I believe that History matters. History matters because it teaches us how to be better. History provides us with the very best and worst lessons of what people are capable of. Just look at Nelson Mandela. He was one of many people who brought an end to Apartheid in South
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Wise Law Blog: Viola Desmond to Grace the $10 Bill
Viola Desmond, known as the Canadian Rosa Parks, will officially grace the front of the $10 Canadian bill in 2018. In 1946 Nova Scotia, Ms. Desmond refused to sit in a movie theatre balcony designated for people of her race, and went to the main floor instead. She was forcibly
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: Viola Desmond: The Perfect Choice
Viola Desmond is the first Canadian woman to be featured on our bank notes. We know the outline of her story—Ms Desmond was arrested, jailed and convicted for refusing to leave the whites-only section of a movie theatre. Her story speaks to the pernicious nature of racism in Canada and
Continue readingIn This Corner: Stuff Still Happens, week 49: On the ‘lock her up’ chant, and the woman they DID lock up.
Last Saturday, the right-wing rabble rouser, Ezra Levant, roused the rabble just enough to host an anti-carbon tax rally at the Alberta legislature. The crowd of probably a few hundred heard the usual stuff from the usual suspects, and the event was mostly uneventful. The Edmonton Journal’s story on the
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: This Makes Me Happy
Whether or not we like to admit it, Canadians are often a smug lot. We look, for example, at the seemingly rampant racism of the society to the south of us, shake our heads and cluck our tongues. How can people treat other people that way? Yet we have a
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: For What It’s Worth
Unfortunately, bias and prejudice are an ingrained part of human nature, and as much as we might wish to deny it, there are demons that reside in all of us. The only honest way to deal with them, in my view, is to admit to and confront them as the
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