Friday, October 10, 2008

Prejudice, hate, & rascism - alive & thriving in Canada

This morning I got up to the whole Dion, CTV video debacle. I do not watch Duffy, can't stand him, or CTV newsnet, & shamelessly admit I mostly watch MSNBC in the evenings. Or a movie.

Being an immigrant myself, from England as a young child, with a British father & a Polish mother, my parents decided to come here to have "a better life". And that they had - their dream come true for themselves & their 4, then 5, children.

My mother has a strong Polish accent, speaks fluent english but on occasion has difficulty, still, understanding some things, as do many other Canadians to whom english is a 2nd language. Mostly because of the way that they are phrased.

We kids grew up in La Belle Province on the outskirts of Montreal. Then after leaving home I moved into the city itself. I love Quebec & all Quebecoise even though I no longer live there. It's the most multi-cultural province in all of Canada - Montreal especially, & has been for a very, very long time. Now Toronto has about a 50% multi-cultural population. And is continuing to grow in that vein, as are many other areas of Ontario. And B.C. has an extremely large Chinese & East Indian immigrant population.

Since Stephen Harper came to power I seem to see divisiveness, hatred, & rascism growing & getting stronger by the day. His comments in the past on the Asian & East Indian immigrants here, that they should be separated from the rest of the country, "the Northern welfare state" & so many other nasties, to this day, are appalling.

He, along with many others of his party, seeks to divide this nation on many different fronts. Not just different ethnicities but also poor vs rich, corporations vs social programs, "straight" vs "gay", & on it goes.

Even his so-called First Nations policies have not been put into action. Yes, an apology but that's all. He's all talk. And talk he does. Now he has the audacity to criticize M. Dion for not understanding a question due to the confusing tenses used within this question. And Harper uses it to state that M. Dion cannot possibly lead this country as he isn't quick enough on his feet, so to speak. Ridiculous!

We are a 2 language country. English is not everyone's 1st language. This continues to show how prejudiced this man really is. He doesn't care about anyone who is not of his own "race", of his own financial income, or an Albertan. And no, I am not prejudiced against Alberta or Albertans. They, too, are "us".

We have witnessed, during this election, vandalism to people's cars, spray painting of hate graffiti on people's houses, destruction of election signs, threatening phone calls - all to supporters of the Liberal party. I'm not saying this is a concerted "Con" effort but it's the Con, & Harper, message of hatred that has instilled this in certain people so that they act out their thoughts & feelings. And those are some VERY strong feelings. Dangerous to life & limb. And Harper still has not spoken out against these actions. Not a single, solitary word. By not condemning these practices his silence gives tacit approval to them. In my riding, Perth-Wellington in Ontario, signs haven't just been bent, toppled over, or removed, they have literally been BURNT - over & over. The hatred is astounding.

Is this what we want to have continue in this beautiful country of ours? Prejudice, rascism, & hatred? If so then vote Harper & his Cons. If not then vote, strategically, to defeat these goons. M. Dion is a deep, caring man who loves this country - as a whole. Not as some divided up oil patch, tar sands horror. Let's give him a mandate to put this country back together for us - the people!

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