[Canada] Canadian Politics Redux

[Jacob]

Yesterday, 560k Union member were on strike. The biggest numbers in Quebec's history. It will probably grow again before christmas.

I saw some footage on that, but with sound off. What are the issues? What's the likely path the the conflict will take?

[Sheilbh]

I know you all want to get back to talking about Canadian Politics - but literally just saw this on my comment about Google Translate with a phone. It's incredible:

Jason Rabinowitz
@AirlineFlyer
Google Translate continues to be a life saver  I can't believe it works so well on this handwritten board.

[Barrister]

Don't you folks get mandatory French classes in school? Why is French proficiency so terrible in anglocanada?

Not a dig at cc in particular, just an observation since I moved to BC. It's really pretty terrible. I mean we had english and spanish and I'm pretty fluent in both, so I don't get why the discrepancy.

OK, so a few different thoughts on French language education in Canada (at least Western Canada).  First of all it's bifurcated (or even trifurcated).  There is a French school board, then there is French immersion, then there is French classes in regular schools (and that's putting aside the whole public vs catholic school board system).  So that's great for francophones or those committed to a french-language education, but it also means that of those who are left there isn't as much interest in French.

There' a big difference between provinces also.  This is by now a 30+ year old anecdote, but I think it still holds.  Moving from Saskatchewan to Manitoba the level of French expected in just regular french classes was astounding.  Despite there being a small-but-proud Franco-Albertan community, French language is not a big priority to Alberta schools.

So my son Tim.  I think they only started French classes in grade 4 or so.  When he moved to junior high in grade 7 we signed him up for French as an option - but only a handful of kids did as well.  As such they didn't even offer French.

So those are some of the factors where the system doesn't do very well.

But then, as mentioned... there's not much opportunity to use it.

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

This lists 6% of Albertans as being able to speak French.  But that's also self-reported, and includes people who learned to speak as adults..  When it comes to first languages though, both Chinese (Cantonese and Mandarin) plus Tagalog have more native speakers, and Punjabi is right on French's heels.

So yeah, there's just little reason to practice or maintain one's skills in French.

So look - I wish I knew French.  But on a practical basis while it might help me get some particular government jobs (with the Feds) I very rarely find myself wishing I could speak or understand French on a day-to-day basis.  If I could snap my fingers and learn a language it would probably be Ukrainian, Mandarin or Punjabi in no particular order ahead of French (sorry Tagalog speakers).

[Zoupa]

What I mostly meant is why so many Anglophones are unilignual. I've known forever that Canada being bilingual is a total joke.

I'm not sure what the worldwide stats are but I get the feeling (might be totally wrong) that most of the world speaks more than 1 language. It feels very limiting to me if you're pigeon-holed to one set of cultural references etc.

[crazy canuck]

What I mostly meant is why so many Anglophones are unilignual. I've known forever that Canada being bilingual is a total joke.

I'm not sure what the worldwide stats are but I get the feeling (might be totally wrong) that most of the world speaks more than 1 language. It feels very limiting to me if you're pigeon-holed to one set of cultural references etc.

Yes, but living in North America there is no reason to speak any other language.  The vast space here makes a big difference.  In the time it takes to drive from Vancouver to the next major population centre in BC, I can pass through multiple countries in Europe.

[Barrister]

What I mostly meant is why so many Anglophones are unilignual. I've known forever that Canada being bilingual is a total joke.

I'm not sure what the worldwide stats are but I get the feeling (might be totally wrong) that most of the world speaks more than 1 language. It feels very limiting to me if you're pigeon-holed to one set of cultural references etc.

It's the blessing / curse of speaking the world's lingua franca.

I mean so far I've gone to lots of places in Europe, plus Mexico and Brazil, and can get by with just English.  So on the one hand there's not the same need to learn another language.  But absolutely culturally that's limiting.

I can remember reading from some of the posters here how they forced themselves to learn english as kids in order to play different RPGs or computer games or whatever.  But us anglos just don't face the same circumstances.

[Jacob]

What I mostly meant is why so many Anglophones are unilignual. I've known forever that Canada being bilingual is a total joke.

I'm not sure what the worldwide stats are but I get the feeling (might be totally wrong) that most of the world speaks more than 1 language. It feels very limiting to me if you're pigeon-holed to one set of cultural references etc.

I agree with you about the benefits of speaking more than one language.

In practice, because English is so widespread and English language culture is so dominant. Individuals will vary - and have different logic and idiosyncracies for why they do as they do - but systemically there are fewer incentives (positve or negative) for Anglophones to learn another language compared to many others.

Incidentally, this is google's response to the question "how many people in the world speaks more than one language":

43% of the world's population is bilingual, according to Journal of Neurolinguistics, meaning almost half of all people utilise two languages daily. 40% of the world's population is monolingual, using just one language. 17% of the world's population is multilingual, or fluent in two or more languages.

[Jacob]

https://pressprogress.ca/pierre-poilievres-radical-gender-ideology-rhetoric-is-rooted-in-the-global-far-rights-attack-on-lgbtq-rights/

Pierre Poilievre's 'Radical Gender Ideology' Rhetoric is Rooted in the Global Far-Right's Attack on LGBTQ+ Rights
Pierre Poilievre keeps railing against 'radical gender ideology', a paranoid far-right fever dream with a hateful and harmful history

by Luke LeBrun, Editor
November 24, 2023

What exactly is Pierre Poilievre talking about?

During a recent speech to Conservative supporters, Poilievre made the bizarre claim that Justin Trudeau is imposing "radical gender ideology" on children and schools.

Leaving aside that education is a provincial responsibility, not a federal responsibility, Poilievre's use of "gender ideology" was immediately condemned by LGBTQ+ groups who described it as a homophobic and transphobic "dog whistle."

"Pierre Poilievre's recent claims that 'radical gender ideology' is being imposed on children is part of a misinformation-fueled hate campaign," said Egale Canada, a Canadian LGBTQ+ organization, adding that it "condemns these deeply hateful and harmful claims by Pierre Poilievre."

Despite being condemned by one of Canada's top LGBTQ+ advocacy groups, Poilievre still continues to use the term.

In fact, during recent rallies over the last month or so, Poilievre has invoked the term "gender ideology" and related rhetoric during a section of his speech railing against "digital IDs," "digital currency" and the "World Economic Forum."

But what exactly does "gender ideology" mean? Here's what you need to know:

What is 'gender ideology'?

The term "gender ideology" has been described as a "Hydra-like global conspiracy myth" aimed at rolling back women's and LGBTQ+ rights.

The term's origins are widely attributed to the Catholic Church and the Vatican's historic opposition to perceived threats to the so-called traditional family.

Sarah Moore, an analyst with the Anti-Defamation League and GLAAD, says the term has evolved in recent decades and morphed into an ambiguous concept used by right-wing social conservatives to incite paranoia about LGBTQ+ communities.

"This term 'gender ideology' is used to create an imaginary demon of an ideology where the whole goal is to harm children by sexualizing them, grooming them, or forcing them to become queer or trans," Moore told PressProgress.

"It's really kind of an ambiguous conspiracy theory that's alleging LGBTQ+ movements are seeking to forcibly turn kids gay or force children into identifying as transgender," Moore explained. "They use it as this scary boogeyman."

"We know that just simply is not happening. There's no way to force somebody to become gay."

'Gender ideology' is inciting paranoia about indoctrination, grooming and pedophilia

The latest version of the "gender ideology" panic revolves around narratives about schools "indoctrinating" or "grooming" children, something implicitly linked to unfounded insinuations about child sexual exploitation and abuse.

In the United States, "gender ideology" and "indoctrination" rhetoric has inspired right-wing Republican governors like Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and Texas Governor Greg Abbot to pass restrictive education laws. Meanwhile, anti-LGBTQ+ groups like Moms for Liberty have campaigned to ban books from libraries and called police on librarians.

This has contributed to a culture of paranoia that appears to be inciting threats and acts of physical violence. For example, harassment, death threats and bomb threats targeting schools and children's hospitals have been linked to the targets of LibsofTikTok, a far-right account that aggregates content about teachers and the LGBTQ+ community.

"We know that online rhetoric doesn't just stay online," Moore said. "It can directly inspire real-world acts of harm and we've documented literally hundreds of cases in which this is the case."

This summer, ADL and GLAAD published a report that found hundreds of examples linking anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric to incidents of violence and harassment.

"A large number of them were conducted by perpetrators who were directly citing tropes from this gender ideology narrative," Moore said. "We know these conversations happening online are directly translating into harm against these communities, whether that be in the form of bomb threats, whether that be in the form of death threats, or doxxing against teachers."

Canada's rise in 'gender ideology' paranoia is closely linked to pandemic conspiracy groups

In Canada, anti-vaccine activists and other anti-public health groups began disrupting school board meetings during the pandemic in opposition to vaccines and face masks.

But when the pandemic began to recede and public health measures started lifting, rather than return to the old normal, these groups simply pivoted to a new target.

"The latest iteration started to pick-up when public health restrictions were being removed" and parents began "returning their children to school," Hazel Woodrow, a researcher with the Canadian Anti-Hate Network, told PressProgress.

"There's a part of this that can't be disentangled from the way that these folks, who are largely similar people with grievances around COVID-19 public health measures, and how they are responding to public education," Woodrow said.

The educational content these groups object to is not new and has been taught in Canadian schools for years. What is new is how these groups, which often include individuals radicalized by COVID-19 conspiracies and extremist content during the pandemic, are reengaging with the public education system post-pandemic.

"A lot of them never wanted schools to close to begin with," Woodrow noted. "Now they're getting a lot of ideas about what happens in the classroom from accounts like LibsofTikTok."

Social conservative groups, anti-LGBTQ+ micro-influencers are the biggest spreaders of anti-'gender ideology' paranoia
In June 2023, out-of-town anti-LGBTQ+ activists, far-right livestreamers and right-wing media personalities organized rallies targeting three Ottawa-area schools in an event explicitly billed as an "education over indoctrination" or anti-"gender ideology" rally.

Campaign Life Coalition, Canada's biggest anti-abortion group, mobilized supporters to show up, linking it to efforts to "resist LGBT indoctrination in schools," while right-wing outlets like True North described it as a "protest against gender ideology."


The main organizers, "Billboard Chris" and teenage Christian nationalist Josh Alexander, had appeared together at a secret meeting with elite conservatives at Toronto's Albany Club several weeks prior to their rally targeting Ottawa schools.

While these large, well-funded organizations are amplifying and mainstreaming rhetoric about "gender ideology" within the wider conservative movement, the real influencers are often lone individuals running websites and social media accounts.

"What I think is really interesting is not so much the (bigger) groups but these micro groups with maybe a few people running a Twitter account or a free Wix website," Woodrow noted.

Woodrow points to things like Blueprint for Canada, which created a platform in service of a network of anti-trans candidates in school trustee elections last year, even though it's "run by one guy" and "isn't so much a group as it is a website."

Blueprint Canada's founder has explicitly cited his opposition to "gender ideology" as the reason he created it.

Likewise, a recent effort to organize an anti-LGBTQ+ "million man march" in cities across the country was largely organized by smaller groups using cheap websites and Facebook groups that were amplified by larger, better-funded conservative groups.

'This stuff is transnational': Parallels with the global far-right

Cristian González Cabrera, a researcher with Human Rights Watch, says he sees "parallels" between what's currently playing out in North America and other anti-LGBTQ+ campaigns around the world over the last decade.

"A lot of this stuff is transnational in nature," Cabrera told PressProgress.

"In many ways, we're seeing this throughout the world," Cabrera said. "Whether that's Brazil or Poland or Hungary or Russia, the term 'gender ideology' is instrumentalized to attack this kind of enemy of traditional values."

Cabrera has documented over 200 laws passed at the federal, state and municipal level over the last decade banning or placing restrictions on gender and sexuality education in Brazil.

These laws were largely in response to organized conservative groups pushing the same "gender ideology" rhetoric and messages that are now becoming mainstreamed in Canada.

"Since around 2013-2014, we've seen a rise of the use of this rhetoric in Brazil and it has manifested itself in many different ways," Cabrera said, noting it began with organized campaigns by groups focused on "gender ideology" and "Marxist indoctrination."

Cabrera notes the language was later embraced and co-opted by Jair Bolsonaro, Brazil's former far-right populist president. Anti-"gender ideology" rhetoric figured prominently in Brazil's 2018 presidential campaign, with Bosonaro's opponent being repeatedly targeted with "disinformation about the sexualization of children."

The cumulative impact of this rhetoric has resulted in restrictive — and in some cases unconstitutional — anti-LGBTQ+ education laws passed across Brazil.

"Over 200 bills and laws in Brazil referencing either specifically 'gender ideology' or specifically trying to ban 'gender ideology' or saying 'no information about gender and sexuality in the classroom' or banning so-called 'indoctrination' in Brazilian schools," Cabrera said.

"It's really quite remarkable, when you go to the smallest city in Brazil, to bills at the federal level, you're seeing the same language around gender ideology and indoctrination," Cabrera said.

Human Rights Watch's report explicitly calls on politicians to "refrain from making public statements that equate education related to gender and sexuality" with "'gender ideology' or 'indoctrination' of students."

Aside from the risk of inciting harm to students and teachers, Cabrera says the cumulative impact of this rhetoric is that it "erodes trust" in the education system and public institutions.

"Whenever conservative groups are employing this type of rhetoric, it's important to push back and not let it slide," Cabrera said. "They begin to sow doubt in society about what people are doing in schools or about the value of certain types of identities."

"It has a very nefarious impact on society."

A globalized, transnational 'cross-pollination of ideas'

Anti-LGBTQ+ groups in Canada and around the world are regularly networking and sharing information through various channels, including international conferences.

Campaign Life Coalition and its publication, Lifesite News, have been past participants in international initiatives like the World Congress of Families, an annual conference attended by American evangelical groups and reportedly funded by a sanctioned Russian oligarch.

In 2019, Conservative MP Garnett Genuis attended and spoke at an anti-"gender ideology" conference organized by a think tank formally affiliated with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán's Fidesz Party attended by a number of international anti-LGBTQ+ groups.

But these ideas are not simply being imposed on Canada by external forces – Canada is also a major exporter of anti-LGBTQ+ hate too.

While Canada's far-right has been inspired by groups like Moms for Liberty and LibsofTikTok, Canada's so-called "million man march" this fall inspired anti-LGBTQ+ activists in the US.

"We saw the 'One Million March for Children' generate a lot of discussion in online spaces, especially in extremist spaces," Moore told PressProgress. "Because of that march, when 'Gays Against Groomers' decided to hold their nationwide march on October 21, they actually turned it into a 'Worldwide March', which included partnering with the organizers of the 'One Million March for Children' and expanding into locations in Canada, as well."

This summer, "Billboard Chris" Elston, the organizer of the rally targeting Ottawa-area schools, appeared at a Moms for Liberty conference in Philadelphia, where he denounced "gender ideology" as the "greatest child abuse scandal" in history.

"For nearly three years I have been on a one-of-a-kind journey in order to create awareness about what I consider to be the greatest child abuse scandal," Elston said. "An insane belief system called 'gender ideology' has spread like wildfire throughout the Western world."

According to Media Matters, Elston revealed in a breakout session that he had been identified and recruited by a right-wing American think tank called the Heritage Foundation to join an initiative to "fight gender ideology."

Moms for Liberty (YouTube)

"There are situations where we are having a cross-pollination of ideas through conferences," Woodrow told PressProgress.

"It is a globalized social movement that is observing strategies from around the world and applying them as they work best in their own areas and it's important to remember that it's not unidirectional."

"People in Canada observe what works and what doesn't and apply that to their own social movements up here," Woodrow said, meanwhile other "people observe what Canadians do."

"All of this is very ironic because they, you know, hate 'globalists', but they are part of a globalized movement and engage in globalized strategy all the time."

[HVC]

20% of Canadians are immigrants. So a large percentage of Canadians are bilingual. More if you include their kids.

[Barrister]

So Jacob, the article you linked was from Press Progress. That's an advocacy group funded by the Broadbent Institute as an explicitly left-wing progressive news organization.  So I mean while there's nothing wrong with linking to them, it's the equivalent to linking to Rebel News in terms of bias.  I mean I can (and will!) complain about outfits like the CBC having a bias, but it's far more explicit and obvious with Press Progress.

I will concede that both Rebel News and Press Progress can publish legitimate news, but that I will be skeptical of both of them at first.

The article itself quotes 4 individuals.  Those individuals are linked to "Egale Canada, a Canadian LGBTQ+ organization", "the Anti-Defamation League and GLAAD", "the Canadian Anti-Hate Network" and "Human Rights Watch" (none of which are meant as scare quotes, rather I was just literally quoting how they were described in the article).  Again that's fine, but all are linked to activist organizations.  If you were trying to publish a more neutral piece I think you would try to link to sources from both sides, or at least try to find an academic or someone who comes across as more neutral, rather than just activists.

So if you dig down the source of this is a video (first reported by the right wing Western Standard) where Poilievre says "Justin Trudeau does not have a right to impose his radical gender ideology on our kids and on our schools,"

So this is the problem, both on the right and the left, with these fucking culture wars.  "radical gender ideology" is just as malleable a term as "woke".

The article states (without attribution) that "The term "gender ideology" has been described as a "Hydra-like global conspiracy myth" aimed at rolling back women's and LGBTQ+ rights.".  So it is by implication saying that by Poilievre by using the phrase "gender ideology" wants to roll back women's and gay's rights.  Let me just personally say I would be highly doubtful that a Prime Minister Poilievre would do any such thing.

I am going to suggest there is a more charitable interpretation of the phrase "radical gender ideology" which revolves more around specific trans-issues - ideas like "self-id" (that merely by saying you're a different gender you are) and youth gender transition (giving youths access to medications or surgeries that will have permanent and life-altering consequences).

Now you can argue both sides of self-id and youth transitioning, but I would suggest those are at a minimum some pretty valid public policy arguments to have.

Finally, the article just comes across as just as conspiratorial as any right-winger complaining about Davos and the "globalists".  So right-wingers from around the world talk and share notes.  Big whoop.

[Zoupa]

Beeb, PP saying "Justin Trudeau does not have a right to impose his radical gender ideology on our kids and on our schools" is not grounded in reality, as the article points out that schooling is a provincial jurisdiction.

PP obviously knows that. He also know that the covid vaccine works but supported the Truckers convoy. This kinda language/stunts is exactly what makes him unsuitable to lead the country. He is dog-whistling constantly and appeals to the lowest of people's impulses, banking on outrage.

It goes back to that apple orchard video. We all know what the reporter was referring to when he said Trump-like talking points, but PP plays all innocent and conservatives lap it up because "owning the Libs" gives them a dopamine boost.

He's the worst kind of politician.

[Barrister]

It goes back to that apple orchard video. We all know what the reporter was referring to when he said Trump-like talking points, but PP plays all innocent and conservatives lap it up because "owning the Libs" gives them a dopamine boost.

But you're just circling back to the main problem from this article.

We don't know what that reporter was referring to when he said "Trump-like talking points".  The Press Progress article, and that apple reporter, just lay the argument out there as if it is obvious.  The apple-incident essentially saying it's obvious Poilievre is Trump-like, and Press Progress essentially it's saying that it's obvious Poilievre wants to roll back women's and gay rights.

[Josephus]

Don't you folks get mandatory French classes in school? Why is French proficiency so terrible in anglocanada?

Not a dig at cc in particular, just an observation since I moved to BC. It's really pretty terrible. I mean we had english and spanish and I'm pretty fluent in both, so I don't get why the discrepancy.

French instruction is pretty poor. When i was in high school (early 80s) we only had to take it to Grade 10 (I voluntarily took it to Grade 11), but really we never really learned to read even at Grade 11. We just went around conjugating verbs.

[Oexmelin]

No, what is obvious is that he is using language that has clear and direct links to other parts of the right-wing mediasphere, where it is deployed to create and amplify very well-known talking points stoking fear about "gender ideology" as a sort of hidden agenda pushed unto "the children".  I think it is also disingenuous to suggest that somehow, Poilievre is entirely disconnected from the sort of talking points that are relayed by right-wing commentators on both sides of the border. I don't think it really "could mean anything, really".

[HVC]

Don't you folks get mandatory French classes in school? Why is French proficiency so terrible in anglocanada?

Not a dig at cc in particular, just an observation since I moved to BC. It's really pretty terrible. I mean we had english and spanish and I'm pretty fluent in both, so I don't get why the discrepancy.

French instruction is pretty poor. When i was in high school (early 80s) we only had to take it to Grade 10 (I voluntarily took it to Grade 11), but really we never really learned to read even at Grade 11. We just went around conjugating verbs.

Randomly yelling out ils and elles ont was a thing amongst my friends. Don't know why we found it funny. Guess the common experience.