been a factor in determining who rightfully belongs here, and who is, by default, an intruder to be wary of. Betraying Canada’s mantra of multiculturalism, a constant cloud of suspicion follows dark-skinned Canadian citizens every day. Whether they are walking while Black,
Continue readingBlevkog: It is on… apparently
With the new round of polls in the hopper and the NDP surge from their surprising provincial victory in Alberta quantified, if it didn’t before, it looks like the national election campaigns are firmly up and running for the three major political parties. The campaign ads are beginning to appear
Continue readingThe Sir Robert Bond Papers: Political Pandermonium #nlpoli
You can tell the election is already going on. You can tell because of what some of the political workers are doing. The Liberals are going door-to-door. They are meeting voters. They are asking for their votes. Then the campaign workers write on Twitter and Facebook.about the “glorious day” of
Continue readingThe Canadian Progressive: Federal NDP ahead of Conservatives and Liberals in new poll
A new poll suggests that Canadians are embracing the orange wave and seriously considering electing Canada’s first ever federal NDP government. The post Federal NDP ahead of Conservatives and Liberals in new poll appeared first on The Canadian Progressive.
Continue readingSaskboy's Abandoned Stuff: Conservatives Take Their Debate Ball and Hide In A Closet
After so much effort from the Greens to ensure all Canadians can hear an inclusive debate, what the Conservatives are doing now is absurd and frustrating. So the Cons are behaving typically. Will the media let them get off? Yes, history shows. Of course, the less the Prime Minister says,
Continue readingOpenMedia.ca: iPolitics: Will Liberal Senators vote against Bill C-51 despite Trudeau’s stand?
According to iPolitics, Senate opposition leader James Cowan said he’ll break with the policy of his Liberal party and vote against the Harper government’s controversial anti-terrorism legislation, Bill C-51. “My sense would be that most Liberal senators will oppose the bill. We’ll propose amendments — not the same amendments they
Continue readingOpenMedia.ca: Liberals are cutting their membership cards after Bill C-51 vote
Did the Liberals really think their voters wouldn’t care about that Bill C-51 vote? Well, they were wrong. Article by ThinkPol Social media is abuzz with images of Liberal supporters symbolically cutting up their party membership cards after their leader Justin Trudeau voted in favour of Bill C-51 at the
Continue readingLeft Over: Harper, You’ve Been Served…
“Woke up this mornin’ feelin’ fine…” Despite every contrary act of the Harperoids, have to say that today is a good day..yes, C-51 passed, and, notably, with the self-destructive Junior Trudeau’s tacit approval…Omar Khadr may get bail, and, realizing how mean-tempered and petty Harper can be, I’m sure he’s doing
Continue readingIMPORTANT RACES TO WATCH AND MY PREDICTIONS
It is election day in Alberta and before I have anything else to say, I have this important thing to say: VOTE! It will only take a few minutes but it is fundamentally important to our province. Before the campaign started, many pundits were predicting a strong PC majority and very low voter turnout. But, … Continue reading IMPORTANT RACES TO WATCH AND MY PREDICTIONS →
Continue readingImportant Races to Watch and My Predictions
It is election day in Alberta and before I have anything else to say, I have this important thing to say: VOTE! It will only take a few minutes but it is fundamentally important to our province. Before the campaign started, many pundits were predicting a strong PC majority and
Continue readingProgressive Proselytizing: Justin Trudeau’s tax plan is good policy and great politics
Going as far back as Justin Trudeau’s leadership election, he has consistently kept his major campaign planks close to the vest. Little tidbits, like the policy on marijuana, come out in carefully crafted morsels, but for the most part we are left gues…
Continue readingProgressive Proselytizing: Justin Trudeau’s tax plan is good policy and great politics
Going as far back as Justin Trudeau’s leadership election, he has consistently kept his major campaign planks close to the vest. Little tidbits, like the policy on marijuana, come out in carefully crafted morsels, but for the most part we are left guessing at what his first federal election campaign
Continue readingProgressive Proselytizing: Justin Trudeau’s tax plan is good policy and great politics
Going as far back as Justin Trudeau’s leadership election, he has consistently kept his major campaign planks close to the vest. Little tidbits, like the policy on marijuana, come out in carefully crafted morsels, but for the most part we are left guessing at what his first federal election campaign
Continue readingPop The Stack: On the significance of sound and fury.
Oh journalists, you love a strong response to an unanswerable question don’t you? The media are really into nailing down what each party leader thinks about coalitions after the next election at the moment. Case in point, this week’s little drama with Liberal leader Justin Trudeau trying to answer questions about
Continue readingSaskboy's Abandoned Stuff: Opposed to Coalition?
Yesterday’s news: .@davidcommon Odd report by @ElliottLouise about @JustinTrudeau & @ThomasMulcair #coalition didn't mention @ElizabethMay & @CanadianGreens. — Saskboy K. (@saskboy) April 15, 2015 Today’s news: Most Canadians are opposed to a coalition government. Presently the only party with the word “coalition” in its founding documents is the Conservative Party
Continue readingThe Liberal Scarf: Photos from Mississauga-Lakeshore Day of Action
Haven’t posted in a bit, but I certainly been busy with Liberal volunteerism! I’ve been helping to run canvassing for the great Liberal candidate in my home riding of Mississauga-Lakeshore, Sven Spengemann. Here are a couple photos from today’s Day of Action: We’ve been going out pretty regularly, and hearing
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