The Trial of Joseph Trutch

THE CHARGES:

The accused

-- Did not sufficiently recognize aboriginal claims to land in B.C., believing that Governor James Douglas's system of reserves and treaties was “disproportionate to the numbers or requirements of Indian Tribes”, and that “good arable and grazing land” was being wasted.

-- Held the opinion that most of the aboriginal people he had met were “lazy”.

-- Kept sentimental ties to Great Britain, its culture and values.

-- Was friendly with other prominent professionals and landowners in the colonies of Vancouver Island and BC

-- Lived a gracious “colonial” and “privileged” lifestyle.

-- Schemed with Governor Musgrave in 1869 get BC into the Canadian Confederation.

-- Supported the Government of Canada's cross-Canada railway project.

-- Transferred lands to the federal government as an enabler of Canadian Pacific Railway in 1880, in a manner resulting from the fact that aboriginal tribes did not have Land Title Offices.

-- Doubted the likely success of James Douglas's policy of “assimilation” of aboriginal people – although paradoxically James Douglas is now himself judged guilty for promoting assimilation.

In retribution against Lieutenant-Governor Trutch, his views and career, the Crown asks the Court to change the name of the street named after him.

DEFENCE COUNSEL'S RESPONSE:

1 Mr. Trutch's enabling of both railways and land-transference amounted to a social good. Today, climate change activists support railways and oppose cars. Ironically, Trutch oversaw completion of the E & N Railway, now the darling of Vancouver Islanders who long for alternatives to car travel.

2  Privacy (from whence also the word and the concept of “privilege”) is not an illegal commodity.

3  Wealth is not an illegal commodity. (The Defence asks: Is this trial about wealth-envy, as bodied forth in land ownership?)

4  As an engineer and surveyor (before later political appointments) the accused favoured values around hard work, and laziness was an evil in his view. (Is it possible that some aboriginal individuals he met were lazy? How can we know now? It is beyond the ability of the Court to judge how many of the people known to Mr. Trutch might have been lazy.)

5  The Court is obliged to respect freedom of opinion. It was the opinion of the accused that “I am satisfied from my own observation that the claims of Indians over tracts of land, on which they assume to exercise ownership, but of which they make no real use, operate very materially to prevent settlement and cultivation.” Are freedom of opinion, observation and speech  what's on trial here?

6  Mr. Trutch's wealth rested on effort and ability. It is the opinion of his defenders that his accusers are engaged in slander and character assassination.

7  The career of the accused has benefited the public, who have inherited the resources, opportunities and civil freedoms provided in early British Columbia: for instance, the Canadian Pacific Railway, completed in 1885, the E&N Railway and the Esquimalt Graving Dock -- an enduring source of employment and positive legacy for energetic tradespeople of any and all races.

THE JUDGE'S RULING:

Mr. Trutch is guilty of being “controversial”. He stands accused and of necessity is convicted of being a colonial official in a then-colony, and afterwards an official in the new province of BC within the Confederation of Canada. He was a product of and shaper of his time.

In 1906 when the Trutch family property (named “Fairfield”) was subdivided, Trutch Street was named after Mr. (by then Sir Joseph) Trutch. The district of Fairfield, plus Fairfield Road were named after the property. It is the Court's finding that changing the name “Trutch Street” would logically mean also banning “Fairfield Road” and would lead to the banning of the names of a great many roads in BC's capital, such as Gonzales, McNeill, Wark, Douglas, Blanshard, Quadra, Cook, Vancouver, Pemberton ... all named for early explorers and colonial province-builders. 

The Court finds that nothing it says today can change the fact of a Fairfield estate having existed, a life-style having existed, and a parliamentary democracy having emerged from a British colony due partly to the exertions of Lieutenant-Governor Trutch and his colleagues.

It is the finding of the Court that there is no public benefit in denying the history of a heritage neighbourhood as recognized in street names, or denying the historic transformation of a jurisdiction from a primitocracy to a democracy to a victimocracy over a space of 170 years

SENTENCE: SUSPENDED.

Is a New Class of "Untouchables" Being Created?

Premier John Horgan of B.C. is suggesting that people who receive COVID vaccines will be rewarded with a certain “flexibility” not available to those who don't choose vaccination. He is “not prepared to speculate” on what limits to civil rights will be placed on the latter.

If there are limits at all as regards access to services, housing, employment and movement, it will create two classes of British Columbians: those with full rights and those without. Government-led ostracism of some will lead to full social ostracism, and a class of Untouchables will be created. A lot of very lonely people will be wandering around, shunned by neighbours. At a time when people are concerned about “marginalization”, Premier Horgan is proposing to create a new marginalized class. Marginalization on the basis of health choices is no better than that on the basis of race, ethnicity, gender identity and so on.

“Security of the person” under the Canadian Constitution includes freedom to choose what substances will be inserted into our bodies. Some people would consider no right more fundamental than that.

We also have the right, under the Personal Information Protection Act, to keep health information private. No one has the right to force anyone else to reveal whether they've been vaccinated or not: this is privileged information.

The Untouchables, under Horgan's proposed policy, will not have the same civil rights as everyone else, despite the fact that the cornerstone of civil rights in Canada is equality.

Where will those who avail themselves of their right to make their own health choices be put when they are barred from social life and public spaces, from earning an income, paying rent and shopping for food? Where will they be housed? In re-education camps?

Once we get post-COVID, let's change the lexicon

Once we've inoculated COVID away

there'll be no need for certain words to stay

Let's stop talking of “isolation”,

“plexiglass”, “meters” and “vaccination”

Don't say “lockdown” or mention a mask,

and whether you're vaccinated I won't ask

Don't say “challenged”, don't say “bubble”,

all reference to “distance” reminds us of trouble

Stop saying “tunnel”, with light at the end of,

or planks or curves we flattened the bend of

Don't say “essential” of services or workers,

or visitors, travel, or virtual shirkers

Don't say “needle” or even “arm”,

it reminds us of horror, it causes alarm

Doctors, don't say “herd immunity”

and talk of “respirators” with impunity

To skip all reference would be wiser,

to Moderna, Astrazeneca and Pfizer

When we hear “pivot”, “variant” and “surge”

covering our ears becomes an overwhelming urge

But if COVID ever ends, these words will melt away,

we'll choose other language, having other things to say

Maybe something eloquent, not said in rhyme,

we can change that too, in another place and … hour

The Cat in a Spat Comes Back

“Angry Cat” was in 2021 accused of terrorizing Ottawa – by going outdoors. Only an indoor cat is a respectable Canadian fur-baby, he was told, which made him howl so loudly that neighbourhood pit-bulls ran for cover. “You humans get to choose pronouns, and I can't even choose a better noun than 'fur-baby',” he asked. Exhibiting leash-hesitancy, he is accused of not caring about the health of fellow Canadians. At this, he spits and hisses as strenuously as a Member of the Opposition in the House of Commons -- but the Member of this Paw-liament doesn't do apologies. “Never explain,” is his motto, “let the fur fly where it will”. 

His human defends this angry black cat vigorously: “That's no off-leash stray, that's my Service Cat” she/he says. “Who are you to denigrate him? To denigrate means to 'blacken' someone, but he's already a black cat,” she points out, “and don't Black Lives Matter any more? And what about people experiencing disability, like me? Do we matter, we marginalized bi-polar neuro-variant PTSD-sufferers with agoraphobia? I can't go out without my Service Cat. I'm too vulnerable.” (Their voice trembles and tears trickle.)

A class action suit has been initiated by fellow Humans Dependent on Service Animals. Legal fees are high, but the Cat Liberation allyship has raised money along with hackles – just enough, by a whisker. The whole flapdoodle will be heard in court as soon as Angry Cat next butts his head through the flap of his cat-door, sharp of tongue. 

“What do you think I am, an elderly human imprisoned in solitary confinement in a long-term care home," he asks? "Cats have a history of freedom and a genetic Right To Roam."

On the other side of the country, cougars padding secretively through Vancouver's Stanley Park watch the debate carefully although, having that laid-back west coast attitude, they prefer the Silent Prowl to the Angry Growl.

What does it mean when normality triggers panic attacks?

Unilever, producer of skin and body care products, has announced that it will no longer market any look or form of body health as "normal". Some consumers, they explain, feel threatened and excluded by the concept of normality. There is henceforth no "normality" standard in hygiene, skin health, general health, or body weight. 

Although in the sales business the customer is considered right, it seems ironic that "normality" would feel threatening. The word was not originally value-laden, since it derives from "norm" as used in geometry and draughting tools (the carpenter's square). The norm stood at right angles, and in that sense was standard, since a right angle is always going to be the same: 90 degrees.

 

Teacher training colleges used to be called Normal School because they aimed to keep to a standard or norm of learning and achievement. Now, even hair can't be normal. Maybe they should market "GoldenLocks" -- not too dry or oily, or hot or cold, but "just right".

It seems odd that the level or average state from which normality is inferred should seem threatening. It feels more threatening to fail to measure standard norms and patterns. Would a certain level of chaos not ensue, if your 90 degrees was different from my 90 degrees?

Yet some groups say they feel sub-standard in the face of normality, because it's normal. These people even, they testify, have panic attacks just from hearing the word. How paradoxical that "panic disorder" is triggered by feeling there might be too much order. 

                                                                                                                                 I'm not dry or oily ...

 

Insensitivity Training

Some people could use some Insensitivity Training. Their sensitivities are a hazard to themselves and others. Not only do people with Multiple Sensitivities Disorder exhibit a huge range of symptoms, but the symptoms are contagious. Sensitivity to remarks about race, ethnicity, skin colour, gender identity, body weight and dis-ableism are catching. The afflicted suffer from self-appointed allyship with other Sensitive People and from an overwhelming urge to lodge Human Rights Complaints against anyone rational. Politicians and people in professional careers are particularly at risk from the Hypersensitiviy Disorder complaint industry.

Recognizing the threat which those with Hypersensitivity Disorder pose to themselves and others, the Government is funding an Institute For Insensitivity Training (IFIT) to help them get over their disorder.

The first graduates have shared positive experiences with the media:

"What a relief this program is," says one client. "My sensitivities were driving me crazy, but I've learned tools for becoming less of a snowflake and more of a hailstone."

"Yes," agreed another graduate, "I feel strong and bullet-like, and my career has taken off. At least, I'm about to think of maybe looking into working, and one day going off disability allowance."

"I'm thinking of going out without my publicly-funded Service Animal," said another client. "I'll wait for a good day, when my PTSD isn't flaring up and my horoscope doesn't show a Trigger-Forecast."

Some public figures (those fined for Insensitive Remarks Against Colleagues, Students, and Total Strangers) are cautiously optimistic about this program.

Others however object to IFIT as yet another example of privileged racialism. "We must continue to incentivize sensitivity," they argue, "if we want to reverse colonialist de-centering of the marginalized and the disproportionate promotion of level-headed, robust people to positions of responsibility."

Feminism and Free Speech on International Women's Day

What are you doing for International Women's Day this year?

Same as every year: being a woman.

But what is a woman? Is it about body parts?

Yes. (And mind parts.)

What do you mean “yes”?

I guess if “No Means No”, then Yes Means Yes.

But if it's about body parts, what about men who identify as women?

They aren't women, they're men experimenting with “identity”.

But they identify as women, they choose the female gender. 

I don't care if they identify as hippopotami, that doesn't make them hippopotami.

That sounds trans-phobic. 

I'm not saying they can't say how they feel.

What about hate?

(???) I'm against it. 

What about J.K. Rowling's attack on trans-folk?

Keeping them out of women's washrooms isn't “attacking” them. Stopping them from saying their piece would be attacking them, but they can and do say their piece.

You're just being triggering.

Indeed. Trigger warning: unsafe space ahead. It's called private thoughts.

SOME FEMINISTS WHO FOUGHT FOR OUR RIGHT TO FREEDOM OF SPEECH:

Nellie McClung -- Canadian novelist, columnist, MLA, reformer and delegate to the League of Nations

Margaret Sanger and Marie Stopes -- persecuted by governments and churches for spreading information to women about birth control

Many brave women in Afghanistan, Pakistan and the Middle East today -- ditto

Catherine Dawson Scott -- launched PEN International in 1921 for the protection of writers everywhere

Elizabeth Cady Stanton -- wrote The Woman's Bible, and said "... in the sunset of life … I feel it to be my special mission to tell people what they are not prepared to hear".

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

It is a mistake for feminists to assume, in contrast to these free-speaking thinkers, that speech must be censored because some women (black, indigenous, queer or otherwise called "marginalized") must be protected from ideas and open discussion. In fact, women have always been at the centre of the world. In Atlantic Monthly in 1864, Harriet Beecher Stowe wrote "women are the real architects of society". Ironically, some  today are being de-platformed by Critical Social Justice Theory. Far from marginalized, women actually made the world -- check out some examples of (centralized) women here: 

https://canadianteachermagazine.com/2020/10/01/who-is-marginalized/

The religious authorities of (philosopher-mathematician) Hypatia's day, they who felt it their mandate to control the speech of others ("nailing their tongues to the floor" as Antigone called it), had a gang of illiterate monks murder Hypatia in Alexandria, Egypt, in 415 AD. Her ideas were considered dangerous, evil, wrong-headed. Such judgements against open discussion need to be resisted repeatedly, since no era, including ours, is free of them.

For Hypatia's story as a dialogue, go to: 

“The Life and Death of Hypatia of Alexandria”, Sundial Magazine, January 2021. https://sites.google.com/view/sundial-magazine/curios/the-life-and-death-of-hypatia?authuser=0

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