Archive for the 'Canada eh?' Category
“Us” & “Them” Talk From Ontario Residents
Author: Ams
A couple of nights ago I was watching TV with my mom and sister. It was a discussion between the audience, the anchor and an Ontario MP on the debate over whether the Lord’s Prayer should be removed from the Ontario Legislature. I was interested to hear what the responses were from viewers (which I acknowledge is obviously screened). After hearing numeraous individuals call in, I was quite appauled by the consistent Othering language used by many “Christians” who called in. Some of the response were along the lines of these statements:
- They come to our country and they should accept our traditions.
- We have to give up our traditions to those people who come here.
- Canada is more than accomodating to their religions and I don’t see why they should come here and tell us to throw away our traditions.
At what point will they become us? What is it to be Canadian? Does it even matter that I am legally a Canadian citizen? Will the colour of my skin always trigger labels of Other, immigrant, and alien to these Canadians? Does it even matter that I am typically classified as a Christian? According to the statements I heard, I am not a “real” Canadian because I immigrated here.
Well what about “those people” who have been in Canada for generations and are NOT Christian? Are they still not seen as Canadian? Why? What defines a Canadian? Whiteness? Christian-ness? Why are Others still seen as a threat to Canada? Why aren’t they allowed to shape Canada and Canadian culture the way that other “Canadians” are allowed to? When will they be accepted as equal citizens? It is so disappointing to see the same rationality that existed during overtly racist policies designed to keep Others out and Whites in, still resides in the hearts of many Canadians. Of course, I know these comments do not represent all Canadians, and I certainly hope (although I’m more likely being naive) that most Canadians don’t hold these beliefs.
What also bothered me while watching this was that the facilitators of the discussion did not even attempt to draw attention to the inherent racism in the words of these callers. The MP was quick to correct them on the details of the debate, but didn’t even think it was necessary to clarify the Othering that was taking place. Sure it would have diverted off topic, but at least give some discretion to the viewers and future callers so that they can recognize how their words were creating an “us” and “them” labelling session. And to think that this moron was voted into a seat to represent Canadians…can our society be any more pathetic?
Lastly, in reference to the popular arguement of keeping with tradition that was used to keep the prayer in the Legislature, I need to state this. Keeping a tradition for the sake of tradition is dangerous. Traditions have been used in this country to voilate human rights numerous times, so you need to come up with a better justification than ‘it has always been like that’. That was (and is) the same rationality that was/is used to justify the secondary status of women, the oppression and marginalization of racialized peoples, homophobic laws, etc. Ask yourself why you want to keep a tradition. If it is just because that’s all you’ve ever known, then keeping the tradition is more about your own alientation and complacency than it is about benefitting Canadian soceity and the peoples who call it home. Serving yourself, especially in reference to your irrational fears, is harmful to those you Other as well as the people you pass your irrational fears onto.
read comments (2)New Holiday For Ontario Residents
Author: Ams
Guess what? Ontario will celebrate an additional statutory holiday this year on February 18th. It’s called Family Day and it’s to help encourage family time. Well I’m all for family time although I’m suspicious of the capitalist agenda behind the decision. However there is another reason for me to be a little upset about this holiday. You might be asking me why since it is celebrated on the third Monday in February, giving everyone a long weekend. Well, it is because that is usually when Reading Week starts. One of the sweet pleasures of being a university student who gets Reading Week is the ability to go shopping and not have to deal with stupid high school students at the mall. Now with this long weekend it will mean more people will be available to take away our precious Monday mall time. *sigh* =P
I came back to Waterloo today and had a lot of things to unpack. Never again will I take 4/5 of my washable possessions home to clean. It’s easy to dump everything into a huge bag, but bringing back all those things back when they are clean is a pain in the butt! So as I was going through all my things I came across a calendar my mom gave me. Like most (if not all) of the calendars I’ve owned, it is a sixteen month calendar. Now to this I ask, what is the point of a sixteen month calendar? Most people get a calendar for the new year, so why do they need September to December? Does anyone know why they do this? Is it an extra, yet useless, selling point? Are people really THAT stupid that having an extra four pages that they won’t need anyway will make them want to buy it more? Do they even sell twelve week calendars anymore? =/
Ok that was random. *cough* So tomorrow is the first day of the Winter term. I don’t have any classes so I am *planning* on running some errands, such as getting a powerbar for my computer because I left mine at home. How am I using my computer, you ask? Well I have magical powers, obviously! However all this computer generating energy has drained me so I shall be off to bed. Good night!
P.S. My roommate has been in the house for a week and didn’t notice a bag of rotting garbage that had been left in the recycling bin. Why was it in the recylcing bin and not the garbage can? Well that is another brilliant move by one of my stupid roommates. So I had to throw out a really horrible smelling bag of garbage once I had time to investigate what the smell was. Why are people so stupid? And what is up with their habit of leaving things to rot?
Veteran’s Green
Author: Ams
I thought it would be important to put up some pictures of the monument on Veteran’s Green that Jack addressed in his post. Many people walk by this monument everyday without a second glance. It is important to see this monument as a remembrance of those who fought for Canada and those who gave up their lives for our country too. But many do not see that the monument also represents the racism that existed during the war and how that same racism exists today through the portrayal of Canada’s veterans. The monument itself has a plaque saying “Canadian Veterans Memorial”. It clearly is not since the only people who are portrayed in the statue are all White men. This statue excludes women and people of colour. What does that say about the Canada we live in now? Who are seen as Canadian heroes? Who are seen as being worthy of remembering? Clearly the messages state that White male veterans’ stories are more important than those of female veterans and non-White veterans. And by the way, this monument was erected earlier this year, so it is not an outdated statue. It is a 2007 statue.
Oh, and just another nice tid-bit of information. The Kitchener-Waterloo area (which is where this monument is located) is highly populated with residents of German descent. This was even more so during the two world wars. Why is this relevant? Well as far as I know, none of these residents were shipped off to internment camps and stripped of their businesses and livelihoods, like the Japanese Canadians were. I find that very interesting, don’t you?
Why I Don’t Wear A Poppy
Author: Ams
I wanted to make a post today about why I do not wear a poppy. I used to say that I didn’t celebrate Rememberance Day, but after reading a post on Jack’s blog I realized that I do celebrate it, just not the way that people want me to celebrate it. So I am reposting his post because he wrote it very well and I am very proud of him.
Remembrance Day is tomorrow in Canada. These days you see many people walking around with a red poppy pinned to their jackets. We are urged to remember what the veterans did for us during the war. It’s ironic then that Remembrance Day almost completely ignores the many Chinese Canadian soldiers did for Canada during the war. Everywhere you see images of white soldiers, but where are the native Canadians, the black Canadians, the Chinese Canadians? Even at the Canadian War Museum that recently opened in Ottawa, you see no hints that any Chinese Canadians participated in the war effort.
If you dig hard enough you can find some info on the Chinese Canadian soldiers, but most people do not even know that they existed. On the Veteran Affairs Canada website, they do have a section dedicated to those forgotten soliders. Running some Google searches yield a few pieces of info here and there. But they all seem to be unanimous that the period of racism has passed, and the Chinese Canadians, in turn for their heroic service during the war, now enjoy the same privileges as other Canadians.
It’s quite sad that Canada has chosen not to acknowledge the histories of these brave men and women, who fought for the country they loved. Even now, it’s the Chinese Canadians that have to make sure that their history and heritage is not forgotten forever. There is a Chinese Canadian Military Museum in Vancouver that is dedicated to “educating the public of the Chinese fight to repeal discriminatory laws and to earn their citizenship with all the rights and privileges and stand equal with other Canadians.”
The reason why I won’t wear a poppy is because I want to remember. I remember that it wasn’t just the white people who fought for Canada. I remember the ordeals that the Japanese Canadians had to go through. I remember all the excuses given by the Canadian government to justify racism during the war. When I look at images of our war heroes — like the statue erected across from Wilfrid Laurier University, at the Veteran’s Green — I can’t help but feel a bit repulsed by all the racism and ignorance that comes with Remembrance Day.
lest we forget
My Tree of Daze
Author: Ams
This is the maple tree behind my room that I talked about before. Thankfully when I made this picture smaller, you can’t even tell that I didn’t move the screen mesh out of the way. Hehehe…shh, don’t tell anyone. I love my tree. It’s so soothing to look at and just daze off into. It doesn’t look like this anymore because of the crazy wind we’ve been having. It’s almost completely naked now. Oh how winter is sneaking up…I can feel it already.
I really need a new coat, too. I’ve had to layer like mad the past few days because the wind is so nippy. Hopefully I can pick one up this weekend when I go home and save myself another week of sickness. I’m not sure what kind to get though…I definately want to keep with my goal of having a more mature look. But…I don’t know what would look good in a semi-casual way. Plus it’s always hard to find my size, so I can’t be too picky either. I wonder what’s in style these days. I don’t keep up with anything now, especially since I don’t have a TV.
I came across a video of Froggy (my previous hamster) today when I was looking through pictures. It made me really miss him. It’s not that I don’t like Tokki (my current hamster), but Tokki doesn’t interact with me the way Froggy did. I know it’s silly to miss a hamster this much, but I really do miss him a lot. I wish I could hold him again, or at least have a better goodbye.