People are not created equal, we are created different

People are not created equal, we are created different,
we must re-learn how to respect these differences.

News from Roderick  

January 2007

Canada has a history of hate. When Canadians think of hate they usually think of the Nazis, a political group who developed hate to an all time high. Hatred of Jews, homosexuals, gypsies, people with different political ideas, anyone who was different from the average white Christian. In my hometown,Gambo Newfoundland, my first experience with hate came in the form of religion....Catholics against protestants.Not quite as apparent now as it was in the 1970's.

Canada's hatred isn't much different except it is hatred that has manifested itself over more than four hundred years. Canada's hatred started even before the country was named. The first whites from Europe hated and distrusted the native Indians. The early Canadians hated the Newfoundlander for his way of speaking his gestures and his incredible diverse culture. The American's hatred of native North Americans was slightly deeper than Canadians. History recorded America's contempt and hatred as the only good Indian was a dead Indian. Learn more here When South Africa wanted a solution to apartheid they turned to Canada for answers and the Indian reservation system we created.

Although slavery is not itself an act of hatred it is an act of demeaning another human being. Upper Canada's Legislative Assembly passed a law in 1773 that confirmed the ownership of slaves, but it allowed children of slaves born after the Act to be automatically freed when they reached 25 years of age. This law remained in effect until it was replaced by the "Imperial Parliament Emancipation Act of 1834" which abolished slavery in the entire British Empire. The next group that Canada hated was the Chinese. Canada enacted law which prohibited Chinese from certain activities including the ability to make a living any way they wished. The Chinese had to pay a head tax to enter Canada. No other racial group has had this form of hatred inflicted on them. On July 1, 1923 federal legislation was passed suspending Chinese immigration indefinitely. In 1947 Chinese immigration was again allowed. Learn more Here .

On May 23, 1914 the Komagata Maru arrived in Vancouver with 376 people of East Indian decent. Canada's hatred of East Indians boiled over and 352 of the passengers were denied entry. Canada enacted laws aimed directly at discriminating against East Indian immigration. Learn more here

Canadians of Japanese decent have suffered from hatred. Days after the bombing of Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941 over 1000 Japanese Canadian fishing boats were seized by the Canadian government. The Canadian Parliament by February 1942 had passed a bill that all Japanese living within 100 miles of the West Coast be relocated. Between March and October 22,000 Canadians of Japanese decent were put in concentration camps under the "War Measures Act". These Canadians were never compensated for their fishing vessels or their homes and property.

Canada's hatred didn't stop at racial groups. Canada has enacted laws that discriminated against individuals because of sex. Although the right to vote may not be defined as hatred it is similar to slavery, it demeans individuals. Women's right to vote was obtained at both the provincial and federal level over a nine year period from 1916 to 1925, with the exception of the Province of Quebec where the right to vote in provincial elections was not granted until 1940. Homosexuals have been a hated group through out Canadian history and it continues today with laws relating to marriage and related benefits. Everett George Klippert spent ten years in prison because he was homosexual. He was paroled on July 20, 1971. On November 7, 1967, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled on his case and confirmed Klippert's sentence. The law changed on August 26, 1969. Amendments to the Criminal Code made certain sex acts committed in private between any two consenting persons 21 or older -- no longer illegal. Learn more here

All the above cases of hatred were endorsed by the Canadian government and the court system. Today it is politically incorrect to discriminate and hate. Or is it? There is still one group that you, government, courts, and politicians, can hate. The criminal. The person doesn't have to be convicted. The mere fact that someone is charged makes it politically acceptable to hate that person. The Canadian government has enacted laws which prohibit former prisoners from certain jobs. Even after the convict has served his time and paid his debt to society, society can still demand another pound of flesh. Prisoners were denied the right to vote until October 2002. They are denied the right to fair wages, the right to an education, even the right to self educate, the right to own certain items (eg a computer), the right to even communicate with others (internet), and the right to make phone calls. Certain political parties and politicians campaign on tougher penalties for crime. Hatred sells politically, just ask a Nazi. It is politically correct to hate the families of convicts as well. A government agency, the Correctional Service of Canada, forces families of inmates to pay extra to receive phone calls from the prison. The fundamental right of association that every Canadian has is removed from the prisoner's family. Visiting an inmate is considered a privilege granted or removed by the warden. The courts have displayed no interest in correcting these displays of hatred. History shows nothing new there.

Who pays for this hatred? Certainly not the politician or the legal profession and courts. You pay. The prisoner pays. The prisoner's family pays. Every time a politician calls for longer sentences or more convicted going to jail, you pay. A survey on the internet recently asked "Do you support juveniles doing less time in prison"? About 90 % disagreed. This just displays that hatred drives the general public, certainly not common sense. Prison increases the chance that a juvenile will return to prison again and again. Rehabilitation does not exist inside prisons. The public doesn't want it. Who benefits from this lack of interest in turning convicts into law abiding productive citizens? The politicians, police officers, lawyers, court staff, judges, prison guards, prison suppliers, that’s who. Crime and the jobs it creates are a growth industry in Canada. Everyone else looses.

George W. Bush recognizes the value of hatred. He has spent most of his presidency initiating hatred against one group or another. Hate is a great political ally. If the politician can con you into hating someone it takes your mind off your true problems. It takes your focus away from the conniving politician.The insidious thing about hate is that you may be included in the next group that someone decides to initiate hate on.

It is time to stop the hatred. It is time to allow prisoners to take control of their own lives, the present system of master-slave (guard-inmate) is humiliating and degrading to prisoners.To persuade a citizen to become responsible the system should be teaching by example with democracy practiced inside prison. It is time to demand accountability of the system to stop the cycle of crime some individuals are caught in. It is time to educate prisoners. It is time to help prisoners get off drugs. It is time to train prisoners so they can get productive jobs when released. It is time to rehabilitate prisoners. It is time to make the billions of dollars you contribute to maintain this insidious monster, created by our government, count. It is time to look to common sense and ourselves for some answers, not the Americans or indeed some of our own Canadians. We can't afford the American model of locking up criminals and throwing away the key. We can not afford the hate.