Do you think Canadians have the Guts to

[Grey]

Vote for a person of Colour?
As I watched the results in the US election I wondered, What would Canadians do?
I thought about the people around me, those closest to me and realized they would FOLD.
Not one of them would, after questioning, vote for the "best person" because of colouring.
And/or Race. As I questioned them closer, each came up with a different answer as to
why they may or may not vote in a certain way.

No one was willing to say it was because of a preconceived idea of colour but the bias
was incontrovertible.

OK, I said that wrong, It wasn't that they wouldn't vote for the the 'best person' just that
they couldn't bring themselves to vote for someone 'different'.

i want to applaud the US electorate and wish them well. I just wish the
Canadian people had the same guts..........

[HeresyLives]

1. We've had several

'people of colour', run for and win, public office. Black and Arab and Muslim in fact.

What is the problem here?

[glarius]

2. The people I know and observe around me are certainly not like

those you describe. I'm certain that a "person of colour" would be elected without any problem.

[glarius]

3. Does this answer your question?

A recent poll in Canada said we would OVERWHELMINGLY elect Obama
rather than McCain. Does that answer your question?
From the poll:
In Canada, 70 % chose Sen. Obama and 14 % chose Sen. McCain.

link:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/oct/17/uselections2008-barackobama1

[iverglas]

4. obviously there are some

My mum lives in a senior cits' apt bldg north of Toronto, in an old community now being enveloped in bedroom suburbs. Most of the seniors in the bldg are longer-time residents, and of course are overwhelmingly women, and all wasp.

Most of them are life-long Tories, and bigots. My mum puts up her NDP sign on the balcony and goes about her business. And when a few of them were nattering and clucking about same-sex marriage a couple of years ago, she asked why they cared, and what if it were their son or daughter? And they pretty much shut up. But undoubtedly continued voting for the bigot party.

My mum's in her 70s and a standard daughter of English immigrants, 1950s wife-and-mother, lower middle class blue-eyed blonde white Canadian. She'd vote for anybody who was a decent human being, not running for a right-wing party. And she was just telling me how back around 1970, her father, one of the English immigrants, a "working man", trade unionist, Mason, United Church choir soloist, had been so impressed by her kids' political interest and activism that he'd decided that if it was good for us, it was good for him. The NDP that is. ;)

He never had the chance to vote for a woman or person of colour, but I know he would not have hesitated. And when my grandmother died, 20 years after he did, one of the people who spoke at the memorial gathering was a kid who'd hung out at their house playing their piano back in the 40s ... and is now a United Church minister ... and a lesbian. ;)

Yes, the old white Conservative bigots are there. And it isn't just race/ethnicity with them. They're not big on RCers either, or women. And there are bigots among the younger too.

But as has been pointed out, the fact that Canadians don't seem to have a huge problem with diversity is illustrated by the diversity of our legislative bodies, at all levels.

It does have to be said that the presence of some of the non-standard faces in those legislatures is in considerable part due to the concentration of ethnic-minority voters in some constituencies. That in itself is an indication of Canadians' acceptance of diversity.


Just for some info, from google (black first elected -obama -president, pages in Canada):

Nova Scotia elects its first black MLA - CBC Archives
The first black person ever to be elected to a provincial legislature in Canada was Leonard Braithwaite, elected as an MPP in Ontario in 1963. ...
http://archives.cbc.ca/politics/provincial_territorial_politics/clips/13357

Welcome to the New Democratic Party of British Columbia
The first black woman to be elected to a legislature in Canada died this weekend . Rosemary Brown served as an NDP MLA from 1972 to 1986. She was 72. ...
http://nid-78.newsdetail.bc.ndp.ca

Facts
In 1963, Leonard Braithwaite, elected to the Ontario legislature, was the first black to serve in a provincial legislature in Canada. ...
http://www.blackhistorysociety.ca/Facts.htm

Still Counting, Women in Politics Across Canada
1990, Zanana Akande, First Black woman cabinet minister--ON NDP. 1998 1999, Yvonne Atwell, First black woman elected to the Nova Scotia Legislature. ...
http://stillcounting.athabascau.ca/table2-3.php?sort=2

PARLINFO - Parliamentarian File - Federal Experience - AUGUSTINE (Jean)
Etobicoke--Lakeshore, Ontario, 1997.06.02, Elected. Etobicoke--Lakeshore, Ontario First black woman elected to the House of Commons. 1993.10.25, Elected ...
http://www2.parl.gc.ca/Parlinfo/Files/Parliamentarian.aspx?Item=50bb42a9-c171-4258-8794-31edea9433ac&Language=E

Who was the first Black person elected to City Council?
William Peyton Hubbard, who was born in Toronto in 1842, was elected to City Council in 1894 and served on it for 15 years.
http://www.toronto.ca/archives/toronto_history_faqs.htm


That's for black Canadians -- who, we must recall, account for a very small proportion of the Canadian population, particularly before the Caribbean immigration of the last half of the 20th century. South Asian and Asian representatives in legislatures are a common sight these days, and there are slowly increasing numbers of First Nations elected representatives.

Fer sure, there are bigots. But they're pretty much concentrated in certain age groups and more common in ex-urban areas. They're not exactly the future of the country.

[Rainforestgoddess]

5. I disagree

If the candidate had positions I admired, or if they represented the party I chose to vote for, I wouldn't care if they were black, white or green and I doubt many people would. Yeah, there is a bigoted population, but that's the same as anywhere in the world.

I guess the real question is whether the parties themselves will chose a candidate that isn't a white male (barring Kim Campbell who is barely remembered) as the leader of the party (if that person was the best person for the job). We really don't have a choice that way like the Americans do -- picking the party leader, or voting directly for the PM. But technically, our head of state is a black woman when the queen is not in the country. :)

[ClusterFreak]

6. Sanctimony much?

Placing oneself upon a moral pedestal sounds awfully un-progressive to me pal.

And by the way...nice profile you didn't have the "guts" to include in your personal information.

Such as...generally where you're from and your gender. Very few of us go beyond that, but if you're going to be such a loudmouth the least you could do is offer more than a perfectly and wholly anonymous shot across the bow.

Cowardly.

[Grey]

7. sorry, just an old woman's point of view.

and judging from what i hear and see down at 'Timmy's' at coffee time,
The old coots are the most bigoted block-heads you might want to hear.
We live in the interior of british columbia and these people remind me of my Father,
having a very real fear of anyone with a darker skin.
It doesn't matter what I say they only hear what they want.
Hard core steve harper supporters and they really prefer McCain.
I was reassured a dozen times that the "yanks" will regret the stupidity of electing a Muslim,
and they don't even have the benefit of 'right wing radio'.

When they have their middle aged 'kids' with them the younger people just nod
like bobble-heads. I wish it were different.

[glarius]

8. The problem is you're equating all Canadians with this group of

"old coots", as you call them. In fact, Canada, according to polls and all indications I have seen, would quite willingly vote for Obama, or a similar black man who would run for office in Canada. It seems the rest of the civilized world would too...according to all the polls.
What I find offensive is the fact that you said "I just wish the
Canadian people had the same guts"

[UnseenUndergrad]

13. Just think about where you are

Interior British Columbia: If Calgary was Canada's texas, that's our Idaho... fundie mormons, isolated communities, probably a few nazis living "off-grid" as it were. Just don't generalize based on one of the most right-wing places in the nation.

[GirlinContempt]

9. I think this is really biased.

I don't know who the people around you are, but they aren't the people around me. I hear what you're saying from your own perspective, but I think to cast this out as a net for all Canadians is wrong, and a little hurtful. If our polls and surveys are to be trusted, we're a fairly open-minded group of people from east to west. Certainly no more racist than the US of A, who HAVE elected a black man.

I'd suggest checking out the numbers of elected representatives over the years who are of some visible minority, and also maybe some stats and polls of Canadians regarding racial issues before making a statement like this. Anecdotal evidence isn't enough to condemn one person, let alone a diverse country of people.

[dee_from_ott]

10. Yes they would,

Are you joking? We would elect Obama in a heart beat.

Canada's racial history is far less harsh than America's. What makes you think it would be more difficult for us WITHOUT Republicans?

[LiberalLovinLug]

11. I understand where you are coming from.

I can't be too hard on you. I understand you are embedded with this group. It must be difficult to get along with them sometimes. I'll give you the benefit of the doubt that you were really talking about those who are all around you and not the majority of Canadians when lamenting on their guts to vote for someone different, the other.

My parents crowd were right wing fundies, I grew up in that culture. Inside that cocoon, folks are meant to feel like they are actually the majority, the 'moral majority', they need to convince themselves of this in order not to crush their self-worth, and so they go over-board the other way and endlessly show off just how much they despise any left of center candidates.

[HEyHEY]

12. That is the most ignorant comment I've ever read

This has nothing to do with guts, it has to do with what the choices are. I'm sorry to see you thinkvoting for a black person takes "guts" most of us would not even think about it that way and just vote for the best candidate. We've had Indo Canadian premiers, black MPs etc.... get your head outta your ass.