October 26, 2022

Bias, Hate and Extremism in Rural Canada 📣

October 26, 2022

Clearing a New Path™ and Clearing a New Path Podcast™ are products of Radar Media, located in Dorchester, Ontario on the traditional territory of the Anishinaabe, Haudenosaunee and Neutral peoples who once used this land as their traditional beaver hunting grounds.  As a settler here I’m committed to deepening understanding of Indigenous communities and reframing responsibilities to land and community. I am grateful to Mother Earth for the opportunity for love and connection and to the spirits of the Elders and the Medicine People who still walk the Earth.

OCTOBER 26, 2022

I come to this work as a white woman of privilege; a vulnerable allyship student.I get things wrong often and I am open to, and welcome opportunities to be called in about the content in this newsletter, in order to create safe, brave spaces for all. The purpose is to unite people in rural Canada.I am grateful to walk along this journey in grace, love and empathy together.Simply hit 'reply' to contribute, suggest and

BIAS, HATE AND EXTREMISMIN RURAL CANADA

Hello Amazing Humans,Today's episode is the first of a two-part series on Bias, Hate and Extremism, specifically as it relates to rural and small Canadian communities.

Almost everyone has a bias, a way of thinking, an opinion, it’s pretty much human nature. Journalists, when I went to journalism school, were only supposed to report on facts and not opinion. That has drastically changed. Anyone can call themselves a journalist really. And in an age where many of us spend lots of time on online social platforms, the bias continues to be confirmed by where we choose to click and view and modern day algorithms play a huge role in that. That in turn fills our social feeds with more information that continues to confirm what we already believe to be true. Confirmation bias is not new, but social platforms have certainly made it easier, and faster, and it’s created a broader reach for spreading mis or dis information.In the next two episodes, we explore how bias, hate and extremism has been spreading in Canada, specifically in rural Canada.Joining in this fascinating conversation for this episode are Dr. Barbara Perry, Director at the Centre on Hate, Bias and Extremism at the Ontario Tech University and Etienne Quintal, Manager of the Online Hate Research and Education Project with the Toronto Holocaust Education Centre.

Be sure to tune in next week to part two of Bias, Hate and Extremism in rural Canada when I speak with Kurt Phillips, who started doing anonymous online research into hate groups in Canada, but he was doxxed in recent years, losing his anonymity. He’s a board member of the Canadian Anti-Hate Network and also a high school teacher in rural Alberta.

RESOURCES

I urge you to take a look at some of their news stories and be aware of the groups that have formed in your own communities.

Etienne Quintal from the Toronto Holocaust Education Centre provided some resources folks can look into:

The Toronto Holocaust Education Centre is developing its own educational portal. Right now, it contains Canada's Hate Symbols List, which currently has 90 symbols listed and they’re working towards around 250. They will soon be uploading reports, educational resources, and translating the Symbols list into French in the coming months. It's similar to the ADL's symbol list. 

Here's a resource for teachers and students on what to look for related to hate and extremist views:Canadian Anti-Hate Network's Educational Toolkit, which is a Government of Canada-funded resource aims to give teachers and students the tools to address displays of hate on campus.I'm interested to know your thoughts. What are the rural-specific issues you are facing where you are today? Please drop me a line here. Better yet, record a voice memo in your phone and email it to me!

OPEN SUNDAY CIRCLE

I'm continuing to host a standing open Zoom circle on Sundays. Bring the topics you'd like to discuss with other rural folks across Canada. I record them and most folks leave their cameras off and provide a first name and where they're from.Erik from Unity, Saskatchewan, Anne from Owen Sound (Anne runs the Owen Sound Hub, an online newspaper) and Hollie phoned in from near Drumbo Ontario. Ruby dropped in for a few moments to talk about wind turbines in rural communities and I'm going to be doing a separate episode about that topic.What we're finding is, most folks have the same views. I'd like to personally invite ANYONE to come and chat about what they're concerned about in their own rural community.The key here is RESPECTFUL conversations, with deep listening, care and understanding, holding space for others. There is no way we'll heal divisiveness without listening and being present for folks who don't hold our own views.

Please join if you can!

Join Zoom Meeting (it's the same link every week)

Sunday, October 30, 20221:30 p.m. NT1:00 p.m. AT12:00 p.m. ET 11:00 a.m. CT10:00 a.m. MT9:00 a.m. PTIf you'd like to me send you a calendar invitation, send me an email.If you cannot come, feel free to email me - hit reply - or record a voice memo on your smart phone and email it to me, about the issues you want to hear about and that are affecting you were you are. I will add them all to future episodes.

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