I am Groot

Authors too. Anyone who is the least bit creative. I guess you don't know much about that.

Do you know anything about how the publishing industry has been overcome by woke? There are diversity readers now for every book of fiction, and if they don't approve or think anything offensive the book has to be changed or it won't be published. Staff were literally crying at Penguin over being unable to persuade management to refuse to publish Jordan Peterson's last book. The ones in the UK were in a similar tantrum over JK Rowling. So I'm not even going to bother looking for an online dictionary that hasn't been altered by the publisher to fit the new definitions. Instead, just for you, Eye, I went and checked the old dictionaries deep in the archives, buried in the sub-basement below my manor house under the wine cellar and just above the dungeon. I am reassured of being correct - again. I have there Webster's Seventh Collegiate Dictionary, circa late 1970s, and the New Penguin English dictionary from 2000. No mention of colonizing or 'pre-colonial" in either of them. Indigenous means originating there. If you doubt me I can take pictures and post them.

This is far from the first time I've heard stories of these programs going off the rails. In fact, there's no evidence that any of these help anything and some evidence they actually incite resentment and thus more racism and prejudice. There's no accreditation system for those who give these lectures/indoctrination sessions. Nor do they seem to have any kind of standards nor any academic rigour. It seems to mostly be some person - almost always a fat black woman for some reason - accusing all the white people there of being racists. https://nationalpost.com/opinion/principal-berated-for-white-supremacy-sues-tdsb-over-equity-training

That's what stock portfolios are for.

August1991 is a relic of the past.

How about demented? Are you playing stupid or is it the real thing?

No. I struggle with the way the airhead set (progressives) keep reinterpreting words to mean things they were never meant to. Words like 'hate', 'racism', 'unsafe', 'woman', and of course, now 'indigenous'. Humans originated on Earth. Thus they are indigenous to it. They didn't come here from elsewhere. Why is this so complex a thought for you?

I'm copying a post I read on another forum which says a lot more about the situation than the story above. Worked in customs and immigration for over a decade so I’ve had my fair share of dealing with hundreds if not thousands of these students over the years. As a Canadian born Indian myself, I’ll speak specifically about the students we’ve been getting from India. In my experience dealing with them, a huge amount of them actually have no real interest at all in studies but rather come here under the guise of education just to try and get their PR and then bring over the rest of their families. Most possessed elementary level English literacy yet were here to study at the university/college level. Let’s not forget that it isn’t all that difficult to pay and get fake docs in India so safe to assume a lot of these students pay to get their ILETS and other school related docs. We’re getting most of these students from one part of India. These are “students” that wouldn’t even be able to secure admission at proper universities in bigger Indian cities. The entire diploma mill loophole is a huge problem here. A lot of these students have no real desire to integrate, assimilate or adapt to Canadian culture. They also have no real career ambitions or goals. They come here with the sole purpose of getting their PR and that’s it. They come to places like Surrey, BC and Brampton, ON where there is already huge pre-existing population of South Asians. This makes them think they don’t have no change their ways at all or improve their English since majority of the people speak Punjabi. This isn’t to say that all of them coming in are bad. I’ve dealt with some pretty good students too but the reality is at this point, the bad far outweigh the good. The bad ones also make themselves extremely visible with their garbage behaviour and a complete lack of social etiquette and respect. Even back in 2017 I knew this would be a disaster sooner or later. Just the sheer amount of them coming in on a daily basis really boggled my mind. I’m sorry to say but this completely reckless approach will simply not end well. A lot of these students are also sold the fake Canadian dream but arrive here and have a real rude awakening. I’m personally friends with quite a few of them so I’ve been told the reality of this situation first hand by them. Most will end up working dead end jobs in the service and retail industry since most are doing bogus two year diplomas in things like hospitality and tourism. Also a big number of them actively getting involved in gangs/drugs and I was also told by a few friends how some of these international student girls were getting involved in prostitution… some out of sheer financial desperation and others willingly. I can go on and on into more details and specifics but I’ll leave at this for now. I apologize for the lengthy comment and some of you may have seen similar comments like this from me on other similar posts. I think it’s really crucial to understand the importance of this issue. If this continues, places will literally become next to unliveable. There needs to be proper checks and balances in place because a lot of these students shouldn’t have been granted student visas to even begin with. The amount of loopholes in our immigration system that are readily available for people to exploit is just absolutely ridiculous. I have no hope that this government will do anything meaningful at all to fix this issue or put in preventative measures going forward. Edit: Just wanted to clarify something further and add a little more context. I’m aware some people are afraid or hesitant to speak up about this issue as they think they’ll be called racists. There is absolutely nothing racist about voicing your concerns about issues that are directly impacting the quality of day to day life for you as Canadians. Also, I want to stress the point that not all of these students are bad. There are genuinely good people who are victims of their circumstances. The good ones tend to get clumped together with all the bad. People will assume I’m generalizing based on my own experiences. I’m basing my opinions obviously on my own experiences but also of those that I personally know (friends, family etc). And some of these friends are international students themselves who had voiced their opinions and concerns to me about their fellow peers. Lastly, I’m not anti-immigration but what I am against is this type of reckless and forced immigration where the focus seems to be solely on quantity while overlooking quality. A complete overlook of infrastructural needs, healthcare and overall cost of living. How many people could we possibly need to fill lower end minimum wage service industry and retail jobs? We need quality people that will fill experienced positions. Doctor shortages, nurse shortage, teacher shortage and the list goes on. I’m just very concerned at this point at the direction this country seems to be headed towards.

Big money so universities can have even more bloated administrations. But the reality is also that we're getting all kinds of people into phony programs or programs they don't really care about as a back door to immigration where they would otherwise stand no chance of getting into Canada.

Actually, tons of protests. Because BLM sprang up to burn down the world because a lifelong junkie and violent criminal died when police were trying to arrest him in some city almost no one had ever or will ever go to and many had never even heard about. Yes, a contagious public health crisis where tens of thousands gathered together to protest against this single policeman who had already been arrested. Including our sanctimonious blackfaced prime minister, who marched into an illegal demo (all public gatherings having been banned due to the aforementioned public health crisis) surrounded by bodyguards to take a knee. We had protest after protest in the US, Canada, and the UK about that with no one daring to say boo about it and the police doing nothing whatsoever to impede the protesters. There were lots of mostly peaceful riots in the US causing billions of dollars in damage and taking many lives over the conspiracy theory that police were murdering unarmed black men just cuz. And yet, no one does so. And not a peep from Mr. Socks or his activist environmen minister about it. I suspect that part of the reason is they feel that this is just more income redistribution. From the rich (ie, us and the West) to the poor (ie, everyone in the developing world). And I think they believe that's entirely suitable. What you mean to say is we are transitioning to a poorer economy with a lot more poverty and joblessness. Left behind? With the hundred and fifty odd nations that are happily burning coal for energy and building more coal power plants?

I have no idea what you're on about now.

That's certainly not the definition of indigenous. In fact, by the definition of indigenous none of the 'natives' are indigenous either. They didn't originate here. They migrated here from somewhere else.

Perhaps you can give me an example rather than make sweeping statements. And btw, what is your education that you dismiss what the professor has to say in his numerous books and studies? Are you suggesting people illegally emigrate to other countries? Are you suggesting anyone who finds flaws and faults in society should simply leave rather than making their views on these flaws and faults public? That sounds like the complaint of those who are complacent and don't want to ever improve society. Half the population will be foreign-born. They're not complacent like so many Canadians.

There are some 800,000 foreign students in Canada now. A lot of them are fakes, here just to get the two year work experience that will lead to permanent residency status. Strip mall 'colleges' have sprung up to service the needs of those who have little real interest in education. Others are packing smaller universities and colleges to the extent half the student body is foreign. The majority of these are Indians, many arriving with fake papers claiming English fluency they do not possess. There are no limits on the number of visas the federal government will issue for foreign students. And the colleges and universities don't have to satisfy any arm of the provincial government that they have adequate facilities, let alone housing for these students. They don't care if they're abused, misused, lied to or cheated. They don't care if they're cheating themselves, both in their entry documents or in classes. What they ought to care about but don't is the impact this has on Canadian students crowded out of universities and colleges, or finding themselves in classrooms where half the other students are foreigners who don't speak the language very well and who cheat fairly openly while the universities and colleges look the other way. https://thehub.ca/2023-07-06/as-record-numbers-of-foreign-students-come-to-canada-experts-urge-a-re-think-of-the-program/

They pissed me off at the time. They should have made their point and left. No question. I was quite fine when they were removed. But the way they were treated by the government far exceeded the level of damage and threat they posed. Remember that the natives blockaded the main east-west train line for weeks. How many of them were arrested and kept in jail for months? How many had their bank accounts frozen? How much zeal has the government and its police shown in pursuing those who burned down dozens of churches? The government's view of protesters seems to depend on how much they sympathize with their views. He and his deputy have both stuck their ores into what was an ongoing political dispute about the value of carbon taxes. My only ideology is realism. Anyone who pushes carbon taxes on Canadians without admitting they are going to have ZERO impact on global warming while hampering our economy is a fool or simply dishonest. There are no numbers and no science that contradicts that. The ones who do so are the ones operating by ideology.

It's just more income redistribution. Something which has occupied their time since they got into government. Take from those who produce and give it to those who don't produce to make their lives better so they don't have as much incentive to improve their lives. It's welfare. And I feel the same about the billions fed to corporate welfare bums like the chip makers. It's taking money from successful businesses and using it to prop up others the government likes better. They're both stupid ideas.

And what ignorant views do you think Thomas Sowell was putting out? The odd thing about (b) is that it's really only something you should say to someone who moved here from somewhere else in the first place. Because they, at least, have that option. Yet it's considered a horrible thing to do to suggest someone who isn't happy go back where they came from. On the other hand, it seems fine to suggest it to someone born here who really doesn't have any options. Please explain these 'contrarian' attitudes towards the invitation to leave Canada. I'm doing my part to improve society by educating the ignorant. Given how easy it was for determined but relatively small groups to put people like Jagmeet Singh and Doug Ford into the leadership position of their parties I expect that one day someone will do that with someone who will make Pat King seem like a reasonable man. And then you'll see populism at its worst that might actually win power. Soon less than half the population will be native born, after all. That's going to change how laid-back and passive most Canadians are about being screwed over. You'll start seeing more stuff like the Muslims protesting against pride day at schools. Rabble rousing will be much easier.

Given the native crime rate, maybe you ought to.

Not happy about the trucker shit, though he does have kind of a point there. Justin Trudeau has most certainly contributed to our inflation with his immense deficits. And the Bank of Canada governor put himself into political territory when he strayed from the bank's job and started talking about climate change. What's he said about gays and lesbians? Anything? What's he said about immigration? Nothing. What's he even said about how the Trudeau government now prioritizes grants and awards for university grad/doctoral scholars by race and identity instead of science or ability? Has he mentioned how the US courts have tossed out affirmative action (which most Americans are quite happy about) and suggested we do the same? Most Canadians, and certainly any who would be likely to vote Conservative would be happy about THAT. Has he talked about drag queens or transgenders at all? If so it's been something in passing after being asked a question. He certainly hasn't focused on it. Has he defended Sir John A MacDonald? Criticized renaming roads and bridges transit stations into unpronounceable native words?

I read a piece the other day from a guy who had wanted to start up a farmer's market, not so much to make money but just because he was enthusiastic about the idea and thought a lot of people would like it. Well, once he looked into the forms and permits and hefty fees he'd have to pay to various levels of government there was just no way it was doable. Thomas Sowell said something once which resonated with me. The Left thinks they can find the perfect solution. But there are no perfect solutions. There are only compromises. Everything has a downside. Canada is not a bad place to live compared to most of the world. That doesn't mean I don't look at places like Australia, or for that matter, the Nordic countries and see more effective, efficient government and better organized societies. It doesn't mean I can't watch the 4th of July spectacles down south and envy them their pride in their history and who they are and what they've accomplished. I bet nobody serious down there suggested they not celebrate the 4th of July out of shame and repentance at what they did to Indians back in the day. It doesn't even mean I can't look at some of the infrastructure Asians and Europeans are putting up and be gobsmacked at how much more effort they put into beautifying their public spaces, be it airports, train stations, subways or public squares. Meanwhile, Ottawa has been trying to get its multi-billion dollar LRT system functioning properly since it was put in place. The stations are tiny, cheap looking, cold in all senses of the word (unheated) built of plain concrete, glass and steel, and so small they can't handle crowds, with leaking roofs and flooding tracks. Have a look at the metro stations Amsterdam has been building by comparison. Roughly the same populations too. Or have a look at the metro stations in China in their gleaming, spotless, high-tech efficiency. A country whose government doesn't consider it to be a nation has no purpose, and certainly no business trying to make its public spaces beautiful.

Unless you think he has dual citizenship that's a pointless suggestion. How many Canadians would move to the US tomorrow if they could? Or to France or Australia?

There are lots of gorgeous places in China and Russia and Nigeria too. Probably even in North Korea. That doesn't mean they're great countries.

Among the many hypocrisies we get from the Trudeauesque crowd is a furious insistence that those born and raised in Canada to parents born and raised in Canada to parents born and raised in Canada going back multiple more generations are not one iota more Canadian than an immigrant who arrived here a couple of years ago from Bangladesh and who can barely speak the language. All exactly the same. And yet, somehow or other, natives are far, far, FAR more 'native' to this land than we are. Why? Because they've been here longer, of course!

I'm pointing out that the Americans did the same thing and their productivity HAS risen.