I had – at least what I think was – a funny idea for this week’s last word. However, a story came to my attention this week, which I found to be distressing at best and would be remiss if I didn’t address it and instead took up this page with something relatively meaningless. 

What the Gil family has endured over the past decade is simply cruel and unnecessary. The protracted assault that vandals have waged on the Gil’s home and family is not being waged by transients, every local’s favourite culprit because ‘It can’t be our good wholesome Jasper kids’ – but rather by local vandals. On a side note, until the community starts admitting that locals are responsible for some if not most of the petty vandalism, the roots of the problem will never be sufficiently addressed. 

For their school-aged son, I can only begin to empathize with his situation, as I too was a minority – albeit religious, not visible – during my school days. To stand your ground against the contemptuous ideas and slanders of these bullying bigots takes real courage. These aren’t your ‘I’m taking your lunch money’ bullies, but rather they are the ‘I’m taking your lunch money (insert racial epithet here)’ bullies. 

It is likely these bullies know they are being hurtful, but because they lack information and understanding at their young age, they cannot possibly know how hurtful their words are. 

I find it hard to believe that the schools are ultimately responsible for the acts of a few bad apples – not to mention the high quality of Jasper’s teaching staff. As bigotry is learned, it is more likely that the parents of these bullies are responsible not only for their behaviour, but their ill-informed beliefs (and keep in mind I think that I’m being very generous in this appraisal). 

These parents would be wise to remember a few things: 

– We’re all immigrants at some point in our lineage, so making fun of somebody for being an ‘immigrant’ is nonsense. There is only Canadian, not Canadian-plus as far as citizenship is concerned. 

– Every single person that has ever immigrated to Canada came to make a better life for themselves and their families, a fact we all ought to realize and never forget. 

– If you lived outside of Jasper, say in Toronto, you may be less apt to raise prejudiced children and/or your children may be less inclined to adopted prejudicial beliefs because by 2017, white people will be the minority. 

– The Gil family is deserving of some peace and quiet, so I would hope that the bullying of their son and the vandalism perpetrated against their home does not increase as a result of broaching the issue here. 

Jasper purports to be an inclusive, accepting and progressive community, but in this case, Alberta’s stereotypical redneck culture seems to dominate. It’s up to every Jasper local, to support a local family by standing up and pointing out how wrong these bullies are. 

Let this be a line in the sand to the bullying bigots of Jasper. I will do everything within the law to expose your odious behaviour to the people of Jasper.