Category: Uncategorized
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Panel on Policing Protests
Law Union of Ontario 50th Anniversary Conference October 19, 2024 Remarks by Alok Mukherjee I believe it is important to examine the question of policing of protests in a broader context rather than as an issue of local policing only. Having monitored accounts of state use of law enforcement to deal with protests in Canada and…
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Signs That Make One Think
A guest blog by Arnold Minors [We are delighted to publish this guest blog and thank Arnold for permission to publish it from his unpublished book, Black Humour: Recipe for a Healthy Planet.] If you drive south on the Don Valley Parkway, you can take the Richmond Street exit to get to downtown Toronto. Near the…
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Interfaith Harmony Requires Acknowledgement of the State of Our World Today, and Collective Multi-Pronged Action
World Interfaith Harmony Week, February 1-7, 2024 City of Toronto Webinar on “Harmony in Action” February 7, 2024 Text of My Remarks Thank you for inviting me to participate in this important and timely conversation. I am honoured and humbled to be in this distinguished company. I must confess to you that for several years…
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AS WE FACE “A CRISIS OF HUMANITY,” POETRY HAS SOMETHING TO SAY TO US
“They make a desolation and call it peace.” Agha Shahid Ali, “Farewell” In a recent conversation about the continued relevance of Roman history, the distinguished historian, Margaret Beard, talked about the importance of learning from history. International institutions like the United Nations and its agencies, and laws, rules, policies, agreements, covenants and declarations are humanity’s…
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“I, that did never weep, now melt with woe that winter should cut off our spring-time so…(Henry VI, Part 3, Act II, Scene 2, 47-48)
DIA DE LOS MUERTOS – A TIME TO CELEBRATE OR TO MOURN? “The nightmare in Gaza is more than a humanitarian crisis. It is a crisis of humanity.” Antonio Guterres, UN Secretary General Alok Mukherjee “Dia de los Muertos” (or, The Day of the Dead), usually observed on November 1 and 2, is a celebration…
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Canadians Love Their Public Inquiries
Canadians have a hankering for public inquiries. Even when the facts are known, they want a public inquiry. Is this because they have so little faith in their politicians and institutions, or trust in their honesty? Or is there some deep psychological explanation? The latest demand is for a public inquiry into the mischiefs that…
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Mark Saunders: The Man Who Would be Mayor and the Challenge of Good Judgement
On May 20, Mark Saunders posted this tweet of himself posing with a group of Toronto police officers at a “32 Division Police Community BBQ.”. This is Mark Saunders, one of 100+ candidates for a political office, that of Toronto’s Mayor, and not Toronto’s Chief of Police. That’s the job he stepped down from on…
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Premier Doug Ford of Ontario Thinks High School is Enough to be a Good Police Officer, and Throws Out More Than Ten Years of Work on Police Reform
Ontario Premier Doug Ford has unleashed a national debate with his recent announcement that those seeking to become police officers in his province will neither require post-secondary education nor have to pay tuition fees for the 12-week mandatory Basic Constable Training for new recruits at the Ontario Police College. The Premier’s justification is that faced…
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Upon Seeing a Human Peeing on a Toronto Sidewalk: This in One of the World’s Wealthiest Cities, A Guest Blog by Arun Mukherjee
I was going to see a movie with my friend that day. My friend had spotted a perfect parking spot on a side street to our mutual delight. It was free and not too far from our movie theatre. As my friend began parking, we were both presented with a sight that stunned us. A woman on the…
Alok Mukherjee, The Way I See It 