“Support the boys.”
That’s what a flyer says that is being distributed in and around Halifax this week. “Support the boys” who gang raped Rehtaeh Parsons when she was just 15 years old, circulated photos of her being raped, mocked and harassed her in her pain, and who still walk freely in Nova Scotia.
While Rehtaeh is dead.
Anonymous, as Rehtaeh’s Dad Glen Canning pointed out this week – and contrary to what Chris Selley, Dan Gardner, Parker Donham and their ilk have claimed – has done good work in this terrible case, and have helped to apply much-needed pressure on the fools who (for now) hold power in the Halifax Regional School Board, the Crown Attorney’s Office, the Nova Scotia RCMP, and the Dexter government.
I do not have any influence whatsoever over Anonymous (NYPA). But I am confident they are already at work, attempting to identify whoever published and circulated the flyer about “the boys.”
There is something terribly wrong in Nova Scotia, these days. And if the authorities cannot be counted on to do something about it, others will.
Anonymous-Please unleash the Kraken
I agree with you Warren.
My wife works at Cole Harbour High; I hear all kinds of stories about cell phones and what a problem they are in schools. Some kids leave the school when they realize their cell phones are about to be confiscated for a bit. In my opinion they ought to let schools deploy cell phone jammers (e.g. http://www.globalgadgetuk.com/rx5000.html ) but I guess that would take a change in the Federal Telecommunications Act. If cell phones don’t work at all, maybe students will stop taking them to school where they don’t need them and aren’t supposed to use them at all. Teachers wouldn’t have to worry about them, wouldn’t have to confiscate them, kids wouldn’t get sent to the office just because of cell phones, bureaucrats wouldn’t have to pretend that policies on paper “work”, kids wouldn’t get in trouble over and over because for them cell phones are like Tamagotchis they can’t live without.
Add to that the recent study that correlated “shallowness” with frequent texting… (ref. http://news-centre.uwinnipeg.ca/all-posts/study-supports-theory-on-teen-texting-and-shallow-thought/ )
There’s no excuse for letting cell phones onto school properties, in my opinion. (before someone starts rationalizing, the answer is: No they are not needed for emergencies. Never. Nope.).
Note too, in case the public is wondering why no one is saying much, most employees of bureaucracies (School Board, police, government) are not allowed to speak out when they read inaccurate statements in the media. If they do they could get reprimanded, it’s in their contracts. Many of them are very upset and frustrated, I don’t know if you can imagine.
Some of them are burning out or taking their frustrations home.
Its probably the same gal who was behind the (swiftly deleted) Facebook page.
I saw one story that said the message on the flyers is that these acts were consensual. Of course, a drunk, puking 15 year old is capable of informed consent and would gladly say yes to multiple partners.
This story saddens and infuriates me in a way few other stories have in my life. But I have decided that the only good thing that can come of this is for all parents of teens and pre-teens use this as a teaching moment. I made my son have a discussion about consent, about respect and about not ever being a bystander in a situation like this. God, I hope he absorbed some of it.
Hey! It’s not all of us. From what I’ve read about the little bastards holding their counter-rally on Sunday, this group of shits hails from Eastern Passage. Which doesn’t surprise me. Eastern Passage kids were inevitably always at the centre of the race riots that constantly occured at Cole Harbour High ~10+ years ago. White kids from Eastern Passage would relentlessly bully and pick fights with African-Canadian kids from Cherrybrook and East Preston. Different kids now, obviously, but the same general attitude.
This isn’t to slag everyone living in Eastern Passage, but there are some real fucked up families there if this is what they spawn.
Perhaps we need to examine the “root causes” for such behaviour………sorry…….
Well if you don’t get to the “root causes” then how else do you change things?
Without getting to the “root causes” the environment that allows this rape to be acceptable to much of the community will still exist and perpetuate other outrages.
Also, why does getting to the “root causes” assume that criminals won’t be punished or making that statement makes one less outraged by the event and the culture that allows it?
Tell me about it. When I first told my wife about this story she immediately stated it must be Cole Harbour High it happened at, she grew up in that area and she knows the mentality of many of those longer term residents and what she has had to say to me over the years about them has not been pretty. What really offends me though is how the law enforcement elements have allowed all of this to happen instead of doing anything in what was blatantly obvious a serious case of assault to sexual assault. That they did nothing for 10 months and then interviewed all suspects in a group, both of which are completely opposite to proper procedure and interview 101, and then dismissed for lack of evidence when this picture was out there, well to me that smacks of bad and/or worse, bad being they did not care enough to take teen sexual assault allegations seriously enough to do even a pro forma investigation, or worse they actively foot dragged because they had reason to feel they needed to to protect someone involved in this, which is something that has had an ugly history of happening in this Province far too often over the decades. Incompetence or intent seems to be the only two reasonable choices to consider at this late date given all that has emerged in this case, and the way these people are continuing to act like they are untouchable even now is seriously leaning me to believe they have reason to believe they have high level protection from within the power structure around here, and fairly well juiced power if they still feel this way despite the level of attention this case has been receiving over the past week or so now. I come from a multi-generational Bluenoser/Haligonian family on both sides (one of the main reasons I use the alias Scotian is because of this) and I know all too well about the back door connections that exist even to this day in this Province, and this case is smelling more and more to me of those in action. Combine that with the less than shall we say civilized mentalities that seem to pervade a certain element of the Cole Harbour society and I think we have our explanation for why this case has been such a tragedy and horror show from the outset. Let’s hope enough pubic scrutiny will force out the truth, but I suspect it will take a lot of it over a lengthy period to get there going on what has happened /not happened to date in this regard. It really sickens me to be watching this bovine excrement play out yet again, especially given the high costs already paid by the {Arson family and the yound lady’s friends (those that stayed by her after the assault as opposed to the fair weathered ones that turned on her).
Good points you make, but just a suggestion: Try using a few more paragraphs & periods, makes is a lot easier to read..
just my $.02
First, please assume I know how to write and do so in what is a comfortable method for myself, I am well aware that my writing style is dense and not always the easiest to read, but it is how I speak and write. So please keep your editorial comments on my style to yourself, on the substance though have at it. I have heard this for years now, it gets old fast, besides if you think that needs paragraph breaks you have some reading issues yourself, the run on sentences I’ll admit is a fair point, but that is *NOT* so long as to need a paragraph break unless you can only hand text at the Twitter level of density. That’s my nickel’s response to your 2 cents.
As a long time resident but not native Nova Scotian I have long wondered about how things are done here, and have talked to many others who are not native to the province and they have similar questions. When an outsider dare ask why such obvious wrongs are not addressed the stock response is “if you do not like it leave” and then it is business as usual. I hope this story causes the ROC to ask some serious questions about how crimes are investigated in NS, why some communities are terrorized by some of the locals and the RCMP look the other way, and why NS is so out of step with some things. And M. Boivin is right, the official response is deafening, why? I agree with the cell phone in schools position he takes, but when you realize that the prov. gov’t does takes a very hands off attitude about phones and facebook in the workplace I can see why they do nothing about phones in schools (go ahead spend the day on facebook and texting and calling, fine according the some DMs, necessary to the work day – huh??). That would require taking a stand and doing something, which IMO is laughable here, even though there is a dead girl and her harassers are free and vocal. Remember, “if you don’t like it leave” and many do and more will follow, including me, as soon as I can I am out of here too. No place is perfect but it is time for a change for this CFA (come from away) — unless you have family back to 1700 here (sarcasm, not quite) you are a CFA- enough is enough. It is beyond sad.
thanks for the post…I had no idea that there was a cultural affiliation to the whole sordid affair.
I still cant understand how the officials are soo toothless and/or archaic as not to follow up on rape.
I had no idea that the community was stuck in a mire of backwatered beliefs…sad…poor Rehtaeh!
glad that anonymous exposed the corruption!
How is it possible that anyone who has any sense of right and wrong ‘support’ the boys? Its an act of violence against women which is ‘barbaric.’
Thank goodness for Anonymous.
trailer park boys is a documentary,wow!
I wanted to move to nova scotia, definitely the weather was my main concern, im glad I missed my chance to hang with Julian and sleep with Ricky…as I definitely would not want to be shot by Sirus:P