[Canada] Canadian Politics Redux

[HVC]

Protestors firebomb RBC execs car in his parking lot over night to protest Coastal GasLink. Also threaten him, his kids, and grandkids on online message.


https://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/canada/john-ivison-a-bankers-cars-firebombed-in-the-night-and-progressive-politicians-stay-silent/ar-AAXsEwX?li=AAggNb9

[viper37]

Henri Bourassa was not a M.P. in 1889 [He was only 21 then]. Unless it is 1899, which could be more accurate, as the Canadian participation in the Boers War was heavily discussed.

didn't pay attention to the date.  Yeah, it's logical that it'd be 1899.  Both English and French version of the text mention 1889.  I'll try to find another source and have this corrected.

[viper37]

Protestors firebomb RBC execs car in his parking lot over night to protest Coastal GasLink. Also threaten him, his kids, and grandkids on online message.


https://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/canada/john-ivison-a-bankers-cars-firebombed-in-the-night-and-progressive-politicians-stay-silent/ar-AAXsEwX?li=AAggNb9

Yeah.  Not surprising at all that no one on the left would condemn this terrorist act.

[crazy canuck]

Yeah - I think it's of a part with the far-right Viking thing or the overlap of trad architecture and the far-right.

Though to be honest with the Anglo-Saxon stuff almost everything I've seen on that has been from when Medievalist Twitter suddenly pops up on my feed - because it seems like they're always going through contentious rows. I've seen more of the direct Viking/Rome/trad architecture far-right.

As with those I never know how to respond - and I get why it must be tough if, for example, you are a scholar who has spent your life studying the Vikings or Anglo-Saxons or classics. I've no idea what the correct response is. I wouldn't want to cede those topics or entire historical cultures to the far-right, on the other hand you can't enable them - and it's also really important to also acknowledge/look at the reception and uses of that topic historicaly which absolutely was part of how white supremacism was structured/created. 

I'm not an academic or a scholar but I do slightly worry about how to position/understand some of my interests that I read about and have books about etc are ultimately now far-right adjacent (less so the Vikings and Romans and Anglo-Saxons - more Medieval/Early Modern stuff in general).

I'm not sure I understand what you think current scholars should be doing against far right twisting of their disciplines.

There are a number who correct the misuse of history by the right.  But these days that has become more than a full time job.

[crazy canuck]

Then open your eyes

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speak_White

It is alleged that the first known instance of derogatory use of the phrase "speak white" against French-speaking Canadians occurred on October 12, 1889, when member of the Canadian Liberal party Henri Bourassa was booed by English-speaking members of the parliament and shouted at to "Speak White!" during debates in the Canadian House of Commons on Canada's engagement in the Second Boer War.

On March 7, 2007, journalist Larry Zolf published an article called "Speak White" on CBC News Online, giving anecdotal evidence of Canadian immigrants being told to "speak white" by hostile English-speaking Canadians.^[5] In the same article, Zolf also criticizes then-Liberal Party candidate Stéphane Dion, wanting to tell him to "speaking white" for Dion's "mangling the English language," and citing his lack of English proficiency as the reason for the candidate's unpopularity with English-speaking Canadian voters.

I guess Dion was that famous Conservative minister?

I ask you to open your eyes to what Poilievre is doing now and you resort to a long ago what about response?

[Zoupa]

Whataboutism seems to be Viper's favourite tactic.

[Zoupa]

Protestors firebomb RBC execs car in his parking lot over night to protest Coastal GasLink. Also threaten him, his kids, and grandkids on online message.


https://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/canada/john-ivison-a-bankers-cars-firebombed-in-the-night-and-progressive-politicians-stay-silent/ar-AAXsEwX?li=AAggNb9

Yeah.  Not surprising at all that no one on the left would condemn this terrorist act.

Yes, why don't lefties rush to do a press conference to lament the loss of the Jaguar and Land Rover of a Tory banker?

Truly the world is unfair.

[Zoupa]

And they didn't threaten anyone in that message. They said you shouldn't think you're insulated from climate change just because you're rich.

[Sheilbh]

There are a number who correct the misuse of history by the right.  But these days that has become more than a full time job.

Yeah and maybe it's just me being too sensitive - but I always feel an urge to put a bit of distance between me and the far right who've taken an interest in that. I'm not that type of Paradox player. Which I feel professionals academics in Old English, or the Vikings or Rome must have all the time.

Plus I think it is still worth examining why the far right glom onto something because it's not normally without reason.

[Jacob]

The far right gloms on to old European history because it was central to the national romantic mythmaking in previous centuries, and they're really fond of national romantic mythmaking to serve their political ends.

In fact, I expect that a non-trivial amount of members of the far right were into national romantic mythmaking before they became far right.

[Sheilbh]

The far right gloms on to old European history because it was central to the national romantic mythmaking in previous centuries, and they're really fond of national romantic mythmaking to serve their political ends.

In fact, I expect that a non-trivial amount of members of the far right were into national romantic mythmaking before they became far right.

I agree. I suppose what I'm wondering is that I don't think those disciplines/interests were just weaponised for national romantic mythmaking, but participated in that. I don't think academics, or people with an interest in the Vikings are necessarily doing that now, but to what extent they now have the tools or robust firewalls to keep that out of their interest/discipline if that makes sense.

[crazy canuck]

There are a number who correct the misuse of history by the right.  But these days that has become more than a full time job.

Yeah and maybe it's just me being too sensitive - but I always feel an urge to put a bit of distance between me and the far right who've taken an interest in that. I'm not that type of Paradox player. Which I feel professionals academics in Old English, or the Vikings or Rome must have all the time.

Plus I think it is still worth examining why the far right glom onto something because it's not normally without reason.

You may find this group of interest.  I have been following them for a few years and they turn out timely and thoughtful pieces.

https://pharos.vassarspaces.net/

[viper37]

It's still happening, since we're talking about modern " anglo-saxon simple words" as a stand in for racist speech.  

Which wasn't Poilièvre's intention in any case, since he meant to convey the message that he speaks for the simple guy vs the elites.  It's a traditional populist thing.  It's the same thing Trump has been doing.

That Poilièvre simply does not care for racist that follow him is another matter, and on that, there's a lot of whataboutism since the left has been highly tolerant of its fanatics and still is as of today.  You can't expect the right to discipline everyone in the country when they left does not even want to denounce its own followers.

[viper37]

And they didn't threaten anyone in that message. They said you shouldn't think you're insulated from climate change just because you're rich.

Of course.  Setting one's car on fire is nothing like threatening someone.  Speaking loudly is much, much more threatening.  

See what I said about the left?   Prime example right there.

[Zoupa]

And they didn't threaten anyone in that message. They said you shouldn't think you're insulated from climate change just because you're rich.

Of course.  Setting one's car on fire is nothing like threatening someone.  Speaking loudly is much, much more threatening.   

See what I said about the left?   Prime example right there.

The difference in threats coming from the left vs the right is so ridiculously huge that your whataboutism is meaningless.

Every single western police department and intelligence agency says so, and so do the facts on the ground.

You can dig out whatever anecdotal crime linked to "the left" (which sounds like anyone who doesn't align with your conservative views), it wont change that fact.