Words to remember.  I’ve felt this way for a long time.

“Unless we are bold. Unless we seize the moment. Everything we built will start being chipped away,” the former prime minister writes in a toughly-worded fundraising letter. “The Conservatives have already ended gun control and Kyoto. Next may be a woman’s right to choose, or gay marriage. Then might come capital punishment. And one by one, the values we cherish as Canadians will be gone.”

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It’s a journalist’s job to be skeptical, and to raise differing points of view, without fear or favour.

When a broad consensus is reached on an issue — in this case, bullying — it’s right for media folks to offer up contrary points of view. Dissent is a good thing, particularly when only one point of view is dominating.

This fall, there has been an avalanche of coverage about bullying in Canada. Every paper and every broadcast, it seems, has had investigations into the nature and extent of bullying. Many of the stories have detailed the tragic tales of teenagers who, after being subjected to bullying, chose to take their own lives.

Politicians have picked up on the media’s refrain. On Parliament Hill, and at provincial legislatures, politicians of every stripe have come together to denounce bullying, or to suggest measures to counter it. Some of the politicians haven’t necessarily practiced what they preached — like those federal Conservatives who have claimed to oppose homophobic bullying, while simultaneously opposing laws that would give gays true equality — but it has been nice to see the unanimous denunciations of bullying.

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So there I was, heading along the Extension and the sun caught me full on, and it was warm on my face, and Galaxie 500 comes on with ‘Fourth of July,’ and it was as perfect a moment as you could get, one that you’ll remember forever.  Or I will, at least.

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If you don’t care about this, you’re with the terrorists.

Now that the lunatics are running the asylum, with majority control, get used to more of this:

“The government is placing a ban on face coverings such as niqabs for people swearing their oath of citizenship, Immigration Minister Jason Kenney said Monday.

The ban takes effect immediately.

As a result, Muslim women will have to remove their niqabs or any other face-covering garments, such as burkas, before they can recite the oath of citizenship to become Canadians. Citizenship judges will be directed to enforce the rules at ceremonies over which they preside.“

As I wrote some months ago, you should also get ready for every kook and bigot with some spare time on his hands commence litigation against the Sikh’s turban and beard, the Jew’s kippah and the Hasidic Jew’s clothing,  the Hindu’s tilak facial markings, the styles favoured by traditional Mennonites and the Amish, or perhaps even the ostentatious display of a nun’s habit.

Oh, and there’s this campaign, which started in Israel last Fall:

(Related story found here).

And here’s a Canadian angle:

“Quebec’s Orthodox Jewish community appeared for the first time on Wednesday before a National Assembly committee, taking up an unexpected cause – fighting a bill that would ban the wearing of the Muslim niqabwhen receiving government services.

The Jewish Orthodox Council for Community Relations said by placing gender rights above religious rights, the bill would create a hierarchy of individual rights and freedoms that would be challenged before the courts. The group warned the government against adopting “hard and fast rules” that could exacerbate social tensions surrounding religious minorities.“

And so on and so on.

In 2011 A.D., it amazes me that we still need to say this, but apparently we do:  Religions should have no control over what governments do – and, as in this case, governments should have no control over what religions do.  If no one is being harmed in some way, social conservative nutbars like Jason Kenney should back off.

And will the NDP say anything about this?  Not on your life.  Liberals?  We shall see.

UPDATE: From a sharp-eyed reader, this gem. We all expect Kenney to place Eve under citizen’s arrest, now.

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As I write this, I am (again) on hold.  I – and many other Ontario lawyers – have been trying to meet our Continuing Professional Development requirements for the year.  There’s no one to talk to, they don’t return messages, there aren’t enough sessions, and those sessions that exist are full.

Good thing these people don’t run the judicial system or anything.

Oh, wait.

UPDATE: Spoke to an actual person, she said she would immediately connect me with someone else.  I’m back on hold, and have been for 20 minutes.  These idiots should work for Rogers.

UPDATER: Been on hold for close to an hour, now.  Have started to do a film about this, for later broadcast (I’m not kidding).  Emails sent to every available LSUC address have gone unanswered.

 

 

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I think I need to interview him for the new book.  Anyone with an idea about how I can reach his agent, email me!

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Almost exactly a year ago, I was at Pearson Airport, awaiting the appearance of a family member. The arrival doors slid open, and out walked Conservative cabinet member Peter MacKay with an unidentified companion. Smiling, laughing, they headed off to points unknown.

In retrospect, I should have taken a picture of that historic moment, so that Sun News could show the world that Peter MacKay has, indeed, flown commercial with the rest of us plebians, at least once.

Unbeknownst to me at the time, the sighting of MacKay at Pearson ranks up there with the repatriation of the Constitution, and the placement of the Last Spike.

It was that momentous. It should have been one of those Heritage Minutes that were on TV all the time, years ago.

Now, MacKay has taken to waving libel writs at anyone who has the temerity to suggest that he has grown overly fond of traveling on the public’s dime, so let’s be cautious. And, let me emphasize, I am not saying that the minister of defence is a reckless, pompous, out-of-touch wastrel and squanderer, one who makes drunken sailors look like models of fiscal restraint and probity. I did not say that, Your Honour.

 

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Happy to see this. As I wrote in a column a few days ago, it is appalling how some media – and the prosecutors in the case – have falsely suggested that “honour killing” is sanctioned by Islam.

Will the Kingston Crown’s bosses be taking action with the prosecutors who propagated this BS? I sure hope so.

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Most U.S. presidents have been left-handed, did you know that?

Personally, I think lefties should be burned at the stake, like in the good old days. Among other things, it would provide a bit of extra space on public transit in the mornings.

What’s your view? Lefties, we don’t care what you think. (Hey! I sound like Gord Tulk!)

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