B.C.’s Office of the Police Complaint Commissioner is a watchdog that barks public interest but whose bite is about self-interest
The Office of the Police Complaint Commissioner (OPCC) was created to provide independent civilian oversight over municipal police forces in British Columbia. But a string of recent cases shows the OPCC is more about overreach than oversight. I know. I was one of the cases. This summer, after 40 years of unblemished service with the…
Patrick Brown lost his job. Justin Trudeau appears to have emerged unscathed. It's all a question of political support
As a result of the #MeToo movement, past sexual transgressions are haunting high-profile men. How many is anyone’s guess but the list is probably long. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is the latest casualty. I’m quite sure Trudeau will survive the allegation, but perhaps it’s worthwhile to ask why some politicians who are confronted with allegations…
The feminist war against men isn't only against bad men. It’s a war is against all men
It’s become a regular experience in Canada and the United States for a man to be accused of sexual misconduct and for an almost immediate pile-on of haters adding every accusation the mind can imagine. Contemporary feminists have done a brilliant job in their war against men. Unsubstantiated accusations are treated as proven guilt. Due…
Those teaching the humanities have abandoned attempts at outlining the grand narratives, the threads that link important events and people in art and history
Nobody does unintentional humour quite like an academic. Nobody can produce accidental laughter like a tenured professor explaining her deep thoughts to the masses. We have an excellent example of this sort of comedic gem in a recent article entitled “Jordan Peterson and the debilitating cult of genius” by Jennifer Garrison of St Mary’s University…
I’ve become much more prone to analyze daily social situations on the grounds of age, ethnicity and gender
Being older (I’m 67 and increasingly told this is old), white and male is being pointed out more and more these days. In less than glowing terms. While Donald Trump is arguably the global archetype of the boomer personae I’m describing, the phrase “old white man” is getting more deliberate usage in different parts of…
Feminism today is simply a reversal of anti-female sexism. All males are reduced to a common set of evil characteristics
Feminism began as a challenge to male domination and female subordination. It could have become a champion of equality and the dignity of individuals. Unfortunately, contemporary feminism is not a liberation from sexism. It’s true that feminism rejects anti-female sexism. But in place of anti-female sexism, it doesn’t advocate gender-blind standards; it doesn’t advocate treating…
On fictional program after fictional program, women dominate. Now universities reflect that trend in reality. Will the job market follow?
In contemporary British and Canadian television programs, women are portrayed as the prominent police officers, with men of colour as their main complements, and white men presented in demeaning ways or absent altogether. Scott and Bailey (British) is both produced and directed by women. It features two white female detectives, both constables at first, then…
The focus on consent has made men all over the world stop and think. Am I one of those men?
Strangely, this weird moment in history is a good time to be alive. I've been a feminist most of my adult life, at least since I realized power imbalances were rampant in present and past societies. After dedicating most of the 1990s and 2000s to fighting the good fight in the trenches, I burned out and left…
The workplace was once an acceptable place to find romance. Now it's a place to court misunderstanding and perhaps disaster
My parents met during the Great Depression of the 1930s, when life was tough. They were both teachers in small prairie schools. My father was older than my mother and after a brief courtship they married. There’s nothing unusual about that story. In fact, it was very common. Many teachers met and married. In most…
The #MeToo movement has ushered in a revolution that discards hard-won concepts like the presumption of innocence and due process
If anyone doubted that the #MeToo movement has ushered in a revolution, the political execution of Patrick Brown should put those doubts to rest. As in all revolutions, not all the heads that fall into the basket deserve to be there – but the Madame Defarges of this world will gleefully stand by and watch.…
The Office of the Police Complaint Commissioner (OPCC) was created to provide independent civilian oversight over municipal police forces in British Columbia. But a string of recent cases shows the OPCC is more about overreach than oversight. I know. I was one of the cases. This summer, after 40 years of unblemished service with the…
