Tim Murray by

I

Jim's Story

ntroduction: To mark Canada's 150th year as a nation, our taxpayer funded state broadcaster, the CBC, invited Canadians to "tell their story." Stories which would provide material for their Heritage Moment videos.Well, this is one man's story. Almost every man's story. But unfortunately it is not the kind of story that the CBC wants to include in its "inclusive" portrait of what it means to be a Canadian. Our protagonist, you see, is flawed. He is not an immigrant. He is not a refugee. He is not a woman of colour. And he is not a "she" — or something in between. To make matters worse, he is not a member of the Arts Community. He is not a native dancer, carver or a story-teller — or an over-rated, second-rate cultural icon who owes his celebrity to CBC promotion. Nor is he an immigration lawyer, a grievance monger, the head of an identity group or a social justice crusader.In fact, he is just an ordinary working class Canadian. That was his fatal mistake. To the CBC, if you're not marginalized, you're not interesting. If you can't produce a registered victim card, you are not the kind of Canadian that the CBC wants to hear from.But we must not allow the CBC to be the gatekeeper of stories. We must try to give "ordinary man" a voice and a platform. Here then, I give you:He did it. Jim Thatcher did it. He survived Aboriginal Month in Canada.Day after day, Jim took a pummeling. The CBC gave it all they had. They threw everything at him:Tendentious news item after tendentious news item. Heartrending human interest story after heartrending human interest story.Interview after interview with native heroes who stood up to racism, bullying and stereotyping.Constant reminders about how the residential school system impacted indigenous people, and why all of their failings can be attributed to that legacy.Allegations about racial profiling and the "carding" of urban Aboriginal residents who are being stopped by the police at higher rates than Whites. For no good reason, they tell us.Observations about the high incarceration rates of native men with the implication that they are not there for a legitimate reason. They were victims of a biased justice system. Or they were all profiled. Or if felonies were committed, well, it's all down to the legacy of residential schools and broken families.Assumptions about "systemic" racism when unequal outcomes couldn't be attributed to specific, unproven discriminatory actions. It is axiomatic that all people are created equal, right? Therefore if we don't wind up at the finish line at the same time, it can only be because some of us got a head start. It's a fix. A stacked deck.The implication is that all missing, murdered or physically abused native women are victims of White male violence rather than violent Aboriginal men on reserves. Statistics unwelcome.The claim that racism and bullying is a one-way street, that White students and White inmates cannot be on the receiving end of the same treatment. If it has not been featured on CBC news, it didn't happen.The assertion that natives have a unique affinity for nature and possess an intuitive wisdom about its ways, and that their traditional ecological "knowledge" should be accorded equal consideration and respect with "Western" science in the halls of learning.Round after round, the CBC kept up the assault. They used their left and their right. They used upper cuts and pounded the ribs. But most of the time they played the residential school card. Over and over again. It was relentless. It should have put him away.But after all of this, after a storm of punches that never let up, Jim Thatcher remained standing. Battered, bruised and exhausted, he simply refused to go down for the count.He refused to apologize for what previous generations had done. He refused to disavow his European heritage. He refused to apologize to "First" Nations for the theft of their lands when First Nations tribes refuse to apologize for the ethnic cleansing and displacement of other tribes. He refused to renounce the "cultural appropriation" of native stories while natives bask in the cultural appropriation of modern medicine, written language and science. He refused to bow and bend and genuflect to a state anointed god. A deified people whose ways and beliefs cannot be questioned. Chanting, beating drums and guilt-tripping had no effect on him. Jim would not go down.Like the legendary George Chuvalo who endured Mohammed Ali's jabs for 15 rounds at Maple Leaf Gardens, Jim Thatcher is a Canadian hero. A home-grown patriot who will stand up to Cultural Marxist propaganda for however long. As long as it takes.If only all Canadian taxpayers were so resilient. If only they too realized that the CBC not only spins the news, but more crucially, omits it as well. The truth is out there. But it is not for the lazy to find.Meanwhile, the CBC is losing more and more of its market share, and is suffering a decline in absolute numbers. In the last quarter century, it has lost two thirds of its viewers. Without public subsidies and the mutual back-scratching relationship it has with the identity groups it promotes, the CBC would no doubt be sliding on a steeper down slope.We can't compel the political class to bite the hand that feeds it. We can't hold our collective breath to wait for a governing political party to sell it off. But what we can do is do what Jim did. We can let the punches roll off of us. So do what you have to do to make it to the bell. Ignore their message. Don't succumb to their spin and lies of omission. Stop believing. And spread the word:I am a White male Canadian of European ancestry who was born in this country.I am indigenous. As indigenous as it gets. Just as indigenous as you are, Charlie Greyhorse.