The Current

White male politicians are being stifled by political correctness, says Ujjal Dosanjh

Ujjal Dosanjh, the former B.C. premier, has published a provocative piece, arguing fear of a political correctness backlash, and being labelled a racist, is keeping powerful politicians from saying what they really think... damaging Canadian democracy as a direct result.
Ujjal Dosanjh, the former B.C. premier says white politicians are self censoring and not raising controversial issues in public because they are afraid of a political backlash, adding he feels this is detrimental to building a better society. (Adrian Wyld/Canadian Press) (Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press)

"The silencing of the white men of the West"....That is the edgy title of a blog post that went up over the weekend – a post that's actually caused quite a stir across the country. Because it was written not by some run-of-the-mill online blogger, but by a former federal cabinet minister. And Canada's first Indo-Canadian premier, at that.

"On matters of race, religion, culture and national identity of Canada, the white men are reduced to either silence or non sequiturs."- Excerpt from Ujjal Dosanjh's piece, "The silencing of the white men of the West"

Former BC premier, Ujjal Dosanjh wrote that Canada's white male politicians have been silenced by a politically correct culture. He says they're censoring themselves, refusing to speak out on thorny issues for fear of political and social, backlash, and that it's harming our democratic debate.

Ujjal Dosanjh joined Connie Walker from our Vancouver studio. 

Desmond Cole has spent a lot of time thinking about – and writing about – race and politics, and how they go together. He is a columnist with the Toronto Star and the co-host of the podcast Canadaland Commons
 

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This segment was produced by The Current's Sujata Berry and Julian Uzielli.