Thoughts on BC Politics and More

Bronwyn Eyre is the former Saskatchewan Minister of Energy and of Justice and Attorney General “Dissent, contrary views, and nuance are neither expected nor tolerated. Opinions that are different are not on the reading list. The purpose of the program is indoctrination.” This, from a recent National Post op-ed, in which former Law Dean and 13-year President of the University of Saskatchewan, Peter MacKinnon, takes square aim at the U of S’ mandatory Anti-Racism/Anti-Oppression and Unconscious Bias Faculty Development Program — signed by the U of S administration into its collective bargaining agreement with faculty and staff. Underpinning the required readings for what MacKinnon calls this “propaganda module” is that the “success of Saskatchewan’s white people is built on 150 years of racist, sexist and homophobic colonial practices,” and that Canadian university systems are “rigged to privilege white people.” Mackinnon recounts how one program participant, who attended because he was ...

Canadians are already tired of the deep division around issues such as gender, race, climate change and free speech. But we can't avoid it; rather we need to address it   Oh, we were so smug then, in simpler times, when we flicked through the American cable news networks to gawk at people screaming at each other about social values. But like it or not, the so-called “culture wars” have woven their way into the fabric of Canadian political, educational and societal discourse too. Even if we wanted to (and many of us do), there’s no avoiding them anymore. “Culture wars” is a catch-all phrase that has become shorthand for increasingly divisive discourse around issues such as gender, race, climate, capitalism, the nature and limits of public speech, and the legacies of colonialism. Examples are everywhere ... CLICK HERE for the full story

Today I’m coming out as a ­colonial. It’s who I am, and I won’t deny my identity as a ­colonial any longer.   I’ve always been a colonial — from even before I knew I was one. But today I’m declaring it publicly: a colonial is who I am, and I’m proud of my identity.   I was born in a thrice-colonially named place: Victoria. British. Columbia. When I was just four years old, I sat on the curb on Douglas Street for a parade celebrating the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II, and I waved my little Union Jack.   Yes, that’s a flag I’m still proud of, along with that other great flag, the red and white one with the maple leaf on it. (No contradiction there!)   I attended schools named for people and places in (or from) what back then was still often called the Old Country: ­Doncaster, Lansdowne, (Mount) Douglas. And I was proud to do so.   At home, when I was growing up, my family subscribed to a newspaper called The Victoria Daily Colonist ... CLICK HER...