Similar climates, economies are a big start. the Canadian prairies were wide open grasslands in the 1800’s until the Ukrainian farmers were given free land to start cultivating. Now the largest grain-growing region in the world. Very similar regions of the world, they were perfectly suited to the “new lands”. That industry is still alive and thriving in a large portion of this country.
If countries start accepting/rejecting refugees (not migrants) based on a presupposition of who is more or less likely to integrate, then we’re in all kinds of trouble.
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Then we’ve already been in big trouble for years.
And that’s the point of the article. We’re a lot more comfortable with refugees if they are like us.
Exactly. I’ll be honest, I have to hold back when I see the reaction of some countries and people now vs the previous (ongoing) refugee crisis, because that’s not the Ukrainian refugees fault and it’s probably not the right time to talk about it now.
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this has gone out of context to the original post. My issue with his original CBC article was his opinion that our affiliation with Ukraine started in 1991. That is 100% incorrect, factually.
I cannot speak for what’s happening now for immigration policy, there have been so many global conflicts for so many years now that I’m not sure how many refugees have made it to Canada. but here’s some 2016-2018 numbers
and another
What a mess this is, on such a difficult and sensitive subject.
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So, either create a third section between men and women for people who have a certain hormonal profile, or get rid of all division and let men, women and others all compete together.
Not sure if these would work, but the present system isn’t working either.
But then you have to decide who gets to decide who is in or out of each section. Right now, you either compete in men or women competition by conventional wisdom of which category you fall into. But now we are putting those decisions into the athletes hands. I am transgender so I decide to compete in women competition now. Soon, how about those who identify as women but have not undergone surgery reassignment, would they be allowed in women competition, why or why not. I have no solution but all I can say is if you allow themselves to identify as women, then what grounds are they refused entry in a women competition even if they are men by conventional identification.
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Simple, don’t allow trans athletes to compete at top level in events which are dominated by physique. ( can’t think of an advantage that a biological female would have against men though ) They can have a very unfair advantage. If I transitioned to a woman, I’d have a hugely unfair advantage in a boxing ring. Gives a person the choice between transitioning or competing. Some won’t like it but you can’t argue with biology. Well, you can of course and many do.
Let’s put aside whether people agree on biology or not. If a society agrees in general that people should be able to identify themselves as how they feel, then how can the same society deny these people the rights to participate in activities that are meant for whom they identify as? If a sports competition refuse entry on that ground, would they then be labeled as a bigot or why not, similar to how that baker was being singled out for baking for reasons along this line. I think each society has to decide for themselves. You cannot be taking a higher ground on one spectrum and then decide they only have rights in some parts of society.
And whatever we believe or think, no one should be victimized or harassed because of who they are. These are 2 different issues. Those shaming and harassing her should be ashamed.
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Because my biology made me bigger and stronger than any female I know. You can’t just put that to one side. If men and women were physically identical, there would be no need for mens’ / womens’ categories. They are so there are. That cannot be sacrificed on the alter of inclusion and equality.
Just listen to the first 16 seconds. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xMNSZPcjsbA
But is it fair to criticise the situation if somebody is blatantly massively advantaged?
I think the difference here is the word “competition”. This isn’t the fist time this has happened in the world of sports but the advantages are pretty clear in a physical sense. You’ve got to remember that in cycling in particular you’ve got athlete’s being tested for any kind of chemical imbalance that could signal some “extra dietary” supplementation for example but here is a clear physical advantage for other completely non competitive reasons.
Jees its difficult.
100% this. I cant understand people for doing this. It just feels sick.
If anyone is just criticizing the policies and situation, sure. But there are always people who goes in with attack on the person.
That is why there needs to be a decision on how to qualify people for competition. It seems that the conventional way of categories will be challenged more and more moving forward. They have to decide. By biological tests? They have to set those benchmarks and it’s difficult like you said, because they will be challenged because like what I said, if they go that way, they will be questioned how can they ignore the psychological or self identity aspect.
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Yep, unfair to criticise a person who operates within the laws of their sport. Would be interesting (not relevant to this discussion specifically) if a perfectly healthy person was born with 3 arms, would they be allowed to be a goalkeeper? Or 3 legs for that matter.
Cybernetic enhancements (still a fair way off) will be a real challenge for sport.
Yes until the sport has a definite yes or no, why would or should the person be shamed? We can discuss whether how to right the situation but as much as I hate people being labeled bigots when they stand opposed, I also hate it when these athletes get called names for just doing what they are allowed to.
Proper can of worms. I honestly have no answer.
Transgender people in competitive sports is a really difficult issue. There is no easy answer and it’s fraught with difficulty.
My problem however is with how this issue colours general perception of transgender people. It’s like we think every transgender person is trying to compete is a female sports field, or that people are transitioning in order to facilitate sporting success. It must be a vanishingly small number of transpeople who want to go an compete in a sporting field.
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