We now take a break to note

Photo by Volodymyr Hryshchenko

The Rising Illiberalism

On some days I’m not sure if this newsletter shouldn’t rename itself The Illiberalism Chronicles — or, more to the point, the Insanity Gazette — and dedicate itself to witnessing the crumbling of the liberal democracy that Canada used to (want to) be, and of the institutions that used to be its pillars. (Liberal consensus is being eroded everywhere, but the US and UK for ex are showing capacity for pushback against the trend.)

A nurse in BC is being investigated by her professional body for co-sponsoring an “I heart JK Rowling” billboard and for being active in the Canadian Women’s Sex-Based Rights group, both undertaken outside her work hours. Not a single complaint from any of her patients has ever been registered: this is coming from a couple of people who’ve read her Twitter and didn’t like her opinions. None of the legacy media have found the long-drawn process against the nurse newsworthy, except for the National Post’s Comments section. The Globe’s Health reporter did a piece on the medical regulatory bodies facing increasing hostility from the polarized public, and in passing unquestioningly took the BC College of Nurses and Midwives’ side against the nurse. Whatever happened to the good old custom of using “alleged” for the stuff unproven in court? “Transphobic” is one of those words never needing fact-checking, though. If someone said it of someone else, they must have had a good reason, quoi. Ipse dixit. 

Professor of Law, originally Calgarian, now teaching at King’s College in London, Dr Robert Wintemute was recently prevented from giving a talk at McGill. He did start, but a group of young transactivists physically disrupted the talk, which was meant to be about the fledgling movement to separate the LGB part from the ever-growing LGBTQ2S++ acronym. Wintemute is one of the trustees of the LGB Alliance in the UK and has many interesting things to say on the topic. He is also quite a mainstream guy. It was not to be, alas. Fascinatingly, the media (the Gazette, Le Devoir, the CBC, City News) took the side of the de-platformers and again repeated the transphobia accusations unquestioningly. “LGB Alliance, described by many as an anti-trans organization” whaaat. It’s an alliance that centres LGB people and argues that in many cases the LGB and T interests do not overlap. The twain have been separate until the 1990s, but no one wants to remember that now. That is its sin: wanting to centre LGB people. A sensible report about the event could be found on Quillette and on Eliza Mondegreen Substack. 

Probably by now the most persona non grata of all personae non gratae in Canadian academe, Frances Widdowson got deplatformed (again). I’ll be surprised if she’s allowed to say anything in public at any of the universities (or public libraries, come to think of it) ever again. A reminder that she seems to have been fired, in spite of being tenured, from her own university because of her unpopular opinions about the BLM and mandatory indigenization of higher education (her union is contesting the decision and the process is ongoing).  

The NAC was in international news recently for offering single-race nights for some of its shows. This was a comms clusterfuck on so many levels, starting with the original phrasing of the Black Out night as a night for “Black-identifying” people. (I remember a women-in-conducting program a few years ago being announced as being for “female-identifying” candidates. Just… no. Either do it or don’t.) The Globe’s theatre critic defended the Black Out practice (imported btw from the US theatre world) while the CBC was on hand to provide friendly coverage. The single-race nights presume members of said race are so confused by the life in a multi-ethnic city that they’re likelier to go to the theatre if everyone else in the audience is exactly their racial background (unproven), that they would feel freer in a theatre auditorium surrounded exclusively by the members of their own race (unproven; plus income level and national heritage will easily undermine the presumed racial solidarity) and that the single-race nights would allow for outings “away from the White Gaze” (oh dear god). 

In a particularly imaginative read of the Charter, an Ontario judge declared that municipal authorities have no right to remove homeless and drug consumption encampments from public land. Good-bye Toronto parks, we hardly knew ya last three years anyway. The activists and journalists formerly known as public space advocates cheered. (The Globe, that Bible of luxury beliefs, cautiously saluted the decision.)

Liberalism gone mad and value-less

Sadly we are also very good at the worst of liberalism:

BC decriminalizes hard drugs, without any of the Portuguese strings attached. 

Liberalism goes mad, tries to correct itself

We’ve been particularly well known internationally in the last few months as a country where it’s easy to get a medically-assisted death if you’re poor and out of other options. (This Yuan Yi Zhu piece was particularly brutal.) We were about to expand MAID to people with severe mental illness and no underlying terminal condition but the Justice Ministry decided to put some extra thought into it and delay the expansion. Temporarily.  

The Illiberalism Gazette, the International Edition

Mandatory statements on devotion to diversity are a major factor in hiring at American universities, the Economist reports. NYU prof Jonathan Haidt made some noise about this a few months ago when he resigned from his professional organization because of the “newly adopted requirement that everybody presenting research at the group's conferences explain how their submission advances ‘equity, inclusion, and anti-racism goals.’” Americans are however lucky because they have FIRE, which started as an education-focus free expression and due process advocacy group but is now expanded to include all Americans.

A glimmer of good news in Canada

I am loving the Macdonald-Laurier Institute’s new feminist allyship. They wouldn’t call it that, I’m sure, but two internationally important gender-critical (hell, reality-based) policy papers appeared under its auspices: Fair game: biology, fairness and transgender athletes in women’s sports by Jon Pike, Emma Hilton and Leslie A. Howe, and just the other day, Jo Phoenix’ Rights and wrongs: How gender self-identification policy places women at risk in prison. Members of all federal parties should read them, especially those having a chance in hell of winning the next election.

OK, that’s it for now; we return to the regular programming of books, music, theatre and film shortly.