Tainted with prejudice?

Most people in this town know by now that a First Nation woman was shot twice by an Ontario Provincial Police Officer on First Street South on Monday 7th June at around 8:30pm.

In a town such as ours, where allegations of institutional and blatant racism from both the police and the town’s residents are rampant and have been going on for many years, it is no wonder that there are allegations and rumours of a racial motivation for the shooting.

Some people will obviously say that if the perpetrator had been a white woman, the police officer may have been more willing to try non-lethal methods such as her baton, or taser.  I’m not so prone to immediately allege racism, but I do have to wonder whether things would have turned out different if her race had been different.

According to a witness ‘Dina Mandamin’ in this video on CTV,  the story goes that Helen was under the influence whilst wielding a butter knife.  After making repeated attempts to slash her wrists, and an attempt by the investigating officer to snatch the knife away, the suspect apparently lunged at the officer who was forced to shoot.  If it wasn’t for this video on CTV I would probably accused the police of racism too but it is pretty hard to argue with an eye witness on video.

Attacking a police officer with a butter knife is a pretty stupid thing to do, under the influence or not.  So for once… it appears that this incident in which a First Nation person has got hurt by the police is not the latest in a long line of police brutality.

Yes – Kenora does have racial segregation

People constantly tell me that Kenora isn’t racially segregated and that there’s no racism in Kenora.

Every day I see traces of the feeling that’s running hidden but very close to the surface amongst Kenora’s population.

For instance with people queuing at a local establishment that serves alcohol, more than one person has seen them turn away native folk and let in a bunch of white chicks with blonde hair.

The bars ARE racially segregated. Native folk don’t go to Haps unless they’re cops or with a bunch of white people. White people don’t go to Shooter’s unless they’re teens, Haps is closed, or if there’s live entertainment. I’ve seen white cops off duty in Haps numerous times. The only time in 7 years I’ve seen them in Shooters is when they’re on duty.

Or sit down in McDonald’s around 0800hrs and listen to the old folk talk. Yapping on about hating natives.

I wish it would stop.

The first step is to get the non-native population to empathise and try to understand life as a native person in a white dominated culture. Most folk don’t realise that being born native specifically (as opposed to other minorities) in our society puts them at a disadvantage because of the prevalent prejudice, and makes life a struggle right from birth. If the non-native population started to actually care, and not just pay lip service to caring, then things would one day get better. Then I wouldn’t have to walk down the street seeing people I know are racist and wish a piano would fall on their head.

Off-duty public servants

As a Canadian soldier it was drilled into us during Basic Training that we are public servants and we are here to serve the people. We’re expected to act professionally at all times and do nothing that would bring the uniform and the Canadian Forces into disrepute.

In my mind that should extend towards other public servants, such as law enforcement, paramedics etc.

So what are you supposed to do when you see someone around town who works as a Constable for a local Aboriginal police force and try to approach them, only to have them cut you off and say ‘Don’t talk to me, I don’t even like you’? Should you take that in your stride, excuse their rude manners and be on your way? Or should you approach their boss on the next week day and gently suggest they talk to their employees and remind them that in a small town, rudeness even when off duty can bring their team into disrepute?

Music, Youth, Kenora

As lots of people in Kenora and Northwestern Ontario realise there are quite a number of amateur musicians in this part of the world.

I’m friends with one or two… and acquaintances with one or two more. There’s a wealth of musical talent here, whether it’s vocals or music producing… but in my honest opinion they’re all being held back somewhat by a lack of a professional grade music studio.

I remember a while back I was working in the same office as my buddy Jordan McDonald and mentioned to him whilst listening to his music that I could tell it was made in a garage. He took it negatively but what I actually meant was the audio quality itself. You can quite clearly distinguish a recording made on $500,000 worth of equipment between a recording made on $5,000 worth of equipment.

It’d be great if we had a music studio in Kenora… people like Jordan could polish their awesome talent into overdrive and bust out onto the world stage ennit!

There’s plenty of youth from all different backgrounds in Kenora that share a common bond in music – a studio would help these youngsters realise their full potential.

I wonder if the Ontario Arts Council along with the City of Kenora would ever consider funding a studio.

A Soldier in Northwestern Ontario

As some associates already know I recently joined the best and most competent gang in the world – I became a member of Canadian Forces. My local unit – the 116th Independent Field Battery – is obviously a unit of the Royal Canadian Artillery.

There are certain things that don’t make sense to me about Canadians. For instance… the population of Kenora is about 16,500 – but our unit strength is not even 1% of Kenora’s population… let alone the combined total of Kenora and the surrounding areas of Dryden and Fort Frances that our unit serves too.

Considering how splendidly Canada beat the daylights out of Germany in both World Wars, why is it that Canadians (in Kenora) are not signing up to contribute to a greater society, to help those who can’t help themselves and to help stop the spread of evil?

I don’t understand why Canadians don’t place a higher priority on national defence. It might appear to some that saving innocent people across the globe from either human conflict or natural disaster isn’t as high a priority on many Canadians list as it ought to be.

The good news I’m hoping I’ll be able to make a difference soon as I start two days a week with our Unit’s Army Reserve Recruiter – Bombardier Lynn Danielson. If you’ve an interest in a career in the military… you should give Bombardier Danielson a call on her cell at: 807-466-3474.

To live and die in Kenora

A while ago I decided the best way I could serve Canada and it’s inhabitants is by enlisting in the army to help protect Canada and it’s interests.  Fresh off basic training and soldier qualification for the Canadian Forces I was driving back to Kenora and came across the photo below which has been photographed a million times and seen a billion times… the view of the town whilst driving past Huskie the Muskie.

I was shocked to realise again that I felt I was home. It was then I realised that unless something major happens to me, or I fall in love with a woman from somewhere far like Mozambique or Guyana… I will be living and dying in Kenora.

There may be a few things about this town I don’t agree with such as the overwhelming racist environment that my sister sensed all by herself without me mentioning it to her… and the fact that if you curse on one side of town people on the other side of town will find out about it almost before your mouth is closed. That aside… there’s many things I love about Kenora, even more than London. Everyone I know now is here… my mates and associates; and of course my two precious children.

Kenora… move here and you may find happiness!

Kenora’s hidden gem for swimmers

By far one of my most unforgettable moments  in Kenora was about two years ago when my former boss closed the office for a day in the summer and took us out on his boat.  The sun was beating down mercilessly and the water was ridiculously beautiful and extremely warm.  We jumped in for a while out in the middle somewhere and swam around… and then we drove the boat off to an island which I don’t think I’ll ever forget. Apparently it’s called Scotty’s Island.

If you look at the picture above you’ll get a satellite shot of the beach with what I’m almost certain is my boss’s smaller boat there ha! That shows where it is in relation to the town of Kenora. Or below is an interactive Google map with a satellite shot of the beach. Click on the picture above if you can’t see the map below.

Words can’t describe those couple of hours. I was having a real bad domestic life full of arguments, screaming and shouting every single day without a moment’s rest. This beach made all that worry and stress disappear in about ten minutes.

The beach is in a secluded cove… although when we went there there were a fair few people… it was so beautiful it was worthwhile. If you are into boating and love swimming… this beach is a MUST if you visit Kenora. Although make sure you visit on a sunny day of at least 26 celsius – just ask a local for direction to Scotty’s Island. You won’t regret it – that’s a guarantee!

Encouraging foreigners

One of the marked differences between Kenora and London… or any other major metropolis is the distinct shortage of foreign business owners.  Almost everywhere you go in England you’ll find either a Chinese takeaway or an Indian corner shop.  Kenora has two Chinese restuarants – my personal favourite being Hings – but there’s no Sikhs or Hindus running cornershops.

A while back when I worked at Overdrive Design Labs I was speaking to Jennifer Rasmussen who is Kenora’s economic development officer… I mentioned to her that in England hundreds of thousands of Indians migrated to England and have successfully opened corner shop businesses and many other types of businesses that have flourished.  I said to her that Kenora ought to be targeting Indians from the U.K and India to come to Kenora and start a business.  Kenora managed to attract two doctors to move here and set up shop… so why not business owners?

It’s due to their culture and the way many Indian parents constantly pressure their children and strive for them to be successful that’s allowed Indian business owners to flourish.   For instance, the seventh and eighth richest people on the planet are Mukesh Ambani, and Lakshmi Mittal.  You can further see the success of many Sikh’s by peeking at SikhTruth.com – a list of highly successful sikhs in whatever they do.

Of course I’m not expecting any billionaires to move to Kenora… but somebody needs to wake up and try and to exploit the untapped resource of foreign business owners.  It could only help Kenora.

Blogging in a small town about a small town

One of the problems of living in a small town is that everyone knows your business, and you should assume if someone doesn’t know your business – they soon will. Everyone knows everyone and if you say something about somebody they’ll hear about it.

That presents a tiny dilemna for me – a dilemna, but definitely a tiny one. I know that if I blog about something… a situation… a person… a business in town they’ll hear about it sooner or later – particularly because now I’ve started a Google Adwords campaign for this site. So what am I to do? Blog to accomodate people’s feelings, or blog the truth? Well I think I’m going to be blogging here according to my conscience.

For instance… if someone tells me in confidence that there’s a paedophile living next to the green house on Blah street you can be sure I’m going to out her or him. Or if I find out that someone is insulting the United States and revealing it might incur a cross-border airstrike with a Hellfire missile I’ll probably keep my mouth shut.

The point I’m trying to make is with this blog I’m going to try and do what’s right for the greater good – but not at the expense of what’s right. Wish me luck hahaha!

New experience in Ktown

My sister Marie recently came to visit finally after six years in Kenora.  We had a few disagreements but for the most part it was one of the best weeks I’ve ever had in Canada.  I was a little bit shocked at how used I came to having my sister around – that never happened in England ever.

Whilst she was here we both did two things for the first time… we went on the MS Kenora, and we also went fishing on the Winnipeg River on a boat.  I’d been fishing before but always from the shore.  Marie spent quite a while around my children’s mother’s family and got along famously with them.  Every single one of my children’s auntie’s first line upon meeting my sister was ‘you guys look like each other’.  Click on the picture below and judge for yourself…

Here are some pictures my sister Marie took whilst we were fishing on the Winnipeg River, and on the MS Kenora.

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