Rachel Notley and Racism

The incriminating picture.

Rachel Notley is accusing Jason Kenney of whistling at passing dogs because two Conservative candidates were photographed in a restaurant or pub with members of the Soldiers of Odin. The candidates themselves say they had no idea what the SOO's views were when they posed with them for the picture.

We have to get rid of this “dog whistle” business. It can be used to accuse anyone of anything. People are responsible for what they say, not what you imagine. If you are hearing things nobody else is hearing, the problem is yours alone.

But I also have difficulty with the idea that politicians are in trouble for merely beng seen with people—presumably constituents—of any conceivable political views. Political discourse, and therefore democracy, is not possible, if certain views are ruled not permissible even to be heard or acknowledged in public, without ever being examined or discussed. This is “Are you now or have you ever been...” territory. If we never hear them, then, for all we know, it is the best ideas that are being suppressed, for the benefit of some dishonest elite. As a good general principle, if you believe you are right, you want open debate. You can only benefit. If you believe you will lose any open debate, that is when you want views suppressed.

Accordingly, if Rachel Notley is trying to prevent us all from even hearing the views of the Soldiers of Odin, we all have a civic duty to find out what they are and what they believe.

So I tried to track down the Soldiers of Odin web presence. The Canadian group does not seem to have a web page, and the Finnish parent group does not show up in an English search, but I found a Facebook page. In “about,” it simply says “SOO Canada is a non profit organization that helps their local communities with charity, good will and believes in our charter of rights and freedoms.”

So, leaving aside “dog whistles,” what they actually say is pretty inoffensive to anyone.

The name itself may say something else: it suggests paganism. As Christian, I would not join on this basis. Paganism is amoral. I also dislike their logo and their leather jacket look. Has a sinister feel.

But does it suggest racism? That is, Odin being a Norse god, is it targeted against those not of Norse ancestry? Immigrants, as such, say?

One might imagine so, but this is not plausible. The group apparently began, and is headquartered, in Finland. Finns themselves are not Norse. Nor is Odin a traditional god of Finland.

So if the reference is meant to be racist, the group stands in opposition to themselves.

And the Conservative candidates with whom they were happily posing in the Edmonton pub were, apparently, themselves Metis and Cree. Plausibly pagan, but not terribly Norse.

Interestingly, the Canadian “Soldiers of Odin” group has nevertheless even officially disassociated themselves from the Finnish original organization, on the grounds that the latter is racist. Even though the latter insists that they in turn have no interest in race.

It gets a little crazy at this point. It looks as though everybody is so opposed to the very idea of racism that, whenever they disagree with someone else, they call them racist as an effort to discredit them. It seems to equate in the popular mind with calling them “bad.”

As a result, all the best ideas are now being designated as “racist.” And nobody knows what racism actually means any more.

This is an ideal way to promote racism. And Rachel Notley is doing it.