Canada not living up to UN committee expectation?

Oddly enough, there was a news report yesterday on an issue that was reported in March 2007 regarding Canada's need to revise the term "visible minority", citing that it may be racist. This report by the UN's Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination issued March 7, 2007 is asking for a review of the current policy. Surprisingly, the call for compliance from multilateralist Canadians has not been forthcoming. more

New driving phenomenon in Toronto?

The GTA motorist are taking more photographs of live incidents and this is becoming a problem for traffic flow at times. This was reported on CityTV in the past week when a tractor trailer overturned on the westbound highway 401 between Keele Street and the highway 400 exit. It was ironic to note that while covering this incident, CityTV still continues its "Its your Story" competition which encourages the recording of incident as they happen.

Prove Evon Reid wrong

The press learned yesterday of the now infamous "Ghetto Dude" email that was reportedly sent in error by a recruiter at the Ontario government's cabinet office where he had applied for a position. "This is the ghetto dude that I spoke to before," Aileen Siu was quoted as saying in the email by the Toronto Star, which was coincidentally sent to Reid whom she had spoken to in the past. In her defence Siu stated she refers to someone who is not outside her circle of friends however, she hasn't stated that she was intent on sending Reid any email correspondence or had his resume open. To have typed his name/email address in a message he had to have been in her thoughts or she has members of her inner circle with similar names and/or email addresses. The fact that she has his resume in hand she would have known that he is from Malvern, a community with a history of social challenges hence Reid feels that the "ghetto" originated from this knowledge.

Siu also stated in her defence that Reid was being considered job given his stellar qualification and experience hence it should not be difficult for the Ontario Government's Cabinet Office to prove Reid wrong. Then again, should he accept?

City Under Seige

Toronto has been put on notice by His Lordship and council executive. How dare those councilors fearing retribution from the voters in the near and not too distant future, not play along with his tax plans. The treats include TTC fare hikes, shutting down subway services and eliminating other city services to name a few. Whatever happened to all the gab about getting more people to ride the TTC in order to protect the environment?

Interesting how quickly we are faced with the harsh reality of the funding necessary to "walk" the environment preservation "talk". Mum.

Saluting the unhyphenated Canadian

Oftentimes when different groups come together to do tasks such as nation building their diversity is celebrated. This is necessary as differences need to be respected and valued as they are very important to the task at hand. Today from workplaces and schools to government and other areas of civil society there is an unusually great tendency towards emphasising our differences and often ignoring that which we share.

This must be a cause for concern among Canadians, as it is the ties that bind, the common goals we share that will determine the ultimate success of this nation. I am still trying to find an example of a group that succeeded at something which fully satisfied their differences. Canada needs leadership which will move beyond cheap political rhetoric and unite the country on the things common.

We now need to look beyond the hyphenated variety of Canadians and work with the common goals that unites.