"Me want skool!" is good enough for the Toronto District School Board

The Toronto District School Board (hereinafter "TDSB") is the wokest in the fairyland of Canuckistan. And in a country which includes such hotbeds of wokeism as the Waterloo Region District School Board which forbids any discussion of gender ideology, pronouns or sex change operations * [Isn't there a more PC name for that? Ed.], that's really saying something.

The TDSB is not only the wokest in the land, but the biggest. Its catchment area encompasses numerous "ethnic" neighbourhoods, including Little India, the notorious Jane-Finch `hood, and a part of Scarborough which, to look at it, is majority Chinese... and so it is.

The ultra-progressive TDSB is all in favour of DEI (Diversity, Equity and Inclusion) of course. As Mr Socks sez, "Diversity is our strength!" (Cue guffaws from most Canadians. See "Shocking news: Majority of Canucks think diversity is causing problems!", WWW 25/11/23. To serve various diverse sections of the community, the Board has established several dozen Central Student Interest Programmes (CSIP), both at the secondary (opens in a new tab)and elementary (opens in a new tab)level, including those specializing in arts, athletics, science, math and many others. 

But it seems some groups need a little more equity than others. According to the TDSB website, 20% per cent of the spaces in CSIP are reserved for students who are Black, Indigenous, Latin American and Middle Eastern, while 50% cent of the spaces in math, science and technology programmes are for students self-identifying as female.

That doesn't sit well with the Chinese community (or the south Asians, for that matter), who, along with the "old stock Canadians" (read: palefaces), are regarded as "privileged", thus not deserving of extra help. Trustee Weidong Pei of Ward 12, Willowdale, told CTV News Toronto the policy doesn't address the socio-economic barriers standing in the way of enriched education, but instead creates more division in schools and waters down talent. 

What to do? The performance-based process of entry, which had been criticized for "favouring students from wealthier families" (read: racist!) had to go. So, in 2022, the Board trustees voted to move away from a model that only accepts those with demonstrated strength and/or ability, by removing all tests, exams, auditions and grade-entry requirements from CSIP applications.

In came the new, woker, "interest-based model", which is now "under review". Trustee James Li of Ward 13, Don Valley North,  told CTV, "When we implemented the program in 2023, we didn't ask the students to prove or demonstrate anything. We only asked the students to write their name down, which was disappointing." Now, he continued, "We expect them to demonstrate that they're interested in [an enriched programme] to the point where they want to go above and beyond the curriculum, and they're ready and willing to work towards it.”

Mr Pei calls the expression of interest requirement "meaningless". "The formal expression of interest is not being evaluated. An entry consisting of 'Me want skool' is given the same weight as a student filming themselves playing 'Flight of the Bumblebee' on the tuba!

"Everybody I know, including me, is concerned about socio-economic barriers, but the policies don’t adjust for socio-economics, they use self-identified race as a proxy for socio-economics. The average Asian family's income at TDSB is below the overall average of TDSB families, and South Asians' incomes are even lower. Yet Asian families are considered a privileged group."

Ah so... but Messrs Pei and Li should know that in Emperor Justin's Canada, affirmative action (read: reverse racism) is the New Equity. So let it be preached. So let it be done.

* See "Court victory for teacher silenced for transgender-book criticism", National Post, 25/11/23. 

Political correctness kills black student on field trip

The Toronto District School Board is the largest in Canada, as well as the looniest. They're just crazy for inclusion, diversity and political correctness. Check out the examples in "Canada's loony left, pro-Muslim 'public' school board", WWW 16/1/18 and "Chinese-Canadians protest hijab hoax", 29/1/18. On Friday we had another head-scratcher from the TDSB, in the form of a memorial ceremony for Jeremiah Perry, a former student at C.W. Jefferys Collegiate Institute (read: high school), one of the hundreds run [into the ground? Ed.] by the TDSB.

C.W. Jefferys is located in a predominantly black area [Thank you for not using the G-word. Ed.] in northwest Toronto. The majority of the school-goers are "students of colour". The school isnot noted for academic achievement, nor even for having good football or basketball teams. It is one of many TDSB schools which have "challenges" and "opportunities", including the "opportunity" to prove to a skeptical public that diversity is Canada's strength, and inclusivity can work to improve the lot of kids like Jeremiah Perry.

As part of their politically correct programme to make sure everyone gets treated the same, the TDSB promotes field trips and holiday adventures, so that black kids who've never been out of the, errr, city, can enjoy the beauties of Canada's countryside, just like the white kids. In July of 2017, staff at C.W. Jefferys organized a week-long canoe trip through Ontario's famous Algonquin Park, about three hours' drive and hundreds of light years in character north of the Wormy Apple.

Kids who wished to go on the trip didn't need money. This was all paid for by the taxpayer, natch. They didn't even need to have any experience canoeing, because they'd be taught the basics by the teachers and guides who would accompany them at all times. But they did need to know how to swim (just in case the lessons didn't take), and swim tests were duly administered at a local pool.

Here's where the political correctness kicks in, with sad consequences for Jeremiah Perry. Jeremiah, you see, didn't know how to swim, and failed the test. So by rights he should have been left behind. But hey, "No child left behind!" Right? Especially if the child is, errr, non-white and might therefore feel discriminated against. So Jeremiah went along with all the others.

As surely as the sun rises in the east, the unintended consequences of too much political correctness befell Jeremiah on 15 July 2017, when he went swimming with his mates, at dusk, sans life-jacket or other PFD. He soon disappeared under the waters of Big Trout Lake. His body was found the next day by Ontario Provincial Police search and rescue divers.

Jeremiah's death spurred investigations by the OPP and TDSB, who pointed the finger of blame at a teacher who was acting as a supervisor on the trip. A charge of criminal negligence causing death was laid this past July -- a year later -- and the accused teacher is now on "home assignment" meaning he gets paid not to come to work.

The TDSB, for its part, implemented a number of new measures to ensure safety on future field trips, including a requirement that parents be notified if their child passes or fails mandatory swim tests. A prominent accounting firm was hired by the province of Ontario to conduct a review of outdoor education policies at Ontario school boards. Its finding have not been made public.

On Friday, the C.W. Jefferys gym was renamed to honour Jeremiah Perry. Not because he was a great athlete. Not because he was a great all-round student. But (although this wasn't said) because he was the first black student in Ontario to die because of political correctness. That's all ye know and all ye need to know.

HS principal reported to HR police over "Black List"

Peggy Aitchison, the principal of the Etobicoke (Ontario) School of the Arts, has found out the hard way that no good deed goes unpunished, especially when the do-gooder is an educated white woman (read: Ms Aitchison) and the beneficiaries are less-educated black yoof.

The ESA is a surprisingly elitist high school run by the loony left Toronto District School Board, where students (of all races, faiths, yada yada, of course) can study drama [Perhaps to become future prime ministers? Ed.], meeja, film-making, music and dance -- all the artsy-fartsy stuff that will make them underproductive citizens when (if?) they grow up.

Pictures of the ESA student body reveal that the majority of the kids are white, which may or may not be odd since white folks are a minority in the Greater [sic] Toronto Area. But some of the students are black, or, as the Toronto Red Star styles it, "Black". And some of those kids -- the Black kids -- are, errr, underachieving. Concerned about how to bring these yoofs up to the level of their peers, Peggy Aitchison compiled a list of all "students of colour" at the school, which she passed out to teachers so they could give the underachievers extra help. You can see what's coming, can't you?

George Brown [sic], the parent of an 18-year-old student at ESA, found out about what he calls the "Black list", and filed what he says is a "human rights claim" against both Principal Aitchison and the TDSB. "It took the photos of the black students in the yearbook and places it beside their names," he told CTV News. "It is not being done on the basis of collected data. It is profiled!"

Mr Brown went on to explain that the list also placed students in categories based on mixed race. "You were in a different kind of category, as if you had some kind of white in your background, maybe you aren't, I guess, stupid. But you were put in another list is you were black from Africa or Jamaica." Hmmm.

At a meeting of parents earlier this month, Ms Aitchison admitted to creating the list, and apologized profusely, in the grand old Canadian tradition, saying that she only meant to help measure achievement at the school. "Upon reflection and discussion with others," she said, "I recognized that this was a limited, flawed, and ultimately inappropriate approach to identifying gaps in supports and so, that very same day, I retracted that compilation that was based solely on perception."

Mr Brown told CTV he doesn't accept the apology because her explanation "wasn't enough" for him. He and his son (who Walt assumes was on the Black list) say they want the TDSB to provide human rights training to all staff and to provide assurances that no more lists like the one found at ESA will ever be created. And they want Ms Aitchison should apologize to every student on the list individually.

Ms Aitchison responded by asking to be transferred to another school, and the TDSB said "So let it be written; so let it be done."

So, farewell then, Chief Wahoo

An assiduous reader reminds us that the Toronto District School Board has been justly ridiculed on WWW prior to the Islamophiliac nonsense described in "Canada's loony left, pro-Muslim 'public' school board", WWW 16/1/18. Last fall, in "PC gone mad! Toronto public school board drops 'Chief' from job titles", WWW 11/10/17, Walt quoted at length from Post Media's Christie Blatchford, who took the TDSB to task for its decision to excise the word "Chief" from all its job titles, in the interests of not giving offence to Canada's First Nations (read: indigenous peoples... or... wait for it... Indians).

The TDSB's ultra-liberal, ultra-PC diktat was provoked by the fake-news controversy in the Excited States of America about whether the Cleveland baseball team, known for decades as the "Indians", should change their name to something less "racist". Since that idea was a non-starter, the SJWs were demanding that the team get rid of its mascot, whose smiling face has adorned its caps, uniforms and other paraphernalia since 1947. His name is... or was... Chief Wahoo.

I say "was" because today the Cleveland Indians caved. Team owner Paul Dolan announced that the Chief would be around for the 2018 season, but would then go to the Happy Hunting Ground to join Mr Rebel (Boone County KY High School), Colonel Reb (Ole Miss), and the old Darkie toothpaste guy.

MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred told the meeja, "The club ultimately agreed with my position that the logo is no longer appropriate for on-field use." Playing Mortimer Snerd to Mr Manfred's Edgar Bergen, Mr Dolan said, "We have consistently maintained that we are cognizant and sensitive to both sides of the discussion. While we recognize many of our fans have a longstanding attachment to Chief Wahoo, I'm ultimately in agreement with Commissioner Manfred's desire to remove the logo from our uniforms in 2019."

So Walt's use of the past tense was premature. Chief Wahoo gets one more year, during which the Indians will continue to wear his image on their sleeves and caps. Merchandise featuring the beloved mascot will continue to be sold in northeast Ohio "to retain the trademark."

What happens in 2019? Will the designers just kind of lighten Chief Wahoo up, changing him to pink and then to white, like they did with the Darkie dark guy who became the Darlie white guy? Or will they paint out the feather, make him darker and change his name to something more in line with the city he represents, like, say, "Prince Leroy"? I can hardly wait to find out.

Oh (as Columbo used to say), there's one more thing. The forces of political correctness hit a double on this one, but the inning isn't over yet. They'll keep batting until they force the Cleveland team to drop the moniker "Indians" as well. And then? There will be other racist team names to expunge from the vocabulary of American sports: the Kansas City Chiefs, the Washington Redskins, the Atlanta Braves and the Chicago Blackhawks, whose mascot is the coolest Indian in all of sports. His name is Tommy Hawk.

Canadian Islamophiles plan National Hug-a-Muslim Day

The timing of hijab hoax girl's bathetic [There is such a word.* Ed.] little stunt last Friday seems to have been a little off, as it has cast something of a cloud over plans for a "National Day of Remembrance and Action on Islamophobia", to be held across Canuckistan on January 29th.

That's right, folks. Canadian Islamists (read: the National Council of Canadian Muslims), aided and abetted by well-meaning politicians and friends like (((Shari Schwartz-Maltz))) in government, the (((controlled media))) and the human rights industry, intended to cap off "Islamic Heritage Month" (read: hug-a-Muslim month) with a day of action in Ottawa and Toronto to "memorialize Islamophobia".

January 29th is the first anniversary of an attack on a Québec City mosque that left six dead and several others injured. This is what the NCCM wants "memorialized", while certain other events, like the October 2014 killings of two Canadian soldiers -- Cpl. Nathan Cirillo and Warrant Officer Patrice Vincent -- by two "radicalized Muslims" or "homegrown jihadis", are forgotten.

In "Canadians don't need a 'National Day' scolding us for being Islamophobic", (National Post, 17/1/18), Barbara Kay writes, "We deplore the horrific Quebec City mosque murders. Nevertheless, an annual day of national atonement sends the wrong message." She points out that Alexandre Bissonnette, the alleged perpetrator, had no known ties to violence-promoting groups, nor was he ever charged with terrorism. His motive remains unclear to this day. But, Ms Kay argues "an official Day of Remembrance focused on Muslim victimhood would receive funding to perpetuate in schools and other institutions the notion that Muslims are systemically targeted for hatred."

And that, dear readers, is the whole point of the hijab hoax girl's publicity stunt and the NCCM proposal. Ms Kay reminds us that the NCCM pushed for the inclusion in the Toronto District School Board [Again with the TDSB! Ed.] guidebook to Islamic Heritage Month of this definition of Islamophobia: "Islamophobia refers to fear, prejudice, hatred or dislike directed against Islam or Muslims, or towards Islamic politics or culture." Once the telling phrase "Islamic politics or culture" came to public attention, attracting forceful criticism that embarrassed the TDSB (Hello again, Shari Schwartz-Maltz!), the definition was narrowed.

Does the NCCM really want to talk about Islamic culture -- the culture that includes honour killings like those of Aqsa Parvez and four female members of the Shafia family? How about we have a memorial day for those victims of Islamic culture?

The highlight of National Be Nice to Muslims Day is supposed to be the tabling in Canada's House of Commons of the Standing Committee on Heritage report on Motion M-103. M-103 isn't a law and never will be. It's only a motion. Here, copied from the web page of Iqra Khalid, MP (and a Muslim, in case you didn't guess), is the text of the motion.

M103 - Systemic racism and religious discrimination
That, in the opinion of the House, the government should: (a) recognize the need to quell the increasing public climate of hate and fear; (b) condemn Islamophobia and all forms of systemic racism and religious discrimination and take note of House of Commons’ petition e-411 and the issues raised by it; and (c) request that the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage undertake a study on how the government could (i) develop a whole-of-government approach to reducing or eliminating systemic racism and religious discrimination including Islamophobia, in Canada, while ensuring a community-centered focus with a holistic response through evidence-based policy-making, (ii) collect data to contextualize hate crime reports and to conduct needs assessments for impacted communities, and that the Committee should present its findings and recommendations to the House no later than 240 calendar days from the adoption of this motion, provided that in its report, the Committee should make recommendations that the government may use to better reflect the enshrined rights and freedoms in the Constitution Acts, including the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

Buried in all that jargon and verbiage is some pretty dangerous stuff, e.g. "collect data to contextualize hate crime reports". How would such data be collected? Why, through "social media surveillance", of course! Canucks, better watch what you write on FB or in the comments section of news websites -- the few that still allow commenting... sometimes... as long as you don't offend Muslims. And how about "conduct needs assessments for impacted communities"? Don't be surprised if the "impacted community" (read: Muslims) needs money for its mosques and schools where young Canadians can be taught how barbaric cultural practices like female genital mutilation, honour crimes and the killing of infidels are all right and good for followers of the Religion of Peace.

The most objectionable feature, though, of M-103 is its singling out of the Muslim community as the one minority group most in need of protection from "system racism" and "Islamophobia". What about the (((Jews))), asks Barbara Kay. What about indigenous peoples, especially indigenous women who keep being found dead along roadsides and river banks? What about the "black community"? Never mind BLM; don't all lives matter? Errr, no, not according to M-103 -- just the lives of Muslims.

Even though it has not yet been officially approved by Canada's Parliament, M-103 is already being used as the basis for self-censorship remarkable even for the politically correct Canuck lamestream media. Some people have asked by the CBC and other major networks didn't call BS on the hijab hoax even as the girl was speaking at the TDSB-arranged presser. The answer is simple. No-one wanted to be the first to cast doubt on the story told by a young, female member of the oppressed Muslim minority. Even the Toronto police were guarded in describing the false report, saying only that "it didn't happen."

Contrary to the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, M-103 is already being used to curtail freedom of speech. The term "Islamophobia", with its multiple and sinister meanings is, in itself, an example of "fake news", and should not be recognized as a "thing"... because it isn't! To state that there is systemic hatred and racial discrimination in Canada, is bogus and to single out one religious group for special treatment is divisive. If there's going to be some sort of "day of action" in the Great No-longer-white North on January 29th, Walt suggests something along the lines of the demonstration pictured here.

Canadians! Stand up for free speech! Write or e-mail your Member of Parliament! (Click here to find out who's supposed to be representing you.) Or e-mail Justin Trudeau Himself. Tell them what you think... while you still can!

Canada's loony left, pro-Muslim "public" school board

There are two publicly-funded education systems in the province of Ontario, Canada. (Well OK, there are four, if you count the French-language counterparts to the two main systems, which are anglophone -- English-speaking.) There are Catholic schools, which are not quite what the name implies, since, being taxpayer-funded, they are required to admit all comers, Catholic or not. And there are "public" schools, which are supposed to be non-religious, but in practice push the new, politically correct religion of secular humanism.

The biggest public school board in Ontario -- in Canada, in fact -- is the Toronto District School Board, which is responsible for Pauline Johnson Junior Public School, in Scarberia, the northeastern ghetto of the Great and Diverse City of Toronto (John Tory, Prop.) That the school is this month celebrating "Tamil Heritage Month" tells you something about the character of the community, and the politics of the TDSB.

Pauline Johnson School is attended by students from literally dozens of different ethnic backgrounds. The majority are not "old stock Canadians", to borrow the appellation of former Prime Minister Steven Harpoon. There is not only a great mixing of races, but a great mixing of religions -- the diversity which Mayor Tory, Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne and Prime Minister Justin "Mr Socks" Trudeau keep telling people makes Canada Strong. (Agent 3 says diversity certainly makes Toronto what it is. Whatever can he mean?) There are a few Christians, some Buddhists, some Hindus, some Sikhs and, inevitably, some Muslims.

One of the Muslim students is Khawlah Noman, who for the rest of her life is likely to be known as the "hijab hoax girl", following the unravelling yesterday of her story about having been attacked by a man who pulled back the hood of her parka, so as to cut (with a scissors!) her hijab -- an Islamophobic, anti-Muslim hate crime if ever there was one! Except there wasn't one. It was all a product of Miss Noman's vivid imagination.

OK, so the kid made the whole thing up. Some kind of plea for help, perhaps. Let it go at that. But the Toronto District School Board did not let it go at that. Today, questions are being asked about why, less than four hours after the initial police report, the TDSB organized a presser -- "press availability" is what they call it nowadays -- to let the tearful 11-year-old face television cameras and throngs of reporters who broadcast her horrific (and unlikely) story to the world?

In the photo we see Miss Noman, her mother, and her 10-year-old brother, who supposedly witnessed the attack. The concerned and caring lady comforting the girl is (((Shari Schwartz-Maltz))), TDSB Manager for Media Relations and Issues Management, who (a source tells WWW) set up the exercise in virtue-signalling. Even if the attack had happened, the appearance would have been unusual, as victims of crime who are minors are traditionally not identified by police or the media, let alone put before cameras to recite a rehearsed narrative and weep on cue.

(((Ms Schwartz-Maltz))) is no stranger to the pages of WWW. She is referred to in "Muslim prayers in Toronto schools: a Muslim viewpoint", WWW 7/7/11, defending a decision of the TDSB to set aside prayer rooms in its schools so the little Muslim kids can say their Friday prayers, while being taught about Islam and the virtues of Islamic society. This was before ISIS, so rumours that ISIS recruiting literature was passed out were likely untrue. It would have been Al-Qaeda, not ISIS.

That the Toronto District School Board is friendly to the so-called Religion of Peace is an undertatement. But hey, that's nothing more than compliance with the policy of the Ontario government (K. Wynne, Prop.) See "Islamization of Ontario schools still part of government agenda", WWW 15/4/12.

But it's not just Muslims that the TDSB likes. They're great believers in affirmative action, human rights (for some humans, at least), social justice and BLM. In a show of politically correctness, surprising even for Ontario, the Board decided, back in 2009, to set up an "Africentric Alternative School" (read: segregated school). It opened in the northwest corner of Toronto "in an attempt to reduce dropout rates and improve an achievement gap among the city's black students. While the school is open to students of all backgrounds, many [note: "many", not "all"] of the teachers are black to serve as role models for students."

The Africentric School was to be a three-year experiment. (((Ms Schwartz-Maltz))) appears again in an article in the Toronto Red Star (from which the above quote was taken) to spin the 2012 report on the results -- three years after the report was published, kinda quietly. The report found that in 2012, only 43% of students who started at the AAS and had not reached graduate age were still enrolled, while 57% had transferred to another school.

The report also identified "differences" between the original idea of the school "and the existing frameworks the school operates within," as well as funding challenges that are a "limiting factor to the school's success." (((Ms Schwartz-Maltz))) called it "a work in progress". Walt has been unable to discover whether any further progress has been made in the 2+ years since, or, indeed, whether the Africentric School is still in existence.

Speaking of affirmative action... a name that has been conveniently forgotten by proponents of the TDSB's liberal agenda is that of Chris Spence, who was the Director of the Toronto District School Board at the time of the Africentric School experiment. Dr Spence, as he then was, should have been a role model extraordinaire for the city's black yoof, being head of the biggest school board in Canada and a credit his race, yada yada yada. Unfortunately, he was obliged to resign, at the end of 2012, over allegations that his Ph.D. thesis was rife with "unattributed passages", plagiarized (copied) from other sources. When last heard from, Mr Spence was fighting for compensation for "constructive dismissal". He has not complained to the Ontario Human Rights Commission about systemic racism.

Speaking of race and black yoof, the latest politically correct folly of the TDSB is the cancellation, last November, of the "School Resource Officer" programme run for it by the Toronto Police Service. The programme placed uniformed police officers in dozens of mainly minority-majority public schools across Toronto. While SRO is SOP in many inner city schools in the USA, it was a first for Canada when introduced in 2008, a year after Grade 9 student Jordan Manners, age 15, was shot and killed at C.W. Jefferys Collegiate, one of Toronto's blackest schools.

Ever since, the SRO programme has drawn sharp criticism from activist groups such as Black Lives Matter Toronto, which made very vocal demands to scrap it as one measure to address "anti-black racism" in the education system. The Board trustees voted 18-3 in favour of cancelling the programme, after a report by staff recommended eliminating the program because "it caused some students to feel uncomfortable and even intimidated." That was in November. Last week the neighbouring Peel District School Board received a report showing that students benefit from the SRO programme in its schools. Go figure.

Every now and then militant secular humanists and anti-Catholic bigots call for the end of public funding for Ontario's Roman Catholic schools. As long as policies like those of the Toronto District School Board -- we haven't even talked about the new pro-LGBT sex ed curriculum yet -- are causing parents by the 1000s to enroll their non-Catholic children in the Catholic system, Catholic schools are in no danger of being defunded. There should be a lesson there for the public school boards, but will they learn it? Two chances: slim and none.

PC gone mad! Toronto public school board drops "Chief" from job titles

"If there were any doubt, there is no more: Canada is the stupidest country ever," writes Christie Blatchford in Canada's National Post, in an article headlined "Toronto school board declares war on 'chief' and all sense".

As we all know, Canada is kind of a nitwit nation. Particularly under the double-liberal government of Justin "Junior" Trudeau, the mania for political correctness and embracing diversity ("It's what makes Canada what it is!" says Junior) has reached dizzying new heights. The passion of the Canadian government for cultural sensitivity, inclusiveness and such-like BS is ridiculous, to the point of being mocked (quietly, of course) by ordinary "old stock" Canadians.

The Ontario government of proudly lesbian Premier Kathleen Wynne is worse. And now, Ms Blatchford reports, the Toronto District School Board, in its efforts to remain ahead of the Ontario government curve on all gender-cultural-political sensitivities, is not only contenting itself with following Education Minister Mitzie Hunter’s directive of early this year to review all potentially indigenous-offensive team names and mascots, but also has declared war on the word "chief".

"Chief"? What's wrong with that? TDSB spokesthingy Ryan Bird e-mailed Postmedia to "confirm that the title 'chief' is being phased out in various departments at the TDSB" as " part of the ongoing work that the school board does through the TDSB’s Aboriginal Education Centre with regards to Truth and Reconciliation (Commission, or the TRC, which produced its massive final report in 2015)."

Apparently the problem stems from the controversy south of the world's longest undefended border (subject to change without notice) over characters such as Cleveland Indians' beloved Chief Wahoo, pictured here.

Ms Blatchford continues: Attempts to find out precisely where in the TRC’s Calls to Action section there is any cry for the de-chiefing of the language in Canadian schools went unanswered. The board spokesman, Bird, tried hard on Postmedia’s behalf to get someone to respond but to no avail.

The best he could do, he said, was to suggest that the move didn’t necessarily come out of the TRC itself, but was "an aspect of a larger conversation staff have had" since the report was issued. Bird said he consulted with a TDSB elder who told him that probably "every Aboriginal person has been referred to as 'chief'" in a derogatory way at some point in his or her life.

But the fact of the matter is that the word is Latin in origin and comes from the Latin "caput", meaning head or leader, via the French, where chef is short for chef de cuisine, or boss of the kitchen.

If many people understand that caricatures such as Chief Wahoo...might be offensive to Indigenous ears and eyes, it’s a struggle to get the notion that a non-Indigenous word such as "chief" is equally insulting.

Anyhoo, there will be a lot of changes in nomenclature at the TDSB. While some key titles, such as "Chief Financial Officer" were changed a few years ago, recent casualties include the former Chief Caretaker at Glenview Public School, who arrived at work last week to find the word "Chief" on her office door blacked out. (Ooops. Could that term be offensive?) The Chair (Chairman? Chairperson?) of the TDSM will have to review and correct his résumé, where he is still described as "former Chief Student Achievement Officer" for the provincial education ministry. Presumably, Ms Blatchford concludes, the Board’s Chief Technology Officer and Chief Information Officer and Chief Social Worker will all have to do the same. The entire C-suite could soon be history -- culturally sensitive history, to be sure.

Interesting factoid: One of Walt's agents, who must be numberless, worked for a time for the Saskatchewan Legal Services Commission, the public defender in that Godforsaken hinterland. 97% of the people he defended were Indians (or Indigenous People or First Nations, whatever is PC today). There were two main clans, he says, the Bears and Birds. He wonders if Ryan Bird, mentioned above, is one of those Birds. That would explain a lot.

UPDATED: Toronto school board blinks on sex ed curriculum

Well, maybe not the Ontario Ministry of Education (Lez Sandals, prop.) so much as the Toronto District School Board, more particularly Thorncliffe Park Public School, in the heart of Toronto's Muslim ghetto. In theory at least, Muslims take a dim view of homosexuality, gender fluidity, masturbation and the other perversions being inculcated into the minds of children as young as six (6) by the Liberal government's new sex education curriculum.

Regular readers of WWW will remember that when the curriculum was reintroduced -- after being shelved by then-premier Dalton McGuinty following an outcry from some religious groups -- it was hailed by Ms Sandals and her boss, proudly lesbian Premier Kathleen Wynne, as a necessary update for decades-old materials that did not address "the realities of children’s lives today". The ladies (?) recognized, though, that there would be opposition to the curriculum's pro-queer agenda. Ms Sandals said "I anticipate there will be members of various religions who may object to one thing or another...but the curriculum is the curriculum that will be taught in Ontario schools."

Well yes... unless the objectors happen to be Muslims. It's OK to push immoral nonsense into the Catholic schools, because the Catholics themselves don't know what to believe any more. But no bien pensant Canadian politician wants to offend Muslims! So there was much soiling of silks at Queen's Park last September when hundreds of Muslim kids were kept out of Thorncliffe Park PS in protest against the very explicit material which is to be taught.

Fast forward to this week, when the first lessons in anatomy were due to be taught. The curriculum calls for children in Grade 1 -- yes, Grade 1, age 6 -- to be taught the correct names for what Mr. Bookman* called "peepees" and "weewees" and "wawas". Thorncliffe Park Principal Jeff Crane told the meeja today that because "a number of parents" (sounds better than "hundreds") had concerns about their children being taught the words "penis" and "vagina", the school decided to offer a class where teachers covered the key issue of inappropriate touching without being specific about body parts. The idea, the educator said, was to keep kids in school this week and at least learn some of the curriculum.

"We let parents know ahead of time when the health strands for human development were being taught and, for Grade 1, that there would be one lesson where there would be discussion of body parts," he said. "They were told if learning the names of genitalia was a concern, they could write me a letter requesting a religious accommodation."

What Mr. Crane did not say was that (1) almost all of the parents requesting the "religious accomodation" are Muslim, and (2) Thorncliffe Park Public School is located in the riding represented by Premier Wynne. No pressure, then. Yet Mr. Crane held 20 sessions with more than 650 parents to go over the curriculum and to "counter misinformation circulating in the community".

In the result, about 60% of Thorncliffe Park's 300 Grade 1 students were taught the explicit curriculum, with the remaining 40% getting what Mr. Crane called "the sanitized version". Will the same choice be extended to parents at other schools in places like Markham (high concentration of Chinese) or Mississauga and Brampton (predominantly south Asian)? And what about the Catholics who are asking for the new curriculum to be adjusted to teach "sex education from a Catholic perspective"? Will any further changes be made to the liberal secular humanist propaganda? Stay tuned!

* Note from Ed.: If you don't remember Mr. Bookman, go to YouTube and search "Seinfeld + Bookman".

UPDATED 26/5/16 with some further reading: "Trustee says drop in TDSB enrolment due in part to sex ed changes", (Toronto Star 26/5/16). Finally they admit it!

Blame dirty sex-ed! Toronto public schools lose 3500 students in year

At the beginning of the current school year, Walt reported that 1000s of parents were pulling their kids out of Ontario's "public" schools to keep them from being taught the benefits of homosexuality and other perversion in the "new, modernized" sex education curriculum being introduced by the province's Liberal government. See "Ontario's dirty sex ed curriculum going ahead. Worried parents scramble to get kids out", WWW 2/9/15.

The chattering classes poo-pooed the notion that a protest led by "religious nuts" and "homophobic immigrants" could have any impact. And the Liberal government of openly lesbian Premier Kathleen Wynne -- pictured here in a classroom -- fought back, of course, with a lavishly funded advertising campaign which was quickly pulled in response to 1000s of dislikes and snide remarks in the social media. See "What do you think of the Ontario government's VIDEO promoting its new dirty sex-ed curriculum?", 1/10/15.

Parents As First Educators has led the charge to keep the secular humanists in Ontario's "Pink Palace" from brainwashing impressionable kids (as young as 6!) with their pro-LGBTQ2S, anti-religous "values". See "Stop shaming parents who balk at sex education in schools", WWW 21/9/15. And guess what? They're winning!

The war against teaching immorality in Ontario schools is far from over, but concerned parents have won a significant battle in Toronto, the font of all evil. This morning, the Chair of the Toronto District School Board conceded that the province's new sex-ed curriculum is largely to blame for declining enrolment. The megacity's "public" schools will have 3500 fewer students next year. As a result, the TDSB will cut 100 teaching positions and make other staff reductions.

In an interview on the CBC, Robin Pilkey said she believes about 2,500 of those are children being pulled from schools by parents upset with the new sex-ed curriculum, which came into force in the fall of 2015 amid widespread protest. The pro-queer curriculum teaches masturbation, "gender expression" and the "value of diversity" -- but not the difference between right and wrong.

Walt congratulates PAFE and all the others who dare to stand up for decency and the values set out by God in Holy Scripture. Keep fighting!

Afghan refugee fails to learn ways of new home, meets sudden death

Here's a true crime story from Toronto, the most multicultural city in Canada...maybe in all of North America. Since the time of Trudeau the Father (not to be confused with the Son, who now walks among us), successive Canadian governments have swung wide the gates to the promised land, the Great Not-so-white-anymore North. Every year, Canada admits over 250,000 "newcomers" -- over 7% of its population -- as immigrants, refugee and asylum-seekers. The majority of the newcomers are vizmins -- the poor, the wretched, the huddled masses -- most of whom settle in Toronto and Vancouver, where they'll feel right at home.

You might think that there would be a lot of racial tension a city like Toronto, where white folks are in the minority. You would be correct, but you wouldn't have your suspicions confirmed by the lamestream media, particularly the Toronto Star and the local CTV outlet, which pointedly refrain from mentioning the race or ethnicity or immigration status in their coverage of the stabbings, shootings, robberies, rapes and suchlike daily occurrences in the wannabe world-class city.

Which brings us to the story of yesterday's killing of a student at North Albion Collegiate (a high school in the very dark northwest corner of Toronto) by another student. One student was stabbed to death by another. That was the extent of first reports in the local media. Of course viewers/readers knew immediately that the persons involved wouldn't be whites of European descent. When the bingo-callers on CTV said police were looking for a young male suspect, people immediately jumped to the conclusion that the word "black" had been omitted from the script. And it was so.

Unusually, though, the victim wasn't black. He was, in fact, a refugee from Afghanistan, 19-year-old Hamid Aminzada, who had been studying ESL at the school. He should have taken some classes in "social studies" too. If he had done so, or otherwise acquired the "street smarts" necessary to survival in multicultural Toronto, he would have learned that it's unwise to jump into the middle of a knife fight between two black guys!

Police said Mr. Aminzada had intervened in an argument between two other students and was stabbed multiple times. A spokesthingy told the media, "The victim was trying to defuse a situation between two other individuals... and it turned very, very tragic." Ignoring the poor grammar, the cop's statement was right on the money.

Last night, a 17-year-old boy turned himself in to police, accompanied by his lawyer (paid for by legal aid, of course) and was charged with second-degree murder. He made a brief court appearance this morning. Because he is a poor misguided juvenile [delinquent? Ed.] his name cannot be revealed. Because of political correctness, his race -- black -- won't be mentioned either.

But Walt's readers in Toronto need not be alarmed. This is not the first battle in a racial conflict between (just sayin') African-Canadians and Muslims. The chairperson of the Toronto District School Board described it as nothing more than "yet another isolated incident".

Toronto man caught committing indecent act with cucumber

Now there's a headline you don't see every day -- thank goodness -- even in Toronto, the fount of all evil. Here's the story, from the CTV Toronto News website.

Police have made an arrest after a woman reported a man performing an indecent act while holding a cucumber at a Toronto library in April.

A 26-year-old woman told police she was studying at Agincourt Library, near Sheppard Avenue East and Kennedy Road, on the evening of April 7 when a man approached her table. The man sat down, opened his laptop and began to commit an indecent act while holding a cucumber, Toronto police allege in a press release.

On Saturday, Inspector Knacker received a call for a suspicious incident at the same library. When the SWAT team arrived [Seriously? Ed.] they were directed to a man sitting in the library holding a cucumber. Police said that he was recognized from the incident in April.

Fredrick Tennyson Davis, 49, of Toronto, was arrested on Saturday and charged with an indecent attack and two counts of failure to comply with probation.

The good burghers of Toronto ought not to be surprised by stories like this, given that deviant sex and sex with vegetables have been actively promoted on at least one website OKed by the Toronto District School Board for inclusion in the "Community" listings on their website. See "Sex with vegetables? Toronto school board links you to more info".

Ah yes... "Toronto the Good"... we hardly know ye.

Sex with vegetables? Toronto school board links you to more info

WARNING: Following the links in this article will lead you to websites containing immoral and, frankly, disgusting content.

Now that Walt has your attention... It's been known for some time that the Toronto District School Board is dominated by barking mad, left wingnuts. That's the public board, not the Catholic one, although some think the Catholic board is little better.

The TDSB is the one which favours tearooms for the queers, prayer rooms for the Muslims, and segregated schools for the black kids. [Really?! Ed.] Yes, really. That's so the black kids won't feel inferior. They'll learn better in their, errr, "special school", and all will pass and one day one of them will be a famous rap artist. This year six (6) chillun have signed up for the TDSB's new "Afrocentric" high school.

The TDSB is also well  known for promoting deviant sexuality. In their abhorrence of traditional family values, they support, promote and teach anything that is not straight. Mind you, they can say with a straight face that they are just taking orders from Ontario's Liberal government, and its queer-loving education minister, Laurel Broten.

If you're in any doubt about the TDSB's stance on homosexuality, bestiality, and other "alternative lifestyles", visit the "Websites" page in the "Community" section of their website. The blurb at the top of the page says it lists "websites contain interesting facts, historical events, people profiles, and other items that may be useful in preparing lessons and planning events for your classroom and school."

There, in amongst the listings for "Anti-Sexism and Gender Equity", "Islamic History Month" (coming soon!) and "Anti-Classism and Social-Economic Equality" (that's the communist one), you'll find a link to the website of the "Coalition for Positive Sexuality".  Enter only if you're brave and open-minded, because here's a sample of what's inside -- the "Just Say Yes" page, which advocates encounters with vegetables -- yes, vegetables! -- and other interesting options.

Just Say Yes is about having a positive attitude towards sexuality -- gay, straight,bisexual or whatever. It's about saying "yes" to sex you do want, and "no" to sex you don't. It says there's nothing wrong with you if you decide to have sex, and nothing wrong with you if you decide not to.

On the "Pro Sex" page which follows, they tell us:
Most of us learn that our bodies, and our sex, are things to be ashamed of. Most of us learn that sex means a man on top of a woman, and that the only other choice is abstinence. But sex can be lots of things ...

Women have sex with women, men have sex with men, women have sex with men -- and sometimes the best sex is with yourself!

There are lots of safe and fun ways to get off, which you probably won't learn in school. You can do many of these things all by yourself as well as with others, and you can talk about them even if you don't want to do them. Don't feel like you have to do everything on this page, but don't feel like anything is automatically off limits either. 

There are "lots of safe and fun ways to get off", they tell us. And they give a list of 12 -- let's call it the Dirty Dozen -- including:

suck, kiss, touch, bite, fondle, nibble, squeeze, and lick someone's body, nipples, calves, toes, neck, ass, dick or vulva ...

look at sexy pictures and videos ...

make up or act out fantasies, talk dirty, dress up, strip down, or cross-dress (dressing in the clothes of the other gender) ...

play with your own or someone else's ass or vagina, put your fingers, dildoes, vegetables, or buttplugs into them.

Enough already. You've got the disgusting flavour. But, some will say, so what? We know there are people out there who think it's OK to go way beyond the Church's teachings on the proper place of sexuality in our lives. That's their choice. Let them lose their souls if they so choose.

After all, it's not like these things are being taught in our classrooms. Right? Right? Errr... well... maybe not quite, although the Ontario government's new sex ed curriculum is heading in that direction. All the same, the people who push the agenda of perversion on the TDSB's website may be the same people who work in the TDSB schools, maybe even teach your kids.

That's the fear of Dr. Charles McVety, president of Canada Christian College. In a letter to Ontario Attorney General John Gerretsen, he writes:
"The TDSB — through its website — is corrupting Ontario’s children with extraordinary explicit instruction.  According to Section 172 of the Criminal Code of Canada, it is an indictable offence to ‘endanger the morals of the child.’"

Dr. McVety insists that it is the responsibility of the Ontario government to protect the children. The "information" available through the TDSB website is "crude, vulgar, [and] corrupting kids", he says, "and the police should be brought in." Indeed.

BREAKING NEWS: A carrier pigeon headed south for the winter landed on Ed.'s head [desk, surely! Ed.] this afternoon, bearing news that the TDSB has taken the offending link and a number of others off its website, so you may find the first link in this piece changed or inoperative [or not working. Ed.] A small victory for the voices of the normal people, but the culture wars go on.

Islamization of Ontario schools still part of government agenda

What moved Agent 17 to send me the article on the perils of remaining silent in the face of Islamic fundamentalism? As a former resident of the Greater Toronto Area [Just one of many who have fled the capital of multiculturalism! Ed.], Agent 17 was concerned by reports that Islamic prayers have been introduced in Ottawa, Toronto and other public schools in Ontario, while the Lord's Prayer has been removed.

Well might he be concerned. No...alarmed! In Canada and the USA, the Islamic way may be peaceful for the time being, but the fanatics are starting to march. In Britain they are already marching...literally. We received [but Ed. has misfiled!] a video showing British Muslims marching through the streets of Luton calling for the police and other non-believers to die and go to hell!

Now the poison of Islamic fundamentalism is spreading through the ghetto of the GTA and other North American cities. Yet we remain silent.

However, this is not exactly new news. Agent 17 asks Walt if the reports he's reading are true. They are, and Walt wrote about the issue last summer. See
"Update on Islamization of Toronto schools"
"Muslim prayers in Toronto schools: a Muslim viewpoint"
"Islam, imams and the Canadian Charter of Rights"
"'Go back to the hellhole you came from', sez Canadian Muslim prof"

Now the 2011-12 school year is closer to the end than the beginning. In spite of a few tepid protests -- denounced by the usual suspects as "racist" and "Islamophobic" -- the imams are still coming into the so-called public schools to preach Allah-knows-what. The Ontario government is still pushing "Gay-straight alliances" and perverted sex education. And respect for diversity and "minority rights", of course. Yet we remain silent.

"Go back to the hellhole you came from", sez Canadian Muslim prof

Walt is obliged to correct the belief of some of his Agents and readers that all the Muslims who've immigrated to Canada in the last decade are living on welfare in Toronto. One notable exception to the stereotype is Mahfooz A. Kanwar, emeritus professor of sociology at Mount Royal College in Calgary.

Dr. Kanwar came to Canada in 1966 (via the UK and then the USA), and seems to have embraced the values of his adopted country, even if that means forgetting about imposing his Muslim culture on that of the majority in the name of the official multiculturalism so beloved of the Canadian government.

Walt's attention has only recently been drawn (by Agent 6) to some quite politically incorrect statements made by Prof. Kanwar in response to demands by some Muslim immigrants to the Winnipeg area. Just over a year ago, about a dozen Muslim families who recently immigrated to Canada demanded that the Louis Riel School Division excuse their children from music and coed physical education programmes for religious reasons. Like the Taliban, the families believe music is un-Islamic, and that phys ed classes should be segregated by gender even in grade school.

The school board reacted in the usual PC Canadian way, bending itself double to accommodate these demands, just like the Toronto District School Board. (See "Update on Islamization of Toronto schools", posted here in July.) For instance, although music and phys ed are compulsory parts of the Manitoba curriculum, the educators said they might have the Muslim kids do a writing project on music to satisfy the legal requirement. In short, the school district tried to find a way to adapt the curriculum to fit the wishes of the minority, rather than requiring the minority to fit into the school and Canadian culture. Another case of the tail wagging the PC dog.

Dr. Kanwar, however, begs to differ. Although a member of the Muslim Canadian Congress, he said he would "tell them, this is Canada, and in Canada, we teach music and physical education in our schools. If you don't like it, leave. If you want to live under sharia law, go back to the hellhole country you came from or go to another hellhole country that lives under sharia law."

He added that he is tired of hearing about such out-of-tune demands from newcomers to Canada. [Obviously the good doctor is an accomplished punster. Ed.] "Immigrants to Canada should adjust to Canada , not the other way around," is how he put it.

Dr. Kanwar says he used to buy into the official multiculturalism which became fashionable during the reign of Trudeau, the Sun King. He makes it clear, that like most Canadians, he is pleased that Canada has citizens from every country and corner in the world, but he rejects "official multiculturalism" -- the state policy "that entrenches the lie" that all cultures and beliefs are of equal value and of equal validity in Canada. [Walt's emphasis.]

"The fact is, Canada has an enviable culture based on Judeo-Christian values -- not Muslim values -- with British and French rule of law and traditions and that's why it's better than all of the other places in the world. We are heading down a dangerous path if we allow the idea that sharia law has a place in Canada. It does not. It is completely incompatible with the idea and reality of Canada," says the professor.

Back in the Trudeau era, Dr. Kanwar founded the Pakistan-Canada Association, and was a big fan of state-sponsored multicult. But his views changed when he started listening to the people who joined his group. They badmouthed Canada, weren't interested in knowing Canadians or even in learning one of the country's official languages. They created cultural ghettos which were duly funded by the Canadian government.

"One day it dawned on me that the reason all of us wanted to move here was going to disappear if we didn't start defending Canada and its fundamental values." That's when he started speaking out against the dangers of official multiculturalism, and he's been doing so ever since. Click here to read "Tolerance misplaced" written by Dr. Kanwar in 2009.

See also "Multiculturalism fails in Canada too, says Muslim leader", which relates to a speech delivered to the 47th Munich Security Conference in February 2011 by British Prime Minister David Cameron. "Under the doctrine of state multiculturalism," the British leader said, "we have failed to provide a vision of society to which they feel they want to belong. We have even tolerated these segregated communities behaving in ways that run counter to our values. So when a white person holds objectionable views -- racism, for example -- we rightly condemn them. But when equally unacceptable views or practices have come from someone who isn’t white, we’ve been too cautious, frankly even fearful, to stand up to them."

Except in Canada and the USA, it has suddenly become OK for political leaders to say things like that. Back in October 2010, German Chancellor Angela Merkel was the first of Europe’s democratic leaders to have the stones [Errr... Ed.] to say that official multiculturalism had "failed totally."

In February 2011, while the Winnipeg educators were busy pandering, French President Nicolas Sarkozy declared that the government policy that encourages immigrant groups to foster distinct societies within France "is a failure.... If you come to France, you accept to melt into a single community, which is the national community, and if you do not want to accept that, you cannot be welcome in France."

M le Président added, "We have been too concerned about the identity of the person who was arriving and not enough about the identity of the country that was receiving him." And M Sarkozy hasn't changed his tune in the intervening year. Just this week, Walt noticed, he said, while campaigning for re-election, that France has too many foreigners which she can't accommodate. Pretty strong stuff for the son of a Hungarian Jew.

As for Dr. Kanwar, he says for years, some "non-whites like me" have felt the failings of official multiculturalism must be exposed. He must be encouraged, nowadays, to see that leaders of the majority culture are starting to get it, at long last. Well... in Europe, anyway.

"Anti-homophobia" clubs mandated by Ontario government, "Catholic" schools

We live in interesting times, as the Chinese say. Especially in the politically correctest city in the politically correctest state or province anywhere. That would be Toronto, Ontario.

Wringing its hands over the persistence of "homophobia" in Ontario schools, the government of "Premier Dad" McGuinty has pronounced itself in favour of "gay-straight alliances" or "anti-homophobia clubs". This is all part of its policy of "equity and inclusive education". God forbid... [You're not allowed to say "God". Ed.] OK... Richard Dawkins forbid that we should offend or upset anyone, no matter how "special" or "different" they are.

The comrades and progressive thinkers at the Toronto school boards, both Catholic and "public", have rushed to jump on the LGBT bandwagon. The Toronto Catholic board has proposed an Equity and Inclusive Education policy, to be voted on at the end of August, which includes "anti-homophobic measures". The "public" Toronto District School Board already has a similar "inclusionary" policy.

In the Catholic board's proposed policy, we read "The Board recognizes that any form of social or cultural discrimination is incompatible with Catholic moral principles and is in violation of the Ontario Human Rights Code". Ah yes, the dreaded Human Rights Code, which puts the fear of the Crown (if not the Lord) into all Canadians.

Apparently the so-called Catholic board has forgotten that it is a tenet of the True Faith that homosexuality is morally disordered, contrary to the laws of God as well as the laws of nature.

But Coptic Christians -- mostly immigrants from Ethiopia, Eritrea and Djibouti -- have not forgotten. Fr. Jeremiah Attaalla of the Ti Agia Maria and St. Demiana the Martyr Coptic Orthodox Church said his congregation is upset by the Toronto Catholic School Board’s proposed gay-friendly policy.

"In these young grades, we don’t want teachers talking about God creating Adam and Steve," Fr. Attaalla said. "It’s Adam and Eve."

The Coptic Orthodox parents are threatening to pull their children out of Toronto’s Catholic schools if the board goes ahead with its proposed equity policy. In a letter to the board on behalf of four Coptic Orthodox churches, Fr. Attaalla said the Coptic Church is vehemently opposed to any education about homosexuality.

The letter demands that teachings in Catholic schools remain true to Catholicism. “Our members do not want gay-straight alliance groups in our Catholic schools,” the letter says. “We will pull our children from the Catholic schools if they go ahead with it.”

A not unreasonable position for Christians adhering to one of the oldest branches of the Church. But, since the "public" board -- the one that provides prayer rooms for Muslims -- already has pro-gay policies, the Coptic congregations may have no choice but to go private.

"Having our own school may be our only option, especially for people who can’t afford private school," said Fr. Attaalla. "But we are a rich church, so we’ll fund a new school if we have to."

Catholic and Orthodox Christians! Pray to St. Michael the Archangel to defend your schools against the attempts by the state to remove from Catholic schools the last remaining shreds of true Catholic teaching.

And pray that the weak and deluded "Catholic" trustees of your school boards may be confounded in their efforts to impose the will of the secular humanists on those who still believe in the True Faith handed down to us through the Apostles by Our Lord Himself.

Islam, imams and the Canadian Charter of Rights

Walt is still waiting for Christian clerics to say something -- anything -- about the Toronto District School Board's decision to allow Muslim imams to lead Friday prayers in their schools. Bishops and pastors may be silent, but, inevitably, constitutional law experts are starting to cast a few pearls.

Donning the boxing gloves lawyers use to pick flyspecks out of pepper, the University of Toronto's Ed Morgan told parentcentral.ca cases under the Canadian Charter of Rights & Freedoms have said ... you cannot accommodate the desire for prayers or religious instruction in a public school. Something after school, or on weekends, would be fine, he added. So it would seem the Charter operates only during business hours!

Another way around the problem is suggested by Shaikh Yusuf Badat, imam of the Islamic Foundation of Toronto. "I trained students from Lester Pearson Collegiate near our centre in Scarborough to do [run] their own Friday service.... They’ll write sermons about things like honesty and I provide the readings for them from the Qu’ran. There are no hard and fast rules about it having to be led by an imam, and if there are concerns about an outside person coming in, even a Grade 8 student can be trained to deliver a sermon," he said. Of course, he added, it would have to be a male. Of course.

Our last comment today comes from TDSB trustee Gerri Gershon, responding to questions about what "accommodation" is made for Christian students. "The system is set up to accommodate Christian students; Christmas and Easter are already holidays," she said. Ms Gershon is, errr, of the Hebrew faith.

Muslim prayers in Toronto schools: a Muslim viewpoint

Another voice heard from in the ongoing controversy over the Toronto District School Board's policy of allowing Muslim imams to conduct Friday prayer services in at least one so-called public school. Here's part of what the founder of the Muslim Canadian Congress, had to say in an interview with the Toronto Sun.

According to Tarek Fatah, the prayer sessions — traditionally set up with boys in the front and girls behind them — are patriarchal and should not be conducted in publicly-funded schools. "My concern is the Toronto District School Board (is) using tax money to tell girls that they are second-class citizens."

He charged that proponents of the prayer sessions are allowing them to happen because of "white, liberal guilt". Well, imagine that! Isn't that what Walt -- and so many others outside the lamestream media -- have been saying for years! Perhaps now that a beneficiary of the liberal guilt complex says it, someone will listen.

A spokesthingy for the TDSB confirmed today that prayer sessions at Valley Park Middle School are "traditional", with boys and girls as Mr. Fatah says. The spokesperson saying so is Shari Schwartz-Maltz, who, as her name suggests, is ... errr ... not Muslim.

Mr. Fatah also played the race card, with a remarkably fine backhand shot. "Deep inside" he said, "is a racist view that Muslims are not considered equal human beings, and that they can treat women how they want, and it’s nobody else’s concern."

He explained that strict Islamic traditions dictate that young women who begin menstruating must be singled out and sent to the back of the room while the prayer session is taking place. "It’s a fearful time for a young woman to get her first period, and right at that time you have this man (the imam) telling them they are unclean. That should not happen in Canada."

Walt is still waiting for a Christian leader -- any old Christian leader -- to weigh in on this topic.

Update on Islamization of Toronto schools

In "Tolerant Toronto", Walt told you how the Toronto District School Board, champion of keeping religion out of Ontario's public schools, was providing facilities for Muslim prayers at its Valley Park Middle School. A protest is to be mounted by Canadian Hindu Advocacy.

Now comes news that two other powerful advocacy groups are joining the anti-Muslim chorus. [Don't you mean "speaking out for separation of church and state"? Ed.] The usual suspects now advocating freedom from religion now include the Canadian Secular Alliance and the Jewish Defence League.

No surprises there, then. Oh... wait... The Jewish Defence League??!! The Canadian Secular Alliance, Walt can understand. The name says it all. But is the JDL really saying that the TDSB is going too far in inviting a religious leader to lead services on school property? Suppose the services were being organized for the Jewish kids and led by a rabbi? What would the JDL say then?

Let me guess at the answer. The Jews might well say that they have their own schools in which little Jewish kids can learn Hebrew and practise their religion. Because that's the case. Toronto's Jews are an older, more established community than Toronto's Muslims. And, yes, richer. They don't need the "accommodation" of the TDSB.

But let us not accuse the JDL of inconsistency. Those of the Hebrew persuasion have always been in the forefront of the fight to get religion -- meaning Christianity -- out of the schools and other public institutions in Canada and the USA. Look at the names of those who have led and supported the JDL, the ACLU/CCLA, and other secular and humanist organizations. You won't find many O'Rourkes or Husseins.

What Toronto is seeing is another skirmish in the jihad, the "holy war" against Christianity and Christians. The camel's nose is now in door of the public schoolroom. How long will we have to wait to see the demand for "equal accommodation" in the Catholic schools? And will the private schools follow? What would the JDL say about that?