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Dispatch from the Front Line: We need an antidote, not more poison in a blue bottle
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Dispatch from the Front Line: We need an antidote, not more poison in a blue bottle

On the death of pluralism, what the CPC wants, how the views from Toronto and Calgary differ, and McGill finally finding its balls.

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Line Editor
Dec 10, 2023
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Dispatch from the Front Line: We need an antidote, not more poison in a blue bottle
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brown and black concrete building

Hello, Line readers. Just as an early heads up, though we aren’t quite there yet, we will be taking some time off over the holidays. We’ll be here the next two weeks, at least in written form, and you’ll get at least one more podcast out of us — maybe two, but that might be hard to manage given our travel schedules this holiday. Consider this a signal to our freelancers, as well: send your final pitches now, friends. The Line’s publishing year is getting down to the wire.

But for now, we remain in business. Check out this week’s video of our dispatch meeting below. Line editor Gurney was grumpy but channeled it in a mostly amusing way, we think.

The podcast version is here on our website, as always, and you can find lots of other ways to listen by clicking that link above. All the big guys are there — Spotify, Apple, and the like.

As always, please like, subscribe, leave a review, and help us in any way you can. Including by subscribing, if you haven’t already.


We at The Line had a stray thought related to Jen Gerson's column on Friday about Calgary mayor Jyoti Gondek's decision to abstain from attending a local menorah lighting ceremony because a poster advertising the event included the words "supporting Israel." 

We would like to draw a hypothetical analogy to this case, and draw from it what we can, what it means to live in a pluralistic society, and what we owe to one another within it. 

Imagine, for a moment, an Islamic jihadist blows up a train in London. Let's say we have a local Muslim community in Calgary or Montreal or Toronto respond to this tragedy with a press release that doesn't support the attacks, but calls on everyone to "support the ummah" — the brotherhood of Muslims around the world, in this difficult time. 

And let's say the mayor in one of those cities responds to this situation by pulling out of pre-arranged plans to offer a speech at the opening of that community's new mosque because he did not wish to be seen supporting Islamic terrorism. 

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