The hijacking of current events continues
It’s time to call out denialism — on racism and on climate change
Can you believe it’s 2020 and Rex Murphy still has a platform to spout denialism on climate change — and on racism?
On May 15 in the National Post, Murphy responded to the federal government’s increased carbon tax by characterizing CO2 as the “Santa Claus of gases†and accusing the government of having an “obsession†with “so-called†carbon emissions.
On June 1, in the wake of global anti-racism protests and Infrastructure Minister Catherine McKenna’s supportive tweet, the National Post published another column in which Murphy declared, “Canada is not a racist country†and characterized the racism issue as an invention of the Liberals, a non-issue.
Move along, nothing to see here.
The rhetoric is so absurd, it is almost laughable — fodder for The Beaverton. Almost. To brush it aside is tempting, but dangerous.
In case you were wondering, this is Canada, which isn’t really a bastion of free speech on certain subjects.
Everyone is entitled to their opinion. But newspapers — especially mass media outlets — must stick to facts and be held accountable when they do not.
So, censoring Wrongthink
I doubt a single person reading this questions the reality and seriousness of climate change. Even the oil companies — like the ones Murphy has accepted speaking fees from — have long known that fossil fuels are causing CO2 levels to rise and it is a serious concern.
I doubt it.
Should we point Murphy to federal government statistics showing that between 2005 and 2015, the number of Black Canadians in federal prisons increased by 77.5 per cent, Indigenous prisoners increased 52.4 per cent, and white prisoners decreased by 6.8 per cent? Or inform him that Black men in Toronto are 3.4 times more likely to be pulled over by police? Or point out that Canada is often not “tolerant and welcoming†to the extent that one in five Muslims across Canada reported they experienced discrimination due to their religion?
Muslims is not a race. But, hey, Greig Oldford is on a roll!
To present these issues fairly, both sides must be grounded in reality. Murphy’s columns present factually incorrect arguments on issues that disproportionately affect minorities and marginalized people. To publish these pieces is to promote denialism on two of the greatest issues of our time. Denial is a form of misinformation and misinformation can harm people.
Remember the days of “sticks and stones can break my bones but names can never hurt me”? Now they create trigger warnings. Regardless, this is just another attempt to hijack what’s going on in cities run by people with the same beliefs as Greig who made up the climate change scam and also work to keep black people down.
