Angry in the Great White North

In British Columbia, the provincial NDP are rejecting a pay hike for MLAs.

But the real story is a vicious anti-Semitic slur used by CKNW Talk Radio:

Using the word "kike" is totally unacceptable for a radio station operating under a license issued by the CRTC.

I think this is a stronger case than going after Shane Doan. Doan, of course, is the hockey player and Team Canada captain raked over the coals by politicians from the Bloc Quebecois, the NDP, and the Liberals for swearing during a hockey game. In particular, Doan was supposed to have said, "F---ing French!"

Now here's my problem. If Doan had said this (and the evidence suggests that he didn't, and in any case, he was already cleared by the NHL) then he did in a moment of anger. The staff at CKNW had all sorts of time to check and double-check this subject line to this email. The words in the Doan incident would have been heard by only a handful of people. The CKNW slur has been seen by hundreds or thousands.

And finally, on the scale of nasty things to say, "kike" is far worse.

Of course the CKNW subject was an unfortunate typo. Mistakes happen. But clearly we are not in an environment where we can be mature enough to shrug off the odd mistake, but instead must investigate the incident and ensure that if there is any possible way to inflict a punishment on behalf of an offended group (regardless of their actual shared sense of offense experienced by that group), that punishment will be inflicted.

So I invite the BQ, the NDP, and the Liberals to demand that CKNW's broadcast license be lifted, and protect all of us delicate souls from bad words and mean people.