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Privilege is a word getting a lot of play these days.

Recently an intelligent, young, well-paid member of Parliament told Maxime Bernier, leader of the new Peoples Party, that he should “check his privilege.” She, a person of colour, Bernier not, meant that she was not privileged while he is.

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Similarly, an Indigenous Senator, wealthy and famous, tweeted a joke that implied that he was not a privileged person while everyone who was white was.

And, Jagmeet Singh, the NDPs leader, castigated a group of prairie residents, who had criticized one of his decisions, saying they lacked understanding because they were “privileged.” (Singh comes from a wealthy background, a young, handsome, Rolex watch-wearing lawyer who portrays himself as lacking privilege because he is not Caucasian.)

The MP, the Senator and the political leader see themselves as members of some favoured victim group, rather than the highly privileged — and extremely lucky — people they, in fact, are. How these people think is difficult to understand. When they drive their expensive cars through a Tim Hortons take-out lane and order a double-double do they really consider the minimum wage server at the window to be “privileged” just because of his white skin. Actually, my Tim Hortons example isn’t the best. I doubt that lining up for coffee is usually a part of Jagmeet’s day. More than likely, he has one of his assistants get his espresso — after fetching his gold cuff links.