Shortly before Christmas, a company I work with sent out a message to its customers advising them of shorter holiday hours for telephone customer service and technical support. Imbued with the spirit of Jesus, a customer in Cumberland County saw fit to reply: I am sure that your boss has ordered compliance with the goddam politically correct and inoffensive crowd that is prevalent these days, but it is Merry Christmas or Happy Christmas in your correspondence with me, otherwise don’t bother. I once threatened that the next person that bowed and cowered to the middle East and Asian immigrants’ demands, and wished...

26 December, 2012

The Harper Government's ambivalent attitude toward immigration deserves more thoughtful consideration than I have time for this morning, but in light of yesterday's release of a new guide for prospective Canadian Immigrants, a manual high in testosterone and shy on environmental values, I flag it here for future discussion. An immigrant himself, Contrarian left yesterday's Film Series benefit for L'Arche Cape Breton* thinking about the Senegalese immigrant cab driver at the centre of the featured movie — an ebullient character named Solo, brilliantly played by Souleymane Sy Savane, himself an immigrant to the US from the Ivory Coast.  Solo is one...

13 November, 2009