#metoo – MASTER OF NONE

January 30, 2018

POLITICAL OBSERVER – Deuxième Partie

#METOO Morphing into #WHOISNEXT

The Canadian political scene continues to be rocked by numerous sexual allegations against men. Even the ultra-feminist Prime Minister Trudeau is back-pedaling on how to handle the allegations within his own party. There is talk of a ‘whisper’ network amongst Parliamentary staffers as to who is grabbsy after a few drinks. There is an ominous online threat that some powerful male political leader is next. Storm clouds have gathered and there is a seeping, impending dread across the nation of who will next be struck by the #metoo lightning bolt from the murky heavens.

What is disturbing is this narrative that all women coming forward (but staying anonymous in many cases such as with Patrick Brown) with sexual harassment allegations must be believed implicitly because no woman has ever lied, withheld key contextual facts, coloured the truth, or has had ulterior motives that would benefit themselves, organizations they are affiliated with, or causes they believe in. After all, they are made of sugar and spice and all things nice. Their word of events, sometimes decades in the past, is to be taken as gospel irrespective of how much alcohol or drugs may have been involved. No matter how many years have passed, you can take their word for the fact that with no evidence, corroboration, or police reports, they have lived in shame for upwards of decades reliving the gospel truth day after day so that no single iota of whatever happened could never be twisted. Never mind the seeming coincidence that these revelations all seem to hit at the most inopportune times in order to maximize the downfall of these men. Never mind that a court of law has cleared men like Jian Ghomeshi of all charges. Women because of the sheer fact that they are women must never be questioned as to their veracity in these matters.

Before you start slamming me for being generalistic, I am only quoting the virtue signaling of Prime Minister Trudeau, “It is our duty to listen to them and to believe them.” Ontario Premier Wynne, “I believe victims when they come forward” and all the various political voices who all immediately came out to support and implicitly believe these ‘brave’ anonymous women immediately upon word of the allegations. Look up each and every political response and prove me wrong. We had a little business with a fake hijab attack incident recently that embarrassed these same politicians who were falling all over themselves to support this poor Islamic girl. What ever happened to waiting for a complete investigation? I neither support nor defend Mr. Brown or these other men. I do support due process and the chance for the accused to face their accuser. I support taking allegations seriously and having them properly investigated by the authorities. By authorities, reporters don’t count as their motivations can easily lean towards the old practice of sensationalism for ratings. I take serious umbrage with wholesale believing the accuser before a proper investigation takes place. There is a reason Lady Justice is depicted with a blindfold. Also, since allegations such as these can have such dire obvious consequences to the accused, they shouldn’t be made public until charges are laid. Otherwise, it’s just an old fashioned lynch mob with a rope.

Ah, but many people are of the opinion that there is no such thing as ‘due process’ when it comes to politics. Throw the disgusting man out on his rear! Tar and feathers is too good for his kind of ilk! We don’t want his kind as our LEADER! We always knew there was something wrong with him! Believe the WOMEN! Believe the WOMEN! Those are the cries of the vengeful mob hunting for justice. How convenient that it is only when it comes to sex, that now we determine to hold politicians accountable for their leadership qualities. Politicians of all stripes and both genders commit atrocious blunders and boondoggles costing billions of taxpayer dollars all the time. But one little whiff of impropriety when it comes to the relationship of a man with a woman and somehow that is the tipping point.

The actions of the CTV reporters who investigated the Patrick Brown allegations are merely a modern version of yellow journalism and muckraking. They knew the likely consequences of their sensationalist ‘revelations’ a few months before a major election. That’s a lot of power to wield and easily a recipe for abuse. Every reporter will be clamoring to speak with all the office staffers about their experiences. What woman is going to deny she has never heard a coarse word, maybe had a hand linger on a shoulder a second too long, or had a pass thrown at her that was rebuffed? Ordinary actions have now become sinister, powerful ammunition used to support the feminist narrative that all men are rapists.

Every man, especially those in powerful positions, can now be anonymously accused of sexual wrong-doing without official sanction and it will be up to him to prove innocence as guilt will be implied and his reputation forever stained.

To quote a Medium.com author, Proudly Unaffiliated, ‘And I always thought that a Witch Hunt was about people hunting for witches. But it looks like that a Witch Hunt is really a hunt conducted by witches that are after men and their resources.’

Blair’s LinkedIn Profile

Blair is a personification of a ‘Jack of All Trades and Master of None’. He has held several careers and has all the T-shirts. Time to add the title Blogger to the list.

January 25, 2018January 27, 2018

POLITICAL OBSERVER

The famous ‘El pollo al Veladore’ woman located in Galvez Passage, Valparaíso, Chile

Patrick Brown’s Spectacular Fall off the Nightstand

***Update — The resignations are coming fast and furious now. Sport and Disabilities Minister Kent Hehr has resigned from the Federal Liberal cabinet pending investigation into his alleged sexual misconduct. Plus yesterday, the leader of the Nova Scotia Progressive Conservative Party, Jamie Baillie suddenly resigned with sexual harassment claims over his head.***

Let’s jump right into this!

The power of the #metoo movement has dramatically claimed another man’s career. Patrick Brown, who was very likely going to be the next Premier of Ontario after the upcoming June election, went from star to pariah in about 12 hours from last night to this morning. Two anonymous women went directly to CTV reporters with separate sexual incidents with Brown from the past. The one lady was 18 when an alleged incident occured 10 years ago. The other had just turned 19 and was working at Brown’s constituency office in 2013. No police reports have ever been filed.

Upon the surfacing of the allegations, his entire campaign team quit. He held out for a few hours but the Ontario Progressive Conservative Leader resigned this morning citing one person isn’t important enough to hold up replacing a very unpopular Liberal provincial government.

Of course, every politician from Justin Trudeau to Kathleen Wynne is piling on with their predictable reaction messages. Zero tolerance to sexual misconduct, the women are so brave to come forward, ‘all Ontarians are responsible to “shine a light” on harassment and other behaviour’ are the appropriate media response lines. Even Andrew Scheer parroted carefully scripted buzz phrases but at least he mentioned that the allegations should be investigated fully.

When you read the statements of the women interviewed by CTV, on the face of it were any actual crimes committed? As to the first woman, she was 18 and Brown was 29 when they came across one another through a mutual friend at a bar 10 years ago. She and the friend accepted an invitation to go back to his place and continue drinking. The article makes a point of saying she was underage for Brown to be giving her alcohol as they were in Ontario. But she was already drinking in a bar, so it would be reasonable for the man to assume she was at least an adult (which she was) and of legal drinking age as bars check for that. She ended up drunk; agreed to go into his bedroom; there was a clumsy attempt at a blowjob supposedly initiated by him; she stopped and left; and he did not stop her from leaving. That just sounds like a hookup after picking up a girl from the bar. It is precisely this human activity that has made sites like Tinder, Bumble, Happn or their numerous spawns so popular. The woman was quoted as saying “He’s an old, single, politician preying on young girls. He’s just a sad person.” Where in the criminal code or even a moral code is it written that a 29 year old man is not allowed to pick up an 18 year old woman and try to have sex with her?

As for the second woman, she was just 19 and ended up working at Brown’s constituency office. He was 34 in 2013 when the alleged sexual assault took place. The woman had been at a bar getting plastered on free drinks from the people present. She and a male friend of Brown’s went back to his place to continue the party. She ended up alone with him in his bedroom; he tried to have sex with her; she declined and left; and he did not stop her from leaving. He subsequently asked her to join him on a paid trip to India which she declined. He gave her a raise that summer. She also returned to work for him the following summer as she saw the work as ‘a career opportunity‘. If you had been ‘assaulted’ by someone, would you continue to work for them at a somewhat minor summer job then return the following year?

The boss trying to sleep with the secretary is so cliché, the Chilean’s phrase for the practice is ‘El pollo al Velador‘ which translates to ‘Chicken on the Nightstand’. A two hour lunch is the norm in Chile, so that leaves plenty of time for a mid-day tryst between the boss and his favourite girl at a local flophouse.

Sexual misconduct is commonly defined as ‘an umbrella term for any misconduct of a sexual nature that is usually perpetrated against an individual without his or her consent. The misconduct can be of various degree, such as sexual impropriety, sexual transgression, sexual violation, and sexual exploitation.’ Employer/employee sexual relationships can certainly end up being classified under this definition. Brown making a play for his employee was not a particularly bright move, especially for a politician. But was it illegal or morally wrong if at the time he was operating under the impression that there was no harm/no foul happening? He sounded like a lonely guy who wanted a relationship at the office with a pretty, young girl. Generally, in today’s world, that’s a particularly stupid thing for the boss to try to do. But if he was only being persistent but backing away when told to with no repercussions to the woman, does that warrant stringing the man up for the crows?

Think of where society has gotten to with this #metoo and #timesup phenomenon. Within hours of anonymous allegations, a man was tried, judged, and had his career executed. He will undergo years of humiliation, spend thousands of dollars in legal fees, and will never fully clear his name or be respected ever again. The instigators of the Salem Witch trials would be impressed.

The message is that you better be as pure as freshly fallen snow with respect to your willy if you are running for political office. It’s obvious that even the hint of sexual impropriety is kryptonite to a male politician’s career. Strangely, the late crack smoking Mayor of Toronto, Rob Ford, was a Teflon man and still extremely popular despite all of his gaffes. They even tried to rename a stadium after him. It would be interesting to see if his alleged indelicacies with women would sink him in today’s climate.

Well, everyone loves a good kangaroo court and subsequent bonfire!

Blair’s LinkedIn Profile

Blair is a personification of a ‘Jack of All Trades and Master of None’. He has held several careers and has all the T-shirts. Time to add the title Blogger to the list.

January 21, 2018

TEET PULLER

Migrant workers in a Canadian vegetable field – Photo courtesy of The Western Producer

Do You Know how Tonight’s Supper got to Your Table?

Although most of Canada is still in the grip of winter, farmers who rely on a steadily increasing stream of migrant workers are in the midst of preparing for their annual arrival. Year upon year, mostly men from countries like Mexico, Jamaica and the Philippines return to the greenhouses, vegetable fields and cranberry bogs to perform back breaking labour for long hours at minimal salary. Canadians by and large are indifferent to their situation and probably give nary a thought of how exactly did the ingredients for their three squares a day made it from farm to table.

Back in the early 90’s when I was flailing about for employment after a couple of failed career attempts, I worked at a couple of dairies as a hired hand. My family and I ended up north of Portage La Prairie, Manitoba where I had the misfortune to work for Craig Finnie of Finnie-Wishart Farms. It was my distasteful experience with the man that planted the seed of how farm workers could easily be abused by their employers.

In Canada, temporary foreign workers have been employed under programs like the Temporary Foreign Worker Program and the Seasonal Agricultural Workers Program (SWAP). The farm workers end up mostly in the provinces of Ontario, BC and Manitoba. In 2015, a reported 59% of all BC temporary foreign workers were out in the fields. As I’m originally from Manitoba and am quite familiar with agriculture in that province, I have seen and am very aware of the potential for abuse regarding these people.

Migrant Mexicans have been coming to pick vegetables in Manitoba fields since 1974. Under SWAP, the numbers have dramatically increased in all provinces. It’s not a matter of not being able to find Canadians to do these jobs, it’s merely a fact that these temporary workers cost less to employ. Back when I was a hired farm hand in the early 90’s, technically a farmer didn’t have to pay their workers. They could get away with bartering, living accommodations, and/or food in lieu of wages. Thankfully worker’s regulations have gotten better since then but that was the starting point. Under SWAP, a farmer will bring in migrants, put them up in sometimes questionable living accommodations, work them inhuman hours, and pay them less than the going Canadian rate. Current labour laws dictate that the worker need only be paid a straight hourly wage with no overtime. I assure you that each of these farm workers are working way past 40 hour work weeks. PIus, there is always the specter that if they get uppity, they would be deported and blacklisted. These practices have spilled over to other areas of food production. For example, the large pork production plant in Neepawa that used to employ young men like my brother and cousin now only has Philippino migrant workers on the cutting floor.

The arguments from the farmers and companies are 1) they cannot afford to grow vegetables/process meat any other way; 2) Even though the wages are less compared to paying a Canadian, they were far and above what the migrants would make back home; and 3) There are not enough Canadians to do the jobs.

My counter arguments are: 1) If you have to use semi-slavery to profitably grow vegetables/cut pigs up on the floor, then switch to another crop/way of doing business; 2) All employers should follow minimum labour standards just as if they were employing a Canadian; 3) There should be a rigourous demonstration that the employer attempted to hire Canadians first; and 4) Innovation in the form of mechanization which has revolutionized much of Western farming and food production is being stifled because it is easier to employ ‘throw away’ migrants.

Canadians are already forced to follow numerous laws and regulations even when outside the country. Just because pedophilia is tolerated in the Philippines or Thailand does not mean that you will not be prosecuted upon your return from your ‘sex-cation’. Royal Canadian Navy ships are required to follow the higher environmental laws while in foreign port. I guarantee the oily waste water in many of our Caribbean or African ports of call was going straight back into the chuck once the truck was out of sight. The Navy still paid through the nose for the service even though they knew they were being ripped off. But that’s reality in the world’s shitholes. But the reverse should happen when working migrants come to Canada. They shouldn’t be taken advantage of and should be treated the same as Canadians under Canadian labour laws.

The most hilarious and sad Canadian case of temporary foreign workers occurred in the early 2000’s when Romania became our favourite supplier of strippers. Word passed back home to that struggling Eastern European country that Canadian lap dances were very lucrative so numbers increased to a high of 552 Romanian exotic dancers rubbing Canadian poles in 2003. The Liberal Immigration Minister, Judy Sgro, had a difficult time explaining how this situation developed.

The Western world increasingly relies on ‘lesser’, invisible humans to do all our dirty work. That’s why I have no patience for people getting torqued over the latest Rage du Jour when they have no idea of where their heads of lettuce, bean sprouts or cheap pork comes from. Maybe all those #metoo women marching this weekend should give their heads a bit of a shake. I wonder how many of them have Philippino nannies?