A friend from Nova Scotia sent me this video today and asked if I’ve noticed an increasing rise in hate in Alberta.
I’ve heard about those stories in the news. I’m also sure you heard about the recent truck convoy to Ottawa. The Yellow Vest movement wound up splitting into two groups before they hit Ottawa. A faction became known as ‘United We Roll’ so they could distance themselves from the racists.
A friend told me about their FB group. I joined. It was bad. Death threats towards Trudeau and racist laments about immigrants and refugees stealing white jobs — talks about vigilante justice.
Three of my buddies and I got together for a beer two months ago. Two of them were non-white; one from South America and the other from across the water. They said the racism they experience is very common. We talked about it quite a bit and they shared some of their stories.
I feel it’s been getting increasingly vocal and more hostile as it works its way more into main stream media. You know, headlines from 2015 like “The Conservative government is not afraid to defend Canadian values,’ Tory candidate says. Then it goes on to talk about Kellie Leitch, and about the tip line for reporting ‘barbaric cultural practices’.
It doesn’t stop there. Just when you think it’s starting to quite down, Trump gets elected. Tories in Canada start fraternizing with Rebel Media followers and we have people like Andrew Scheer, Doug Ford and Jason Kenney rising to the top of the oil slick, that’s contaminating our land.
It’s possible that some of this isn’t true. Part of the blame goes to the media that is responsible for fanning the flames. They’re desperate these days trying to sell their newspapers, and even though our government gives them a handout, most of the advertising dollars are being spent online. And it’s one thing to talk tough about foreign neighbours you don’t know, but quite another thing to realize they’re human beings who bleed like we do. Like the Barho family who lost their children in a fire and the whole community gathered around them to share their grief.
Who knows, Marian? Maybe a light will shine through yet.