Grits miss Bill 44 free vote?

Ian | 6 June, 2009 | 15:29

To Hugh MacDonald, Bridget Pastoor, Darshan Kang and Kevin Taft: Where were you all on the night of Monday, June 1, 2009?

It must have been somewhere mighty important for you all to miss the third and final vote on Bill 44 in the legislature.

I mean, I can understand all the Conservative MLAs who missed (including Education Minister Dave Hancock), who may fear that there really is no such thing as a “free vote.”

But you Liberals made a lot of hoopla, and then almost half of your caucus fails to show up to oppose it. At least the New Democrats did their job (see page 8 for votes).

Bill 44 received Royal Assent on June 4th.

Attn: Manitoba NDP, remember your roots!

Ian | 9 May, 2009 | 19:57

Why, when the NDP gets government, do they fail to achieve the socially progressive ideals of which their base supports?

The most successful government in Canada right now is arguably the Manitoba NDP led by Gary Doer. He has the only balanced budget in Canada and is largely popular in his province.

So why can’t his cabinet support funding for gender reassignment surgery?

It really puts you more in line with the Albertan tyrant Stelmach who recently began his quest to destroy public medicare by delisting GRS first.

So to the Manitoba NDP: Remember who supports you, so far you’ve failed to implement electoral reform (a major NDP plank nationally), and now you’re selling out the GLBT lobbies.

It’s frustrating how power seems to corrupt every party in our system (I can imagine the exact same things happening to you Green supporters too without change).

Edmonton to lose its Pride

Ian | 21 February, 2009 | 14:00

According to the Edmonton Journal, the Edmonton Pride Centre has had it’s charitable status revoked by the federal government.

The centre says they only have a month or so of money left without charitable status and then they may be forced to close.

This is a terrible loss for the city, as a centre like this provides safety and information for Edmontonians, regardless of their sexual orientation.

But apparently the federal government didn’t like their predecessor the Gay and Lesbian Community Centre of Edmonton which closed in 2004 and spawned the Pride Centre.

Todd Babiak, who wrote the article, clearly has a soft spot for the place as the article blasts right-wing non-profits that continually appear partisan, including the Catholic Archdiocese of Calgary, The CD Howe Institute and Focus on the Family. He also gives us a personal look into the facility.

He does say that, “No one is suggesting that the Roman Catholic diocese of Calgary should lose its status as a registered charity.” And here I would have to disagree with you Todd. It should lose its status, along with all other churches, mosques, synagogues, and even atheist organizations. Only groups that are truly non-partisan and reach out to better the community (as their sole goal) deserve the government endorsement of issuing tax receipts.

Nevertheless, this is unfortunate news for the city, and here’s to hoping that something new can fill the void that this centre will leave.

Now penguins have more rights than gays

Ian | 17 December, 2008 | 12:30

(Via Challenging the Commonplace)

This is something of a news story.
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The majority can’t decide

Ian | 18 November, 2008 | 12:30

I agree completely with Sarah Stead from last week’s Gateway.

Specifically, I appreciated this quote:

Any time you ask a majority of people to vote on the rights of a minority, especially when religion is involved, the minority doesn’t stand a chance.

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For the sake of love

Ian | 12 November, 2008 | 17:07

(H/ts to Tyler at Edger and Hemant at Friendly Atheist)

Who has a legitimate reason that Proposition 8 (to ban gay marriages in California) and similar legislations should be put forward?

Why single out a single segment of the population and say, “I don’t approve of what you do in your own privacy”?

Someone explain to me, because I don’t get it.
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