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Comment by tachyonbeam | Hacker News Reader

Here in Canada we've had BLM protests, "defund the police" and "ACAB". I don't really understand. As far as I'm concerned Canada is about as close to a utopia as you can get on this planet. We have one of the lowest crime rates in the world. I'm pretty sure if we "defunded the police", things would only get worse.

AFAIK, the "defund the police" chant was supposed to be in response to American police forces buying army vehicles and gear. That is not a thing in Canada. I also get the general impression that whoever came up with "defund the police" has anarchist inclinations. It's basically doublespeak. They keep saying that "defund the police" only means "reform the police", but what they actually want is to dismantle the police, which is exactly what "defund the police" sounds like.

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Yeah, some Americans organized BLM protests in Japan too.

They think the whole world is an extension of America, while also denouncing American imperialism and the American idea of looking down on the world, while also screaming at anyone who questioned the idea of dragging American problems into a country that didn’t exist.

People here, more than anything, were pissed that they had a gathering in the middle of a pandemic and called them irresponsible. Which they were.

AFAIK, the "defund the police" chant was supposed to be in response to American police forces buying army vehicles and gear. That is not a thing in Canada

In the UK they scream “don’t shoot” at unarmed police, whom they call “Feds”. It’s surreal, like they don’t even know what country they’re in.

That's actually hilarious. Do you have a youtube or other video link?

I’m sure the First Nations people would also agree.

Nice baiting there Jcowell, well played. No country in the world is perfect. Canada is still near the top of the list when it comes to safety and quality of life.

It's true that many first nations people struggle. Canada is taking steps to help them (see accelerated vaccination of native communities) and I sincerely wish them all the best. However, dismantling the police probably isn't going to undo things that happened several centuries ago.

In fact, I am no sociologist, but I would surmise that telling cops that all of them are bastards and exposing them to budget cuts will probably make them behave with less kindness, not more. ACAB is the opposite of constructive. In my opinion, it's a toxic message with the potential to make things worse for everyone, first nations included.

All of that being said, I'm 100% in favor of body cameras that are always enabled, and stricter limits on weapons use by police.

No, they're right. And it's not just first nations people. Being a person-of-color in Canada is definitely no picnic as soon as you get out of the larger towns. I've seen quite a bit of this first hand and up close while living there.

Consider that your viewport is small enough that the rougher parts of Canadian life for minorities are invisible to you.

I believe you, and I would rather live in a larger town myself. However, I think that on this front, Canada compares very well to the US, France, the UK, Brazil, China, and Japan (known for its xenophobic culture), to name a few places. No place is perfect, but we have it better here than a lot of other places, on many fronts.

I just want to remind you that a family of four muslims was run over by a bigot in London, Ontario in the last week. And that in 2015, Harper and the CPC traded in a dog whistle for a bullhorn when he talked about “old-stock Canadians” and proposed a “barbaric cultural practices hotline” - and that party has just spent 10+ years leading the country!

Canada has some major problems with racism, and a lot of news media (particularly in the PostMedia family) is fanning those flames.

Trudeau used the term old stock too. Was that a dog whistle as well? Do we have a racist PM right now?

But that's now how you improve, by comparing yourself to the worst the world has to offer. You make it seem like Canada is doing well, it isn't.

They literally dug up 200 kids outside a residential school like a week ago.

>However, dismantling the police probably isn't going to undo things that happened several centuries ago.

The First Nations have more recent and direct issues with the police than the founding of Canada: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saskatoon_freezing_deaths

Saying Canada is “close to utopia as any country” and then when someone points out a group that repressed for centuries is not a “gotcha”.

>I also get the general impression that whoever came up with "defund the police" has anarchist inclinations. It's basically doublespeak. They keep saying that "defund the police" only means "reform the police", but what they actually want is to dismantle the police, which is exactly what "defund the police" sounds like.

In America, we get subjected to a bunch of these people saying loud and clear, "Yes, we really do mean abolish the police." And yes, a large number of them have anarchist inclinations.

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