Thoughts on BC Politics and More

The article,  Kamloops councillor, MLA hoping to have more input as BC mulls plan to weaken DRIPA , was shared on the Politics and More in BC and Across Canada Facebook page.  This topic, as will often happen, turned into a discussion about who we are as individuals: Settlers, Immigrants, Canadians, and First Nations. Cormac McCann had thoughts on the topic I believe are worth sharing, and they follow: - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -   I hear what you’re saying, but I think there’s an important piece of history and present reality that can’t be left out of this conversation. Canada is a relatively new country, but the land itself—and the nations who have lived on it for thousands of years—are not.  For many of us whose families came from Europe, Asia, Africa, or elsewhere, we are settlers on Indigenous land, whether our families arrived generations ago or more recently. I was born here to settler parents and grandparents, and th...

REPRINTED with permission Birthright citizenship just might become the hot button issue of the next federal election. It has all the necessary ingredients. A divide between the left and the right. Ethnic and racial implications. Questions about national identity. Budgetary impacts. Canadian values. Ending birthright citizenship is now official Conservative Party policy. If the Tories get their way, the automatic granting of citizenship to anyone born here will be eliminated. Instead, they would have to have at least one parent who is a Canadian citizen or permanent resident. Opponents of the proposal  say it’s un-Canadian. “We should not pick and choose who should be Canadian (citizens) upon birth,” said one. Well, why not? What’s sacred about birth tourism? What category of Canadian values does it come within?

I was only five years old when WW-II ended. I grew up with stories of the war from family members, returned veterans, and those whose husbands and sons never returned.   Print media was king, and our papers and periodicals were filled with photos and stories of the war, and its ugliness for a decade or two after the war’s end. Our solemn vows to ‘never forget’ have faded and muted over the following decades. The numbers who volunteered for military service is staggering. This from a new nation comprised of mainly immigrants from all corners of the globe. Consider also that only males of the age 18 could serve. At least 4,000 aboriginals served in WW-I and over 3,000 in WW-II. To serve, they had to give up their heritage and become Canadian citizens. World War I World War II Population 8,001,000 (1916) Population 11,654,000 (1942) Military 619,000 ...

J. Richard Cohen is president of the Southern Poverty Law Center, and recently penned a piece in Time magazine entitled, " Black Lives Mater is not a Hate Group ".   Sorry but I have to disagree.  Any group that vehemently opposes others, is in my opinion, a hate group.   In this case, it appears that Black Lives Matter oppose, and dare I say 'hate', uniformed police officers.  Not just the few who have abused their position, but they seem to have tarred many with the same brush of hatred and abuse.  Police officers, who wear the uniform, are most certainly not all guilty of abuse. Cohen spoke in his piece saying, "Generally speaking, hate groups are, by our definition, those that vilify entire groups of people based on immutable characteristics such as race or ethnicity." He also stated that, " There’s no doubt that some protesters who claim the mantle of Black Lives Matter have said offensive things, like the chant "pigs in...