Opinion
British Columbia city defends allowing grown man to change in front of girls
From LifeSiteNews
The City of Vernon, British Columbia, is defending a pool manager’s decision to allow a grown man to change in the presence of teenage girls under the pretense that prohibiting such behavior is a violation of federal law.
An average news day in Canada, circa 2024, in Vernon, British Columbia:
Two teenage girls going through the lifeguarding program at the Vernon Aquatic Centre were shocked to be changing beside a person they soon found out had a penis. It was the last Saturday in January and the girls wasted no time in telling their families what they had just experienced.
‘My niece had a 50-year-old man come into the change room, strip naked in front of her and her friend, she’s 14, and put on a woman’s bathing suit and go out.’
The pool manager was contacted. “He basically said the kids have no rights and that the transgender person’s rights take precedence, this is something I think parents should know,” said the girls’ uncle, who asked to be quoted only by his first name, Kevin, for privacy purposes. According to management, to forbid a middle-aged trans-identified man from stripping naked next to young teenage girls would be a violation of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Bill C-16, which forbids discrimination on the basis of “gender identity and gender expression.”
Carolyn Baldridge, a spokeswoman for the City of Vernon, told the press that this was in line with the law. “It is against the law for Vernon Recreation staff to dictate what washroom/change room that a customer can use based on their appearance,” she said. “Staff cannot ask someone to leave for changing in the change room of their choice.” Since the passage of Bill C-16, the Vernon Aquatic Centre changed its “Family Change room” sign to “Universal change room,” meaning that the nude guy was well within his rights to do what he did.
“Under Canadian law, users are free to change in the room that they best identify with,” Baldridge added, noting that “inclusive recreation” is an “evolving discussion across Canada” and that “Vernon’s Recreation Services will continue to take steps to ensure the inclusion of gender diverse Canadians in their programs and facilities.”
According to Kevin: “I was told by the pool manager that there was nothing he could do unless the person was ‘leering or making overt sexual gestures toward the girls’ but this guy was naked in front of teenage girls and that’s just not right.” Kevin is right; the law is wrong; the privacy of young girls is collateral damage, although the Vernon North Okanagan RCMP stated that if anything inappropriate—besides the full-frontal nudity in front of young teen girls, that is—occurred, that they would be willing to investigate.
There are plenty of LGBT activists who get upset at those of us who point out how disgusting this state of affairs is, insisting that we are fearmongering or smearing people. But it needs to be said: a man who is willing to expose himself in front of teenage girls, regardless of whether or not he truly believes himself to be a woman, should not be trusted, full stop. There are private stalls available that he could have used. Unless he is unfathomably stupid, he knew that doing what he was doing could make the girls scared, uncomfortable, or insecure—and he chose to do it anyway.
The sincerity of his gender dysphoria is really besides the point here. These men are willing to make young girls fearful in order to live their preferred identities in public because they simply do not care—and many, it seems, take a perverse pleasure in forcing everyone to play along. There is a vindictiveness about this that should be pointed out. Any man, deluded or not, who is unwilling to consider how his behavior might make more vulnerable people feel is simply not worthy of respect.
Author
From StosselTV
We Americans take free speech for granted. But if you look around the world, you see why we shouldn’t.
In Britain, you can get arrested for saying things online that police find “offensive.”
In Scotland, misgendering someone can land you in jail for seven years.
Canada may soon pass a law that would punish “advocating genocide” with life in prison.
Now in the U.S., the House of Representatives voted for a bill that would make chants like “from the river to the sea” illegal at universities.
These are bad ideas. Free speech is valuable.
After 40+ years of reporting, I now understand the importance of limited government and personal freedom.
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Libertarian journalist John Stossel created Stossel TV to explain liberty and free markets to young people.
Prior to Stossel TV he hosted a show on Fox Business and co-anchored ABC’s primetime newsmagazine show, 20/20.
Stossel’s economic programs have been adapted into teaching kits by a non-profit organization, “Stossel in the Classroom.” High school teachers in American public schools now use the videos to help educate their students on economics and economic freedom. They are seen by more than 12 million students every year.
Stossel has received 19 Emmy Awards and has been honored five times for excellence in consumer reporting by the National Press Club. Other honors include the George Polk Award for Outstanding Local Reporting and the George Foster Peabody Award.
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From the Frontier Centre for Public Policy
By Lee Harding
The budget had a $7.5 billion surplus when the Trudeau Liberals were sworn into power on November 4, 2016 and they turned it into a $5.4 billion deficit by the end of March.
The meme where Prime Minister Justin Trudeau becomes the new coach of the Toronto Maple Leafs, who lost in the NHL playoffs to Boston May 4th, has far more depth than people realize.
Previous head coach Sheldon Keefe was fired, leaving a prime job open.
“With my unique coaching style, the cup will win itself,” was Trudeau’s quote in the meme, his fictional words matched by a fake picture of him in a Leafs jacket.
The woes of both Canada and the Maple Leafs involve leadership and economics.
In the Leafs’ case, the players salary cap is $83.5 million. Last year, the team paid four players $11 million each, leaving fiscal scraps for the other 16 players.
Prior to becoming prime minister, Trudeau was asked how committed he would be to a balanced budget.
“The commitment needs to be a commitment to grow the economy, and the budget will balance itself,” Trudeau said, on February 11, 2014, as he criticized the Harper government approach.
“They’re artificially fixing a target of a balanced budget in an election year,” Trudeau explained.
“And that’s irresponsible. What you need to do is create an economy that works for Canadians, works for middle class Canadians, allows young people to find a job, allows seniors to feel secure in their retirement.”
Trudeau pledged to run modest deficits and a return to balance in the final year of his majority term, which, ironically, was what he condemned Conservatives of doing in the interview. We are still waiting for that balanced budget, of course.
The budget had a $7.5 billion surplus when the Trudeau Liberals were sworn into power on November 4, 2016 and they turned it into a $5.4 billion deficit by the end of March.
Prior to taking power, Trudeau argued that historically low interest rates were a good reason to borrow and spend on nation-building infrastructure. If the debt-to-GDP ratio kept dropping, good enough.
That excuse of low interest rates is gone, yet the deficits remain. When this fiscal year ends next March, the federal debt will be double what it was when the Trudeau Liberals took power. Deep deficits and higher lending rates have made debt servicing costs nearly double in the past two years alone.
Among the 38 nations in the Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development, Canada’s growth in real GDP per capita was the fifth-weakest over 2019-22. Last November, Canada was named as one of only eight advanced countries where real incomes were lower than before the pandemic, as inflation outpaces growth.
Worse, the OECD projects Canada will be the worst performing economy among the 38 advanced economies over both 2020-30 and 2030-60.
Even before capital gains taxes were hiked in the recent budget, investors knew Canada wasn’t a good place to grow wealth. The country lost $225 billion in capital investment from 2016 through 2022.
Whether it’s a winning team or a winning economy, ignoring financial realities steals success.
Trudeau’s economic plan has relied on a burgeoning, high-paid public sector, almost limitless immigration, carbon taxes, and green spending. He has put all the money on the wrong players.
Canada was altogether different in 1967, the last time the Leafs won a cup. Since then, the first and second prime ministers Trudeau have eroded this country’s social and fiscal moorings, leaving us conflicted and financially burdened instead of celebrating our success.
So, when will Canada get a new coach?
Lee Harding is a Research Fellow for the Frontier Centre for Public Policy.
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