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Quote of the Day: “Given the scarcity of mental resources, an economy in which knowledge and vision have such a decisive advantage in market competition is an economy that has great advantages in creating a high standard of living for the general population. A society in which only members of a hereditary aristocracy, a military junta or a single political party in power can make great decisions is a society that wastes much of the knowledge, vision and talent of the majority of its member’s own people.” Thomas Sowell

Geoffrey Stevens talks about the CBC again, just like he did last Monday. Boring… He tells us that: “Last week’s column produced a surprising (to me) flurry of comments from readers. The piece wasn’t even about Doug Ford; it barely mentioned Justin Trudeau. The subject was Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre’s ambition to abolish the CBC and his bizarre notion of converting its former headquarters in Ottawa into affordable housing for young families.” He says: “The point I sought to make is that CBC appears to have reached a true crossroads. It is up against a new, ideology-motivated Conservative leader who is driven to prove himself and clearly relishes feeding the CBC as raw meat to his core supporters on the right and far right.” Stevens just doesn’t get it. CBC supporters don’t get it either. But if you want to understand why “supporters on the right” do not like the CBC, all you have to do is to watch one single show from Rosemary Barton. Or is you really want to be depressed, remember that Canada dumps $1.5 Billion in the CBC and then review the top 20 shows in Canada.

Quote of the Day: “To understand most of the discussions about economics that take place in the media and in politics, all you need is to know the most basic economic principles. However, most of the people are unaware of them, including politicians, journalists and many academics from other fields.” Thomas Sowell

“There are incredible things happening here in Waterloo” states the headline of an article by Terry Pender on the Front Page today. But those “incredible things” is that the Trudeau Government just borrowed over a third of a Billion Dollars to “invest” in quantum computers. Not a joke.

No Editorial on the Editorial Page today. Instead we have an op-ed by, oh boy, Andrew Phillips. He talks about George Santos, some guy elected way back in November as a representative for some district in New York, who basically lied about every aspect of his life. He suggests that: “Just when you think you’ve reached bottom, you get a glimpse of even lower circles of hell.” Yup – well, luckily he didn’t lie about dating his current wife Jill before she was divorced, and luckily he didn’t lie about being arrested with the U.S. Ambassador to the UN on the streets of Soweto trying to get to see Nelson Mandela, and luckily he didn’t lie about his son Bo and how he lost his life in Iraq, and luckily he didn’t lie about playing football for the University of Delaware, and luckily he didn’t lie about raised in a Puerto Rican community, because that would really, really be bad… *cough*

Quote of the Day: “Drawing up policy blueprints is a task for which there has never been a shortage of eager candidates. We can only hope that those policies will be based on hard facts about the real world, rather than on rhetoric or preconceptions.” Thomas Sowell

Rob Deutschmann appears to be a rather successful full time lawyer in the Region. (I’m really, really trying hard to not let my “bias” against personal injury lawyers show through here…) He is also a part time (by definition) Regional Councillor. But he has time constraint issues in trying to maintain his practice and also fulfill his councillor duties. So he hired two assistants (out of his own pocket, I assume) to help him with the Regional duties in the same way he has a bunch of assistants to help him with his practice. But according to the Front Page article by Liz Monteiro, this simple and straight forward solution has caused issues with other councillors who suggest that: “Some councillors say it’s unfair because not all regional politicians have the means to hire independent staff to help them serve their constituents.” Really??? Monteiro tells us that Councillor Colleen James asked Regional staff to consider creating a policy on whether councillors can hire external staff. Really??? So, are Waterloo Regional citizens better or worse off by having Deutschmann do his job more efficiently than other Councillors? “It creates an uneven playing field and I find that really problematic…” said Waterloo Mayor Dorothy McCabe. She needs to give her head a shake…

Quote of the Day: “One of the greatest defects of the economies run by political authorities, whether under medieval mercantilism or modern communism, is that the vision and insight that emerges among the population does not carry enough weight to force the authorities to change the way they do things.” Thomas Sowell

The best decision I ever made in my academic career was to study economics. Learning even the basic relationships between supply, demand and prices shed new light on many other disciplines such as psychology, history, human geography and others. And as I mentioned way back in a post on Tuesday 12 January 2021, one of my most memorable experiences came in my first class in a third year Macro Economics course at WLU with Professor Emeritus Dr. William Marr. After introducing himself, he said: “My goal this term is not to make you Economists, but to make you think like Economists.” Unfortunately, I forced to think about this quote the more we hear about what the massive deficit spending programs in all areas of government and the huge, unwarranted increase in the money supply, has done to our economy. I know what causes inflation and I know (as does every Economist) how to fix it. On the Front Page today, Liz Monteiro has an article dramatic increase in rental rates for apartments in the Region. She quotes Mike Milovick, Past President of the Waterloo Region Apartment Management Association who tells us that: “There seems to be a real shortage [of rental units]… They’re getting crushed by the interest rate increases and as a result they need to pass along their cost to the tenants. Instead of 1.5, they are at 4.9 or 5.3 per cent. That is a significant cost the landlord has to deal with.” And we all know why interest rates are increasing. Monteiro then interviews someone (I’m not going to mention her name – you can look it up…) who “…rents a one bedroom at Charlie West, a condo tower in downtown Kitchener. She is moving on Feb. 15 because her landlord is increasing her rent from $1,750 to $2,750… She doesn’t know why her rent jumped, but says that kind of exorbitant increase should not be passed on… If mortgage interest payments are going up for landlords, I’m not sure why that should automatically be passed on to tenant. Shouldn’t that be the cost of doing business?” Wow.

The Editorial today talks about what Doug Ford should do in the new year. It suggests that the Ford government should: “…lead a constructive discussion toward a federal-provincial deal that provides more funding for health care together with assurances the money will be directed to health priorities.” Well, this is totally up to Trudeau. You can lead all you want, but unless there is some money to discuss, this is a rather useless suggestion. The Editorial also wants Ford to dispense with the “..superstrong mayoralty powers given to the mayors of Ottawa and Toronto. It’s an affront to democracy.” True. This law is an embarrassment for Ford. And lastly, “Reverse the Greenbelt development. It is a terrible idea and the number of homes built there won’t make or break the overall housing initiative.” Also true. Good Editorial… Finally…

Speaking of New Years Resolutions, I’ve got an idea for Jim Poling or Neil Ballantyne or the mystery people in charge of the Editorial and Insight Pages. How about less embarrassing, out of touch, blatantly misleading op-eds from authors like Gillian Stewart and more straight forward, balanced opinion pieces with intelligent viewpoints. Stewart’s op-ed on the Insight Page today can be summed up with these two lines: “If anger and conservatism are now irrevocably bound together does this mean you have to be angry because you are conservative? Or conservative because you are angry?” This person teaches “journalism” at Mount Royal University. Nice.

I gave up supporting the YWCA a long time ago when they went from the Young Women’s Christian Association to some kind of super woke joke. Today we have an op-ed on the Insight Page from Tara Kleinsteuber, a youth staffer at the Cambridge YWCA. Her column today is about gender-based violence and what can be done about it. And although she is from the WhyDub, and she does manage to include all of the correct “woke speech words”, her column is a surprisingly good. Two paragraphs stand out: “I’m reminded of something often pointed out by Jackson Katz, an American educator known for his work on issues of gender, race and violence: ‘Domestic violence and sexual abuse are often called women’s issues. But these are inherently men’s issues. The assumption that gendered violence is a women’s issue gives men an excuse not to pay attention.’ Often, well-intentioned men will frame their attention on genderbased and sexual violence in relation to having daughters, mothers, sisters, etc. It’s often from the perspective of a ‘protector’ and it only applies to those women and girls directly linked to their own lives.” Exactly. That’s why I have taken offensive (not defensive) martial arts courses and I encourage everyone else to do the same. Since I’m barred to carry devices to protect myself, my only option is to make sure that I’m ready to damage beyond repair, anyone that physically attacks me.

Quote of the Day: “One of the main problems of price control is to define the appropriate price of what is being controlled.” Thomas Sowell

Hey – there is an Editorial (finally!!!) on the Editorial Page of TheRecord today. The Editorial gets off to a cheeky start by suggesting: “When it comes to gun control, the Liberal government is either being sneaky, is deeply confused or is simply the gang that couldn’t shoot straight.” I’ll go with “All of the above”. It then tells us that: “Last year, it introduced much-needed legislation meant to freeze the transfer, sale or purchase of handguns in Canada, establish a new “red flag” law and toughen penalties for cross-border smuggling and trafficking. Those were popular, long overdue moves. So far, so good.” The Editorial veers off course, always to the left, by trying to suggest that there is “much-needed legislation” to ban the sale of handguns. Strange, but I’ve never seen any well documented, peer reviewed papers that would suggest that legally purchased, legally owned, legally stored handguns are a major crime source? I can’t. Does this type of research even exist? I don’t know. The Editorial continues: “Then came an 11th-hour amendment to the legislation that has unnecessarily reignited the gun debate in this country.” Correct. The amendment: “…created an “evergreen” definition of firearms the government would ban because they are designed to kill people. That list would include firearms which have muzzle energy exceeding 10,000 Joules, with a bore diameter of 20 millimetres or greater and rifles and shotguns capable of discharging centre-fire ammunition in a semi-automatic manner and is designed to accept a detachable cartridge magazine which allows a greater capacity than the five-cartridge capacity in the original design.” And here are the main two issues. First, it bans all rifles above a “22”. In fact, most standard “22” hunting rifles are either .222 or .223 in diameter. But the main problem is that it bans rifles that can accept a detachable magazine. This effectively bans almost all rifles except single shot or bolt action style long guns. The Editorial correctly tells us that: “…the Liberals have managed to unite Conservatives, New Democrats, Indigenous leaders, hunters, collectors and at least one iconic NHL goaltender in opposition.” True. The Editorial ends with this: “This is a country which has a problem with heavily armed gangs in urban centres, but also includes law-abiding Canadians who need firearms to feed and protect their families. Crafting a list of prohibited firearms which acknowledges both realities is a tough balance, but one we expect the government to find.” I find it interesting that it talks about the need for Canadians “protect their families”. This is something that the entire Bill takes away.

Maybe I missed it, and maybe I can’t find it the utility TheRecord laughingly calls their “search” feature, but I can’t remember a single article in an TorStar controlled paper about the “Twitter Files”. And although Navneet Alang, TorStar’s contributing technology columnist constantly writes about Twitter, I don’t remember a single article by him regarding these files. Strange. The Twitter Files are a set of internal Twitter documents that were made public, starting in December 2022 by Elon Musk. A number of journalists such Matt Taibbi, Bari Weiss, Lee Fang, Michael Shellenberger, David Zweig and Alex Berenson coordinated the release of the documents in a series of Twitter threads. The journalist (and I say this in the true sense of the word, not a TorStar type “journalist”) Matt Taibbi has also summarized the various releases here: https://taibbi.substack.com/p/capsule-summaries-of-all-twitter Very interesting stuff. This is a very brave move by Musk and shows just how public opinion is manipulated and controlled by certain tech giants. Of course, journalists should be all over this story and it should be front page news, right? No, unfortunately not. But we do have some talk about Musk here is Canada. Navneet Alang tells us on the Insight Page today about Tesla’s lagging stock performance and also: “Meanwhile, Musk’s tenure at Twitter has undermined his reputation as a visionary.” Idiot.

Quote of the Day: “The success of politicians does not depend on learning their lessons about history or politics, but depends much more on having the ability to act on what is widely believed by the public and the media, which may include theories, conspiracies or the belief that the higher prices are due to deception or greed.” Thomas Sowell

Well, I guess having opinion columns from TorStar opinion writers replacing Editorials on the Editorial Page is now the new normal. Today, Heather Scoffield, the TorStar’s so-called “Economics Columnist” has an article about December jobs report published on Friday, “…showing a 104,000 increase in employment in just one month, pushing the total job creation for 2022 to 394,100.” She tells us that the upcoming recession might not happen after all. She suggests “If this is a recession, it sure doesn’t feel like it”. True, but is this really an Editorial or just an op-ed that should belong on the so-called Insight Page?

Since it’s Monday, Geoffrey Stevens has his typical “I Hate All Conservatives And Isn’t Justin Trudeau Just Dreamy” column. Today, he mumbles something about the CBC. It’s interesting to note that his online column at therecord.com is written by “Geof Stevens”. Funny…

For the second time in six days, we have an op-ed by Michael Coren, the so called “journalist” turned Anglican Priest turned activist TorStar journalist. Today, he talks about the arrest of Isabel VaughanSpruce for the thought crime of silently praying outside an abortion clinic in England. Sad – for Rev. Coren.

Quote of the Day: “Despite beliefs in some quarters that education makes people more tolerant of other cultures and groups, it has been precisely individuals from newly educated groups, often lacking marketable skills, who have promoted group polarization, whether in Europe, Asia, Africa or the Western world.” Thomas Sowell

What an interesting story on the Front Page today. It appears that some Kitchener bylaw officers served tent removal notices on Roos Island in Victoria Park on Thursday, saying that the abandoned tents would be removed at 9 a.m. on January the 11th. The article claims the bylaw officers served only three notices. Julian Ichim claims to be a housing activist. He is someone who has been arrested over 35 times and is a former Marxist-Leninist election candidate. He tells us that: “…notices were posted in every tent while people were away at the soup kitchen. Ichim said people returned to find the notices inside their tents”. Really, so who to believe, the Marxist-Leninist or the paperwork from the City of Kitchener. Just exactly why does TheRecord quote this guy?

Fourth time in five days this week, TheRecord has chosen some idiotic and senseless op-ed instead of an Editorial on the Editorial Page. Today, someone talks about the ChatGPT, an artificial intelligence text-generation application that every so-called “journalist” claims will be the end of the world. Silly.

Andrew Phillips has a column on Nigerian novelist and essayist Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. He talks about her lectures on freedom of speech “late last year as part of the BBC’s prestigious Reith Lectures – Britain’s equivalent of our Massey Lectures.” Phillips doesn’t link to the BBC site of course, but it is here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0dhrlhm Phillips gives us a brief but concise breakdown of Adichie’s thoughts regarding speech and its limits – with reference to the upcoming Bill C-11. He concludes his column: “Exactly where to draw the line between legitimate but offensive speech, and genuine hate speech that should be illegal, is bound to be contentious. If we follow Adichie’s thinking, we’ll preserve maximum space for people to speak their minds even, indeed especially, when we’re outraged by what they say.” The column is definitely worth the two minute read. But what I don’t get is why, when talking about free speech, he has to libel certain groups for no reason. He suggests: “The far right has always resorted to censorship; witness the current wave of attempts to ban books from schools in the United States.”. Really??? Groups that oppose certain books in school libraries do so on the basis of age appropriateness, not because they want the books banned. And this really isn’t censorship at all since the various books are available at other locations.

Quote of the Day: “If we learn anything from the history of economic development, it is that culture makes almost all the difference.” Thomas Sowell

The headline on the Front Page today screams: “Are roundabouts safe?” What kind of clickbait nonsense is this??? We have to wait until paragraph 42 until we read: “Collision records for busy regional roads do not point to 37 high-volume roundabouts as an [SIC] particular safety threat for pedestrians or cyclists.” and “Three-quarters of collisions with pedestrians were at traffic signals or at stop signs; fewer than three per cent were at roundabouts. No roundabout is listed among the 20 most dangerous regional roads for pedestrians based on collisions in the same five-year time frame.” Geeeessssshhhhh…

And jumping on the roundabout safety bandwagon is Luisa D’Amato. Her column is going to tell us: “How to make roundabouts a lot safer” asd she interviews Dr. Jeff Casello who is at the School of Planning at UofW. His suggestion is to: “Make the lanes for vehicles narrower… This increases safety in two ways. First, drivers are more likely to proceed at slower speeds if the lanes are narrower. If there’s less than one metre between vehicles that are side by side, research shows that those motorists feel they have to drive more conservatively.” He points to the roundabout at Union and Margaret as a model. Well, I’m not sure if either D’Amato or Casello ever used the roundabout mentioned, but it is so narrow and congested that they had to remove everything in the middle of it and now buses and trucks just drive over the middle part because they can’t navigate the lanes. Instead, maybe they should have looked at increasing the size of the lanes and making each roundabout bigger just like they do in Europe. I’ve been in roundabouts that are 6 or even 8 lanes wide. They seem very well organized and controlled and I didn’t feel unsafe for a second. Casello does make a great point when he also suggests that traffic departments: “Install flashing lights overhead at the pedestrian crossing.”

And speaking of clickbait headlines, Jeff Outhit has a column on Page 3 telling us that: “Almost half of Black children feel the sting of discrimination”. He gleams this nugget from a 2021 (really??? Over a year old???) survey by the The Children and Youth Planning Table of Waterloo Region. I can’t find the survey questions online but the Table website tells me that it is modelled after the UofW Canadian Index Wellbeing survey found here: https://uwaterloo.ca/canadian-index-wellbeing/ Outhit is good enough to let us know that: “The survey is not a random sample and may not represent the feelings of all children.” Ummm… O.K. Whatever…

So, for the third time in four days, TheRecord, instead of having an Editorial, has some kind of op-ed or article from their columnists. Today, Stephanie Levitz of TorStar explains the difference between the Speaker of the House of Commons in Canada and the Speaker of the House of Representatives in the U.S. Really??? A Grade 10 Civics lesson that masquerades as an Editorial? Pathetic.

Quote of the Day: “After the political success of the anti-DDT crusade by environmentalists, the banning of this insecticide was followed by a resurgence of malaria, taking millions of lives, even in countries where the disease had been all but eradicated. Rachel Carson may have been responsible for more deaths of human beings than anyone without an army. Yet she remains a revered figure among environmental crusaders.” Thomas Sowell

Interesting articles on the Front Page today. First up is the closing of the Descendants Beer and Beverage Company. Liz Monteiro tells us that a social media post suggests the owners are blaming COVID lockdowns and restrictions for its demise. Really? Since I’ve been back in Canada, I’ve been to about half a dozen restaurants and every one is doing very well it seems. Brown’s Social House was packed yesterday – on a Tuesday night!!! COVID??? I don’t think so… What I really think is happening here is that variable mortgage rates are starting to kick in and this is causing businesses, who made it through COVID, are now having to deal with increased costs. Also, I think the craft beer industry is now seeing some well deserved shake ups. Just how many over hopped ales can people really drink and pretend to enjoy them?

Also on the Front Page, Terry Pender (who should know better…) gives free advertising to some architect who wants municipal governments to adopt zoning and building regulations that reduce GHG emissions in the name of climate change. Condo towers and single family homes are on his hit list. Meanwhile, back to reality, there are about 4,000 coal fired plants worldwide, mostly in China and India with about another 750 plants either planned or in construction. The amount of electricity generated from coal rose by 9% in 2021 (https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/apr/26/too-many-new-coal-fired-plants-planned-for-15c-climate-goal-report-concludes) Yup, but the most important issue is to stop using cement to build apartment buildings, it seems… Idiot.

And Jeff Outhit on the Front Page gives us an overview of the results of the 2021 census. He suggests there are five insights from this census but I counted about 20. Oh well… He tells us that: “Diversity is surging… Racialized people account for all population growth since 2016 and more. This region remains more than two-thirds white today. But the white population fell by 8,000 over five years while the racialized population (including Indigenous identities) grew by 60,000. This demographic shift means almost one in three residents is racialized.” I really don’t understand the use of the word “racialized”. I thought it meant to categorize people by race. But now, it seems that this word means “non-white”. Oh well… Good article, good info and good graphics in the online version.

Yesterday, I complained that the Editorial on the Opinion Page was replaced by some flavour of the week op-ed. Today, Susan Delacourt who covers (and not very well, I might add) national politics for TorStar has a column in place of the Editorial. Really? Is this now the money saving trend? She tells us of her year-end interview with Foreign Affairs Minister “in her Ottawa office”, (I assume we should be impressed), about how the Liberal government is “determined to tackle disinformation, especially when it comes from governments of countries such as Russia or China.” She explains that: “Joly believes the past three gruelling years of the pandemic have made people more vulnerable to disinformation, and that many are feeling more angry and vulnerable, as the convoy protest demonstrated. ‘The pandemic has created even more of an issue in the use of social media,’ she said. ‘The fact that people can to a certain extent act (with) total impunity behind avatars … is a real problem.’” Wow. Yes, any criticism about the Liberal government’s policies on COVID lock downs, gun ownership, convoys, so-called hate legislation and ethics are all “misinformation”. Yes, anonymous writing is a huge issue with the Liberal government – or any government for that matter. Because not having the ability to punish whistle blowers is clearly detrimental to corrupt governments. Delacourt tells us that: “The battle could pit the Canadian government against the new owner of Twitter, Elon Musk, who tweeted in mid-December that an online harms bill here would be ‘an attempt to muzzle the voice of the people in Canada.’” Yes, not one word from Joly or Delacourt on the Twitter files that provided ample evidence that both the FBI and the Biden government directed Twitter to suppress information negative to their policies. It’s all about “disinformation”. Delacourt tells us “Instability will be hallmark of coming year”. I hope so…

Also on the Opinion Page today, Jay Goldberg from the Canadian Taxpayers Federation has some New Year’s Resolutions for Doug Ford. He outlines many issues facing Ontario. Last line in his column sums up things this way: “If Ford adopts these three key resolutions – cutting the sales tax, keeping the books balanced and ending corporate handouts – he will put his government, and all of Ontario, on a better path.” Exactly.

Jamie Watt’s bio on the Insight Page claims he is a “conservative” strategist and a freelance contribution columnist for TorStar. Funny, he really doesn’t take very many “conservative” positions in his columns. But I guess that’s just fine with TorStar…

And finally on the Insight Page, we have Supriya Dwivedi who is the Director of Policy & Engagement News for the Centre for Media, Technology and Democracy at McGill University. She starts off her column this way: “Looking ahead to 2023 can seem bleak. One bright spot, however, is the opportunity Canada has when it comes to passing legislation aimed at putting the safety and well-being of Canadians – especially children – ahead of Big Tech’s bottom line.” Yup – if there is anything that throws up the red flag in op-eds, it’s someone talking about a policy change “for the children”. (Gee, Susan Delacourt and Mélanie Joly also want to do this. How strange…) Her argument is that we should regulate the internet (and all of social media) the same way we regulate other companies in Canada. She states: “Regulating private, for-profit companies in a manner that subjects them to the same standards as any other company that provides consumer-facing products is not stifling free speech. It is ensuring that platforms have to consider the impact of the products that they build and provide to Canadians, particularly as it pertains to children.” And: “All other consumer-facing products are subject to the duty to act responsibly, which means companies must consider the risks of their products, and then demonstrate that there have been steps taken to mitigate those risks. Continuing to exempt tech and social media platforms from this standard makes no legal or moral sense.” Really? O.K. Would she be happy if we put warning labels on internet sites? I doubt it. She ends her vaguely disguised attempt at censorship by saying: “For far too long, Big Tech’s lobbying and PR efforts have essentially resulted in these companies being given a free pass when it comes to the harms inflicted on our society. Let’s hope 2023 is the year Canada puts an end to that.” Pathetic.

Quote of the Day: “When intellectuals are unable to find enough contemporary grievances to suit their vision or agenda, they can mine the past for harm inflicted by some on others.” Thomas Sowell

I spent the last 5 months on 3 different continents and a whole (or is that hole) bunch of countries. It’s good to be back in Canada. I tried to keep up with what’s going on with TheRecord, but sadly, writing a daily comment about the continuing nonsense in our Favourite Family Journal was just too much. I cancelled my paper back in July and went with the ePaper subscription while I was away. I hated it. I’m glad I’m back to reading a physical paper now. So much better on my aging eyes and to be honest, I just like the sound of a paper crinkling (is this a word???) as I turn the page.

I see that Geoff Stevens hasn’t retired yet. Of course why would he? He just keeps pumping out the same old columns every week and gets paid for it. Today, he shrugs off the Liberal controversies of the past, ignores Liberal controversies of the present and disparages anything conservative or Conservative. What a great gig.

Michael Coren, the so called “journalist” turned Anglican Priest turned activist TorStar journalist (but aren’t they all…) has a column on today’s Insight Page. He suggests that the “right wing” has weaponized Christianity. Of course, like every TorStar columnist, he uses “right wing” as some kind of pejorative but absolutely refuses to define what he means by it. And why would he? If you just let the term be whatever the reader wants it to mean, then you can clearly use the term in a negative way without any blow back. In his article, he claims that: “…the Bible actually says life begins at the first breath, not at conception, and the Old Testament calls for abortion under certain circumstances.” Really? This is the first time I’ve ever heard that argument from a Priest. Of course, no references are given and I think I know why…

Fred Youngs has a column on the Editorial page that attempts to suggest that Canada should divest itself of the Monarchy. Yup – and I’ve only read the same column 200 times before, only with different authors. Gee, how original.

I guess it’s just way too hard for TheRecord’s Editorial Board (where ever they are…) to come up with decent and thought provoking editorials every day – so they now farm this out to the flavour of the week. Today, the Guest Editorial is from Nadine Spencer, who is the CEO of the Black Business and Professional Association. Although not listed in the Editorial or in Spencer’s bio, their website is here: bbpa.org In her editorial, she suggests that: “My wishes for 2023 are faster, bolder evolution; a definitive dismantling of systemic inequities; and a meaningful embrace of diversity, equity and inclusion in Canadian business.” Oh, that’s nice. I want that as well. But how does she suggest that we have a “meaningful embrace of diversity, equity and inclusion in Canadian business”, you ask? Well, she says: “In recent years, we’ve launched many of our own initiatives to provide adequate funding, like the Black Entrepreneurship Loan Fund. These targeted programs have given previously excluded groups access to the funding they need.” Oh, give money to only people with a certain level of Melanin in their skin cells and this will promote “diversity, equity and inclusion”, will it? Would someone like to try to explain why this isn’t straight up racist behaviour?