[Canada] Canadian Politics Redux

[Valmy]

Which countries have no racism problems?

Currently, very few. Most current countries are the byproduct of European empires.

Could you name one of those few?

[Oexmelin]

Could you name one of those few?

I don't feel strongly informed enough to pass judgment w/r/t China, or Japan, or South Korea. This is not to say that China, Japan, or South Korea do not have fundamental problems of discrimination, or othering, including the application of considerable violence to others. Is this racism? I don't know.

Similarly, I do not know enough about the Pacific Island nations that have been ethnically homogeneous (so, obv. not New Zealand or Australia, or Fiji). Again, they may have problems of intra- or interethnic violence, but would they fit the paradigm of racism? Superficially, I do not think so. I may be wrong.

[Oexmelin]

For BB:

Four Officers, No Weapons, No Charges. A Yukon First Nation Solution.

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-four-officers-no-weapons-no-charges-a-yukon-first-nations-solution/?fbclid=IwAR2vUGyf_4Hu9fYezBTsEVfhxwyPLBar96UVYkt00eagcQs1b9a3Ddyn800

[Barrister]

For BB:

Four Officers, No Weapons, No Charges. A Yukon First Nation Solution.

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-four-officers-no-weapons-no-charges-a-yukon-first-nations-solution/?fbclid=IwAR2vUGyf_4Hu9fYezBTsEVfhxwyPLBar96UVYkt00eagcQs1b9a3Ddyn800

I'm very familiar with Kwanlin Dun, obviously.  First nations in Yukon are in this very unique situation - they are not reserves, but they are owned and run by the first nation.

The thing though... in Yukon we had so, so, so many more resources at our disposal than I do back in Alberta.  Just as an obvious example - every trial was single booked.  That is - we had a judge and courtroom guaranteed to be there for us.  In Edmonton I think it's 7-8 times more trials set than available courtrooms.  We also had dedicated Crown witness co-ordinators, whose sole job was to keep in contact with our victims/witnesses.  In Edmonton that's part of my job, on top of everything else.

The article describes what sounds like a great model - but one which is supported by Whitehorse RCMP (including 2 officers stationed right in Kwanlin Dun).  Related, I'm also familiar with First Nations police forces, which rather than be RCMP, are more controlled by the FN.  I have a fraternity brother who is with T'suu Tina Police just outside Calgary.

The article makes it clear that they're an option on top of the RCMP - not a replacement.  I think that's great.  I just don't know (without the huge federal government largesse Yukon receives) that it's realistic in the south.

[crazy canuck]

If it is a question of funding then it is a question of priorities

[viper37]

Systemic racism is still racism. It's a way to envision racism as it always was, a system, as opposed to what people would wish it to be, a personal flaw that you can't do anything about, except in yourself. [/u]

Totally misleading on what the right is truly saying, but then again, it's not a surprise to see you spouting such nonsense.  You've radicalized yourself since you started teaching under Emperor Trump the 1st.

That, I believe, is the one true dividing line - between people who believe it's all up to individuals, and people who believe that societies exist. As I have said before, people on the left and right exist on both these sides.

Ultimately, it's up to the individuals to change, but they must have the necessary social pressure to do so, and the right education.  If all we teach about 1st nations is that they were living in the woods, half naked, and tied up priests at a post to roast them alive, we will have a flawed picture, just as English Canada has a flawed picture of Quebec, since so many individuals are unwilling to learn about another culture than their own, when it is in the same country.

Is systemic racism a performative word? Of course it is. It's a way to reframe the issue in ways that would allow for us to enact change. 

It's a way to deflect the blame from the individuls committing racism to the State making it its sole responsibility and therefore making it the cashier to give money to people who feel victimized.

Far left activists are asking of the "whites" exactly what they call us racist for: asking for blacks to denounce en masse their gang violence and askin of muslims to speak the same against islamist's violence.

I am sorry that it angers people, who resist it so, but I have to wonder why: is it because they see no problem at all, because of a  deep abiding concern for semantics, or because it will actually hurt the cause? Sometimes, it's difficult to know. So I try to explain how the word is being used and deployed, what it means, and why it may be useful to look at the situation in a different way.

The word is being used to instill guilt on every white person for the simple fact they were born white.  We perpetuate a system just by being white.  We don't scream against racism everyday, therefore we are part of the system.

That is in essence what you and other activists are saying and I'm sorry if it offends your conception of the world, but it's pure bullshit.

I am no more responsbile for that Minneapolis cop killing a black man than the average black man in Montreal is responsible for juvenile prostitution by black gang members in the province.  I do not believe in collective guilt, except where it's obvious: you politically support an option that leads to injustice, than you are part of the problem.

Blacks, Asians, First Nations, Arabs, etc, don't need our pity, they need our respect as we should give any individual by default.

I'm certainly not denying there is racism, I certainly never denied it, I may have been totally insensitive/borderline racist as a young kid, but that is way beyond me and I can only act decently toward people of other communities.

It's not up to me to dictate to other people how to think and how to speak, but I certainly try to change their minds when I hear racist propagande.  I've kinda dropped the towel on the Quebec's 1st Phalange of Trump the 1st, I'm simply trolling/insulting them whenever I can, but with close friends/acquaintance, I certainly speak up.

Government only has a limited role, in so far as insuring that the education system benefits everyone equally, no segregation, and equal justice for all.

Declaring there is a problem because there is X% of blacks/hispanics/1st nations/etc in prison while they only represent Y% of the population is totally misleading as it is utterly meaningless.  Same with police brutality.  Lots of white people have been killed or beaten to a pulp by police officers.  White violent protesters are equally targetted as any other in the frequent Montreal riots.  So called representative of the black communities have repeatedly rejected any overture by the police to discuss the matter, even recently, they de-invited the Montreal police chief to their planned "peaceful" protest.  Then they will claim the police is totally racist because they ain't standing with them.

Your activist friends are just as bad as the very fine people of Trump south of the border.  Antifas are scums and I couldn't care less if the police is sent to shoot them with real bullets when they inevitably commit crimes.  We don't need these kind of morons in a peaceful, democratic society.  They only invite reaction from far right activists, as we have seen in the past, and then we get a Donald Trump in power.

[Oexmelin]

I'm very familiar with Kwanlin Dun, obviously.  First nations in Yukon are in this very unique situation - they are not reserves, but they are owned and run by the first nation.

Cool. I had no specific take on it - I was just curious about yours, seeing as you are both a crown prosecutor and a former Yukon resident.

[Barrister]

If it is a question of funding then it is a question of priorities

But everything is a matter of priorities in the public service.

[crazy canuck]

That's my point

[Barrister]

That's my point

Then it's not a very interesting point.

Everything in the government is a matter of priorities.  The US government could put a man on the moon within 10 years in the 60s... by expending a substantial amount of government resources.  Whether that money would have been better sent on other priorities is a matter of debate.

Almost anything is possible if you spend enough money on it.  Whether or not that's a good idea is another storey.

[crazy canuck]

Interesting that you equate confronting this issue with an uninteresting academic thought experiment.  It is consistent with a view that there is no issue to address.  Probably a view widely shared by most Conservatives.

[Barrister]

Interesting that you equate confronting this issue with an uninteresting academic thought experiment.  It is consistent with a view that there is no issue to address.  Probably a view widely shared by most Conservatives.

Of course there are issues to address.  But as with everything in public policy it's all about compromises and trade-offs, one of the most important of which is how do you pay for it.  Merely waving your hands and saying "well it's just a matter of priorities" doesn't answer anything.

[crazy canuck]

Nobody mentioned the waving of hands.  The discussion is about spending priorities.  I say again, that is the point.

[crazy canuck]

I'm very familiar with Kwanlin Dun, obviously.  First nations in Yukon are in this very unique situation - they are not reserves, but they are owned and run by the first nation.

Cool. I had no specific take on it - I was just curious about yours, seeing as you are both a crown prosecutor and a former Yukon resident.

Check your PMs.... 

[Josephus]

So...my grocery store said as of next week theyr're gonna start charging for plastic bags (since March they been free because they didn't want people bringing their own in).
My cable/Internet company will no longer waive overage fees at end of month
Churches are gonna reopen.
My dentist called to say I have an appointment in July

So....I guess it's all over?