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The day DEI World entered Canadian politics

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10 months ago

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B.C. Premier John Horgan during an interview on Nov. 15, 2022 in Ottawa. Mr. Horgan reflexively reached for ideas from Liberal World during a 2020 debate, writes Tony Keller.Dave Chan/The Globe and Mail

On Oct. 13, 2020, two weeks before a province-wide vote, British Columbia held a leaders’ debate. It featured three political parties – and one new weltanschauung.

The word means “a fundamental understanding of the universe and of humankind’s place within it held by a person, a culture, or a subculture.” The Germans have a word for everything.

As I wrote in my last column, this relatively new way of understanding and seeing – which I called DEI World – is how many Canadians now perceive the universe, and their place in it. But it clashes with liberalism, the long-dominant way of understanding the world, and measuring justice and fairness.

Because DEI stands for “diversity, equity and inclusion” – words expressing sentiments liberals can get behind – many people assume that DEI must be just more liberalism. It isn’t. It’s usually the opposite.

Which is why, if your brain resides in Liberal World, and you’ve had to attend corporate DEI sessions, you may have left feeling confused, or outright opposed. (You also knew it was taboo to express opposition. But that’s a whole other story.)

You’re not alone. In the 2020 debate, B.C.’s New Democratic Party premier was clearly confused when faced with a question straight from the weltanschauung of DEI World. He had good reason to be.

This was the question: “How have you personally reckoned with your own privilege and unconscious bias as a white political leader?”

In Liberal World, a similar question might have been phrased something like this: “Many voters are concerned about racial discrimination, in everything from housing to education to the job market. If elected, what will you do to address racism?”

But that’s not what was asked. The political leaders were not queried about their plans to govern. They were asked how they had “reckoned” with their “privilege” as white people, including their own alleged bias – unconscious bias, no less – against non-white voters.

It was like something out of a religious ceremony, in which people were invited to acknowledge the impossibility of transcending the stain of original sin, with the only possible response being, “yes, I am a sinner.”

But I live in Liberal World.

So did John Horgan, the then-premier and NDP leader. This is how he answered the question: “I grew up in southern Vancouver Island. I was a lacrosse player. I played with Indigenous friends; I played with South Asian friends. For me, I did not see colour. I felt that everyone around me was the same. And I brought that through my entire adult life, and I’ve instilled that in my children.”

It wasn’t the eloquence and precision of Martin Luther King Jr., but the words were in the ballpark. Mr. Horgan reflexively reached for ideas from Liberal World. And in Liberal World, the dream is that your friends and neighbours won’t be constantly sorting one another into racial categories. You’ll all be friends and fellow citizens, full stop. I’m white, you’re Black, whatever.

But that doesn’t square with the DEI World catechism. Race is not a thing to be overcome. It is the thing to centre everything around. In DEI World, a white person failing to confess to inherent racism scans as racism.

And so, as soon as the debate was over, Mr. Horgan apologized. He said it was “inappropriate to say I don’t see colour,” because “I don’t have a clue, as a white person, the challenges that people of colour face every day.” He acknowledged that, when it came to his “privilege,” he of course had “work to do.”

But his brain was mostly still in Liberal World, because he added: “I did grow up in poverty, I did grow up with Indigenous friends and South Asian friends, and for me it was normal to be poor and to be part of the crowd that nobody paid attention to.”

Liberal World is where most of our minds still live. And as liberals, nobody is against lower-case diversity, equity and inclusion. As for anti-racism, isn’t that a good thing too? Racism is bad; anti-racism must be the opposite. Right?

If you’d gone to some corporate non-discrimination training a decade or more ago, you might have been taught about practical things like fair hiring practices, how to avoid giving offence to colleagues and being sensitive in a culturally diverse workplace.

But today’s anti-racism training often isn’t at all like that. Which is how you end up with Laith Marouf. He worked for an organization that received federal funding to deliver anti-racism education, and whose contract was terminated after it came to light that he was posting antisemitic content online.

In Liberal World, claiming to be against racism, while discriminating on the basis of race, is not only wrong, it’s a philosophical contradiction. But DEI World’s anti-racism doesn’t work that way. It starts by putting groups of people into either the good racial box or the bad one, so that one can decide who is oppressed and oppressor, and who is entitled to what sort of treatment.

That’s how you end up with people posting things online that, in Liberal World, are clearly racist – and yet these same people, their minds in DEI World, sincerely believe themselves to be anti-racists.

 

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‘Disgraceful:’ N.S. Tory leader slams school’s request that military remove uniform

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4 days ago

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November 8, 2024

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HALIFAX – Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston says it’s “disgraceful and demeaning” that a Halifax-area school would request that service members not wear military uniforms to its Remembrance Day ceremony.

Houston’s comments were part of a chorus of criticism levelled at the school — Sackville Heights Elementary — whose administration decided to back away from the plan after the outcry.

A November newsletter from the school in Middle Sackville, N.S., invited Armed Forces members to attend its ceremony but asked that all attendees arrive in civilian attire to “maintain a welcoming environment for all.”

Houston, who is currently running for re-election, accused the school’s leaders of “disgracing themselves while demeaning the people who protect our country” in a post on the social media platform X Thursday night.

“If the people behind this decision had a shred of the courage that our veterans have, this cowardly and insulting idea would have been rejected immediately,” Houston’s post read. There were also several calls for resignations within the school’s administration attached to Houston’s post.

In an email to families Thursday night, the school’s principal, Rachael Webster, apologized and welcomed military family members to attend “in the attire that makes them most comfortable.”

“I recognize this request has caused harm and I am deeply sorry,” Webster’s email read, adding later that the school has the “utmost respect for what the uniform represents.”

Webster said the initial request was out of concern for some students who come from countries experiencing conflict and who she said expressed discomfort with images of war, including military uniforms.

Her email said any students who have concerns about seeing Armed Forces members in uniform can be accommodated in a way that makes them feel safe, but she provided no further details in the message.

Webster did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

At a news conference Friday, Houston said he’s glad the initial request was reversed but said he is still concerned.

“I can’t actually fathom how a decision like that was made,” Houston told reporters Friday, adding that he grew up moving between military bases around the country while his father was in the Armed Forces.

“My story of growing up in a military family is not unique in our province. The tradition of service is something so many of us share,” he said.

“Saying ‘lest we forget’ is a solemn promise to the fallen. It’s our commitment to those that continue to serve and our commitment that we will pass on our respects to the next generation.”

Liberal Leader Zach Churchill also said he’s happy with the school’s decision to allow uniformed Armed Forces members to attend the ceremony, but he said he didn’t think it was fair to question the intentions of those behind the original decision.

“We need to have them (uniforms) on display at Remembrance Day,” he said. “Not only are we celebrating (veterans) … we’re also commemorating our dead who gave the greatest sacrifice for our country and for the freedoms we have.”

NDP Leader Claudia Chender said that while Remembrance Day is an important occasion to honour veterans and current service members’ sacrifices, she said she hopes Houston wasn’t taking advantage of the decision to “play politics with this solemn occasion for his own political gain.”

“I hope Tim Houston reached out to the principal of the school before making a public statement,” she said in a statement.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 8, 2024.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

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Saskatchewan NDP’s Beck holds first caucus meeting after election, outlines plans

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4 days ago

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November 8, 2024

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REGINA – Saskatchewan Opposition NDP Leader Carla Beck says she wants to prove to residents her party is the government in waiting as she heads into the incoming legislative session.

Beck held her first caucus meeting with 27 members, nearly double than what she had before the Oct. 28 election but short of the 31 required to form a majority in the 61-seat legislature.

She says her priorities will be health care and cost-of-living issues.

Beck says people need affordability help right now and will press Premier Scott Moe’s Saskatchewan Party government to cut the gas tax and the provincial sales tax on children’s clothing and some grocery items.

Beck’s NDP is Saskatchewan’s largest Opposition in nearly two decades after sweeping Regina and winning all but one seat in Saskatoon.

The Saskatchewan Party won 34 seats, retaining its hold on all of the rural ridings and smaller cities.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 8, 2024.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

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Nova Scotia election: Liberals say province’s immigration levels are too high

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5 days ago

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November 7, 2024

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HALIFAX – Nova Scotia‘s growing population was the subject of debate on Day 12 of the provincial election campaign, with Liberal Leader Zach Churchill arguing immigration levels must be reduced until the province can provide enough housing and health-care services.

Churchill said Thursday a plan by the incumbent Progressive Conservatives to double the province’s population to two million people by the year 2060 is unrealistic and unsustainable.

“That’s a big leap and it’s making life harder for people who live here, (including ) young people looking for a place to live and seniors looking to downsize,” he told a news conference at his campaign headquarters in Halifax.

Anticipating that his call for less immigration might provoke protests from the immigrant community, Churchill was careful to note that he is among the third generation of a family that moved to Nova Scotia from Lebanon.

“I know the value of immigration, the importance of it to our province. We have been built on the backs of an immigrant population. But we just need to do it in a responsible way.”

The Liberal leader said Tim Houston’s Tories, who are seeking a second term in office, have made a mistake by exceeding immigration targets set by the province’s Department of Labour and Immigration. Churchill said a Liberal government would abide by the department’s targets.

In the most recent fiscal year, the government welcomed almost 12,000 immigrants through its nominee program, exceeding the department’s limit by more than 4,000, he said. The numbers aren’t huge, but the increase won’t help ease the province’s shortages in housing and doctors, and the increased strain on its infrastructure, including roads, schools and cellphone networks, Churchill said.

“(The Immigration Department) has done the hard work on this,” he said. “They know where the labour gaps are, and they know what growth is sustainable.”

In response, Houston said his commitment to double the population was a “stretch goal.” And he said the province had long struggled with a declining population before that trend was recently reversed.

“The only immigration that can come into this province at this time is if they are a skilled trade worker or a health-care worker,” Houston said. “The population has grown by two per cent a year, actually quite similar growth to what we experienced under the Liberal government before us.”

Still, Houston said he’s heard Nova Scotians’ concerns about population growth, and he then pivoted to criticize Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for trying to send 6,000 asylum seekers to Nova Scotia, an assertion the federal government has denied.

Churchill said Houston’s claim about asylum seekers was shameful.

“It’s smoke and mirrors,” the Liberal leader said. “He is overshooting his own department’s numbers for sustainable population growth and yet he is trying to blame this on asylum seekers … who aren’t even here.”

In September, federal Immigration Minister Marc Miller said there is no plan to send any asylum seekers to the province without compensation or the consent of the premier. He said the 6,000 number was an “aspirational” figure based on models that reflect each province’s population.

In Halifax, NDP Leader Claudia Chender said it’s clear Nova Scotia needs more doctors, nurses and skilled trades people.

“Immigration has been and always will be a part of the Nova Scotia story, but we need to build as we grow,” Chender said. “This is why we have been pushing the Houston government to build more affordable housing.”

Chender was in a Halifax cafe on Thursday when she promised her party would remove the province’s portion of the harmonized sales tax from all grocery, cellphone and internet bills if elected to govern on Nov. 26. The tax would also be removed from the sale and installation of heat pumps.

“Our focus is on helping people to afford their lives,” Chender told reporters. “We know there are certain things that you can’t live without: food, internet and a phone …. So we know this will have the single biggest impact.”

The party estimates the measure would save the average Nova Scotia family about $1,300 a year.

“That’s a lot more than a one or two per cent HST cut,” Chender said, referring to the Progressive Conservative pledge to reduce the tax by one percentage point and the Liberal promise to trim it by two percentage points.

Elsewhere on the campaign trail, Houston announced that a Progressive Conservative government would make parking free at all Nova Scotia hospitals and health-care centres. The promise was also made by the Liberals in their election platform released Monday.

“Free parking may not seem like a big deal to some, but … the parking, especially for people working at the facilities, can add up to hundreds of dollars,” the premier told a news conference at his campaign headquarters in Halifax.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 7, 2024.

— With files from Keith Doucette in Halifax

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