Profiles in Courage

This story is actually a couple months old. But I think it's worth bringing up ever so briefly.

Meet Malala Yousafzai. In July, she spoke to a UN youth assembly -- at which General Secretary Ban-Ki Moon was present -- about her experiences being shot by the Taliban for the "crime" of going to school. By the grace of God she survived the ordeal, and is not backing down from her oppressors:
On the other hand, meet Brigette DePape. She's the attention-seeking human bobblehead who held up a "Stop Harper" sign while the Governor General. And she's been quite pleased with any amount of attention she's gotten since.
So let's compare these two young women: Yousafzai was shot in the head by the Taliban, yet she still stands up to them. She was doing nothing to court or provoke them, she did nothing to seek attention. DePape, on the other hand, goes out of her way to attract attention. She is never harmed -- although she is fired for deliberately violating the terms of her employment. Moreover, she does this in a room full of people who are duty-bound to not harm her.

One of these things is not like the other. One of these two young women has courage. But regardless of what the Council of Canadians would have you believe, it isn't DePape.

Perhaps Brigette DePape has what the soft, comfortable Canadian far-left considers courage. But compared to the courage possessed by Malala Yousafzai, it becomes clear that isn't courage at all. It is, at best, naked opportunism not-so-convincingly disguised as courage.

Fortunately, only the soft, comfortable, opportunistic far-left fell for this one.

"Steve" Could Be Anybody

You may have seen this: as Idle No More protesters illegally blockaded the Queen Elizabeth II highway south of Edmonton, the RCMP folded their cards. In the face of a mere 23 protesters, they instead began to divert traffic around the blockade -- through Nisku and probably through Beaumont. I've taken that detour myself before, and it's not a pleasant experience.

And while the RCMP simply allowed self-righteous criminality to paralyze one of Canada's busiest highways, one man stood up to them, largely alone. His name was Steve:


Now there are a lot of things that could be said about "Steve." (Just "Steve.") You could say that he's not necessarily an eloquent man. You could say that he's angry. You could say that, when pushed to his limit, he just wasn't going to take it any more.

You could say he's like a lot of us.

Why anybody could be "Steve." He could be any old "Steve." It reminded me of this scene from The Dark Knight Rises:


"The idea was to be a symbol," Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale) tells Blake (Joseph Gordon-Levitt). "Batman could be anybody."

That, naturally, is the genius of "Steve." And even as a lot of people must certainly be hoping that he comes forward again to identify himself, it's my personal hope that he doesn't. And my belief that he won't. Because "Steve" isn't the fake hunger striker Theresa Spence or vapid human bobble head Brigette DePape. He isn't doing this to get attention for himself. He didn't do what he did to become famous. He did it to make a point.

And if "Steve" could be anybody, then anybody could be "Steve." Everybody could be "Steve."

I don't want to indulge my inner John Ackers here and suggest that absolutely everybody should emulate "Steve." Merely that those of us concerned about the rise of such self-righteous and entitled lawlessness as the Idle No More blockades should look within ourselves and decide if we have it in us to take a stand like "Steve" did, do it as peacefully as "Steve," and muster the humility to do it as anonymously as "Steve."

Because Canada needs fewer Brigette DePapes and far fewer Theresa Spences. But Canada needs far more "Steves." And "Steve" could be anybody. Anybody at all.

Call It the DePape Factor

All across Canada, a virulent new strain of leftism is emerging: the kind of left-winger who just wants to be famous.

They don't necessarily need to have a particularly novel or insightful idea in order to do it. All they need to do is find a way to put themsleves in the spotlight. If they can successfully do it, left-wing organizations across the country will dig deep into someone else's pockets -- labour unions, university student unions, or the government -- to fly them in to speak.

It doesn't matter if all they do is spout the same boring, mindless left-wing boilerplate as every other left-winger in the country. It's a great way to manage to do a lot of travelling for free.

Take, for example, the case of Brigette DePape. DePape is also known as the "Stop Harper" girl, who lost her job as a Senate page because she abused her job to make a political statement. It turned out to be one of the most empty and vapid political statements to find public traction in decades. DePape was hailed as a hero by Canada's far-left when she disrespected Canada's democratic institutions and held up a "Stop Harper" sign during the Speech From the Throne.

The banality of her message did absolutely nothing to dissuade the left from holding DePape up as some kind of luminary. Various organizations began to roll out the red carpet for DePape, flying her around the country. Despite having never had an original thought in her head, DePape has made out quite well from her little "stop Harper" stunt.

Now Edmonton resident Bashir Mohamed is taking his turn. At a Conservative Party fundraising BBQ in Edmonton, Mohamed paid $40 to get into the event, just so he could pop up in the middle of Jason Kenney's speech to shout him down.

He claims he was simply trying to ask Kenney a question. But none of those present at the event seem to recall him asking a question, and instead recall that Mohamed just started "screaming" at Kenney.

It's basically a repeat of some medical students who interrupted Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver at one of his press conferences. The subject, as for Mohamed, was some recent cuts to healthcare programs for refugees. The Conservative government has moved to cut off benefits for unsuccessful applicants, and reserve those benefits for successful applicants. It makes perfect sense.

Unless you're a doctor who's about to see some of his billing hours undercut, or a university student who just wants to be famous. Then it's an absolute outrage.

Canadians can look forward to seeing more of Mohamed over the next few days. If he's anything like DePape, he'll be seen on TV, with a self-satisfied smile on his face, pleased at just how famous he's managed to make himself, and looking forward to all the perks that comes with that kind of fame.

It's hard to believe that Brigette DePape's particular streak of narcissism is entirely unique to her. What kind person might be this particular brand of narcissistic? How about someone who shows up to a Jason Kenney event determined to make it all about themselves?

The Disingenuous Brigette DePape Doesn't Really Like the Winnipeg Jets

The Square Root of Jackassery...

...is jackassery. Tony Clement was being dumb, so was the kid. The difference is that we expect this kind of silliness out of kids.

All the same, 15-year-old Keith Pettinger seems to be passing his audition to be the next Brigette DePape... and he's already thrice as relevant!