Egale Canada honours the architect of Mike Harris's Common Sense Revolution
June 5, 2009 - 4:45pm
"Egale Canada, a national organization whose mission is to 'advance equality and justice for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and trans-identified people and their families,' is presenting its first ever leadership award to Jaime Watt, one of the main architects of Mike Harris's 'Common Sense Revolution.' Watt is also Egale's benefactor and landlord: his consulting firm, Navigator, donates office space to Egale."
Egale Canada loses its direction.
That is incredibly disappointing.
Hey...it's FREE RENT! What more could you ask for your soul?
Egale lost its soul when it teamed up with the CJC, the Muslim Canadian Congress (yeah!), and some so-called Hindu group to demand that Shaikh Ul-Haq be banned from entering Canada. When I wrote to ask them why they had done so (based on accusations from the Islamophobic CCD), they replied basically saying that it was important to reach out and build links with other communities. Those who do not stand up for the rights of others will inevitably find themselves alone when their rights come under attack.
All downhill at EGALE since Gilles Marchildon left.
Sad news, especially since the Common Sense Revolution hit the LGBT community hard. What were they thinking? Was the money really worth their loss of credibility?
Any chance that Jaime Watt is a closet gay that they are outing?
Watt came out some time ago, i think.
Xtra: Gay leaders denounce Egale award to Jaime Watt
"He was one of the architects of the Harris common-sense revolution," he says. "There was tremendous damage to infrastructure that most gays depend on. There were cuts to schools that set back anti-homophobia education by years. They closed hospitals that people with AIDS use. Jaime was on board for all that.
...
"Egale can give its fucking award to anyone they choose," [Peter Bochove] says, "but I'll be absolutely damned if I would give it to someone like Jaime Watt, no matter what they did to further the right to same-sex marriage. If that's the criteria, give it to Brent Hawkes. He was named to the Order of Canada, he's not good enough for Egale? I can think offhand of more than 100 people better qualified than Watt."
I'll be asking my union why they were a major sponsor of this awards gala, to honour a man who vilified and attacked us for years.
Please tell us what they tell you, if anything.
Any chance that Jaime Watt is a closet gay that they are outing?
Jaime's been out for decades.
I don't think that he was really the architect of anything other than a communications/advertising strategy. He's not a policy guy, but he'll sell anything that he's asked to sell.
Ostensibly, they are honouring him for pushing the Harris/Eves government to comply with a Supreme Court ruling (which they did with the poetically named "An Act to comply with the ruling of the Supreme Court".
Watt is apparently the chair of Casey House, a major AIDS hospice in Toronto founded by June Callwood. And he was co-chair of the Human Rights Campaign, a gay rights advocacy group.
Is he the MOST worthy of the honour? I doubt it. I'm sure he's a big fundraiser and that's the main reason. But he hardly seems like some right wing fanatic who is against the cause of gay rights, especially, if he's gay himself.
Yeah, I don't have a problem with Egale honoring him in some way and at some point because he actually has done a lot when it comes to equal marriage etc...BUT, if I were Egale I would not give him this honor when its the very first time that the award is being given.
Groups that rely on private donations - whether they are advocacy groups like Egale, hospitals, universities, etc. - tend to give their big honours to people who give or raise a lot of money, not necessarily to people who've done the most important on-the-ground work.
For example, I work at a hospital affiliated with a university and when you walk around both the hospital and campus, msot of the buildings, wings, libraries, etc. are all named after people who've given money, not after professors, doctors, etc. I guess I figure that if that helps them take in much-needed money, then why not? I know that my research wouldn't be possible without people giving. If naming something after them or presenting them with an award encourages this, then so be it.
Hi first time making a rabble comment (long time listener) but felt it was important to point out that around the time Watt was supporting Jim Flaherty's bid to become the new leader of the Ontario PC party I saw Flaherty speak at this rally. http://twitpic.com/6qrmn
Maybe Jimmy was cool with Jamie being gay but I was at this anti-gay rally and so I didn't have the privledge of knowing the political strategy - I just got to experience the hate.Like the guy who approached our counter-protest and screamed that we "stay away from his children!"
Anyway, an advocacy group like EGALE is completely different than a hospital so, sorry Star Spangled, I understand your point but it doesn't seem to apply in the case of a group like this - at all.
Welcome, Union Stayshyn! Glad you delurked. :)
Thanks, though I'm wondering if I've made a mistake using my real name here. I've become accustomed to Twitter where I only follow those that use their real names. While I'd love to contribute more to Babble, I'm not a fan of message boards with anonymous contributers. Particularly with a discussion around an issue like this one.
Well, it's up to you. :) I wondered when I saw your post here if you were UnionSt on Twitter!
Anyhow, we recognize that a lot of people feel uncomfortable with putting too much information online - especially about their politics - under their real name, and that's why we allow anonymity here. Also, as people feel more close to the community, they might share personal anecdotes that they might not feel comfortable sharing in cyberspace under their real names.
So, on balance, we feel that there are more advantages than drawbacks to allowing anonymity.
We need to look beyond gay marriage to evaluate someone's commitment to gay rights. Let's think about all the gay kids kicked out of their homes and ineliglbe for student welfare because of Harris. Think about all the transexual people who had funding for their surgeries cancelled in the middle of the process under Harris.
Just because he gave money to fight for his right to marry doesn't mean he did anything for the rest of us. I'm sure he's not homophobic, but he didn't show any leadership by continuing to work for people who attacked our community, as UnionStayshyn has just shown.