To the Editor:
We can only progress by engaging. There are many things I have loved about growing up in Weyburn, but there have always been voices which were the loudest, the most outspoken, and who made my own political views unwelcomed.
It was the most anti-progressive individuals who stood up, who feared education, who mocked climate change science, or resented immigrants, people of colour, women and LGBTQIA rights. While I would like to say that my community was not part of this racist, sexist, and backwards rhetoric, I would be lying in saying so.
For the most part, the offhand jokes, the unjustified suspicions, and at times the blatantly offensive and prejudiced remarks went unchallenged, a failure in which we all bear responsibility.
Perhaps we refused to engage because we subtly agreed with them; perhaps it was because it’s hard and scary to stand up to the loudest person in the room. Whatever the reason, through our inaction these beliefs were able to persist and grow in the back of people’s minds.
With the election of Donald Trump these prejudices have come full circle and brought center stage, giving us in Canada a renewed responsibility. The world is becoming an increasingly hostile and isolationist place.
Liberal democratic principles are being replaced by fear politics and bigotry. Multiculturalism and acceptance are being seriously threatened. Canada may be the last safe haven for progressive thought, but can remain so only if we nurture it.
We as Canadians must defend these beliefs and principles. As shown in the United States the rhetoric of anti-progressiveness can be enticing. It has always been easier to blame others for our own misfortunes and I doubt that will ever change.
But this is where, as Canadians, we must differ. Multiculturalism is an integral feature of our national identity. To lose the openness and discourse this entails, is to lose a fundamental principle of the Canadian identity. This is something we cannot accept.
In the coming years we will be challenged, the loudest voice may be the one preaching against progress. But in Canada we can counter that by arming ourselves with knowledge, communication, openness, and acceptance, even love. Rather than fearing education, let’s use it to move forward. Rather than being suspicious of immigrants and foreigners, let’s accept them, love them, and welcome them.
This is our chance to make a change for the better, for the voice of progress to speak up and demand to be heard, to challenge hatred and spread positive Canadian values. This is a discourse of right and wrong, one that will define our progress or signal our failure. It’s up to us.
Logan Lazurko,
University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon
