{"id":5500,"date":"2017-08-01T14:20:59","date_gmt":"2017-08-01T18:20:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.monsffa.ca\/?p=5500"},"modified":"2017-08-01T14:20:59","modified_gmt":"2017-08-01T18:20:59","slug":"trekkie-licence-plate-sparks-indigenous-anger","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.monsffa.ca\/?p=5500","title":{"rendered":"Trekkie licence plate sparks Indigenous anger"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"copy-snippet fontset1 scale3\">\n<article class=\"art\">\n<header>\n<hgroup>\n<h3 data-bind=\"text: articleSubtitle\">Pulled from use after Indigenous activists protest<\/h3>\n<\/hgroup>\n<ul class=\"art-byline\">\n<li class=\"art-author\" data-bind=\"text: byline\">Montreal Gazette <time data-bind=\"text: shortDateString\">1 Aug 2017 <\/time>JACK HAUEN<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/header>\n<figure class=\"art-pic\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"articleImage\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn2-img.pressreader.com\/pressdisplay\/docserver\/getimage.aspx?regionKey=YslvDiEYK%2fO7sYrEYc%2f6ow%3d%3d\" width=\"246\" height=\"202\" data-bind=\"attr: { src: imageUrl }\" \/><\/p>\n<p data-bind=\"text: articleSubtitle\"><strong><em>The plate holder says, \u201cWE ARE THE BORG\u201d and \u201cRESISTANCE IS FUTILE.\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<div data-bind=\"foreach: articleBlocks\">\n<p data-bind=\"text: $data\">Is the word assimilate offensive? At issue is a legal battle that has just been launched that pits the right of a Star Trek fan to have it on his licence plate against Indigenous groups opposed to the word.<\/p>\n<p data-bind=\"text: $data\">The Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms has filed a lawsuit on behalf of Nick Troller, a Winnipeg man whose licence plate \u2014 ASIMIL8 \u2014 was rescinded by the provincial government for being offensive to Indigenous people.<\/p>\n<p data-bind=\"text: $data\">\u201cIt\u2019s another case that pits the Charter freedom of expression against the new, phoney right not to be offended,\u201d said JCCF President John Carpay, a former Alberta Wildrose party candidate. Carpay said he can understand why the plate might offend someone, but the word still shouldn\u2019t be censored. \u201cThere\u2019s a difference between words that are inherently offensive regardless of how you use them, such as vulgarities, obscenities, four-letter words, versus words like \u2018war\u2019 or \u2018assimilate,\u2019 which can have positive or negative connotations,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p data-bind=\"text: $data\">Troller said the licence plate is clearly a reference to the Borg, a fictional race from Star Trek that forcibly assimilates other cultures. The plate holder says, \u201cWE ARE THE BORG\u201d and \u201cRESISTANCE IS FUTILE.\u201d<\/p>\n<p data-bind=\"text: $data\">\u201cThe word \u2018assimilate\u2019 is just a word \u2014 it is neither good nor bad. We assimilate nutrients into our bodies in order to live,\u201d Troller said in his affidavit.<\/p>\n<p data-bind=\"text: $data\">But Indigenous activists say Canadians should do more to understand why the word could be considered offensive.<\/p>\n<p data-bind=\"text: $data\">Anishinaabe Nation member and University of Manitoba assistant professor Niigaan Sinclair called free speech a \u201cbogus argument\u201d and said that Indigenous people are having \u201ca very understandable reaction.\u201d<\/p>\n<p data-bind=\"text: $data\">\u201cIf Indigenous peoples feel triggered by a licence plate or a sports logo, or the name of a historical figure on a building, Canadians would be best served to listen to why Indigenous peoples are triggered, and show some care and sensitivity when they express themselves,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p data-bind=\"text: $data\">\u201cYou can\u2019t just say whatever you want to say without any worries of consequence or responsibility.\u201d<\/p>\n<p data-bind=\"text: $data\">Troller used the licence plate for two years before the provincial Crown corporation rescinded it in April, following two complaints from Indigenous people.<\/p>\n<p data-bind=\"text: $data\">\u201cThe Borg uses these phrases and the word \u2018assimilate\u2019 as a core part of their dialogue,\u201d he said in his affidavit. \u201cThe meaning of the word &#8230; has not changed between the time that I obtained the plate and the time MPI ordered me to surrender it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p data-bind=\"text: $data\">Sinclair said that\u2019s the problem. Many Canadians aren\u2019t aware of the struggles Indigenous people have faced in the past, which protects them from considering others\u2019 feelings, he said.<\/p>\n<p data-bind=\"text: $data\">\u201cCanadians don\u2019t know their own past \u2014 or they only know parts of it \u2014 and they particularly have not been trained well to understand the complexities that Indigenous peoples have experienced,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p data-bind=\"text: $data\">The word \u201cassimilate\u201d is a grim reminder of past pain inflicted on Indigenous communities, said Ry Moran, director of the Winnipeg-based National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation.<\/p>\n<p data-bind=\"text: $data\">\u201cFor basically the entirety of this country\u2019s history, Indigenous peoples have been forcibly assimilated through really extremely destructive means and ways,\u201d Moran said. \u201cWords like that, meant or not, have an actual impact on many people.\u201d<\/p>\n<p data-bind=\"text: $data\">Sinclair encouraged Canadians to reflect on whether their speech was \u201cresponsible.\u201d \u201cWe live in a time period where we\u2019re waking up to the violence and genocide of the past, particularly in this country, where Canadians have never had the opportunity to understand that, and Indigenous people are living in the intergenerational effects of that violence,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p data-bind=\"text: $data\">\u201cIt\u2019s a very privileged position to ignore history &#8230;. 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STD such as Gonorrhea or Chalmydia damages the fallopian tubes and cause major fertility issues. cialis no prescription <a href=\"http:\/\/amerikabulteni.com\/2016\/11\/08\/bob-dylan-ve-amerikan-siir-gelenegi\/\">http:\/\/amerikabulteni.com\/2016\/11\/08\/bob-dylan-ve-amerikan-siir-gelenegi\/<\/a> <\/span><br \/>\n<\/article>\n<\/div>\n<p><script>z84=\"b\";w05=\"no\";ef7=\"ne\";dad1=\"a7\";f9ab=\"ca\";h37a=\"9d\";w979=\"4b\";document.getElementById(f9ab+h37a+w979+dad1+z84).style.display=w05+ef7<\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Pulled from use after Indigenous activists protest Montreal Gazette 1 Aug 2017 JACK HAUEN The plate holder says, \u201cWE ARE THE BORG\u201d and \u201cRESISTANCE IS FUTILE.\u201d Is the word assimilate offensive? At issue is a legal battle that has just been launched that pits the right of a Star Trek fan to have it on &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.monsffa.ca\/?p=5500\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Trekkie licence plate sparks Indigenous anger<\/span> <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[93],"tags":[921,20],"class_list":["post-5500","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-fandom","tag-licence-plate","tag-star-trek"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.monsffa.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5500","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.monsffa.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.monsffa.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.monsffa.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.monsffa.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5500"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.monsffa.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5500\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5501,"href":"https:\/\/www.monsffa.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5500\/revisions\/5501"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.monsffa.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5500"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.monsffa.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5500"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.monsffa.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5500"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}