Love letters between me and Robert Ford’s office.

Dec 2, 2010 12:30pm

mayor_ford@toronto.ca       councillor_mcconnell

Dear Mayor Ford and Councillor McConnell,

As a resident of Ward 28 I would like to add my voice in support of Transit City. This is a vital and urgently needed initiative that needs to be completed, in order to benefit Torontonians in the inner and outer suburbs. Ward 28 won’t directly be affected, but I care about access to transit by Torontonians all over the city.

Maysie

Read the rest of this entry »

Dear Ontario Liberals,

I usually don’t talk to you, for the same reasons that I don’t talk to any Liberals: what’s the fucking point? You act and govern just like the Conservatives. Maybe on a good day you’re like kinder, gentler Conservatives. But Conservative are like being beaten with a stick by someone who laughs and gets into it, and Liberals are like being beaten with a stick, only the person beating me feels really bad about it.

But now, something very weird has happened.

Toronto has entered some twilight reality where Rob Ford is the front-runner for mayor, and has been in a solid first place position for some time now (JaneJacobs help us). George Smitherman, once thought of as the easy shoe-in candidate who can call in his campaigning, has been in a distant second place and is surely freaking out, with just over a month to go until the election on October 25.

Imagine!

And Smitherman is an Ontario Liberal golden boy, despite his disastrous record as the Minster of Health and the e-Health scandal that wasted over $1 billion.

The difference between Mayor Ford and Mayor Smitherman is Mayor Ford is like slamming your head in a door 20 times, and Mayor Smitherman is like slamming your head in a door 15 times.

Read the rest of this entry »

I read lots of advice columns, since I have a secret identity as an infrequent advice columnist myself, online.

Miss Manners has been one of my staples for quite a while. Generally she is amusing and the questions are vetted and non-offensive. I enjoy reading about how the “other 3/4s” live, only because I never have to worry about wording on wedding invitations, chipped china saucers, and neighbours’ dogs pooping on my lawn. But one question this week, and her response, have got me thinking, and marvelling at the fact that she might have gotten (most of) it right.

A disclaimer: the “where are you from?” analysis has been done to death, by bloggers and writers better than I. The “is it offensive to ask?” [YES] and “does it depend on who asks?” [also YES] debate make me tired and makes my head hurt. Mostly because the REAL question is “I want to keep asking that question of any POC I see. Is that okay?”

Um, NO! 

Read the rest of this entry »

So I go to the Bay yesterday (don’t ask!) and find that all over the store, also known as soulless place of sweatshop goods for sale, are these signs for “world fashion” and “ethnic chic”. No joke. Here’s the letter I’m sending to the top executives at the Hudson’s Bay Company:

Dear Bigwigs,

I was shopping in the Bay store at Yonge and Bloor in Toronto recently and noticed signs all over the store for “world fashion” and “ethnic chic”. I need to let you know that the notion of “ethnic chic” is offensive, racist and imperialist.

First of all, it’s offensive because in the City of Toronto, 44% of the population describes themseves as “visible minority” according to the last Canadian census (2006). Who, exactly, do you imagine you are appealing to?

And even if there are hardly any people of colour in the communities where your Bay stores are, across Canada, this is unacceptable in the year 2008, when more and more people of colour are living in Canada and deserve respect.

As for racism, the idea that non-Anglo cultures are “interesting” and “exotic” is racist, based on centuries-old ideas of “the other”. Dovetailing into imperialist, this is the exact same mind-set that missionaries used when colonizing Africa, China, the subcontinent of India and, duh, Canada. The dark “other” is understood through a number of racist stereotypes, some framed as “positive” (exotic, hard-working, noble) and some framed as “negative” (savage, ignorant, superstitious). All those stereotypes are racist, and what you’ve done with your ignorant and offensive campaign, is to reiterate these stereotypes into the culture of Canada, once again, just in case people forget about them, or choose to ignore them, or even fight against them.

Shame on you, and stop this campaign immediately. I further suggest that you embark on some intensive anti-oppression work at all levels of your organization. I know some consultants I can refer you to.

Sincerely, Maysie