"The Toronto District School Board had hired the KOJO Institute to provide four two-hour diversity, equity, and inclusion training sessions to its administrators—for nearly $61,000."
How on earth is 8 hours worth 61K? I mean I know there is prep work involved, but even @ $500.00/hr, that is a total of 122 hours, so 118 hours of prep time?? And $500.00 an hour is still very high in my opinion...that is asinine!
But the saddest part, is a man commits suicide because of this, and they turn around and accuse the right media of weaponizing his suicide? How callous can you get? Don't get me wrong, the suicide is NOT the KOJO Institutes responsibility, in my opinion - we all have shit happen to us, and we have to learn to deal with it. Suicide is not the way out of any kind of problem, but for KOJO to use the response to his death to fuel their argument is very cold, and cruel.
Irrelevant and I doubt you're aware of the particulars of TDSB service procurement. This is a one-off training session for a school division, not a federal government contract that runs over the next two decades. Open tender was likely overkill.
Please elaborate on my uncorrectedness...I am absolutely correct. I was in the IT department...if we ordered 500 computers, and just picked one company without tendering...you can bet that would hit the news pretty fast, if someone caught wind of that.
If you worked for a public school division in Canada then you know that trade agreement thresholds exist, and you know why they exist.
Contrary to your assertion, not all procurement is subject to open tender (because nothing would ever get done). You can engage honestly (you did not have any fiduciary duty within any public SD in Canada) or not at all.
People commit suicide only because they are mentally ill. Take responsibility for your actions and your mental health. The buck stops with you. It is 100% unnatural to have thoughts of suicide, and indeed committing suicide is a mortal sin. It could even be considered tantamount to heresy, depending on your philosophical position on free will.
Richard Bilkszto killed himself because he was mentally ill, and now his family and legal counsel are milking that mental illness for monetary benefit.
"People commit suicide only because they're mentally ill". Really? You think it's that simple? Apparently he wasn't mentally ill before this incident. Obviously we can't really know for sure, but available evidence would imply that's the case. The lawsuit was filed before his death, not because if it.
The grift here, in my opinion, is the DEI consultants.
I don't think you read my comment. I already said that suicide is not the way out of any problem, and said that the suicide was not KOJO's fault (per se)...I mean chances are that he already was struggling internally - maybe unbeknownst to anyone. Like I said, we all go through shit, but that doesn't mean we bail on life, which means leaving our loved ones to mourn us. That's not fair to them. Anyways, was he bullied, yes, was it wrong, yes, did they contribute to any anxiety he had, yes, are they to blame for his suicide, not sure I would go that far.
Surprisingly, I agree with much of this, except I’m not sure why you refer to supporters of BLM as a ‘loud minority’. From all data I’ve seen, especially from polling taken at the time, back in 2020-21, the BLM movement was supported by a very comfortable majority of people in Canada, USA and beyond. I mean, “black lives matter” is not really that hard to get behind as an idea, is it?
Also odd to dismiss 80% of Canadians who want to institute similar gun controls to those practiced virtually everywhere in the western world (outside the United States of Yee-Haw).
I also suspect that the back story to this teacher’s tragic death is a little more complex than was presented in the brilliantly written article from Mr. Murdoch’s widely-respected, ever-dependable, honest and virtuous-beyond-reproach New York Post.
The "comfortable majority" that supported BLM early on got smaller and smaller as the riots continued. I think it's difficult to know what the numbers really were because how many people who disagreed felt comfortable enough to stand up and say that? Of course their stated cause is worth getting behind, as is diversity, equity, and inclusion assuming those things mean what we think they mean. The problem is that they don't.
“As the riots continued”? Oh, dear. Someone’s been mainlining Fox news and Tucker Carlson? Yes, the conservative narrative around BLM definitely had an impact on opinions over time, (though I think that change took place long after “the riots”) and among certain online communities those three letters ‘BLM’ are equivalent to pedophile marxist Jewish genital mutilation Lol.
I completely agree that middle class liberals often talk the talk but don’t walk the walk, this has been a problem since the civil rights era. If there’s one thing the left and right can agree on it’s that liberals are generally annoying and useless, but that doesn’t invalidate the causes they claim to support, and we certainly shouldn’t say something is wrong just because white people support it, for example.
You linked to an article showing the demographics of protestors… do they skew ‘comfortable”? Do they even skew “white”? they look pretty much like the general demographics of the cities in which they were held. It is a very popular movement, and you don’t have to be black to believe that cops shouldn’t summarily execute people on the street.
To say that diversity, equity, and inclusion don’t mean what they mean is rather reductive, isn’t it? What do you base that on? Because this stupid woman bullied a guy on Zoom call?
I think the words still mean what they mean to most of us.
I don't watch Fox or Tucker. I'm way too busy for that.
BLM was the flavour of the month. It brought awareness to some important issues, but their own corruption undermined much of what they sought to change.
DEI does not want diversity because there's no tolerance for any dissenting opinions at all. It's all about race and to assume that all black people think the same way is kind of... racist.
Equity only works for them by unequal treatment of certain groups.
Inclusion? This is the most exclusive group on the planet. As I mentioned, there is no tolerance for any deviation from their principles at all. Richard Bilkszto was a progressive and a gay man who was initially totally supportive of these sessions he was a part of.
This is not a "one off" incident. This is exactly how it works. Just because few people seem to push back on it shouldn't be taken as acceptance. That's changing.
So no, the words don't mean what we think they mean.
Well, you should check out Tucker Carlson sometime, you would love his stuff.
Yes, the corruption among a group who seem to have branded themselves as ‘BLM’ was one of the things that turned public opinion against the acronym (though it’s still supported by a majority of people). It was the conservative media that went to great lengths to conflate that group of people with the movement itself.
There are always people who will use a moment or a popular idea like that to run a scam though, that’s nothing new. You yourself could start a company, name it ‘BLM’ and start defrauding people, if you were that way inclined.
I agree with what you’re saying about DEI 'training’ as it relates to this case (as far as it was reported) or any similar case, but you then seem to making quite a jump by implying that anyone who supports these ideas: diversity, equity or inclusion is some kind of bully like the one in the story. I don’t think that’s true.
Actually, I've seen a couple of his episodes about Trudeau. Those were frickin' hilarious, so I can certainly see the draw.
This is far from the only instance of this BS. It's just the most extreme one that I'm aware of. Remember that a lot of people who go through this don't say anything for fear of more harassment - they just suck it up and try to rebuild.
Of course diversity is good. So is equity and inclusion, but why at this point does anyone with a brain believe that this is what they really mean when they say these words?
Diversity in this context has nothing to do with anything other than race. Do you really believe that people are that shallow. Are all black people the same? Do they all think alike? Pretty sure if I were to make that statement, I'd be called out as racist.
What's equity? Everyone being treated the same? Obviously not.
And who the heck is still under the delusion that this in an inclusive bunch? This the most exclusive crowd on the planet.
They can call themselves whatever they want, but I'm much more interested in what they actually do.
You have the critical thinking skills of an elementary school student, Ken. Your time would be better spent disclosing these thoughts to a licensed therapist.
There is such a thing as intelligent, civil discussion (even between people that disagree - what a concept!). You, apparently don't possess those skills :)
Calling someone down, and saying that their skills are years younger than they are (essentially calling them stupid), in an effort to insult them is not being civil.
From the article about Richard Bilkszto:
"The Toronto District School Board had hired the KOJO Institute to provide four two-hour diversity, equity, and inclusion training sessions to its administrators—for nearly $61,000."
How on earth is 8 hours worth 61K? I mean I know there is prep work involved, but even @ $500.00/hr, that is a total of 122 hours, so 118 hours of prep time?? And $500.00 an hour is still very high in my opinion...that is asinine!
But the saddest part, is a man commits suicide because of this, and they turn around and accuse the right media of weaponizing his suicide? How callous can you get? Don't get me wrong, the suicide is NOT the KOJO Institutes responsibility, in my opinion - we all have shit happen to us, and we have to learn to deal with it. Suicide is not the way out of any kind of problem, but for KOJO to use the response to his death to fuel their argument is very cold, and cruel.
Yes, it's hard to believe. In fact, the KOJO institute was the only one even offered that contract. The TDSB didn't even bother asking for bids.
Irrelevant and I doubt you're aware of the particulars of TDSB service procurement. This is a one-off training session for a school division, not a federal government contract that runs over the next two decades. Open tender was likely overkill.
I used to work for a school division. Everything HAS to be tendered for a couple of reasons...
1. It has to be fair to other tax payers in the area that can offer similar services.
2. They have to get the best dollar value to respect their tax payers.
So no, the amount paid and the fact that it was not tendered is not irrelevant.
That's incorrect.
Please elaborate on my uncorrectedness...I am absolutely correct. I was in the IT department...if we ordered 500 computers, and just picked one company without tendering...you can bet that would hit the news pretty fast, if someone caught wind of that.
If you worked for a public school division in Canada then you know that trade agreement thresholds exist, and you know why they exist.
Contrary to your assertion, not all procurement is subject to open tender (because nothing would ever get done). You can engage honestly (you did not have any fiduciary duty within any public SD in Canada) or not at all.
Cheers.
I don't think it's irrelevant at all when you're spending tax dollars.
People commit suicide only because they are mentally ill. Take responsibility for your actions and your mental health. The buck stops with you. It is 100% unnatural to have thoughts of suicide, and indeed committing suicide is a mortal sin. It could even be considered tantamount to heresy, depending on your philosophical position on free will.
Richard Bilkszto killed himself because he was mentally ill, and now his family and legal counsel are milking that mental illness for monetary benefit.
It's a grift, and not a very good one at that.
"People commit suicide only because they're mentally ill". Really? You think it's that simple? Apparently he wasn't mentally ill before this incident. Obviously we can't really know for sure, but available evidence would imply that's the case. The lawsuit was filed before his death, not because if it.
The grift here, in my opinion, is the DEI consultants.
If he killed himself, he was mentally ill. Suicide is a wholly irrational undertaking.
I don't think you read my comment. I already said that suicide is not the way out of any problem, and said that the suicide was not KOJO's fault (per se)...I mean chances are that he already was struggling internally - maybe unbeknownst to anyone. Like I said, we all go through shit, but that doesn't mean we bail on life, which means leaving our loved ones to mourn us. That's not fair to them. Anyways, was he bullied, yes, was it wrong, yes, did they contribute to any anxiety he had, yes, are they to blame for his suicide, not sure I would go that far.
Nobody is to blame for Richard's actions but Richard.
Surprisingly, I agree with much of this, except I’m not sure why you refer to supporters of BLM as a ‘loud minority’. From all data I’ve seen, especially from polling taken at the time, back in 2020-21, the BLM movement was supported by a very comfortable majority of people in Canada, USA and beyond. I mean, “black lives matter” is not really that hard to get behind as an idea, is it?
Also odd to dismiss 80% of Canadians who want to institute similar gun controls to those practiced virtually everywhere in the western world (outside the United States of Yee-Haw).
I also suspect that the back story to this teacher’s tragic death is a little more complex than was presented in the brilliantly written article from Mr. Murdoch’s widely-respected, ever-dependable, honest and virtuous-beyond-reproach New York Post.
The "comfortable majority" that supported BLM early on got smaller and smaller as the riots continued. I think it's difficult to know what the numbers really were because how many people who disagreed felt comfortable enough to stand up and say that? Of course their stated cause is worth getting behind, as is diversity, equity, and inclusion assuming those things mean what we think they mean. The problem is that they don't.
“As the riots continued”? Oh, dear. Someone’s been mainlining Fox news and Tucker Carlson? Yes, the conservative narrative around BLM definitely had an impact on opinions over time, (though I think that change took place long after “the riots”) and among certain online communities those three letters ‘BLM’ are equivalent to pedophile marxist Jewish genital mutilation Lol.
I completely agree that middle class liberals often talk the talk but don’t walk the walk, this has been a problem since the civil rights era. If there’s one thing the left and right can agree on it’s that liberals are generally annoying and useless, but that doesn’t invalidate the causes they claim to support, and we certainly shouldn’t say something is wrong just because white people support it, for example.
You linked to an article showing the demographics of protestors… do they skew ‘comfortable”? Do they even skew “white”? they look pretty much like the general demographics of the cities in which they were held. It is a very popular movement, and you don’t have to be black to believe that cops shouldn’t summarily execute people on the street.
To say that diversity, equity, and inclusion don’t mean what they mean is rather reductive, isn’t it? What do you base that on? Because this stupid woman bullied a guy on Zoom call?
I think the words still mean what they mean to most of us.
I don't watch Fox or Tucker. I'm way too busy for that.
BLM was the flavour of the month. It brought awareness to some important issues, but their own corruption undermined much of what they sought to change.
DEI does not want diversity because there's no tolerance for any dissenting opinions at all. It's all about race and to assume that all black people think the same way is kind of... racist.
Equity only works for them by unequal treatment of certain groups.
Inclusion? This is the most exclusive group on the planet. As I mentioned, there is no tolerance for any deviation from their principles at all. Richard Bilkszto was a progressive and a gay man who was initially totally supportive of these sessions he was a part of.
This is not a "one off" incident. This is exactly how it works. Just because few people seem to push back on it shouldn't be taken as acceptance. That's changing.
So no, the words don't mean what we think they mean.
Well, you should check out Tucker Carlson sometime, you would love his stuff.
Yes, the corruption among a group who seem to have branded themselves as ‘BLM’ was one of the things that turned public opinion against the acronym (though it’s still supported by a majority of people). It was the conservative media that went to great lengths to conflate that group of people with the movement itself.
There are always people who will use a moment or a popular idea like that to run a scam though, that’s nothing new. You yourself could start a company, name it ‘BLM’ and start defrauding people, if you were that way inclined.
I agree with what you’re saying about DEI 'training’ as it relates to this case (as far as it was reported) or any similar case, but you then seem to making quite a jump by implying that anyone who supports these ideas: diversity, equity or inclusion is some kind of bully like the one in the story. I don’t think that’s true.
Actually, I've seen a couple of his episodes about Trudeau. Those were frickin' hilarious, so I can certainly see the draw.
This is far from the only instance of this BS. It's just the most extreme one that I'm aware of. Remember that a lot of people who go through this don't say anything for fear of more harassment - they just suck it up and try to rebuild.
Of course diversity is good. So is equity and inclusion, but why at this point does anyone with a brain believe that this is what they really mean when they say these words?
Diversity in this context has nothing to do with anything other than race. Do you really believe that people are that shallow. Are all black people the same? Do they all think alike? Pretty sure if I were to make that statement, I'd be called out as racist.
What's equity? Everyone being treated the same? Obviously not.
And who the heck is still under the delusion that this in an inclusive bunch? This the most exclusive crowd on the planet.
They can call themselves whatever they want, but I'm much more interested in what they actually do.
You have the critical thinking skills of an elementary school student, Ken. Your time would be better spent disclosing these thoughts to a licensed therapist.
There is such a thing as intelligent, civil discussion (even between people that disagree - what a concept!). You, apparently don't possess those skills :)
I'm being perfectly civil.
Calling someone down, and saying that their skills are years younger than they are (essentially calling them stupid), in an effort to insult them is not being civil.