No, I am not referring to the rival university of that name but am using the term in the Napoleonic sense. Laurier University’s outburst of political correctness run amok has been soundly defeated on the field of public opinion and common sense, and the institution is now back-pedalling furiously.
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Imagine a story about a con artist who scammed a family from Syria. In 2008, he promised them permanent residency in Canada if they provided $400,000. The Syrian father came up with $120,000 in 2010 and was given a loan to finance the balance. The years went by and conditions in Syria deteriorated, especially after a civil war broke out out in 2011. The family’s efforts to find out the current status of their application and when it might be approved went nowhere. In late 2016, the father was killed in a bombing and the family was informed that it was now ineligible because the original applicant was no longer alive. Moreover, the $120,000 that had been paid would not be returned as that was being used to cover the cost of borrowing the additional funds. If ever an issue appeared to call out for common sense it is that of dealing with would-be travellers whose names match those found on the no-fly list. In recent years, I have read of 90 year old grandmothers being detained because their names were on that list. Recently the issue involved a six year old, the son of special forces soldiers (one now retired) who was first found on the no-fly list when he was five. So far, efforts to exempt him have proven unsuccessful and he was again singled out when the family took a flight within Canada in July. |
AuthorC. Richard Tindal, Ph.D is a retired Professor of Government. He taught for 30 years at St. Lawrence College, Kingston and was an occasional Visiting Professor at Queen's University. He has also written and consulted extensively about government. Archives
October 2023
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