Commentary
<– People gather outside the Nanaimo Daily News office on Thursday to protest a letter to the editor. (Facebook)
Well folks, there seems to be a lot of stuff out West that has got the do-gooders up in arms!
Seems a guy called Don Olsen wrote a letter to the Editor about some of the Indians in B.C., and this got the Lefties all hot and bothered to the extent that they started yelling “hate mail” and “racism” and all sorts of mean, nasty, terrible things!
Which brings us to the question: Is Don Olsen a hero for telling it like it is ………, or a Zero!
The chickenshit publisher of the newspaper that ran his letter copped out after the uproar started and said: “We should not have run the article,” (see below) which is pure bullshit because they knew exactly what was involved, and only backed away after it caused more outrage than they bargained for!
(Every article about Don after that was quick to call him all sorts of names, but nobody would print what he said …………until I finally found a copy of the article in my old Alma Mater the Georgia Straight.)
So we are going to give it to you here with the understanding that we don’t consider it “hate mail” or racist!
To be fair about the whole thing ……………, let’s say that his thoughts were a bit “harsh!” (I remember my mother telling me that you could never get in trouble for telling the truth!)
Now just so you don’t get the wrong impression about Don let me show you another well thought out article he wrote not too long ago!
From the tone of this letter it is clear that Mr. Olsen has a head on his shoulders and doesn’t just shoot from he hip……, unless, of course, you’re a dyed in the wool, frothing at the mouth, anti-pipeline environmentalist!
IT SEEMS EVIDENT TO US THAT DON OLSEN’S ARGUMENTS ARE WELL THOUGHT OUT AND RATIONAL. THAT THEY HAPPEN TO UPSET CERTAIN GROUPS IS UNFORTUNATE, BUT THAT DOESN’T GIVE THEM THE RIGHT TO TRY AND CENSOR HIM! -ED.
Seems a guy called Don Olsen wrote a letter to the Editor about some of the Indians in B.C., and this got the Lefties all hot and bothered to the extent that they started yelling “hate mail” and “racism” and all sorts of mean, nasty, terrible things!
Which brings us to the question: Is Don Olsen a hero for telling it like it is ………, or a Zero!
The chickenshit publisher of the newspaper that ran his letter copped out after the uproar started and said: “We should not have run the article,” (see below) which is pure bullshit because they knew exactly what was involved, and only backed away after it caused more outrage than they bargained for!
(Every article about Don after that was quick to call him all sorts of names, but nobody would print what he said …………until I finally found a copy of the article in my old Alma Mater the Georgia Straight.)
So we are going to give it to you here with the understanding that we don’t consider it “hate mail” or racist!
To be fair about the whole thing ……………, let’s say that his thoughts were a bit “harsh!” (I remember my mother telling me that you could never get in trouble for telling the truth!)
A public backlash is growing against a letter published by the Nanaimo Daily News.
The letter, written by Don Olsen, a Nanaimo resident who’s had other opinions published by community newspapers in the past, ran with the headline, “Educate First Nations to be modern citizens.”
It was published at the Nanaimo Daily News’ website on Wednesday (March 27) but has since been removed (the original full text appears below).
A Facebook group created in response to the letter describes it as “racist” and has called for the newspaper to print a retraction and for staff to make a public apology.
Update: Today (March 28) the Nanaimo Daily News published an “editorial clarification.” “While we would defend Mr. Olsen’s right to hold and express his opinion, the sentiments expressed were entirely his own and in no way reflect the views of the newspaper,” writes Hugh Nicholson, division manager for Vancouver Island News Group. “The letter should not have run. We apologize for any distress this may have caused our readers.”
Another letter written by Olsen and published by the Nanaimo Daily News on January 17, 2013, argues that “the public needs to know more about the real facts of conditions that exist among certain bands of the First Nations People.” It goes on to list the alleged salaries of several Canadian aboriginal leaders, and concludes, “It is my belief that if the tax paying public were to know the truth, they would certainly be less sympathetic to the Idle No More cause.” The full text of that letter can be viewed here.
What do you think about the Nanaimo Daily Times publishing such controversial views? Was deleting the March 27 letter from its website the appropriate response to the public’s reaction? Readers are encouraged to share their opinions in the comments section at the bottom of the page, and asked that discourse be kept civil.
The text of the March 27 letter appears unedited below.
It was only 12,000 years ago, or less and this should be considered; in all those years the so called First Nations:
. Never “discovered” the wheel
. Never had a written language
. Never discovered astronomy
. Had no science or scientific discoveries
. Had no mathematics
. Made no medical discoveries
. Never had written music
. Only “figured out” a drum and a rattle for musical instruments
. Had no metallurgy
. Had no sails for boats (only had canoes)
. Created virtually no mechanical devices
. Possessed almost nothing that required hard manual labour over a period of time, i.e.: building with or carving out of stone
. Made almost no inventions
. Are just in the last 200 years getting caught-up to most of the rest of the world
. Have a history that is notable only for underachievement Are these people in trouble? Yes.
Do they need help? Yes.
Are they responsible enough to look after themselves and efficiently spend the billions the tax payers give them? Certainly not.
The only way to fix this situation is to bring them into society as equals. They should be getting jobs and paying taxes like the rest of us because in reality, they are no more special than any of the other hundred or more cultures that call Canada home.
Turn off the taps. Do away with this “traditional use” and “cultural” nonsense. Educate their children to become modern citizens.
Instead of finding their identity and source of pride in some folks who occupied the land 15,000 years ago. Let them stand or fall on their own account.
Just like the rest of us have to do.
Don Olsen Nanaimo
To the Editor,
Most B.C. residents, as well as the media and both the federal and provincial NDP, have been coerced by a slick campaign to make us believe that the Enbridge pipeline and the shipping of crude oil from our ports is akin to the apocalypse and that all life would end if an oil spill should occur.
Please ponder for a moment to consider where all the information about the dangers of pipelines and oil spills is originating.
The First Nations people don’t have any knowledge of pipelines, nor do the environmentalists have the resources to fund such a campaign as we are presently experiencing.
Who would benefit most from having a ban on Canada exporting our oil offshore and reaping the benefits of world prices for our commodity?
The answer is very easy – it would be our (friend) and neighbour the United States of America, which firmly believes it should have sole rights to our oil, and all the other resources we have, at their price and their pleasure.
At this time, they are already discounting the price they pay for our oil and as we have no other place to sell it, we have to accept it and shut up.
The same thing happened to our lumber, wheat, beef, pork and coal until the federal government had the intestinal fortitude to stand up and seek new offshore markets.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper and his government tweaked onto this campaign this spring when they banned foreign funds and foreign representations to the National Energy Board, but the fox was already in the chicken coop and the seeds of the campaign were well-entrenched.
The Americans have pumped millions of dollars into funding the negative campaign and installed a host of well-educated dissenters who are busy stirring up the First Nations and kick starting the environmentalists.
While we may scoff at the thought, it is not inconceivable that the venerable CIA, which is known to work all over the world for the political and financial benefit of the U.S., may have a finger in the pie.
Who could say that the first Enbridge oil spill and the most recent spill was not triggered by that subversive group, as espionage and bombing is their trademark.
As well, the proposal to build a pipeline from the border to the refineries on the East Coast, which would have boosted our exports but was not in the best interests of the Americans’ long-term objectives, as they would prefer our product stay in the ground for future consideration, and only be used when it suited the Americans.
Canadians for the most part are quite gullible and seem to accept the words of so-called experts and don’t take the time or effort to do any investigation on their own.
Wake up B.C. and look at the facts, oil has moved across the continent and the oceans for more than a century.
Norway produces all its oil offshore and pipes it through underwater pipelines to their onshore refineries in seas that would make our West Coast waters look like a mill pond.
They control their system with little or no difficulty, as do the United Kingdom, the Philippines, Brazil, the United States and a multitude of other nations.
They all benefit from the income of their resources and I think it is time for Canada and British Columbians to do the same.
Don Olsen
Nanaimo
IT SEEMS EVIDENT TO US THAT DON OLSEN’S ARGUMENTS ARE WELL THOUGHT OUT AND RATIONAL. THAT THEY HAPPEN TO UPSET CERTAIN GROUPS IS UNFORTUNATE, BUT THAT DOESN’T GIVE THEM THE RIGHT TO TRY AND CENSOR HIM! -ED.
| m s 9034@hotmail.com 75.155.150.40 | Submitted on 2013/03/29 at 5:01 AM You are quite the pompous retard aren’t you. You don’t even know the history of how the first nations people. They were burned, murdered, raped, forcibly sterilized, forcibly assimilated into the christianity…. children were taken from them, experimented on, sterilized, abused, sexually assaulted, murdered… all in a school and church setting. Don’t you know that any history of the first nation people that is written by the invading race is all falsified like EVERY other aboriginal culture in EVERY continent??? Get your facts straight. Your race is not better than the first nations. Everyone is the same. It’s is rants like your’s that hurt human kind. It is unfortunate that things have to always cater to the lowest denominator. Wake up please, and fill your heart with love.WHAT DO YOUR COMMENTS HAVE TO DO WITH WHAT DON OLSEN WROTE ABOUT IN HIS LETTER? THEY ARE TWO DIFFERENT THINGS! YOU SEEM TO BE A LITTLE SHORT ON CRITICAL THINKING! -ED. |
 marc heibeymyriahldg@shaw.ca 96.50.25.12 | Submitted on 2013/03/29 at 2:09 AM Truth, is avoided by natives and politicians.I have been met with many wonderful native folk here, and in northern B.C. And we, in Vancouver Island south, benefit greatly by the low-cost gas pipeline installed by native employees due to ttheir income-tax exemption. Canada has not served our native brethren well. Far, far too much paternalisation. On the other hand, natives do not have to accept it. I think Mr. Olsen was a little too brutal, but not far off the mark. Racist, – no. Nanaimo newspaper, – chickenship moneygrubbers, – yes. Many years ago, (and I don’t think this applies today) in Williams Lake, an Indian Affairs federal beaurocrat came to us, and asked us why we did not hire more aboriginals. One of us arose to reply that he would hire the first to ask for a job. The beaurocrat was dumbstruck. I am sick and tired of these “Oh poor me.” minority groups, surviving off the largesse of hard-working Canadians. These, demand rights for their traditional standard of living, confronting anybody standing still, in their cowboy boots and stetsons. You want a piece of Canada, jump in, as the Chinese, East Indians, Italians, Columbians etc., etc., have done Give me a break! |
 wendy emersonwendygfbc@gmail.com 207.216.202.71 | Submitted on 2013/03/29 at 12:57 AM I agree fully about Don Olsen’s letter to the editor about the ” FIRST NATIONS”…. Get them off welfare and the reservations and treat them like any other Canadian…… |
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