 | Doug Plumb debates 9/11 at Centre for Inquiry (CFI), Toronto Doug Plumb, Canadian Action Party Candidate for Toronto Centre 2008, discusses the controlled demolition of the Twin Towers on 9/11 at a debate sponsored by the Center for Inquiry Ontario, in Toronto, September 12, 2008 |
 | Discourse Over Dogma II, with Gary Reid - Part 1 Discourse Over Dogma II: Canada (Not So) Free Press (part of Secularism: At Home and Abroad) Public Lecture and Discussion, with Gary Reid, columnist, Canada Free Press On Friday July 27th, the online publication Canada Free Press lost the credibility of its name by censoring one of their regular contributors, freelance journalist Gray Reid. Mr. Reid's piece entitled Throwing bad policy after bad policy was removed from the CFP website by editor Judi McLeod. His opinion piece attacked the new platform of John Tory's Conservative party which proposes to extend public funding of religious schools to all faiths in order to avoid dealing with the current discriminatory funding of Catholic schools and to appeal to religious vote banks for the upcoming provincial election. The Freethought Association of Canada (FAC) and the Centre for Inquiry Ontario (CFI-Ontario) condemn the censorship of Mr. Reid's article for going against Mrs. McLeod's individual religious and political beliefs. Mr. Reid focused on the harm that can be done to the education of children by religious schools that promote irrational and unscientific notions, such as 'young earth creationism', simply because the accepted scientific theories contradict religious dogma. That Judi McLeod acted out of her religious convictions, which she describes as "practicing Catholic" and in a betrayal of her position as editor, is evident from her reply to the article. While Mr. Reid critically discussed all three Abrahamic religions, Mrs. McLeod chose to focus on the article being "Christian bashing" and to apologize only to Christians. The article then goes on to a highly unprofessional tirade on delusions of Christian victimization, praising of belief saying "Mountains have been moved, seas have been parted, artists have inspired and people have climbed out of sick beds, thanks to the believer" and comments on Mr. Reid's "immortal soul." Justin Trottier, Director of CFI-Ontario and President of FAC, says "It is quite repulsive to see a publication which calls itself 'Canada Free Press' censor its contributors for religious and political purposes and then for the editor to remove a piece and in its place use her publication as a tool to promote her faith. Objections to Mr. Reid's controversial article could have been dealt with in Letter's to the Editor as has been done before. Recently many opinion pieces in papers such as the National Post have been demeaning the existence of atheists and yet we do not call for their censorship. I am also not sure what mountains Mrs. McLeod believes have been moved by belief. I would have thought plate tectonics had something to do with it." The FAC and CFI-Ontario urge the Canadian Free Press will realize the value of the free expression of its writers and will overturn Mrs. McLeod's decision to play Inquisitor centuries too late. To that end, a public talk and discussion on the issue of press censorship will take place at CFI Ontario on Thursday, August 30. Details TBA at www.centerforinquiry.net/toronto, or contact 416-971-5676 or jtrottier@centerforinquiry.net. |
 | Discourse Over Dogma II, with Gary Reid - Part 2 Discourse Over Dogma II: Canada (Not So) Free Press (part of Secularism: At Home and Abroad) Public Lecture and Discussion, with Gary Reid, columnist, Canada Free Press On Friday July 27th, the online publication Canada Free Press lost the credibility of its name by censoring one of their regular contributors, freelance journalist Gray Reid. Mr. Reid's piece entitled Throwing bad policy after bad policy was removed from the CFP website by editor Judi McLeod. His opinion piece attacked the new platform of John Tory's Conservative party which proposes to extend public funding of religious schools to all faiths in order to avoid dealing with the current discriminatory funding of Catholic schools and to appeal to religious vote banks for the upcoming provincial election. The Freethought Association of Canada (FAC) and the Centre for Inquiry Ontario (CFI-Ontario) condemn the censorship of Mr. Reid's article for going against Mrs. McLeod's individual religious and political beliefs. Mr. Reid focused on the harm that can be done to the education of children by religious schools that promote irrational and unscientific notions, such as 'young earth creationism', simply because the accepted scientific theories contradict religious dogma. That Judi McLeod acted out of her religious convictions, which she describes as "practicing Catholic" and in a betrayal of her position as editor, is evident from her reply to the article. While Mr. Reid critically discussed all three Abrahamic religions, Mrs. McLeod chose to focus on the article being "Christian bashing" and to apologize only to Christians. The article then goes on to a highly unprofessional tirade on delusions of Christian victimization, praising of belief saying "Mountains have been moved, seas have been parted, artists have inspired and people have climbed out of sick beds, thanks to the believer" and comments on Mr. Reid's "immortal soul." Justin Trottier, Director of CFI-Ontario and President of FAC, says "It is quite repulsive to see a publication which calls itself 'Canada Free Press' censor its contributors for religious and political purposes and then for the editor to remove a piece and in its place use her publication as a tool to promote her faith. Objections to Mr. Reid's controversial article could have been dealt with in Letter's to the Editor as has been done before. Recently many opinion pieces in papers such as the National Post have been demeaning the existence of atheists and yet we do not call for their censorship. I am also not sure what mountains Mrs. McLeod believes have been moved by belief. I would have thought plate tectonics had something to do with it." The FAC and CFI-Ontario urge the Canadian Free Press will realize the value of the free expression of its writers and will overturn Mrs. McLeod's decision to play Inquisitor centuries too late. To that end, a public talk and discussion on the issue of press censorship will take place at CFI Ontario on Thursday, August 30. Details TBA at www.centerforinquiry.net/toronto, or contact 416-971-5676 or jtrottier@centerforinquiry.net. |
 | A Life of Adventure Flying and Motorcycling Around the World My name is Ian Mathers. I am a 30 year old French Canadian originally from Montreal and currently living in Toronto who has flown airplanes and ridden motorcycles around the world. I live for adventure and my videos and thousands of pictures from around the planet document these amazing experiences. This video includes skydive footage from a Cessna Caravan, clips from my time with Beijing PanAm Academy in inner China where I worked as an airline cadet flight instructor, Sumatra and West Papua in Indonesia for Susi Air where the operations included part 135 charter, VIP, cargo and medevac in some of the most challenging flying environments in the world. Finally motorcycle pictures from across Europe and Asia. The adventures continue. More at www.worldtrip.ca |
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![Daily flights from NYC to Mont Tremblant\](images/articles/thumbs/nytremblantthumb.jpg "Daily flights from NYC to Mont Tremblant\")
