Maëlys McArdle

Category: Life

Every other post.

  • Hit Weight Loss Goal

    Hit Weight Loss Goal

    After many months of work, I’ve finally reached my revised weight loss goal of 155 pounds. That’s a reduction of about fifty-five pounds from my peak, and twenty pounds since last writing about this in July. I’ve achieved this through tweaking my diet.

    No big changes. I tracked my daily intake and took away lessons whenever I greatly exceeded the amount of calories an adult of my size should have ingested in a day.

    One tactic I took was to combine foods. Instead of eating lots of pizza (bad), I’d have pizza with a side of something. Basically, I’d still get to eat what I like, but the side helped to moderate the calorie count without making me feel like I was missing out. Plus it added more diversity to my plate. I applied the same tactic to other foods like pasta and rice.

    My vegetable and to a lesser extent fruit consumption exploded as snack material. That of cheese and bread likewise went down. I started to eat breakfasts, which actually cut down my appetite for big lunches. So eating an extra meal meant I ate less.

    I took to drinking tea and coffee at work, which displaced my reliance on soda. Juice and the consumption of alcohol greatly decreased at home. I still drink it all, it’s just I’m more selective as to when.

    I never starved myself, or denied myself the foods I enjoyed. That would have ensured failure.

    I’m pretty happy with the results.

     

  • The Many Hands in the Pot of Ontario Schools

    The Many Hands in the Pot of Ontario Schools

     

    The picture of the television screen above was taken from my hotel room in Toronto a few weeks ago. The caption read “Forcing Liberal Agenda on Kids” and was referring to the new provisions in the Ontario curriculum that would make schools more inclusive for queer students. Naturally, the accompanying imagery wasn’t of children, but of a cross-dresser, and the guest invited on the show was homophobic.

    The above image, meanwhile, is a full-page advertisement that ran across the country in the National Post last month. It also speaks out against the new plans to make schools more welcoming. The Post would later apologize on the basis of the manipulative nature of the advertisement. The Toronto Sun, perhaps in reaction to this apology, decided to then run the advertisement themselves. The individual behind the ad campaign was Charles McVety, who had earlier asserted “that homosexuals prey on children.”

    During this past fall election in Ontario, the Progressive Conservatives, the official opposition party in this province, also took aim at the plans for more inclusive schools. Like the other ads, it was deeply misleading. Some of the quotes were fabrications not found in the material they cited. This is the party that came very close to being in charge of education in this province.

    In August, the Ottawa-Carleton School Board (OCSB) decided to march in Pride to show solidarity with its students. This was too much for the editors at the Ottawa Sun, which ran the news as a page 2 piece along with the above image to maximize impact. As expected, most of their readers were quite incensed and the paper was flooded with homophobic comments.

    The reality was of course quite a joyful matter, with teachers and staff showing their support for students. I took the photo above of them at Pride. Unfortunately, it isn’t just conservative media outlets and religious lobbies that have pushed against all forms of support for queer students. Some of the opposition has come from the school environment as well.

    One in three students in this province are in a school where Gay-Straight Alliances (GSAs) are banned. While much of the blame for this ban on support groups deservedly is directed towards the religious arm of this province’s education system, parents too bear some of the responsibility. As it was described of parents in a meeting at the Toronto Catholic District School Board (TCDSB) debating the non-discrimination policies introduced by the Ontario government:

    Over the course of the evening, the TCDSB heard claims that GSAs “indoctrinate” and “confuse” youth by “normalizing” a “dangerous lifestyle.” Many others demanded that any reference to “sexual orientation” be removed from the document. The sense is that if students start talking about their identity, they will begin having sex.

    The crowd was distinctly divided by age. Most of those who stood to speak were adults who argued that allowing a GSA would open the door to “sexual promiscuity and disease.”

    One parent quoted the Catholic Catechism that says gays are “objectively disordered.”

    “There is nothing wrong with telling our kids [being gay] is a dangerous lifestyle,” said another parent, who refused to give her name.

    Whereas none of the aforementioned examples of prejudice would be deemed acceptable were it racist or antisemitic in nature, it is still far too often categorized as valid criticism on matters of young students and their orientation or gender identity.

    So to simply blame bullies and educators for the difficulties of students over their orientation or gender identity ignores a significant part of the problem. Schools do not operate in a void. There are a number of organizations and individuals that are successful in preventing initiatives to make schools a healthy environment for queer students. We must come to challenge these entities as we do the bullies.

  • One step forward, one step back

    One step forward, one step back

    The new school year has come, and contrary to my hopes, LGBT students in Catholic schools are still banned from forming Gay-Straight Alliance (GSA) clubs.

    However, to satisfy the provincial government, these schools are to roll out their own groups using a framework devised by the Ontario Catholic School Trustees’ Association which is to manage the issue with a “Catholic perspective.” This is the same perspective that dictates that being gay is “intrinsically disordered and contrary to natural law.”

    I wrote about the absurdity of such a solution in a previous blog entry:

    Gay-Straight Alliances are student run clubs that provide support for students affected by LGBT issues and their allies.  The good they’ve done in making schools safer for students have been espoused over and over by the Ministry of Education.

    Meanwhile, the framework clubs came to be out of an opposition to the genuine support offered by GSAs. Not exactly a promising start. Furthermore, its mandate is being worked out by the same institution whose leadership in Ontario dictates that gay students must be viewed as intrinsically disordered. The same institution that continues to marginalize queer students, sometimes to absurd lengths.

    Imagine if an organization who believed that racial minorities were “intrinsically disordered” had decided to come up with their own version of an anti-racism club, as a means to prevent real anti-racism clubs from taking hold. I think it’s quite evident how students would not likely be served with such alternatives.

    This is a strategy of co-opting a support group as to prevent the help it would provide from reaching students. These doppelganger clubs satisfy both the requirements of the provincial government and the views of the Catholic boards, which continues its opposition to the acceptance of sexual diversity. As such, it is unlikely that we’ll see any further movement from these two organizations on the matter.

    The only ones left behind in this deal are the very ones this was supposed to be about: queer students seeking genuine support in a homophobic system.

  • Pride 2011

    Pride 2011

    What a week!

    I attended a fundraiser BBQ on Monday, a town hall meeting with my MPP on Thursday, a drag show on Friday, the Dyke march on Saturday, the Pride parade and an after-party on Sunday. I also accidentally attended two events intended for lesbians (that the ticket said “House of Venus” should have been my first clue.) It was a great week.

     

    I was also interviewed with Jay at Pride for one of the two French newspapers, Le Droit. That ended up making yesterday’s issue, in an article discussing the parade and tolerance. On that note, the lone detractor at this year’s parade was sign guy. I call him sign guy because he’s actually a staple of this city; usually protesting outside the women’s clinic or in the market.

    Speaking of tolerance: Even the Ottawa Sun, the local conservative tabloid paper is starting to come around. Granted, they still put a piece out a few weeks ago trying to link the attendance of the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board at the parade with notions of sexual perversion. But their coverage of Pride itself in yesterday’s issue was very positive in nature, and today they defended its existence to an incensed reader. Its editorialists didn’t touch the subject.

    On the subject of schools, the Ottawa Catholic School Board (OCSB) was a no-show, as expected. However, in a brave move, representatives from the student association at St Paul’s University were there. They had a poster saying “we welcome all students”, followed by another that said “shh – our administration doesn’t know we’re here!”

    I was able to talk to my MPP, Yasir Naqvi, at the town hall meeting on Thursday. I brought up the issue of Gay-Straight Alliances. As it turns out, his assistant did misspeak. Come September, GSAs will still be prohibited. I do not fault the minister for this current situation. He’s very much an ally, but bound by the will of his party. To that extent, I do fault his party for not enforcing their own equity policy.

    Back at Pride, things were vibrant and colourful.

    For the parade, we had chosen to sit down on Wellington Street, near the start. As it turns out, that’s the best place to be if you want free stuff. We got candy, a kazoo, two frisbees, buttons, lanyards, and a year’s supply of condoms.

    If you’re in town and didn’t go this year, I highly recommend you try to make it for the next one. You’ll have a blast.

  • Goodbye Jack Layton

    Goodbye Jack Layton

    Jack Layton passed away this morning at age 61. He had beat cancer, but it had come back, and unfortunately this time, he did not prevail.

    Jack was a truly charismatic individual, who never failed to stand up for those without a voice. It was in large part thanks to him that marriage equality didn’t take longer than it did in this nation. Whether it was aboriginal rights, women’s rights, gay rights, trans rights, union rights, or rights for the disabled – Jack Layton and his party were right there to support them.

    Those who disagreed with his policies still found him to be a man of conviction, loyal to his beliefs.

    After nearly a decade at the reigns of the NDP, he would take his party from a few seats to the official opposition. No one would have thought it even possible. But his tenure was cut short – just a few months after his meteoric rise, he would announce that he was temporarily stepping down to fight his cancer once more. That was this past July.

    What follows is Mr. Layton’s final letter to Canadians:

    Dear Friends,

    Tens of thousands of Canadians have written to me in recent weeks to wish me well. I want to thank each and every one of you for your thoughtful, inspiring and often beautiful notes, cards and gifts. Your spirit and love have lit up my home, my spirit, and my determination.

    Unfortunately my treatment has not worked out as I hoped. So I am giving this letter to my partner Olivia to share with you in the circumstance in which I cannot continue.

    I recommend that Hull-Aylmer MP Nycole Turmel continue her work as our interim leader until a permanent successor is elected.

    I recommend the party hold a leadership vote as early as possible in the New Year, on approximately the same timelines as in 2003, so that our new leader has ample time to reconsolidate our team, renew our party and our program, and move forward towards the next election.

    A few additional thoughts:

    To other Canadians who are on journeys to defeat cancer and to live their lives, I say this: please don’t be discouraged that my own journey hasn’t gone as well as I had hoped. You must not lose your own hope. Treatments and therapies have never been better in the face of this disease. You have every reason to be optimistic, determined, and focused on the future. My only other advice is to cherish every moment with those you love at every stage of your journey, as I have done this summer.

    To the members of my party: we’ve done remarkable things together in the past eight years. It has been a privilege to lead the New Democratic Party and I am most grateful for your confidence, your support, and the endless hours of volunteer commitment you have devoted to our cause. There will be those who will try to persuade you to give up our cause. But that cause is much bigger than any one leader. Answer them by recommitting with energy and determination to our work. Remember our proud history of social justice, universal health care, public pensions and making sure no one is left behind. Let’s continue to move forward. Let’s demonstrate in everything we do in the four years before us that we are ready to serve our beloved Canada as its next government.

    To the members of our parliamentary caucus: I have been privileged to work with each and every one of you. Our caucus meetings were always the highlight of my week. It has been my role to ask a great deal from you. And now I am going to do so again. Canadians will be closely watching you in the months to come. Colleagues, I know you will make the tens of thousands of members of our party proud of you by demonstrating the same seamless teamwork and solidarity that has earned us the confidence of millions of Canadians in the recent election. 2 To my fellow Quebecers: On May 2nd, you made an historic decision. You decided that the way to replace Canada’s Conservative federal government with something better was by working together in partnership with progressive-minded Canadians across the country. You made the right decision then; it is still the right decision today; and it will be the right decision right through to the next election, when we will succeed, together. You have elected a superb team of New Democrats to Parliament. They are going to be doing remarkable things in the years to come to make this country better for us all.

    To young Canadians: All my life I have worked to make things better. Hope and optimism have defined my political career, and I continue to be hopeful and optimistic about Canada. Young people have been a great source of inspiration for me. I have met and talked with so many of you about your dreams, your frustrations, and your ideas for change. More and more, you are engaging in politics because you want to change things for the better. Many of you have placed your trust in our party. As my time in political life draws to a close I want to share with you my belief in your power to change this country and this world. There are great challenges before you, from the overwhelming nature of climate change to the unfairness of an economy that excludes so many from our collective wealth, and the changes necessary to build a more inclusive and generous Canada. I believe in you. Your energy, your vision, your passion for justice are exactly what this country needs today. You need to be at the heart of our economy, our political life, and our plans for the present and the future.

    And finally, to all Canadians: Canada is a great country, one of the hopes of the world. We can be a better one – a country of greater equality, justice, and opportunity. We can build a prosperous economy and a society that shares its benefits more fairly. We can look after our seniors. We can offer better futures for our children. We can do our part to save the world’s environment. We can restore our good name in the world. We can do all of these things because we finally have a party system at the national level where there are real choices; where your vote matters; where working for change can actually bring about change. In the months and years to come, New Democrats will put a compelling new alternative to you. My colleagues in our party are an impressive, committed team. Give them a careful hearing; consider the alternatives; and consider that we can be a better, fairer, more equal country by working together. Don’t let them tell you it can’t be done. My friends, love is better than anger. Hope is better than fear. Optimism is better than despair. So let us be loving, hopeful and optimistic. And we’ll change the world.

    All my very best,

    Jack Layton

    Photo credit for image of the Centennial Flame on Parliament Hill belongs to Shawn Dearn.