Endorsing Justin Trottier, Green Party of Ontario Candidate, Parkdale-High Park

I am proud to throw my out-of-riding support behind Justin Trottier, Green Party of Ontario, who is seeking to represent the Parkdale – High Park riding. Justin Trottier is a principled and active advocate for science, reason, freedom of and from religion, nontheism, free speech, gay rights, and environmental responsibility.

I have had the pleasure of getting to know Justin during my time as a supporter of the various secular, science, reason, nontheist, humanist advocacy organizations that he has played leading roles in. Justin has been at the crest of the wave of Canadian science, reason, atheist and secular activism for, by my estimation, about 6-7 years now. He began by starting up the Toronto Secular Alliance, which simply exploded due to what was clearly perceived by a segment of the Canadian population to be a much welcomed voice. In collaboration with the US-based  Center For Inquiry, TSA morphed into a combination of the Freethought Association of Canada and Centre For Inquiry Ontario, Justin heading both. These organizations played leading roles in seeing affiliated groups popping up on university and college campuses across the nation, and city centres in Montreal, Calgary and Vancouver, operating under the new umbrella organization, Centre for Inquiry Canada, which (unsurprisingly) has been led by Mr. Trottier.

While many atheists, agnostics, humanists, rationalists, science enthusiasts and environmentalists might easily gravitate toward Trottier, his position at the forefront of the national atheist movement may be seen a strong turn-off to others. If you are a devout conservative religionist in the Parkdale-High Park riding, there may not be much I could say to you that would bring you around to considering Trottier. However, Trottier has a lot to offer religious folk in general.

His commitment to secularism – i.e., the separation of religion from politics, such that governments can neither favour nor disfavour one religion or some religions over others, or religion over non-religion – is a commitment to ensuring a level playing field to people of all religious and belief communities. It says that, no matter what you believe, you will be treated equally under Canadian law and policy. It means that in the court room, the same laws apply to all Canadians. In the political chambers, it means that all faith and non-faith-based policy initiatives are vetted in the same way. In public education, it means subjecting ideas championed by any establishment to the same peer-reviewed processing as all other ideas before they are considered for public curriculum inclusion. It means not treating, for example, Muslims or Muslim ideas as if they deserve less than others and not treating, for example, Catholics and Catholic ideas as if they deserve  more. Relatedly, both the Green Party of Ontario and a multi-faith/nonfaith coalition, the One School System Network (ONESSN), co-led by Trottier have been at the forefront of political efforts in Ontario to discontinue public funding of Catholic elementary and secondary schools, an uneconomical privilege that is available to no other religious or other community group. While some proponents of the status quo have argued that this is an anti-Catholic or anti-religious movement, nothing could be further from the truth. It is about leveling the playing field and bringing Canadians together, not dividing them by religious affiliation.

While secularism has become somewhat of a loaded word, it is something that just about all Canadians can get behind. It is freedom of and freedom from religion, which enables each of us to practice this or that religion or no religion as we like without being pressured or favoured one way or another by our public institutions.

As an advocate of free thought and an educated citizenry, Trottier has favoured introduction of public school courses on religion and belief that teach students, in a neutral fashion, about different schools of religious and nonreligious belief and value systems. As a free speech advocate, he has actively supported the free speech rights of people with markedly different politics than himself, including York University pro-life/anti-abortion activists and well-known North American conservative figures Ezra Levant and Mark Steyn, when they were under investigation for speaking out against radical Islam in The Western Standard and MacLeans magazine, respectively. Trottier has also been an active supporter of LGBT equality. Yet more examples of Trottier working to level playing fields.

As an advocate of science and science-based policy, Trottier is precisely the kind of person we need in political office when it comes to addressing the growing challenges we face in healthcare, energy and environmental policy. Trottier is a man with the principle and scientific acumen to skillfully advocate for evidence-based policy.

As a person whom has had the privilege to get to know Justin Trottier the person, and not just Justin Trottier the emerging public figure, I can attest to his good character. When I first met Justin, he had already attained some public attention, but not really much. It was after I began getting to know him that he started to regularly appear on television, in newspapers, and at the forefront of a movement that had gone from being University of Toronto and downtown Toronto centred to being a well-known national cultural voice. Throughout this time, as far as I can tell, he’s still the same Justin. The same earnest, friendly, driven, passionate, and infinitely curious guy I first met in 2007.

If you are in the Parkdale – High Park riding or know someone that is, I encourage you/them to consider Justin Trottier, a grassroots champion of equality, freedom of speech, freedom of belief, science, reason, and so many of the values that make Canada one of the most admired and most progressive nations in the world.

Best of luck, Justin.

UPDATE:

Progressive Proselytizing has posted several good articles, unsurprisingly from a progressive perspective, on the candidates in the Parkdale – High Park riding.

Support Justin on Facebook by LIKING his candidacy page!

How much do you notice the politics of your fellow city dwellers?

In a few months I will be moving to California for my first job as an Occupational Therapist. During my job search a key factor I considered was the political leanings of cities. As a politically oriented progressive atheist I applied to positions in Vancouver, Victoria, Seattle, Portland, Eugene, San Francisco, LA, Anaheim, San Diego (yes, I know that SD is relatively conservative, but still California), Hawaii, Halifax, Toronto, and various other locations in Ontario, Canada. By contrast, I did not apply to any postings in Texas, Alabama, Florida, or Utah, and only applied to a couple in Alberta. Liberal bias much? Much too much. And I’d do it again.

Here’s what’s interesting. I currently live in London, Ontario, a city which I’ve heard referred to as “ultra conservative” (at least by Ontario standards) on several occasions. I’ve never really felt like I live in a conservative city. There was one time when I went to an Ann Coulter speaking event in London and was pretty stunned by how many far-right conservatives came out. But by the same token, I’m sure that if Michael Moore had come to town, I’d have been surrounded by Lefties. The Coulter event was the only time that I’ve ever felt like I was in a conservative space.

On the other hand, I have been living in London as a graduate student. Liberalism tends to run high in universities. Furthermore, the occupational therapy field can be argued to be left-of-centre at its core. These have no doubt been key factors in affecting the degree to which I perceive myself to be living in a conservative city.

Another factor that has significantly affected my experience is that being a strong atheist progressive, the people I hang out with have tended to be secular and left-of-centre. I have progressive religious friends, but I don’t know that I have any conservative friends. Unless a person lives in an incredibly polarized place, they will probably have a disproportionate number of friends of similar moral/political opinions (including relative indifference) to themselves. What is more, when I have interacted with people of significantly differing social/political/religious opinions, these differences often do not come up in conversation. A few days ago I spoke with a Christian Conservative. The subjects of our conversation: Charlie Sheen, winning, hot sauce and restaurants. It was delightful. All of this has got me thinking:

How much do the political views of a populace leak into day-to-day life?

If you live in a liberal city or town, to what degree does it feel liberal? The same for conservative cities and towns.

In Defense of Abortion

In this month’s Canadian federal election, abortion was not an issue. However, whenever election time roles around in North America, the issue of abortion tends to garner at least a little bit more conversation than normal, even if it is not a specific policy issue. Social conservatives will want to elect politicians who may one day make it a policy issue again, if and when they get enough people in office to be able to make an effective policy run. Pro-choice citizens, on the other hand, are made nervous by the prospect of that happening, and thus are libel to remain slightly weary even when the leader of the conservative party clearly states that he has no interest in bringing abortion back to the table, as Canadian Prime Minister and Conservative Party leader Stephen Harper has done. Given that the Harper’s new term will see the appointment of multiple new Canadian Supreme Court justices, some may be wondering if abortion could be the subject of further political discussion some time down the road.

In this post I will argue on behalf of the legality of abortion. I will consider the issues from the stance of the unborn fetus, the parents, and society. In addition to considering the issue from a qualitative experiential perspective, I will also reflect on the notion of the fundamental right to life and freedom from unprovoked harm from others. Lastly, I will consider the issue of abortion in the case of rape. I will not, however, consider abortion from the perspective of religion. While I am perfectly willing to consider moral arguments from religious texts, I will not give the arguments any special priority simply because they came from the Bible, the Qur’an, or some other religious text.

Why Japanese Healthcare is More Efficient Than Canadian and US Healthcare

A recently published report by the Conference Board of Canada, a not-for-profit economics and policy research organization, indicates that Canadians are spending more on their healthcare and getting less than most advanced nations. Canada spend more annually per capita on healthcare – $4100/person, or 10% of GDP – than all but three advanced nations, but ranked 10th according to the Conference Board’s quality of medicine metrics. By comparison, Japan spent only $2,729 per capita annually while ranking first in life expectancy and infant mortality rates. The United States healthcare system, on the other hand, performed abysmally. While the US spends astronomically more per capita on healthcare than any other nation – $7,500 annually – the Conference Board rated the quality of American healthcare to be among the worst in the 17-country study.

Why are the Japanese paying so much less to receive so much more?

The Best and Worst Thing About Each Canadian Political Party

What is your favourite and least favourite thing about  Canada’s federal parties?

As a Canadian who has intently followed US politics and is now endeavoring to take an active interest in the politics of my homeland, I would like to ask readers to share what they believe to be the best and worst things about each party. The intent of this exercise is to attract reflections of a range of views on the goods and bads of each party. By asking readers to identify what they like and dislike about each party, the hope is that more balanced appraisals will be given.

Thus, in addition to reflecting on your favourite thing about your favourite party, and the thing you detest the most about the party that you most dislike, I am very interested in hearing about the thing that you dislike the most about your favourite party, and the thing that you like the most about the party you like the least.

Whether you support the Conservatives, Liberals, NDP, Bloc Quebecois, the Greens, or none of the above,  your thoughts are wanted. Depending on the response to this post, I hope to do a follow-up post reflecting on what people of various perspectives have to say about the Canadian parties.

NDP Leaders: Stop Sugar-Coating Brosseau’s Election

As a Canadian secular progressive who has followed US politics closely for a few years and is just now making a serious effort to get into Canadian politics, I have not been impressed with how I’ve seen the NDP deal with the Berthier-Maskinonge, Quebec riding.

Firstly, their selection of Ruth Ellen Brosseau – a 27 year old Ottawa native whom had never stepped foot in the Berthier-Maskinonge riding prior to today (more than a week after her successful candidacy), has a less-than-fluent grasp of French, and possesses zero political or relevant work experience or education – absolutely befuddles me. This is the best candidate they could field? Really? They couldn’t find a single bilingual NDPer in the district with relevant political, work and/or educational background? Heck, they couldn’t find a person with a single one of those qualities?! I’m relatively new to the ins and outs of Canadian politics, so tell me:

Did I manage to not hear about some sort of “So You Think You Can Be A Canadian Politician” TV show?

Secondly, I wish NDP leadership would not attempt to exploit the political inattentiveness of many Canadian (and/or insult their intelligence) by pretending that the citizens that elected Brosseau were actually voting for her. For example, Jack Layton said today that voters in the riding expressed confidence in Brosseau. They weren’t voting for her. They were voting for Layton and the NDP. Unless the name next to the NDP logo was “Paul Bernardo” or some other social pariah, the people that voted for Brosseau would have voted for whatever other NDP candidate they were presented with, and the NDP leadership knows this (though, they probably figured that her fairly good looks only stood to help her chances).

I’m not against the NDP. Nor am I against the use of placeholder candidates. Given the structure of the Canadian electoral system, it would be absolutely stupid for a political party to not field a candidate in every riding it could – why forfeit per-vote subsidies and a chance of winning the seat? I’m also not against people voting for placeholder candidates; it is often a very sensible move. I’m just dumbfounded as to how, of all potential placeholders, it was Brosseau that was selected. And not because there’s anything wrong with her; she’s just patently not a suitable candidate for the job. And I’m annoyed that the leadership is attempting to pretend that her candidacy was anything but a blind-folded Hail Mary.

The Conservative Party of Canada is like Nickelback…

YouTuber Laverty318 left the following comment in response to The Young Turks‘ video (below) on the Conservative Party’s majority win in this week’s Canadian Federal Election:

The Conservative Party is like Nickelback. I don’t know anybody who likes them, but they seem to be doing pretty well

Quite clever if you ask me.

On a tangential note, a few years ago I was surprised to discover that Nickelback apparently receives derision in the US in much the same way it receives it in Canada. I formerly thought that Canadians ripped on Nickelback primarily because Nickelback was so overplayed on the radio and MuchMusic, which I attributed in good part to CRTC (the Canadian Radio and Television Council) regulations requiring our major media outlets to carry a certain amount of Canadian content. Apparently there is more to disliking Nickelback than than just that, though I personally have never really had a problem with them and have liked a few of their songs.

As promised, here is The Young Turks on the recent Canadian election results. You may notice that host Cenk Uygur gets some of the numbers slightly off. Aside from that, his commentary is interesting. He discusses how the Conservatives continue to win elections not because a Canadian majority supports them, but because conservatives largely all vote for the Conservative Party, whereas Canadians to the left of the Conservative Party (who collectively form a majority) split their vote across four other parties: the New Democratic Party (NDP), the Liberals, the Bloc Quebecois, and the Green Party. He also explains why, despite its obvious imperfections, he ultimately prefers America’s 2-party system to 3+ party parliamentary systems.

Do you agree/disagree with Cenk’s opinions?

University of Western Ontario #1 on Globe & Mail Student Survey

London Free Press:

For the ninth consecutive year, the University of Western Ontario has made top grades in a survey of students across the country.

Western scored top marks in several of the benchmarks, including “most satisfied students” in the annual survey by the Globe and Mail and was the top university in 13 of 17 categories.

…

The survey results are based on the questionnaires completed by 35,000 undergraduate students. The students were asked 100 questions.

Western ranked first among large universities (more than 22,000 students) in quality of education, teaching, student-faculty interaction, technology, atmosphere, libraries, buildings and facilities, student residences, food services, recreation and athletics, ease of course registration and course availability and variety.

UWO also tied for second in two areas (career preparation and class size) and third in two (satisfaction with town or city and environmental commitment.)

Not a big deal