LILLEY: Canada now a land of ethic and religious fighting

2024/11/06 Leave a comment

Overwrought and exaggerated, but yes, these are worrying signs:

We are the country we claim not to be. Canada is now a country of religious and ethnic tensions, bigotry and violence.

We saw this over the weekend in Brampton when a Hindu temple was attacked. People beaten with bats; video shows people carrying Khalistani flags hitting temple goers with the flag poles.

We even have a Peel Regional Police officer suspended for taking part in the protest which turned violent. Sergeant Harinder Sohi, an 18-year veteran of the force, is now suspended after being identified as a participant.

He’s apparently now receiving death threats for participating.

The outbreak of a Sikh-Hindu religious war isn’t the only problem facing our country on this front. For a year, we have seen hate marches rise up across the country in support of terrorist organizations.

In the weeks after the Oct. 7, 2023 terror attacks by Hamas against Israel, we heard countless politicians say, “This isn’t who we are.” They said this in response to synagogues being attacked, Jewish schools being shot at, and Jewish community centres being firebombed.

Well, apparently this is who we are because these incidents have not stopped.

Last week, Eylon Levy, a man I’ve interviewed multiple times — with whom I met with in Israel last January and who was an Israeli government spokesperson for a time — was on a speaking tour in Canada. While at the University of Calgary to give a talk, Levy was met with cries of “Allahu akbar!” and claims that he was personally responsible for genocide and killing babies.

“That crosses the line from any sort of political protest into a full-on Jihadi war cry,” Levy told my Toronto Sun colleague Bryan Passifiume.

This is Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s new Canada, full-on ethnic and religious wars on our streets and nothing more from our leadership than a tweet.

“The acts of violence at the Hindu Sabha Mandir in Brampton today are unacceptable. Every Canadian has the right to practice their faith freely and safely,” Trudeau said in a social media post.

It’s too bad that Trudeau has been part of what has encouraged these protests. Just like Trudeau has failed to deal with anti-Semitism and the attacks on Jewish institutions for political gain, he’s used tensions in India to win favour with some groups.

For years, Trudeau has decided to bring the tensions of India’s domestic politics into Canadian politics. He inserted himself into a dispute between the Indian government and farmers in 2020 in a way that would have caused great consternation had a foreign government done the same during our trucker’s protest.

He has campaigned in Canada against the government of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in an attempt to win votes in Canada’s Sikh community. Immigration to Canada, in both the Sikh and Hindu communities, dates back more than 100 years.

For most of that time, there has been some form of peaceful co-existence. Tensions yes, but not an all-out religious war which is where we appear to be heading with no help from Trudeau and his politicking.

Meanwhile, India is set to take a harsher stand against Canada, even considering calling Canada a state sponsor of terrorism, according to some reports. The fact that we went from decades long ally of India to a pariah can only be laid at Trudeau’s feet.

It’s the same with Israel.

Canada voted for the creation of the State of Israel at the United Nations in 1948 and for the past several years has done everything possible to undermine that state. The Liberal Party has also taken policy positions that put ethno-religious politics above principle.

Foreign Minister Melanie Joly is openly courting the votes of people who back Hamas and Hezbollah. Yet, we are supposed to be shocked when an Israeli speaker is shut down at the University of Calgary and needs to be escorted out by security.

Add that to the schools being shot at, the synagogues attacked, the temples being swarmed, this is Justin Trudeau’s new Canada. The PM, who says he’s against divisiveness, sure has created a lot of it.

Source: LILLEY: Canada now a land of ethic and religious fighting

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Lisée | Féminisme viril: On reactions to “disappearing” reference to women

2024/11/05 Leave a comment

My favourites example is pregnant people rather than pregnant women:

…Ce n’est pas son propos, j’en conviens, et ça ne le rend pas moins pertinent. Car en parallèle de ce progrès fulgurant, des forces venues du volet masculin de la planète et prenant les atours du progressisme tentent de faire subir recul sur recul à un certain nombre d’acquis féminins durement gagnés.

Sophie tient un compte précis du nombre de fois où, par dérive intellectuelle ou par simple volonté d’être dans le vent, des organismes de l’État ou de la société civile ont voulu faire disparaître le mot « femme » du vocabulaire, ici et ailleurs, y compris les mots vagin, clitoris, même sein ! Au nom de l’inclusion du 0,75 % de la population qui s’auto-exclut des deux genres, il faudrait biffer les mentions de l’existence de la moitié des 99,25 % restants. Un peu comme si on interdisait à Justin Trudeau de dire « Canadiens, Canadiennes », car il est certain qu’il y a toujours un ou deux touristes dans l’auditoire. Elle note par exemple qu’il ne sera plus possible de suivre l’évolution du nombre de femmes au Collège des médecins, car leurs questionnaires ont changé pour donner, non deux choix de genre, mais 14 (14 !).

Une poignée d’insurgés

On pourrait lui répliquer que plusieurs des cas locaux et recensés ont été battus en brèche à cause de la réaction provoquée dans l’espace public par des femmes (et des hommes) qui réprouvent ces dérives. Justement. Si ces réactions existent, c’est que Sophie Durocher et quelques autres se sont donné le rôle de dire non. De faire de la « pédagogie de combat », selon l’expression de l’admirable Française Caroline Fourest, ou du « féminisme viril », selon celle de Sophie.

Ces interventions portent leurs fruits. Je me hasarde à penser qu’en Occident, ces dérives auront connu leur apogée entre 2020 et 2023 — et qu’elles sont désormais sinon en retrait, ou du moins sur la défensive. C’est davantage le cas au Québec qu’ailleurs, ce coin de continent que j’aime appeler la République du bon sens. Martine Biron a été prompte à refuser que le mot « femme » disparaisse du Code civil. Elle a été appuyée même par Québec solidaire. C’est un signe. Le refus d’accepter que les Montréalaises soient représentées par une femme voilée dans une image d’accueil à l’hôtel de ville s’est rendu à Valérie Plante, qui y a donné droit. C’en est un autre.

Ces victoires ne sont pas arrivées seules. Il a fallu qu’à la manière de Sophie Durocher, des citoyens s’insurgent contre ce qui s’installait comme une nouvelle façon d’être, présentée comme moderne et inclusive, alors que leur effet combiné, voulu ou non, réduisait l’espace que les femmes avaient acquis. Pour mener ce combat, il fallait accepter d’être exclu, pendant cet instant où la bêtise semblait dominante, du club des gens bien, du réseau de l’élite et du progrès.

C’est plus ardu que vous ne le pensez. On trouve moins de volontaires pour mener ces combats que de partisans du confort bien-pensant. C’est pourquoi on ne demande jamais, sur ces questions, où est Sophie Durocher ? Elle est toujours là, au front.

Source: Lisée | Féminisme viril

… That’s not his point, I agree, and that doesn’t make him less relevant. Because in parallel with this meteoric progress, forces coming from the male component of the planet and taking the guise of progressivism are trying to subject a number of hard-won female achievements to back and retreat.

Sophie keeps a precise account of the number of times that, out of intellectual drift or out of a simple desire to be in the wind, state or civil society organizations wanted to make the word “woman” disappear from the vocabulary, here and elsewhere, including the words vagina, clitoris, same breast! In the name of the inclusion of 0.75% of the population who self-exclude themselves from both genders, mentions of the existence of half of the remaining 99.25% should be deleted. A bit like forbidding Justin Trudeau to say “Canadians, Canadians”, because it is certain that there are always one or two tourists in the audience. She notes, for example, that it will no longer be possible to follow the evolution of the number of women at the College of Physicians, because their questionnaires have changed to give, not two gender choices, but 14 (14!).

A handful of insurgents

It could be said to him that several of the local and registered cases were defeated because of the reaction in public space by women (and men) who disapprove of these excesses. Precisely. If these reactions exist, it is because Sophie Durocher and a few others have given themselves the role of saying no. To do “combat pedagogy”, according to the expression of the admirable French Caroline Fourest, or “virile feminism”, according to Sophie’s.

These interventions are bearing fruit. I venture to think that in the West, these drifts will have reached their peak between 2020 and 2023 – and that they are now if not in retreat, or at least on the defensive. This is more the case in Quebec than elsewhere, this piece of the continent that I like to call the Republic of common sense. Martine Biron was quick to refuse to have the word “woman” disappear from the Civil Code. She was even supported by Québec solidaire. It’s a sign. The refusal to accept that Montrealers be represented by a veiled woman in a welcome image at City Hall went to Valérie Plante, who gave it the right. It’s another one.

These victories did not come alone. It was necessary that, in the manner of Sophie Durocher, citizens rebelled against what was being installed as a new way of being, presented as modern and inclusive, while their combined effect, wanted or not, reduced the space that women had acquired. To lead this fight, it was necessary to accept to be excluded, during this moment when stupidity seemed dominant, from the club of good people, from the elite network and progress.

It’s harder than you think. There are fewer volunteers to lead these fights than supporters of well-thinking comfort. That’s why we never ask, on these questions, where is Sophie Durocher? She’s still there, at the front.

Filed under gender, Multiculturalism Tagged with ,

‘We can’t cry about the milk that’s spilled’: As DE&I fallout continues, multicultural agencies grapple with changes

2024/11/05 Leave a comment

Of note:

Brands like Ford Motors, John Deere and Molson Coors, among others, have reversed course on their diversity, equity and inclusion commitments. The shift is leaving multicultural and diverse-owned agencies grappling with the fallout.

With a polarizing presidential election coming to a head tomorrow, hot-button issues like reproductive rights and affirmative action are now front and center. Over the past year, brands like Target and Bud Light have faced backlash for marketing campaigns and other work deemed woke. Since then, some brands have been increasingly steering clear of the so-called culture wars, quietly walking back DE&I commitments made in the post-George Floyd murder era. 

Notably, consumer spending has slowed and marketing budgets are facing constraints as economic uncertainty looms, making it easier for brands to make the case to divest from diversity efforts. Meaning, walking back the commitment is more a result of the need to tighten belts rather than a push to upend diversity initiatives, industry experts say.

That reversal has left multicultural and diverse-owned agencies dealing with the about-face from the boom seen at the height of the Black Lives Matter movement and subsequent DE&I commitments.

“It has definitely affected us,” said Dawn Wade, managing partner and chief strategy officer at NIMBUS, a Black-owned marketing agency. “We have many customers or clients who their DEI budgets were just completely cut.” In some instances, Wade added, diversity initiatives were axed, shifting dollars toward general marketing initiatives. It’s a stark comparison to 2020, when “phones were ringing off the hook,” she said, noting the agency had to turn work down to avoid onboarding too many clients at once, thus overloading the business. The agency has maintained around 20 clients since 2020. 

Recently, the agency lost a client whose diversity budget was completely slashed, she said. Meanwhile, some other clients have been in limbo, trying to find workarounds in light of DE&I budget cuts. (Wade did not offer the names of specific clients or budget figures.) 

Other multicultural marketers tell a similar story, noting the pendulum of brands’ commitment to diversity now swinging toward divestment out of fear of the so-called culture wars. At BGD Media, a multicultural and independently-owned marketing agency, potential clients have recently put conversations around working together on hold until 2025, said Latoya Bond, CMO of BGD Media. 

Source: ‘We can’t cry about the milk that’s spilled’: As DE&I fallout continues, multicultural agencies grapple with changes

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Canadian Handbook on the IHRA Working Definition of Antisemitism: Comment

2024/11/04 Leave a comment

This is a useful initiative, both as an explainer as well as providing examples of antisemitic behaviour, one that can be used by a variety of organizations and institutions. The illustrative examples (section 3) are particularly strong.

That being said, some weaknesses IMO:

The paragraph “Misconception #4” overly simplifies the history of the definition, and avoids mentioning the concerns of the lead drafter, Kenneth Stern, that it could be used to curb free speech.

The handbook is silent on the other main definition, The Nexus Document, which  “examines the issues at the nexus of antisemitism and Israel in American politics” but has broader implications and provides greater clarity on when criticism of Israel and Israeli policies and actions cross over to antisemitism.

The Canadian handbook could have benefited from more extensive examples of legitimate non-antisemitic critiques of Israel and its government (e.g., settler violence, restrictions on movement, military strategies, limiting humanitarian aid etc), keeping in mind that singling out Israel from other abusers can cross the line.

Lastly, the handbook reflects the wisdom of having a public servant as the special envoy, who knows how to “work the system” to obtain practical results, something much harder for former activists. That being said, there is a need for a similar practical handbook for anti-Muslim bias and hate, although the absence of a widely agreed definition makes it more complicated. The UN’s background paper, A Working Definition of Islamophobia, among others, could provide the basis for the development of a more formal definition along with IHRA and Nexus but from the perspective of anti-Muslim bias and hate.

For illustrative purposes, I selected these examples from the Handbook which, with suggested rewording, also could be applied to anti-Muslim hate:

Example 1: Calling for, aiding, or justifying the killing or harming of Jews in the name of a radical ideology or an extremist view of religion.

Calling for, aiding, or justifying the killing or harming of Muslims in the name of a radical ideology or an extremist view of religion.

Example 2: Making mendacious, dehumanizing, demonizing, or stereotypical allegations about Jews as such or the power of Jews as collective — such as, especially but not exclusively, the myth about a world Jewish conspiracy or of Jews controlling the media, economy, government or other societal institutions.

Making mendacious, dehumanizing, demonizing, or stereotypical allegations about Muslims as such or the power of Muslims as collective — such as, especially but not exclusively, the myth about a world Muslim conspiracy (great replacement theory).

Example 3: Accusing Jews as a people of being responsible for real or imagined wrongdoing committed by a single Jewish person or group or even for acts committed by non-Jews.

Accusing Muslims as a people of being responsible for real or imagined wrongdoing committed by a single Muslim person or group or even for acts committed by non-Muslims.

Example 6: Accusing Jewish citizens of being more loyal to Israel, or to the alleged priorities of Jews worldwide, than to the interests of their own nations.

Accusing Muslim citizens of being more loyal to the Ummah, or to the alleged priorities of Muslims worldwide, than to the interests of their own nations.

Note: I would argue that participating in the Israeli defence forces or in the armed forces of Islamic countries, or organizations like Hamas, Hisbollah and ISIS make dual loyalty charges legitimate.

Example 9: Using the symbols and images associated with classic antisemitism (e.g., claims of Jews killing Jesus or blood libel) to characterize Israel or Israelis.

Using the symbols and images associated with classic Islamophobia/anti-Muslim hate (e.g., Objectifying and generalising Muslims as different, exotic, or underdeveloped, or implying that they are outside of, distinct from, or incompatible with Canadian society and identity) to characterize citizens of Muslim countries.

Source: Canadian Handbook on the IHRA Working Definition of Antisemitism

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Medical journal ‘equity’ audit ignores Jewish doctors, medical professionals

2024/11/04 Leave a comment

Of note. While historically somewhat understandable, tone deaf in the current context:

Glaring omissions in an equity audit from Canada’s leading peer-reviewed medical journal are causing concern amongst Jewish medical professionals. 

Published in June by the Canadian Medical Association Journal (CMAJ,) the external audit was meant to improve the publication’s diversity efforts, but instead the authors chose to focus almost exclusively on Black, Muslim and Indigenous issues — without once mentioning the explosion of antisemitism impacting Jewish physicians and medical students.

“In 2022 the CMAJ editor-in-chief commissioned an independent audit of CMAJ’s culture and processes in support of developing a strategy to address issues related to antiracism, equity, diversity and inclusion (AEDI,)” read an excerpt from the report’s webpage. 

Among the report’s recommendations are developing a “learning framework around historical systemic oppression and racism in the health sector with a focus on anti-Black racism, anti-Indigenous Racism and Islamophobia for CMAJ staff and editorial teams.”

But completely absent from the report was any mention of struggles faced by Jewish medical professionals, who — especially after last year’s Oct. 7 Hamas terror attacks — face daily discrimination and harassment, particularly those in medical school….

Source: Medical journal ‘equity’ audit ignores Jewish doctors, medical professionals

Filed under Antisemitism, Multiculturalism Tagged with ,

MacDougall: Public servants must focus on action, not on pretending to act

2024/11/01 Leave a comment

Suspect that one of the first things the public service will need to cut is DEI training given Conservative MP views, considerable commentary on excesses as per the example below, and virtually cost-free politically, with some minor cost savings. The last sentence is particularly graphic:

…It is, then, exquisite timing that, at the same time Transport Canada is moving toward the announcement of high-speed rail, its senior leadership at the deputy minister level is staging a farce around mandated sessions on Indigenous reconciliation, as chronicled on the social media site X.com by journalist Jonathan Kay and confirmed by a contact who works in the department.

To cut a long story short, the planned sessions on reconciliation didn’t go according to plan when some of the public servants began challenging the outside speaker’s materials. Now there is sustained effort at a senior level to ensure the orthodoxy is respected/enforced, with the threat of punishment for those who challenged said orthodoxy. The beatings at TC will clearly continue until morale improves.

Which brings it back to focus. There is already a day when the public service has time off to reflect/learn about this worthy subject matter. Why not offer the programming then and let people get on with their actual jobs? Especially when the message from the taxpayer is to do exactly that.

Remember, the hangman is coming.

Source: MacDougall: Public servants must focus on action, not on pretending to act

Filed under Multiculturalism, Politics Tagged with , , ,

Libre opinion | Bedford, la laïcité et le refus du silence mou

2024/11/01 Leave a comment

Of note:

Je suis nouvellement enseignant de français de 1re secondaire dans une école dont la population (tant d’élèves que d’enseignants) est à 90 % arabo-musulmane.

Je gérais récemment une crise avec ma direction d’école pour (1) avoir utilisé en classe à plusieurs reprises le mot en n (dans un contexte où un de mes élèves noirs l’avait lui-même d’abord utilisé, piégeant un de ses pairs en le lui faisant répéter pour mieux l’en accuser ensuite, et pour expliquer la différence entre citer et insulter), et (2) avoir fait mon coming out en classe (en saisissant une occasion qui m’était offerte de conscientiser mes élèves à cette réalité par mon exemple).

Dans la même conversation avec la direction, j’ai indiqué que, par intérêt et curiosité envers mes élèves et mes collègues, depuis mon embauche, j’avais commencé à lire le Coran.

La direction, déjà plutôt froide, s’est refroidie encore plus. On a dit ne pas vouloir devenir un deuxième Bedford, que l’école était laïque et qu’on n’y parlait pas de religion. Je suis resté bouche bée. On n’y parle pas de religion, mais la plupart des filles y portent le voile ; on n’y parle pas de religion, mais la plupart des garçons trop bavards s’y lancent des Inchallah ! d’un bout à l’autre de la classe ; on n’y parle pas de religion, mais quand on y a posé des pancartes contre l’homophobie, la transphobie, etc., elles ont été enlevées massivement, tant par le personnel que par les élèves.

Bref, si on n’y parle pas de religion, on ne fait pas grand-chose contre ses manifestations — des plus inoffensives aux plus nocives. C’est ce que fait le silence mou.

Je suis resté bouche bée parce que ce qui était impliqué, c’est que moi, le gai militant, je risquais d’imposer l’islamisme à mes élèves et dans mon école. Laissez-moi rire ! Quand j’étais à la Commission de la relève de la Coalition avenir Québec, je scandalisais plutôt par mon hyperlaïcité en proposant que la toponymie québécoise (noms de villes, de rues, etc.) soit débarrassée de ses « Saint » et de ses « Sainte ».

Ce que j’ai dit à la direction, après être resté bouche bée une demi-seconde, c’est que la laïcité ne consiste pas à nier l’existence de la religion, mais à chercher à ce que son emprise sur les décisions — politiques surtout, mais personnelles aussi — diminue de plus en plus. C’est une des missions que je me suis données comme enseignant, moi qui mets sur un pied d’égalité, dans mes échanges avec la classe, les mythes juifs, les mythes chrétiens, les mythes musulmans, etc.

Voilà ce qui arrive quand on se contente de s’efforcer de ne pas parler des choses : on a une réaction épidermique au nom d’une chose, sans comprendre ce qu’elle est au fond. C’est du fétichisme, c’est du totémisme, c’est de l’animisme. Les mots ne sont rien ; les choses sont tout. Craignez moins les mots et plus les choses. Parce qu’éviter de parler de religion est le meilleur moyen de faire le lit de l’intégrisme religieux.

Source: Libre opinion | Bedford, la laïcité et le refus du silence mou

I am a new 1st secondary French teacher in a school whose population (both students and teachers) is 90% Arab-Muslim.

I was recently managing a crisis with my school management for (1) having used the n-word several times in class (in a context where one of my black students had first used it himself, trapping one of his peers by making him repeat it to better accuse him then, and to explain the difference between quoting and insulting), and (2) having made my come out in class (by seizing an opportunity offered to me to make my students aware of this reality by my example).

In the same conversation with management, I indicated that, out of interest and curiosity towards my students and colleagues, since my hiring, I had started reading the Koran.

The direction, already rather cold, cooled even more. We said we didn’t want to become a second Bedford, that the school was secular and that we didn’t talk about religion. I was left speechless. We don’t talk about religion, but most girls wear the veil there; we don’t talk about religion, but most of the boys who are too talkative go into it inchallah! From one end of the class to the other; we do not talk about religion, but when we put up signs against homophobia, transphobia, etc., they were massively removed, both by staff and students.

In short, if we don’t talk about religion, we don’t do much about its manifestations – from the most harmless to the most harmful. This is what soft silence does.

I was left speechless because what was involved was that I, the gay activist, risked imposing Islamism on my students and in my school. Let me laugh! When I was in the Commission de la relève de la Coalition avenir Québec, I was rather scandalized by my hypersecularism by proposing that Quebec toponymy (names of cities, streets, etc.) be cleared of its “Saints” and “Saints”.

What I told the management, after remaining open-mouthed for half a second, was that secularism does not consist of denying the existence of religion, but in seeking that its grip on decisions – especially political, but also personal – decreases more and more. This is one of the missions I have given myself as a teacher, I who put on an equal footing, in my exchanges with the class, Jewish myths, Christian myths, Muslim myths, etc.

This is what happens when you just try not to talk about things: you have an epidermal reaction to the name of a thing, without understanding what it is basically. It’s fetishism, it’s totemism, it’s animism. Words are nothing; things are everything. Fear less words and more things. Because avoiding talking about religion is the best way to make the bed of religious indegrism.

Filed under Multiculturalism, Religion Tagged with , ,

Lederman: Trump’s MSG rally was a horror show on its own – no Nazi comparisons necessary

2024/10/31 Leave a comment

Hard to understand support for this invective and hatred among so many speakers and tolerated, if not shared, by Trump supporters:

…While comparisons are unhelpful, the lessons of that Nazi rally should be heeded. As A Night at the Garden filmmaker Marshall Curry said, the 1939 rally “made clear how the tactics of demagogues have been the same throughout the ages. They attack the press, using sarcasm and humour. They tell their followers that they are the true Americans … And they encourage their followers to “take their country back” from whatever minority group is ruining it.” Sound familiar?

Even if it was unsurprising by MAGA standards, perhaps this rally will turn out to be the October surprise that pundits have been waiting for – a last-minute event that has a big effect on the election result. Perhaps some voters can still be swayed from Mr. Trump’s odious message, even if he and his ever-changing team have shown us again and again who and what they are. What happened on Sunday should matter.

The former wrestler Hulk Hogan, one of the esteemed speakers at the Trump event, looked out at the crowd and declared “I don’t see no stinkin’ Nazis.”

Call them what you will (or won’t), but the stench is palpable. A little, one might say, like foul, reeking garbage.

Source: Trump’s MSG rally was a horror show on its own – no Nazi comparisons necessary

Filed under Multiculturalism Tagged with , ,

Lisée | Mauvaise influence

2024/10/31 Leave a comment

Foreign interference from south of the border:

….Dans ce Far West politique qu’est devenu Internet, écrit Perez, et « compte tenu de l’extraordinaire propension en ligne des extrémistes d’extrême droite de tous types, cette carte fait le jeu de politiciens comme Poilievre. Le pouvoir de cette “arme secrète” est énorme ». Il s’agit, pense le militant libéral, de la « principale menace » pesant sur la démocratie canadienne. Il a parfaitement raison.

On peut d’ores et déjà se demander comment réagira Elon Musk, lui qui a à ce jour investi une centaine de millions de dollars pour l’élection de Trump, sans compter l’influence qu’il détient personnellement avec ses 167 millions d’abonnés. Maintenant qu’il a pris goût à la politique partisane, pourquoi se priverait-il d’aider l’accession au pouvoir d’un homme, Pierre Poilievre, qui s’est opposé à toutes les initiatives visant à réguler les géants du Web ?

Si les trumpistes perdent l’élection américaine, une intervention massive dans l’élection canadienne ne serait-elle pas pour eux un prix de consolation ? Et s’ils gagnent, pourquoi Trump se gênerait-il non seulement d’encourager ses partisans à s’en mêler, mais aussi d’activer quelques-uns des leviers gouvernementaux à sa disposition pour aider à faire pencher la balance ? Déclassées, la Chine et l’Inde pourront aller se rhabiller.

Source: Chronique | Mauvaise influence

…. In this political Wild West that has become the Internet, writes Perez, and “given the extraordinary online propensity of far-right extremists of all kinds, this card plays into the game of politicians like Poilievre. The power of this “secret weapon” is enormous.” This is, the liberal activist believes, the “main threat” to Canadian democracy. He is absolutely right.

We can already wonder how Elon Musk will react, who has so far invested a hundred million dollars for Trump’s election, not to mention the influence he personally holds with his 167 million subscribers. Now that he has taken a liking to partisan politics, why would he deprive himself of helping a man, Pierre Poilievre, who has opposed all initiatives to regulate the giants of the Web?

If the Trumpists lose the American election, wouldn’t a massive intervention in the Canadian election be a consolation price for them? And if they win, why would Trump hesitate not only to encourage his supporters to get involved, but also to activate some of the government levers at his disposal to help tip the balance? Downgraded, China and India will be able to get dressed.

Filed under Multiculturalism, Social Media Tagged with , , , ,

Globe editorial: There is no Charter right to intimidation

2024/10/31 Leave a comment

Indeed:

…Bubble zones would protect everyone’s right to be free of harassment as they go into community spaces. The right to demonstrate cannot become a licence to intimidate.

Source: There is no Charter right to intimidation

Filed under Antisemitism, Multiculturalism Tagged with , ,

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