Teachers Long to Retire as the System Collapses

But even post-career, wokeism can be hard to escape

Retired teacher, still called a white supremacist!

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Teachers Long to Retire as the System Collapses

But even post-career, wokeism can be hard to escape

By Igor Stravinsky (Teacher, commentator)

The one thing that keeps teachers going in these identity-obsessed times, when individual rights and responsibilities, merit, and academic and behavioral expectations have largely disappeared in schools, is the promise of retirement. A chat with a retiree is sure to lift the spirit! They are the true “survivors” whom we can hope are living the good life free of daily guilt trips — accusations of a white-supremacist and genocidal past that supposedly haunt us at every turn, continuing to deprive “marginalized Canadians” (anyone other than able-bodied whites, especially men) of a chance to succeed. Never mind that Canada is a land of great opportunity — arguably the greatest country that ever existed. That’s why millions of “marginalized” people are desperate to come and live here.

But it seems retired teachers who join the Retired Teachers of Ontario (RTO) can expect more of the same thing they experienced in the schools, as RTO is singing from the same hymnal as school boards, unions, and the Ontario College of Teachers when it comes to a Critical Theory-inspired, activist-style penchant for social justice. Teachers who sign up for RTO may just be looking for travel insurance, extended health care, or a dental plan but they will end up with a healthy dose of identity politics AKA DEI AKA wokeism, and Indigenous exceptionalism not to mention a good measure of gender ideology (more on that another day).

A recent webinar on the subject of the new Canadian Dental Plan is a good example. A former teacher may have tuned in to learn if she qualifies for the plan and what benefits she will receive should she enroll, but first she will have to sit through this message from the Chair of the RTO board of directors:

We begin today by recognizing that we are on land that has been inhabited by indigenous peoples. We thank all generations of people that have taken care of the land. It is especially important that we take the time at the beginning of our program to provide this indigenous acknowledgement. For RTO, inclusion is not a single event but rather a core value and a key part of our strategic plan. In the weeks and months ahead, we will continue to share resources to help us to continue on our learning journey. We are finding new ways to engage and support Indigenous communities. One example is our collaboration with the Indigenous Center of Toronto. I encourage each of you to take this moment of indigenous acknowledgement to reflect on your own journey of learning. Miigwech [which apparently means “thank you” in Anishinaabemowin/Ojibwe].

The entire message was then repeated in French, meanwhile the following statement was displayed on screen:

We acknowledge, recognize, and honour the Ancestral Traditional Territories on which we live and work and contributions of all Indigenous peoples to our communities and our nation.

If being forced to listen to these kinds of statements irks you, you’re not alone. Most people don’t like it, although they are not necessarily sure exactly why. Allow me to suggest some reasons this particular example is so irritating:

1. Yes, it is true that a small number of people, scattered sparsely over this enormous country eked out a living here for millennia. They lived short and very difficult lives, suffering from illnesses and painful conditions which are easily treatable today. Violence and starvation were always around the corner. Why is this something to acknowledge on a daily basis? The ancestors of Europeans lived the same tenuous existence and no one talks about it.

2. Indigenous people lived on the land but it is a stretch to say they took care of it. The fact is that if Canada had previously been uninhabited by humans when Europeans arrived it would likely have been in even better shape than it was. Maybe some of the extinct megafauna Indigenous people hunted might even still have been around. The country did not need to be “cared for” by anyone. Nature does not need humans. It’s the other way around.

3. Indigenous people exploited the resources as best they could but generally lived fairly sustainably due to their low numbers and stone-age technology. I’m really sorry so many Indigenous people died of smallpox and tuberculosis after first contact with Europeans but over the centuries millions of those Europeans had died of those diseases as well. There were no vaccines or antibiotics back in the day.

4. While I certainly do feel sorry for the abuse, racism, and injustice Indigenous people faced in the past, and agree they are entitled to compensation in factually confirmed cases, I really don’t see what I am supposed to thank them for. I respect them as human beings, but frankly, their unwillingness to socially and economically assimilate over the past few decades has been self-destructive and created major headaches for the rest of us, who moved on from how our ancestors lived decades, or even centuries ago to become productive 21st century people only to be saddled with a dependent population of Indigenous people.

5. Contemporary Indigenous people have very high rates of poverty, violence, substance abuse, domestic abuse, and child neglect among other problems. I would be thankful if their leaders could use the billions of dollars we taxpayers are handing over to them to work on reducing those rates, rather than incessantly trying to extract more rents and reparations to line their own pockets. Payments to Indigenous groups from taxpayers are going through the roof and will soon exceed what we spend on national defense. That is not sustainable, as the Indigenous “knowledge keepers” should know. If the country goes bankrupt, it will be the poor, which includes most Indigenous people, who suffer the most.

6. The RTO, as the name suggests, is an organization that is supposed to be dedicated to supporting retired teachers. Why are they looking to engage with, and support, Indigenous communities? And how is collaborating in some (unexplained, not described) way with the Indigenous Center of Toronto (actually called the Native Canadian Center of Toronto, which, oddly, was correctly identified in French) engaging with or supporting Indigenous communities? The NCCT is not a community, it’s an Non-Governmental Organization, and by the way the RTO is not listed as one of its sponsors, which include the Government of Canada, the Province of Ontario, and the City of Toronto, in other words, Canadian Taxpayers. Thus, RTO members are already paying enough, so why get on that bandwagon? If the RTO is making efforts to assist its Indigenous members, that’s great, but there’s no mention of that.

I don’t know how many of the people who joined this webinar reflected on their journey of Indigenous learning during it (as suggested) because there was no time given for that. But I have certainly reflected on mine over the years as I transitioned from a credulous believer in the mainstream narrative about Indigenous exceptionalism and victimhood to the realization that I, as a teacher, was part of a propaganda machine propping up the Indigenous Grievance Industry. All those billions are going into the pockets of a select few Indigenous leaders and their families and friends along with all their non-indigenous allies (lawyers and bureaucrats mostly, but politicians gain greatly by virtue signaling) while regular Indigenous people continue to suffer — as they must to keep the cash flowing. What a racket.

There are of course many Indigenous people who have made notable contributions to Canada, but to say that all Indigenous people have made contributions to our communities and our nation is absurd. The sad truth is that most of them are in fact producing little of value as a result of an absolutely self-serving leadership who shamelessly and parasitically siphon off taxpayers' incomes to enrich themselves and their families and friends as most Indigenous people barely manage to eke out a meagre and inadequate subsistence. Total corruption.

I wonder how many of RTO’s members are aware that a portion of their annual membership fees are going to what is essentially a charity. Teachers are generous, but like most people, prefer to direct their money to the charities they choose.

RTO’s board of directors is all white, which explains a lot. They say inclusion is a core value of their organization, so they need to deflect, because these days “inclusion” means ensuring your organization has the requisite number of people from a list of identity groups. The Board knows they can’t rely on people to be rational and realize that teachers of the cohort the board hails from were 95% white just like the country was at the time. Privileged older white people who are in the public sphere are always looking for ways to demonstrate their virtue lest they be accused of perpetuating white supremacy. You’ve got to be proactive! Optics are king.

I bet the Native Canadian Center of Toronto is doing some good for some people, but offering support to people based on their identity is a mistake. If a person is in need of help or support, the reason is social, economic, cultural factors, or often a combination. We must move towards a unified approach of providing social services for all Canadians based on need and stop pretending identity has anything to do with it. There are more underprivileged white people than any other group in this country, which makes sense since 70% of Canadians are white.

The sad truth is you are not going to find any organization out there that is not groveling at the altar of anti-racism, gender ideology, Indigenous exceptionalism, or any other social justice activist cause de jour, while eschewing individual rights and responsibilities and our common humanity. But teachers can hope that once they retire their exposure to this nonsense will at least become a bit less incessant.

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Thanks for reading. For more from this author, read Bowling for Racism

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