06.23.2011 07:27 AM

I’ll say it again

…just in case you think I’ve moderated my view from last Summer.

Rob Ford is a bloody fool. He isn’t fit to be mayor.

He knows, and we know, that he isn’t skipping Pride to be at the cottage. So why doesn’t say what he really thinks about Torontonians who aren’t like him?

C’mon, big guy. Be true to your convictions. Your “Ford Nation” awaits your wisdom.

87 Comments

  1. MLukas says:

    That’s really sad. It’s a shame that he will be the mayor when Toronto hosts World Pride in 2014.

  2. Richard says:

    Warren sez “?just in case you think I?ve moderated my view from last Summer.”

    So did you write that Star story, Warren? Is Royson James your nom de plume?

  3. Dave Roberts says:

    I took my kids to watch a pride parade several years ago and for the most part the participants were having fun but a few people decided to simulate sex acts completely inappropriate for a family event. I would never bring my kids to watch a pride event again.

  4. RN200 says:

    It’s OK to say “No” to a special interest group, no matter how (supposedly) large they may be. Take public sector unions for example, also a SIG that politicians need to be saying “No” to rather than making secret deals.

    • Paul says:

      @RN200: Right on. Tolerance and unquestioning approval and endorsement are completely different things. Mayor Ford is entitled to his opinions, and just like the public sector unions and the rest of us he is entitled to take his vacation time when he damned well chooses to take it.

      The LGBTWTF/Human Rights industry crowd is too damned sensitive as far as I’m concerned. Whether you are gay or straight, living in the real world means that some subset of people are going to disagree with and/or criticize you in some way or another and maybe even choose not to show up at your parties. Deal with it.

      • Trevor says:

        “The LGBTWTF/Human Rights industry crowd is too damned sensitive as far as I’m concerned”.

        Geez, why do I get the feeling that you are a Heterosexual WHITE MALE?. I mean how often do you hear women, visible minorities and/or aboriginals say such things?!.

        Sorry dude, but things like immigration, bilingualism, multiculturalism, immigration, Quebec, affirmative action, hate crimes laws, human rights commissions, gun control, gay pride parades, Caribanna, international women’s days, feminism, gay rights, women’s rights, ect; are all here to stay. I guess all the ANGRY WHITE MALES will have to just “deal with it”. After all, its the WHITE MALE who is the minority in Canada.

        • George in Richmond BC (the other Geoge) says:

          Are you presuming that you have to be a heterosexual white male to hold such an opinion. If so, then you yourself are, at the very lest, stereotyping, and at the very most, discriminating against an identifiable group.

          • Trevor says:

            I am not stereotyping anyone or anything George. It is a well established fact that a person who posts complaints on blogs about “political correctness”, “special interest groups” and/or “pandering to minorities” is highly likely to be a WHITE MALE.

            Warren himself sums it up quite well in the article below.

            http://reviewcanada.ca/reviews/2007/09/01/the-rise-of-the-pyjamahadeen

          • Well, here’s one for you Trevor, I’m a status Indian and I have a gay member of the family that serves in the military.

            And I agree with Paul.

          • Africon says:

            There’s a big difference between tolerance and support of a particular point of view Trevor.

            You can tolerate mixed race marriages without marrying someone of another race.
            If a Politician wants to suck up to any particular voting Group he can but who says he HAS to – You ?

            Try being a tad more tolerant.

    • Trevor says:

      I guess you are aware that the City of Toronto is over 50% visible minority (non-White) and close
      to 60% of us are foreign born immigrants?. Why is it RN200 that those who speak about “special interests groups” are almost always highly assimilated, unilingual, unhyphenated, Canadian born and bred White Anglo Saxon Protestant types?. Rob Ford is on record for having made negative comments about Chinese-Canadians, immigrants, and the LGBT community. Sorry my friend but its people who look like Rob Ford who are now the “minority” and the “special interest group” in the City of Toronto. The mostly English speaking, White, Christian, “Leave it to Beaver/Father Knows Best” Toronto of Rob Ford’s childhood is NEVER coming back.

      • RN200 says:

        Got it – as a white male I must now kowtow to all around me because we’re in the “payback phase” for all my forefather’s sins. Thanks for setting me straight (pun intended).

        • Trevor says:

          Wow, your passive aggressive anger over the fact that society is no longer run by and for the exclusive benefit of heterosexual White Males really shows!.
          You are like countless millions of other Angry White Males who seek refuge in the anonymity of the Internet to express your frustration and rage over the fact that the White Male will increasingly lose his unearned societal influence in the years and decades to come by virtue of demography, and the long overdue empowerment of those the White Male has historical sought to keep down:
          woman, visible minorities and aboriginals.

          Sorry dude, but demography is quite simply not on your side.

          http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2000/sep/03/race.world

          http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/story/2010/03/09/statscan-minority.html

          http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/story/2008/08/14/us-whites-minority.html

          The only reason why I point these things out is that it never fails to amazes me how so many White Males, typically Conservatives, whine and complain about “special interest groups” and “pandering to minorities”. I mean I would love to meet one, just one, woman, visible minority or aboriginal who would say such a thing!. I NEVER hear any of the women or visible minorities who are card carrying members of the Conservative Party of Canada even say that, and trust me, I know many of them quite well. No, its only ever White Males who say such things and the vast majority of negative comments on any given newspaper blogs or chat boards discussing events such as Gay Pride, Caribana, ect; are overwhelmingly from White Males. Which is fine, its freedom of speech, but the thing is my friend, its YOU who IS has been the “minority” in the City of Toronto since 2006, according to StatsCan, and it is you who will be the “minority” in Canada as a whole by the year 2050.

          I wonder if your children and grandchildren will regard celebrations of their own ethnocultural traditions as “pandering to minorities” in the years and decades ahead when they are the “minorities”?!.

          Sorry dude, but Canada does not exclusively belong to Whites anymore.

          • RN200 says:

            All I sense from you, Trevor, is rage and some weird glee that you are somehow get kind of strange statistical revenge on an anonymous individual whom you’ve never met and know nothing about. When I read your posts all I feel is your finger poking me in the chest, and I hear the lyrics “…it just takes a while to travel from your head to your fists.” Yes, that is an intentional back-at-ya…

            As for wanting to meet just one – please meet the Progressive Indian who posted above, and I’m sure my wife and mother would love to meet you also and express the same sentiment.

      • Jon Powers says:

        Funny how people like Trevor who claim to be against racism and bigotry are always the first to notice the colour of your skin. But stereotypes are such a time saver, right Trevor? Want to see a racist? Look in the mirror, moron.

        • Trevor says:

          Sorry Jon, but there is nothing racist about pointing out Rob Ford’s past slurs against many ethnocultural groups. Mayor Ford has referred to Chinese-Canadians as “dogs who are taking over”. He has said that there are “too many immigrants” in the City of Toronto. He once referred to fellow Toronto City Councilor Giorgio Mammoliti (who is know an opportunistic ally of Mayor Ford) as a “gino boy”. He has also made negative comments about the LGBT community as well. Do you deny that Mayor Ford has in fact made racist, homophobic, xenophobic and Anglo-Saxon chauvinist remarks in the past?.

          It is quite obvious from his many past comments, that Mayor Ford not only dislikes the fact that the City of Toronto is both majority non-White and immigrant, but he also apparently does not think too highly of non-Anglo White European ethnocultural groups such as Italian-Canadians. I have also noticed from the many blogs that I visit that not only are a disproportionate number of people who post negative comments about immigration, bilingualism, multiculturalism, Quebec, gay rights, women’s rights, affirmative action, gun control, human rights commissions, ect; White Males in general, but they also tend to be highly assimilated, unilingual, unhyphenated White Anglo Saxon Protestant types in particular.

          I personally attended two events last summer for Rob Ford’s Mayoral campaign and despite the fact that the City of Toronto, which they were both held, is officially well over 50% visible minority (non-White) and close to 60% foreign born immigrant…nearly ever single person I saw at these events were WASP’s. Of just under 50% of Torontonians who are White, a huge chunk of that are invisible minorities (i.e.; White people who are not of British isles or French decent), yet once again, nearly everyone at Mayor Ford’s events which I personally attended were WASP’s or as my Italian, Greek and Portuguese friends would say “Mangiacakes”!.

          I still remember back in 1985 when many such WASP’s at the Ontario PC Party convention were complaining about “EYE-TALIANS” and now they just whine and bitch about everything from Tamils to Muslims. The point here is that it has always been WASP Canada who has had the most difficulty in accepting our multiracial, multiethnic, multifaith, multilingual, multicultural society. I personally believe this is because so-called Canadian culture is in fact WASP culture under a different name. How often to you hear visible minorities or invisible minorities such as Italians, Greeks, Portuguese, ect; say things like “multiculturalism is bad”, “just become Canadian”. “Quebec should give up on this distinct society crap”. Its easy for them to say such things because unhyphenated Canadian cultural and identity is WASP cultural and identity in disguise. Just look how so many “Canadian ceremonies” use bagpipes and men in Kilts.

          The vast majority of Mayor Ford’s supporters are racists, sexists, homophobes, xenophobes and Anglo-Saxon chauvinists. Furthermore, both the Reform Party of Canada…*cough*…Canadian Alliance Party…*cough*…Conservative Party of Canada and the Ontario PC Party have ALWAYS been hotbeds for
          Anglo-Saxon chauvinists and Protestant supremacists.

          • Jon Powers says:

            Okay genius, if the only people who support and voted for Rob Ford are angry white men, and if immigrants and non-heterosexuals make up the vast majority of Toronto’s population – how is it that Rob Ford won the last election with almost 60% of the vote? His current approval rating is well over 70% How could that be? Look, don’t bother responding – stupid people bore me.

          • W the K - No, not Warren says:

            Reply to Mr. Powers. Um… Ford won the last election with 47% of the vote. Impressive but nowhere near the number you cite. This canard has been spreading all over Toronto since the last election and, quite frankly, it’s dishonest and it bores me.

          • The Doctor says:

            This reminds me of the LPC/NDP supporters who claim that the only people who support the federal Conservatives are angry, old white male gun-nut farmers from Alberta. If those were the only people who supported the CPC, they wouldn’t even have a seat in Alberta.

    • Ted says:

      “Special interest group”? What, now, millions of tourists spending millions of dollars are now a “special interest group”?

      Dumb dumb response. and revealing too. Not everyone or every event you strongly oppose is a “special interest group”, bud.

      • Jerome Bastien says:

        Since when is a “special interest group” an insult? These people have a special interest in gay pride, do they not? What is the new pc word for such things?

        • Ted says:

          Reducing someone or some group to being a “special interest group” is meant to minimize and marginalize a group, lump them in with lobbyists fighting for some selfish benefit. I’m not sure it was ever not an insult. And I strongly suspect you are very aware of that.

  5. Delroy says:

    First of all, there are no such people as “Caribbeans.” I should know, I’m from there. Second, the Mayor doesn’t need to be at each and every festival or parade. I certainly don’t expect to see him at Caribana(which is what it still will be known as around the world regardless of what its legal name is). The next step I’d like to see him take is to cut off public funds for these festivals. If they’re that great, they’d fund themselves.

    • Ted says:

      So the city and province and federal government benefits from huge tax revenues from events likes these (directly on sales but also indirectly on increased income for businesses and individuals and increased property taxes and other tax revenues from businesses and groups that set up in Toronto because of a plethora of events like this), but some small non-profit community organization that organizes these should foot the whole bill?

      When the federal government is dolling out millions of dollars to the Calgary Stampede (which is, if I believe, a private for-profit event), then a little bit of money to make more money seems like a pretty darn good deal and, really, one of the really good examples of how smart government spending can be benefitial to all.

    • Jerome Bastien says:

      Hey Delroy,

      according to the genius “Trevor” above, based on your opinion you should be a White Male ™. According to his very “progressive” and “non-racist” view, such opinions are only held by Evil White Males ™. This is what passes for enlightenment today among the ‘progressive’ crowds. Minorities are only allowed to hold opinions which are pre-approved by the PC-police. He has proof: in 1985 he heard a wasp mispronounce the word ‘italian’ as “eye-talian”.

      Also, apparently, any opposition to the funding of this parade by the city, and not freaking out over Rob Ford’s absence means that you are a racist bigot and a homophobe who yearns for the good ole days when Canada was dominated by Evil White Males.

      I just wanted to give you a heads up, in case it was a shock to you, that you are in fact a White Male racist homophobe.

      PS: This is Delroy C-D, right?

  6. Lipman says:

    But note the quote from Doug Ford at the bottom of the article says it all, when he states that he’ll pull Robbie’s arm and try to convince him to go. I wouldn’t put it past the Ford team to be cleverly manipulating this entire process, placating their “base” with the intent to avoid Pride, only to cave in and dance on a float with a giant grin at the last minute. The Ford crowd can then frame the issue as one brought about by the powers of downtown political correctness, and show their core supporters that like Lastman, Julian Fantino, and others, Ford had to show up to calm down the media and the annoying chattering classes.

    If the above is not true, then Ford really is nothing more than a grandstanding buffoon, with little grasp of the city’s complexities, and a one-term, one-trick pony.

    • JenS says:

      Yes, this. I, too, found Doug Ford’s quote very telling. Beyond the literal, it also indicates this trip to the cottage mightn’t be such a huge family tradition as Rob insists. After all, Doug has seen his way clear to be at the parade on Saturday.

  7. Bill M. says:

    Maybe he’ll show up for “Ribfest”

    What am I saying “Maybe”?

  8. Weston says:

    Fordbots will defend Ford’s choice to spend time at the cottage. It’s all for the best anyways. Think about all the pee bombs that would be hurled his way.

  9. WildGuesser says:

    I don’t really think Ford doing a Chris Farley impression by stripping off his shirt and jiggling his man-boobs is something anyone wants to see.

  10. PALGOLAK says:

    Why would he want to go to it? I went one year and it was hot, noisy, and crowded. I, too, would rather be at the cottage.

    He would just get booed, anyway, so why bother with the hassle?

    • Lipman says:

      Maybe not. Since taking office, he has not really done anything up to this point to piss off the LGBT community. So showing up would mollify a large group that previously had doubts about him when he was the council goon for ten years. Coach Ford has already fumbled the ball on this one, as the smart thing to do would be to embrace the festival for what it is: an important piece of the local economy and cultural fabric of the city.

    • Patrick Hamilton says:

      John Baird seems to make out ok…..go figure…….and for you Con viewers out there still in denial……yes, he is gay……

      Jason Kenney?….now there would be booing……

  11. CQ says:

    Warren, you risk sounding like too many of those underqualified and unilingual news anchors and pundits berating Dion and Harper for their poor second language skills. Put up a photo of yourself at a prior year’s Toronto Pride or Caribana parade.
    And prior years weren’t always on the long weekend either. Nor have you been recently and harshly photoshopped and parodied afterwards as well upon the front cover(s) of NOW magazine with numerous copies left at your workplace.

  12. Ted says:

    No question he’s a buffoon, classic angry white privileged wealthy male who doesn’t give a rats *ss for anyone who didn’t vote for him.

    But progressives will continue to lose at the municipal, provincial and federal level if we continue to think that attending events like these or saying the right thing in the right way is what really matters to the voters. There is a reason Ford had such a huge majority in the still very recent election and why he won so many votes in every single sector of the city and why progressive candidates did not. Same with Harper. The sooner we learn those lessons, the sooner we can save the city and the province and the country we want from the wrecking ball.

    It starts with connecting to the issues that truly matter to voters, not the issues and actions that matter because they are symbolic. Ford’s decision is disappointing and dumb, and symbolic acts are important, don’t get me wrong, but no one is going to be moving their vote because of this and, more importantly, the city is not going to have fewer homeless, more shelters, lower taxes, or less tourist dollars because of one buffoon’s non-attendance, even if he is the mayor.

    • Jerome Bastien says:

      Why the racial stereotypes? Are racial stereotypes ok when made against whites? What other races can we make fun and stereotype of and still consider ourselves “progressives”?

      When I was a kid I learned that racial stereotypes were wrong always, no ifs or buts. That made sense, it was proper, logical, and consistent. Now, we have race-based school admission, race-based hiring practices even at the Federal Government, and progressives feel free to denigrate some races (whites, jews) but freak out at the slightest misstep when talking about other races.

      Not that I am confused by any of this. I am just in awe at the stupidity and the hypocrisy of the “progressive’ crowd.

      • Trevor says:

        I’ll tell you Jerome, I would prefer those ivory tower, snobby liberal-left elite, latte and sushi eating downtown progressives any day over the ignorant, common, low class,
        blue collar, uncouth, unrefined, tactless, common, low class, pickup truck driving, redneck Conservative slovenly dressed pigs who I saw at the Rob Ford rallies last summer.
        The only thing missing was the shotguns and chewing tobacco. Sorry my friend, but there really is no virtue in being a common ignoramus no matter what Joe the Plumber and
        Fox News may tell you!.

        • The Doctor says:

          Wow. Pot meet kettle.

          “Slovenly dressed” — well, THAT certainly makes them evil.

          You know, most of the junkies and crack addicts in Vancouver’s Downtown East Side don’t dress very well at all either, compared to your average loft-dwelling yuppie hipster. Does that mean we should hold them in contempt?

        • Jerome Bastien says:

          “ignorant, common, low class, blue collar, uncouth, unrefined, tactless, common, low class, pickup truck driving, redneck Conservative slovenly dressed pigs”

          how very sophisticated of you. you must be double plus intelligent.

          you should consider that the reason why racism is wrong is that you cannot make a judgment on someone based on some superficial characteristic. such judgment is certain to be incorrect the overwhelming majority of the time. you may think that you can generalize by political persuasion and that is somehow better than generalizing by race, but that just shows that you havent lived very long. conservatives and liberals each have their share of decent people and their share of idiots.

          as for there being no virtue to being a common ignoramus, you are the perfect example of that.

          you’re the bigot you think that you despise.

          • Patrick Hamilton says:

            He forgot homophobic, and for the most part, anti-environment…..and before you get your knickers in a knot, Jerome, I used to be a member of the(and I presume your) Conservative Party……now I dont agree with Trevors description of your typical Conservative Party member,(after all, I used to be a member) but I would say intolerant and sexist are right up there with the aforementioned homophobia and anti-environmentalism. I was amazed that some members of my former party had a hospitality tent for the GLBT attendees to your last convention….Progress is being made obviously, but the GLBT membership in the Conservative Party will never be fully accepted……and I suspect this is the reason the event was held in a tent outside the convention proper……though I have to admit, it beats a hotel closet…..

      • Ted says:

        Um, what racial stereotype? You might want to check out this article Warren linked to later in the afternoon. It seems written for you.

        I do find when someone, no matter what the political stripe, wants to distract from a substantive point or if they don’t understand it, that they will usually make comments like this.

        • Jon Powers says:

          Welll Ted, I believe that “classic angry white privileged wealthy male who doesn’t give a rats *ss for anyone who didn’t vote for him” counts as a bit of a racial stereotype. You see, if you want to insult a person, make it personal – don’t just use a racial stereotype. It’s as lazy as it is stupid. Now, I have no idea if you are white, black, gay or bi-sexual. But based on your comments, I have formed an opinion of you. I’ll follow my mothers advice, however, and will keep that opinon to myself.

          • allegra fortissima says:

            Don’t call Teddyboy “scumbag”, Jon – you are too classy for that…

          • Ted says:

            Sooo very sensitive, jon. Identifying someone’s race is not the same as stereotyping. You really should learn the meaning of the big words if you are going to use them.

            You do have a valid point though: the fact that he is white and, even that he is male, is not the point (other than those two bits put him in a category of being extra privileged and elite).

            So fine then. Since it was not the point at all of my comment, if it hurts your feelings so much, I’ll just call him a “classic angry privileged partisan super rich elite who doesn?t give a rats *ss for anyone who didn?t vote for him or lives a life different than him”.

            Feel better now?

        • Jerome Bastien says:

          Im the one who showed Warren this article genius. What racial stereotype: classic angry white privileged wealthy male.

          you’re welcome and i’ll accept your apology whenever it is you grow up.

  13. Big Old Goofy Man says:

    If conclusion jumping were an Olympic event then WK would be sporting a gold medal.

  14. Trevor says:

    I think many of Rob Ford’s homophobic supporters are just filled with self-loathing due to the fact that they get involuntary and highly embarrassing erections when they glimpse gay male sex videos. It really must
    be upsetting for the poor dears who pride themselves on their right-wing Alpha Male identity!.

    Heterosexual men with the most anti-gay attitudes, when asked, reported not being sexually aroused by
    gay male sex videos. But, their penises reported otherwise.

    Homophobic men were the most sexually aroused by gay male sex acts in the following study.

    http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-big-questions/201106/homophobic-men-most-aroused-gay-male-porn

    • Jon Powers says:

      Well, if it’s from a blog on the internet, it must be true. And, once again, Trevor proves my point by attempting to stereotype all conservatives as right-wing alpha male redneck racists. You sir, are sad. You hate anyone who doesn’t agree with you – I get it. I actually feel sorry for you.

      • Trevor says:

        No, its from a scientific study Jon. Are you afraid that it might be correct?!. Its not a stereotype by the way. Did you actually attend any of Rob Ford’s events last summer as
        I did?. I saw hardly any visible minorities, aboriginals or immigrants. I also did not too
        may women or invisible minorities (i.e.; White Europeans who are not of British Isles or French ancestry) such as Italian-Canadians, Greek-Canadians, Portuguese-Canadians, ect.
        I most saw highly assimilated, unilingual, unhyphenated WASP’s who are pissed off about immigration, bilingualism, multiculturalism, Quebec, affirmative action, hate crimes laws, gun control, human rights commissions and anything else which further removes them from the WASP-ish world of their childhoods where society was largely run by and for the exclusive benefit of WASP males.

        By the way, Rob Ford won 47% of all votes cast based upon a turnout of 15% of all eligible voters. I feel sorry for you too, but because your are a MANGIACAKE with no culture or cuisine of his own!. How boring your Kraft dinner and hog dogs must get after awhile!. Why not treat yourself to a nice meal in Little Italy or Greek town tonight Jon?!.

        MANGIACAKES like you and Rob Ford hate ethnocultural events, multiculturalism and immigration because you lack your own organic identity. Do you up a flag on your car window during the World Cup like most Italians, Greeks, Portuguese, Chinese, Koreans, Japanese, Indians, Pakistanis, Jamaicans, Trinis, Brazilians, Argentines, ect; living in Toronto do?. Or do you just whine and bitch about it being “the failure of multiculturalism”. Its not too late to put an English or Irish flag on your car Jon!.

        Just relax and embrace our diversity Jon!.

        • Stephanie Powers says:

          Trevor – can I give you some friendly advice? Relax. I see these 2,000 word diatribes and think, my God, this man has nothing better to do on a June afternoon but write mini-dissertations on the evils of Rob Fordites taking over the world on a political blog. Get outside. Take a deep breath of air. Feel the breeze on your cheeks, find a girl and kiss her deeply. Live a little.

          Oh, and get your head out of your ass.

        • Jerome Bastien says:

          This is priceless. You freely use racial stereotypes and racial epithets like mangiacakes to denigrate whites (I assume you are white and that being white is your defense for this, epic fail btw), and you assume that anybody who doesnt follow your extremist ideology “hate multiculturalism and immigration”.

          Are you that insecure and feeble-minded that you cannot argue a point without accusing your opponents of racism when they havent expressed the slightest racist idea?

          I know such an affliction is common on the left, but it still shocks me everytime I see it.

        • Jerome Bastien says:

          Trevor, listen to Stephanie’s advice. She is spot on. Also, check this out: http://pajamasmedia.com/blog/tips-for-not-appearing-crazy-on-the-internet/

        • Jon Powers says:

          Insult my food!!!!! How dare you! Ah well, I guess it doesn’t matter, since I’m obviously Gay, according to your “scientific study”. That explains why I wear such nice clothes, listen to Liza Minnelli, and love to watch Will and Grace. Trevor – are you Gay too? You must be. We should hook up!

          • The Doctor says:

            What I want to know is this: if only homophobic men are aroused by images of gay sex, does that mean that all gay men are homophobic? I’m so confused . . .

          • Patrick Hamilton says:

            Liza is the dead giveaway…..

    • Jerome Bastien says:

      Right, if I dont freak out at the idea of Rob Ford spending this weekend at the cottage, it’s because I secretly yearn to be gay. Thanks man. I just had a major breakthrough.

      • Trevor says:

        Well of course your not going to freak out over Rob Ford snubbing the Pride Parade anymore than I am sure you could care less that he has uttered racist slurs and homophobic epithets in the past. After all, I am quite confident that you just dismiss very real manifestations of racism, sexism, misogyny, homophobia and xenophobia as “the liberal-left overreacting” or “politically correct progressives”. I mean you are an over privileged heterosexual White Male, so its not like you can even begin to understand injustice or experience discrimination (please spare me the tired old bullshit that affirmation action is anti-white male discrimination).

        You should talk more often to women, visible minorities, Aboriginals and members of the LGBT community for their views on Rob Ford and Conservatives. Of course, you live in a country where the opinion of White Males is given unfair and disproportionate consideration over those of women, visible minorities and Aboriginals.

        If you possessed critical thinking skills and deductive reasoning abilities you would be able to decipher from history that White Canadians are taught to see racism only in individual acts of meanness, not in invisible systems conferring dominance on White Males as a group. Just because you are not individually racist and perhaps fairly judge people individually and not by their skin colour or gender, does not mean that you do not benefit from an invisible system which bestows unfair and unearned privileges upon White Males.

        Obliviousness about White Male advantage, like obliviousness about male advantage, is kept strongly inculturated in Canada so as to maintain the myth of meritocracy, the myth that democratic choice is equally available to all. Keeping most people unaware that freedom of confident action is there for just a small number of people props up those in power and serves to keep power in the hands of the same groups that have most of it already.

        You Sir, need to acknowledge your own White Male Privilege.

        PS: What level of education do you have out of curiosity?. I find it amazing that you seem to believe anyone is implying that Rob Ford is homophobic entirely because he is skipping the Pride Parade to go to the cottage or that anyone who supports the Pride Parade is a homosexual, as you sarcastically put it. You see if you possessed a University degree you would most likely be endowed with the sort of critical thinking skills and deductive reasoning abilities to understand that Rob Ford is under such scrutiny precisely because he is the Mayor of Toronto and that the Pride Parade is the largest public event and the biggest revenue generating events held in the City of Toronto. Furthermore, Mr Ford is on record for having made past homophobic statements, so of course his position as Mayor of Toronto coupled with his past remarks is what is the issue at hand. Your own ignorance and lack of education is both unreal and largely reflective of Rob Ford’s grassroots supporters. Hence the attacks on “ivory tower academics” and the ‘politically correct liberal left” which come from the largely ignorant, uneducated, low class, common, unrefined, uncouth, tactless, brutish, redneck Joe Six Pack grassroots voting base who support the likes of Rob Ford.

        • The Doctor says:

          “the largely ignorant, uneducated, low class, common, unrefined, uncouth, tactless, brutish, redneck Joe Six Pack grassroots voting base who support the likes of Rob Ford.”

          I just want to get this straight — you’re OPPOSED to stereotyping, right?

        • Jon Powers says:

          Trevor, you are a great entertainer! I love it. I’m guessing you are in your second year of University at either York or Ryerson. Probably York. Definitely working towards a (useless) B.A. I’d say, sociology or women’s studies. Sorry, Womyns studies. Or some other made up Arts degree. Good luck in the unemployment line, bud. Please spend my tax dollars wisely. And try to work on ridding yourself of all that hate. It’ll burn you up.

        • Jerome Bastien says:

          Hey Trevor, “critical race theory” and notions of “white privilege” carry zero weight beyond Ryerson campus. I just thought you should know that before you graduate.

          • Trevor says:

            Sorry Jerome, but as someone who worked in Human Resources for many years, I can confidentially tell you that the vast majority of large corporations hire with ethnocultural diversity in mind, even though its not legally mandated as in the USA. Furthermore, most large corporations have mandatory sensitivity and diversity training for its employees. I have many friends and family members who work in Academia and I can assure you that the vast majority of Universities in North America fully intend to keep bashing the dead white males, and the live ones, and the females too, until the social construct known as ?the white race? is destroyed–not ?deconstructed? but destroyed. Before you get all hysterical, destroyed does not refer to physical genocide, but the use of political, economic, cultural, media, and judicial institutions to completely crush the white power structures and obliterate the social construct known as ‘the white race’. Think of abolishing the Monarchy but obviously not physically killing the King as an example.

          • Jerome Bastien says:

            That’s great that you want to destroy the white race but dont worry, i wont get hysterical, unless you mean hysterically laugh at your impotent arrogance.

        • Jerome Bastien says:

          “PS: What level of education do you have out of curiosity?. I find it amazing that you seem to believe anyone is implying that Rob Ford is homophobic entirely because he is skipping the Pride Parade to go to the cottage or that anyone who supports the Pride Parade is a homosexual, as you sarcastically put it. You see if you possessed a University degree”

          hahaha, i have a B.Sc. and an LLB you genius. And after I graduated, I got this thing called a job, which wont be available to you with your Diversity, Queers Studies and Other useless Crap degree you seem so proud of.

          • Trevor says:

            You can be as angry as you want about post-modernism, post-structuralism, feminism, women’s studies, immigration, bilingualism, multiculturalism, affirmative action, and tax payer funded pride parades and human rights commissions ect; but it still does not change the fact that Whites are a MINORITY in the City of Toronto as of 2006. Whites will be a MINORITY in Ontario by the year 2031. Whites will be a MINORITY in ALL of Canada by the 2050’s. You see Whites just have very low (well below replacement) levels of fertility in Canada and non-Whites have quite high (well above replacement) levels of fertility combined with high levels of mostly non-White immigration.

            The Conservatives, Liberals, NDP, Bloc Quebecois and Greens ALL support an annual level of 250,000 each and every year. Did you notice in the past federal election debate that they all agreed on immigration for the most part?. It was not even discussed much despite most Canadiana feel the level is too high. The Conservatives, Liberals, NDP and Greens ALL support bilingualism and multiculturalism, with Conservatives in recent years even outdoing Liberals in giving taxpayer funded grants for ethnocultural events and festivals. Stephen Harper now strongly supports multiculturalism and said so in the debates.

            I just get so excited knowing that Rob Ford and all of his supporters just hate immigration, multiculturalism, bilingualism, the Pride Parade, Caribana, and many other taxpayer funded ethnocultural events such as Dwali, Eid, and Holi celebrations; yet you are all totally and completely powerless to stop any of it!. Hahahahaha!.

            It is YOU who is going to have to start learning to be the minority in this country, White boy!.

            PS: I own my own business. I do have a BA in Political Science, and the courses we took on the evils of Whiteness were my favorite!.
            I just love your paternalistic, patriarchal, Father Knows Best attitude of “don’t you dare study the arts”!. Geez, do you get drunk and beat your wife just like your hero Rob Ford too?!. I just love your Alpha White Male tough guy demeanor!.

          • Jerome Bastien says:

            Trevor I see your a student of the fantastic Mark Steyn and his views on demography. That’s great we have one thing in common. I see you also think Stephen Harper runs a swell government. Me too!

            Also, Im white, and you want to destroy the white race. What an amazing and happy coincidence. Please come and destroy me. I have come to accept your view that I am evil because I am white. I must be destroyed. You see, until now, I had never heard of Holi celebrations, but I had a vague feeling that some non-white people somewhere were having a good time, and it was eating me up inside. Now I understand that I am this way because I am an evil white person.

            So, Trevor, just leave your coordinates and I’ll contact you that way you can destroy me.

  15. I have no problem with Mayor Rob (or Mayor Doug) Ford deciding that they do not want to participate in different events. I do think the cottage thing is an excuse for not wanting to participate in Pride. There are other events during Pride Week that Ford can attend (which he won’t). If the Pride parade were held a week earlier, I doubt that Rob (or Doug) Ford would attend. If a Toronto Oktoberfest Parade were to be held instead of the Pride Parade, Rob would be sporting his tightest lederhosen possible, and participating in some “gay” German oom-pa-pa dance.

  16. MP says:

    This stuff is so superficial. I realize these occasions count for politics, but I honestly couldn’t care less what sociocultural events the Mayor chooses to bless with a personal appearance.

    I have to believe the majority of Torontonians agree with me.

    • The Doctor says:

      I think in many cities in North America, the Gay Pride parade took on a sort of special status in this regard. In the early days, it was considered politically gutsy, and a sort of act of solidarity with the LGBT community, for the mayor and other politicians to show up at the Pride Parade. That’s back when mainstream Canadian society was far less accepting of LGBT people than we are now. Then the parade started to take on a sort of “must do” status among politicians, and it’s all become sort of ritualized. To me, the interesting question is whether there is some sort of special duty on the mayor and other politicians to attend the pride parade, a duty that’s more imperative than the usual “duty” to attend all kinds of other events. I would have thought that the LGBT community has now moved past the point where it thinks the mayor and other officials are duty-bound to attend their parade (I concede though that the community doesn’t speak with one voice on this issue). Personally, I think the proper approach and attitude should be: it’s nice if the mayor attends, but if he/she doesn’t, who cares?

    • Philip says:

      At least half of any city mayor’s job description could fit under the heading: “superficial and symbolic”. That doesn’t mean that those duties aren’t important to a well run city. Whether it is Pride, the Chin Picnic or the Santa Claus Parade, citizens expect to see their Mayor. If you want to be a mayor, you do the full job, not just parts of it you like.

  17. Trevor says:

    Wow, there most certainly seems to be quite a few Angry White Males on here who are attempting to whitewash (pardon the pun) racism, sexism, homophobia, misogyny, xenophobia, anti-Semitism,
    Islamophobia and Anglo-Saxon chauvinism by attempting to dismiss both subtle and not so subtle
    daily examples of this as “liberal-left political correctness”. Anyone who cannot clearly see why many people
    are upset by Mayor Ford’s snubbing the Pride Parade, as it is part of a larger pattern of negative statements,
    actions, and inactions on his part against visible minorities (non-Whites), immigrants and the LGBT community must really be an idiot at best.

    Regardless, there are more than a few Angry White Males posting here today who are completely ignorant about how racism really works and in total denial about their own White Male Privilege, which is truly a scourge on Canadian society. Here is an insightful resource for all of the Angry White Males here.

    http://www.feministezine.com/feminist/modern/White-Male-Privilege.html

    • The Doctor says:

      The irony here is that you clearly come across as the angriest person on here today, rather than the people that you accuse of being angry.

      You also come across as someone who is convinced that he/she is The Smartest Person in the Room. And that’s not a compliment.

      Most of the people who regularly post on this site are quite intelligent and well-educated, whatever their political views might be. I think it’s really presumptuous for you to claim or presume that you’re smarter and better educated than people you’re debating with.

      Just sayin’.

  18. RN200 says:

    I think “Trevor” might just be WK having some fun with us all…certainly keeping the hit count up !

    • Warren says:

      No, it isn’t.

      • Jerome Bastien says:

        At what point do we call the authorities? He’s already threatened to destroy a people because of their race.

        • Trevor says:

          I just love your arrogant manipulation of the facts Jerome!. I never threatened anyone or anything. I never said any race or identifiable group should be physically destroyed. I merely stated that the social construct known as ‘the white race’ needs to be destroyed. I am merely stating what is widely discussed in Academia. In fact, I will gladly point you to the source of the quote in question, Professor Noel Ignatiev, an American history professor at the Massachusetts College of Art.

          Professor Ignatiev has called for the “abolition” of the white race, which he defines as “white privilege and race identity.” This is what I have been repeating on my many posts here today. Professor Ignatiev is the
          co-founder and co-editor of the journal Race Traitor and the New Abolitionist Society. So he and I, who are both White Males by the way, are not calling for genocide or to physically destroy anyone. We are calling for a social construct that enables oppression to be destroyed. I thought you went to University and presumably had critical thinking skills and deductive reasoning abilities?. Hmmmm…could have fooled me!.

          It sounds like you really need to familiarize yourself with contemporary
          anti-racism and Whiteness studies taught in most North American Universities my friend!.

          http://racetraitor.org/abolish.html

        • Trevor says:

          Awww…poor Jerome seems to have misunderstood my meaning. I do not hate you or anyone else for the colour of their skin. What I hate is a system that confers privileges (and burdens) on people because of their colour. It is not fair skin that makes people white; it is fair skin in a certain kind of society, one that attaches social importance to skin color. When I say we want to abolish the white race, I do not mean we want to exterminate people with fair skin. I mean that I want to do away with the social meaning of skin color, thereby abolishing the white race as a social category. Consider this parallel: To be against royalty does not mean wanting to kill the king. It means wanting to do away with crowns, thrones, titles, and the privileges attached to them. Is that easier for you to comprehend Jerome?. In my view, whiteness has a lot in common with royalty: they are both social formations that carry unearned advantages.

          You strike me as a highly vain, arrogant, smug, competitive individual who loves to be at the centre of attention and who loves to have the last word.
          This can’t be entirely due to the fact that you are a liar, errrr I mean Lawyer, although I am sure that plays a role!. No, I am now thinking more along the lines of your familial genogram and where you fit into the birth order. Do tell Jerome, are you the middle child by any chance who has been forced to compete with both older and younger siblings for your parents affections?. You know that Birth order has been established as having a profound and lasting effect on psychological development.

          I do know your biography states that you have a preoccupation with video games, so I am just speculating that perhaps your own lack of physical prowess and the fact that you are basically a bespectacled Geek has something to do with the reasons why you feel compelled to overcompensate by attempting to come across as a highly competitive, aggressive, confrontational, testosterone pumped Alpha White Male in cyberspace?!.

          Its all very Freudian ya know!.

          • Jerome Bastien says:

            you’re an idiot buddy. i was just having fun at your expense to get you to say dumb things. you have exceeded every expectation in that regard. you’re confusing the ability to repeat gobbledigook with intelligence. there’s no such thing as the social construct of the white race, there are just people with white skin, and big white losers like you who obsess over such things.

            go ahead and destroy the ‘social construct’. im shaking in my boots.

            i knew you were white along time ago, you dont need to tell me. check my post of 3:31pm. i know prof. ignatiev. i saw him in the excellent documentary Indoctrinate U. He’s an imbecile of the highest order. I wonder if he’s related to Iggy.

            also, i would seriously consider visiting a psychiatrist. you seem like a Jared Loughner who’s ready to blow.

          • Jon Powers says:

            I agree with RN200 – Trevor must be Warren punking us all, or a left wing “agent provocateur” just trying to stir up the Angry White Males. No one can be this unhinged. What were we even discussing on this post? Something about food and cake, I think.

  19. Trevor says:

    By writing about the politics of White privilege, which incidentally began as a discussion about Rob Ford’s snubbing of the Pride Parade and his own past racist, homophobic and anti-immigrant statements, I am listening to people here who responded to that writing. I have had to face one more way that White privilege runs deep in my life, and it makes me uncomfortable. However, the discomfort tells me I am on the right track.

    I have had many such discussions on a variety of blogs in the past concerning my disgust and contempt
    for such evils as racism, sexism, homophobia, misogyny, xenophobia, anti-Semitism and Islamophobia.
    I have also posted to blogs almost ever day for the past few months, concerning my anger at White
    privilege and how it has oppressed visible minorities (non-Whites) for far too long.

    I have received many responses to my postings from people who want to talk about race. I learned not
    only more about my own White privilege, but more about why many White folks can’t come to terms with
    the truism I offered in the posts, which is mainly that many White Canadians, whether overtly racist or not, benefit from living in a world mostly run by White people that has for the most part been built on the land and the backs of non-White people.

    I have also received many e-mails too. The reactions varied from racist rantings, to deeply felt expressions
    of pain and anger, to declarations of solidarity. But probably the most important response I got was from
    visible minority (non-White) Canadians who said something like this: “Of course there is White privilege.
    I’ve been pointing it out to my White friends and co-workers for years. Isn’t it funny that almost no one listens to me, but everyone takes notice when a White guy says it”.

  20. Trevor says:

    Yes, I am a White male, and every time I open my mouth, I draw on, and in some ways reinforce, my own White male privilege, which is in large part tied to race.

    Right now, I want to use that privilege to acknowledge the many visible minority (non-White) people who took the time to tell me about the enduring realities of racism in Canada. And, I want to talk to the White people who I think misread my postings and misunderstand what I have been trying to say here.

    I am not some self-loathing White male as some people on this blog have implied. I am merely a White
    male who has the honesty and courage to acknowledge that White male privilege exists and that is has
    been oppressing women, visible minorities and Aboriginals for far too long. Furthermore, Heterosexism does in fact exist, and it, along with so-called Heteronormativity, has likewise oppressed gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgender/transsexual people for far too long.

    I am a passionate defender of human rights and equality.

  21. Trevor says:

    While it is certainly true that White people are sometimes the victims of bigotry and bigotry does occur between different visible minorities, these incidents fail in comparison to the number of people of colour who are victimized by institutionalized White racism, so it’s not hard to see where the real problem lays. While it is important to oppose bigotry against White people, there is most certainly nothing inherently wrong or “racist” in pointing out the facts of institutional and societal White racism and White privilege. It is also important to expose and oppose unearned White male privilege which continues to victimize women,
    visible minorities, aboriginals, and people with disabilities.

    Bigotry against White people and racism between different people of colour should always be condemned and denounced. Furthermore, bigotry between different White ethnocultural groups such as anti-Quebecois bigotry, which quite sadly still runs rampant in many parts of English Canada, especially in Alberta, and very much so among the grassroots membership of the Reform Party of Canada…*cough*…Canadian Alliance Party…*cough*…Conservative Party of Canada should always be condemned and opposed as well.

    So, I cannot, and indeed should not, feel either guilty or proud about being White, because it is a state of being I have no control over. However, as a member of a society, and especially as a privileged member of society (White privilege), I believe that I have an obligation to study and understand it, and work toward a more just world in which such unearned privilege is eliminated.

  22. Trevor says:

    Just to clarify, there is absolutely nothing wrong at all with people who both drive pickup trucks and work
    in blue collar jobs. In fact, I greatly respect and admire people who toil in manual labour jobs. What I was trying to say when I referred to “blue collar” people and those who drive “pickup trucks” a bit earlier on this thread, was that so many of Rob Ford’s supporters tend to self-identify with blue collar culture, even those of them who actually work in white collar professions, because so many right-wing American Republican-style Conservative blogs and talk radio shows constantly attack “ivory tower urbane elites” and “politically correct liberal-left pencil pushers”. There is an alarming surge in anti-intellectualism among the right-wing in both Canada and the USA these days. Don Cherry’s ignorant, crass, uncouth, tacky and unrefined tirades against centre-left progressives during Rob Ford’s Mayoral inauguration is a prime example. There was way too much testosterone at Toronto City Council that day!.

    People like Sarah Palin and Joe the Plumber are presented by the right-wing as being a salt of the
    earth, rural, blue collar type of patriot who is not “contaminated” by the “evils” of urban living and cosmopolitanism, or at least that is the not so subtle implication. Therefore, I have absolutely nothing against people who drive pickup trucks and/or work in blue collar jobs, in fact I admire and respect people who work in such difficult jobs; but I do despise and detest the promotion of “blue collar culture” by the
    right-wing as some sort of ‘authentic’ vocation and identity, while those of us who are educated, traveled, urbane, and cosmopolitan are viewed with suspicion, a sort of early 21st century McCarthyism if you will. Hence Ann Coulter’s rant a few years ago about “wine and cheese liberals”. There is also nothing wrong
    with blue collar culture, but I hate the way it is used by Conservatives as a sort of self-righteous club against those of us who have higher education, work in white collar jobs and hold left-wing view points.

    It would appear as if many Conservatives simply want women back in the kitchen, visible minorities back at the back of the bus, homosexuals back in the closet and society to be reflective of blue collar, rough, tough, rural, Alpha White Male culture and values. Many of these people are also Luddites and quasi-isolationists who unapologetically and unashamedly embrace and self-identify with the oppressive evils of patriarchy, paternalism and hyper-masculinity.

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