Michael Hurst Should Be Dismissed
Industry Canada's top Yellowknife official has just been caught being a bad boy. It seems Mr. Hurst likes to spend some of his work hours amusing himself by sending offensive e-mails. He sent one recently to 31 people inviting them to "pick" Miss Northwest Territories from four photos of naked or nearly naked women. Three of the women were young blondes. One was an older aboriginal woman. Since part of Hurst's job requires him to work with aboriginal women, Hurst has been offensive, no matter how you look at it.
I am quite sure that if someone blew the whistle on a subordinate of Hurst for the same sort of behaviour as Hurst himself indulged in, there would be an immediate dismissal. There has to be policy in place regarding the sending of hate mail from government computers, and I am quite sure it would be a strict forbidding of such action.
Hate mail is defined as correspondence that expresses the sender's animosity and prejudice. The e-mail Hurst sent wasn't forwarded because someone had a gun to the racist's head. It was sent because Hurst wanted to proliferate the disparaging attitude toward native women that the originator of the e-mail espouses. Hurst obviously shares that racist attitude.
The word "offensive" is defined as meaning "repugnant to moral sense and good taste; characterized by aggression and attack." The e-mail Hurst sent constitutes an attack on native women that should be repugnant to every Canadian, without exception. Every one should be asking themselves who Hurst might feel like victimizing next. If he will single out any one group, there is no guarantee that anyone else is safe from his aggression and hate.
As a government official, for him to be sending e-mails that show nude women is for him to publicly declare his total lack of respect for the other half of his species. For him to send the specific e-mail that he did is for to have made a public declaration of his total lack of respect for native women. He has, indeed, been a very bad boy.
In case you think I'm making light of his action, let me assure I am doing anything but. It's just that Hurst's reaction to the brouhaha resulting from the exposure of his ignorant and cavalier attitude was to say that he realizes he "made a mistake". That reminds me of the years I spent trying to teach naughty little children that to say "it was just a joke" is not a justification for a wilful action that could hurt someone else. I spent endless hours on that, every single year I was in teaching. I banged my head against that "just a joke" brick wall set up by the good ol' boys' club and sanctioned by society. I fought against the gutless-wonder principals who would do nothing more than tell some nasty little piece of work that they should apologize and then be good.
I watched as too many kids made their way toward an adulthood where they would turn out to be just like Michael Hurst, thinking that taking the offensive even further against their victim and accusing them of being unable to "take a joke" was the way to go if the target of their nastiness made so bold as to complain. They learned from principals like the useless types I worked with that mouthing empty words of apology should be more than enough. Their victim should gratefully accept the meaningless words and get the hell out of their face to they could be freed up to go about the job of looking for the next person to pick on. I can imagine Michael Hurst spent untold time in the hallowed halls making them places of torment for schoolmates, and now he's been caught continuing his hateful habit in a job that is supposed to be a position of trust.
The Status of Women Council of N.W.T., the Native Women's Association of the N.W.T., and the Yellowknife Women's Centre have all written to Industry Canada Minister Maxine Bernier. calling for Hurst's dismissal. Every Canadian over the age of majority should add their voices to the chorus. Everyone of us is either female, or has at least one female of significance in their life. We've all got a mother. Some of us have daughters. Imagine Hurst and his ilk sending photos of you yourself, or of the women significant in your life, solely for the purpose of maligning and denigrating them. How can we as a people allow such vermin to hold a government position? Raise your voice in protest, Canada. The "mistake" Hurst made should be more than enough to cost him his position of trust.
Bernier, open the windows of the Industry Ministry and let some fresh air in by kicking Hurst out.
I am quite sure that if someone blew the whistle on a subordinate of Hurst for the same sort of behaviour as Hurst himself indulged in, there would be an immediate dismissal. There has to be policy in place regarding the sending of hate mail from government computers, and I am quite sure it would be a strict forbidding of such action.
Hate mail is defined as correspondence that expresses the sender's animosity and prejudice. The e-mail Hurst sent wasn't forwarded because someone had a gun to the racist's head. It was sent because Hurst wanted to proliferate the disparaging attitude toward native women that the originator of the e-mail espouses. Hurst obviously shares that racist attitude.
The word "offensive" is defined as meaning "repugnant to moral sense and good taste; characterized by aggression and attack." The e-mail Hurst sent constitutes an attack on native women that should be repugnant to every Canadian, without exception. Every one should be asking themselves who Hurst might feel like victimizing next. If he will single out any one group, there is no guarantee that anyone else is safe from his aggression and hate.
As a government official, for him to be sending e-mails that show nude women is for him to publicly declare his total lack of respect for the other half of his species. For him to send the specific e-mail that he did is for to have made a public declaration of his total lack of respect for native women. He has, indeed, been a very bad boy.
In case you think I'm making light of his action, let me assure I am doing anything but. It's just that Hurst's reaction to the brouhaha resulting from the exposure of his ignorant and cavalier attitude was to say that he realizes he "made a mistake". That reminds me of the years I spent trying to teach naughty little children that to say "it was just a joke" is not a justification for a wilful action that could hurt someone else. I spent endless hours on that, every single year I was in teaching. I banged my head against that "just a joke" brick wall set up by the good ol' boys' club and sanctioned by society. I fought against the gutless-wonder principals who would do nothing more than tell some nasty little piece of work that they should apologize and then be good.
I watched as too many kids made their way toward an adulthood where they would turn out to be just like Michael Hurst, thinking that taking the offensive even further against their victim and accusing them of being unable to "take a joke" was the way to go if the target of their nastiness made so bold as to complain. They learned from principals like the useless types I worked with that mouthing empty words of apology should be more than enough. Their victim should gratefully accept the meaningless words and get the hell out of their face to they could be freed up to go about the job of looking for the next person to pick on. I can imagine Michael Hurst spent untold time in the hallowed halls making them places of torment for schoolmates, and now he's been caught continuing his hateful habit in a job that is supposed to be a position of trust.
The Status of Women Council of N.W.T., the Native Women's Association of the N.W.T., and the Yellowknife Women's Centre have all written to Industry Canada Minister Maxine Bernier. calling for Hurst's dismissal. Every Canadian over the age of majority should add their voices to the chorus. Everyone of us is either female, or has at least one female of significance in their life. We've all got a mother. Some of us have daughters. Imagine Hurst and his ilk sending photos of you yourself, or of the women significant in your life, solely for the purpose of maligning and denigrating them. How can we as a people allow such vermin to hold a government position? Raise your voice in protest, Canada. The "mistake" Hurst made should be more than enough to cost him his position of trust.
Bernier, open the windows of the Industry Ministry and let some fresh air in by kicking Hurst out.
1 Comments:
Do these people take these jobs just for the money? power? or to actually serve the public? This not only needs sensitivity training, but dignity and respect, and just sheer common sense. When you're in a public position, you just don't send jokes that could in anyway offend, anyone. It's that simple. This guy is just stupid and should be fired for it.
Post a Comment
<< Home