{"id":6161,"date":"2024-01-05T18:52:16","date_gmt":"2024-01-05T23:52:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.fairforall.org\/alberta\/?p=6161"},"modified":"2025-09-01T14:02:50","modified_gmt":"2025-09-01T18:02:50","slug":"monthly-membership-meetings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.fairforall.org\/alberta\/monthly-membership-meetings\/","title":{"rendered":"Monthly Membership Meetings"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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To join the monthly meetings, please fill out the 'Contact Us' section. Or, click within this box.<\/a><\/h2>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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What follows is a preview of subjects we plan to discuss in the meeting. It is not a summary, as members are welcome to introduce new topics and issues.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Dear readers,<\/p>

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It’s with some melancholy that I share that the current team heading up FAIR Alberta is disbanding. A few changes in our personal lives have prompted the change. On behalf of Lee, Kim, and myself, we’re honoured to have navigated FAIR issues with you during the last few years.<\/div>
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There will be one final chapter meeting this month, with details below. There may be future updates if the organization finds a new leader for the chapter (on this note, reach out to\u00a0gavin.coon@fairforall.org<\/a>\u00a0if this interests you). And if you’d like to continue to be in touch and have separate conversations to debrief on matters of culture or philosophy, please reply to this email and we’ll make arrangements. This email address will remain active until the end of the month, at least, to handle communications.<\/div>
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Thanks again for sharing this journey with us.<\/div>
Rob, Lee, and Kim<\/div>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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July 16, 2025<\/strong><\/span><\/p>

Hi members,<\/p>

Sorry for a later update than usual. Lots of interesting developments amidst the beginning of summer.<\/div>
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Directly related to FAIR, you’ve hopefully seen the\u00a0FAIR pro-human ethnic studies curriculum<\/a>. There is a discussion happening about creating a Canadian version in parallel, but we’d need a development team for this. If you know of subject experts, curriculum developers, or the like who might be interested in volunteering their time, let me know. FAIR is hosting a book discussion in a few weeks. Gad Saad’s\u00a0The Parasitic Mind\u00a0<\/i>is the topic of discussion. This requires pre-registration, which can be done\u00a0using this link<\/a>. Lastly, it’s likely that before the next update, we’ll have a Canadian guest speaker. As of this writing, Stephen Reich will speak to FAIR on August 6 at 5 pm MT. Stephen works in the area of education policy. Former FAIR guest Melanie Bennet had a conversation with Stephen that you can find in\u00a0her podcast series, Disrupted<\/a>. And chapter leaders were recently reminded about the\u00a0Canadian charitable organization recognizing the life and contributions of Richard Bilkszto<\/a>. Contributions would help to recognize current and upcoming teachers who espouse the pro-human values that Richard held.<\/div>
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Generally, we’re keeping tabs on a few things right now. Notably, there is the\u00a0resignation of Travis Dhanraj\u00a0<\/a>from the CBC, indicating identitarian tokenism and ideological silos in the organization. This reminds me of Tara Henley’s departure about 3 years ago. FAIR advisor Jon Kay has an interview discussing\u00a0current trends in social work<\/a>\u00a0for Quillette. From the podcast Bad Canadians,\u00a0FAIR advisor Lisa Bildy discusses<\/a>\u00a0her work with the Free Speech Union.<\/div>
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Our regular meeting is this Wednesday, available through the link below. I hope that we can draw you away from your summer activities for a quick conversation about these and\u00a0other<\/a>\u00a0topics<\/a>.<\/div>
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Best,<\/div>
Rob<\/div>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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June 18, 2025<\/strong><\/span><\/p>

Hi members,<\/p>

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This month will be different as we are excited to host a guest during our usual meeting time. University of Alberta professor Kathleen Lowrey is invited to speak with the group, which will be opened up to Canadian members. Kathleen has been pushing against institutional narratives, using FOIA requests to investigate their claims<\/a>. Join us on June 18 at 630 pm MT to hear more.<\/div>
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On our radar this month, and related to our guest talk, includes\u00a0a podcast discussion<\/a>\u00a0in which Jamie Reed and Ben Appel (at around 30 min) discuss how media can skew our understanding of culture war issues and the frustration of keeping on top of all of these topics.<\/div>
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Additionally, FAIR has just released its\u00a0Ethnic Studies curriculum<\/a>! Meant to offer a pro-human view of American history, this is meant to offer an alternative to the critical-theory-based courses running in many states. Around the web, there have been some great\u00a0interviews with author Lionel Shriver\u00a0<\/a>talking about her book Mania and why the culture shift right now is a predictable swing to another extreme position. Lastly, FAIR fave\u00a0Daryl Davis was recently on the Free Black Thought<\/a>\u00a0podcast recounting his story and talking about his new book.<\/div>
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As always, if you have requests or calls to action, please reach out. We hope to see you on June 18. Link below.<\/div>
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Regards,<\/div>
Rob<\/div>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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May 21, 2025<\/strong><\/span><\/p>

Good evening, members.<\/p>

\u00a0<\/div>
We’re light on updates and an emergent event has come up, so here are a few things for your consideration.<\/div>
Wednesday, May 7, FAIR is hosting a discussion with David Thomas of the MacDonald-Laurier Institute to investigate how the election results may impact civil liberties, particularly free speech.<\/div>
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The podcast interview I mentioned a few months ago has just posted! Monica talks to Russell Stratton of Bluegem Learning consultancy about leadership and how FAIR-minded people are the adults in the room. Check it out on your favourite podcast service or linked here:\u00a0https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/episode\/0QTXGp2CXXWBRP550r75rY?si=dcef0d4506164c43<\/a><\/div>
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Crowd favourite, Aristotle Foundation, recently posted a primer on the illiberal values of (many) DEI initiatives.\u00a0https:\/\/aristotlefoundation.org\/columns\/a-primer-on-why-dei-is-a-mistake\/<\/a><\/div>
This speaks to the resistance to reconsider DEI in Canada as executive orders move the needle to the south. This topic comes up during the podcast as well.<\/div>
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We also have our chapter meeting on the third Wednesday, link below.<\/div>
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Best,<\/div>
Rob<\/div>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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April 16, 2025<\/strong><\/span><\/p>

Dear members, welcome to the chaos of spring. The weather has been variable, the news cycle is… variable. But here are some items that are on our minds.<\/p>

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Back to what drew me and Lee to FAIR is\u00a0an interview with Adam Gussow\u00a0<\/a>on his experience living in the American south in an interracial marriage.<\/div>
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At the risk of sounding like a Tara Henley groupie, I also direct you to\u00a0an interview with FAIR advisor Lisa Bildie<\/a>\u00a0on free speech and the start of a Canadian Free Speech Union. There is some mention of Lisa’s role in the\u00a0Amy Hamm case<\/a>, which we’ve discussed at meetings.<\/div>
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Lastly, FAIR is announcing its latest recipients of FAIR in the Arts grants. While an official announcement on this Canadian artist hasn’t been made, I’m going to direct you to\u00a0Maziar Ghaderi’s work<\/a>\u00a0while we wait. Maziar has gone through a transformation in how he thinks about race, bouncing around Canada in his youth as an Iranian refugee. This is\u00a0documented in this Quillette post<\/a>. Maziar, with his wife Patricia Marcoccio, was part of the team making a documentary about Dr Jordan Peterson prior to his public notoriety, which he\u00a0discusses with FAIR advisor Jon Kay<\/a>.\u00a0<\/div>
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As always, we’d love to hear about any FAIR-related items going on and hope to see you at this month’s meeting next Wednesday.<\/div>
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Best regards,<\/div>
Rob<\/div>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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March 19, 2025<\/strong><\/span><\/p>

Hello FAIR members,<\/p>

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First, a word of thanks to whomever connected me to a potential podcaster to host FAIR Executive Director Monica Harris. Things are rolling along with that; stay tuned for updates.<\/div>
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Our conversation last month was quite far-reaching, so I wanted to add some highlights:<\/div>
– FAIR Advisor Jon Kay wrote for\u00a0Quillette on the ongoing unmarked graves situation<\/a>. The full article is behind a paywall but Quillette is having a free trial offer right now!\u00a0<\/div>
– A few documentaries were referenced during our conversation, including\u00a0Travis Scott through Signal Productions<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Michelle Stirling’s recent\u00a0<\/a>work.<\/div>
– There are\u00a0many excellent ARC videos<\/a>\u00a0that are now making their rounds on YouTube. We picked out a few to discuss, but there’s a lot of good content there.<\/div>
– The framing of the current cultural crisis was addressed during the\u00a0Triggernometry interview with Dennis Prager<\/a>.<\/div>
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On our minds right now are on Canadians like Pamela Wallin, staying on her game\u00a0with her YouTube channel<\/a>. Jon’s post references Jim Heller, who recently\u00a0brought a libel case<\/a>\u00a0against the Law Society of BC, which has now caused a rift in the BC Conservative party, with MLA Brodie being removed from the party for her support of Heller.\u00a0 Two other MLAs stepped away, sitting as independents in support of Brodie. The convoluted story can be\u00a0found here<\/a>.<\/div>
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And apologies for rather short notice, I was very recently shared a\u00a0registration link to a PRCOC webinar\u00a0<\/a>regarding Detrans Awareness Day, which is March 12. Kellie Lyn Pirie, who I believe is a current Albertan, is slated to speak.<\/div>
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Feel free to join us for discussion or to submit ideas for actions we can take to make Alberta more FAIR-minded. Meeting link below.<\/div>
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Regards,<\/div>
Rob<\/div>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Feb 19, 2025<\/strong><\/span><\/p>

Greetings members,<\/p>

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In the midst of what feels like a significant shift in culture, we’re breathing a bit easier though still aware of the need for moderate voices. At a meeting with FAIR Executive Director Monica Harris, she expressed excitement over the many executive orders helping to create a sea change, but that some problematic issues are likely not to just fade away. Perhaps even leading to other concerning trends.<\/div>
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On our local radar, a few months after sharing Father Bouvette’s message and writing a message of support, I received a response containing\u00a0the following statement\u00a0<\/a>indicating that most people have also been supportive, but (obviously) there were some critical voices. As well, the Aristotle Foundation recently\u00a0hosted a book release\u00a0<\/a>where some members were in attendance. They have promised to debrief the group on the experience at the next meeting. Looking ahead, a conversation has started in the spirit of election preparedness. We’d like to present party leaders with a FAIR Canada pro-human policy statement that represents the values and issues core to our mission. If you have considerations in this regard, please share during the meeting or email me so that I can add this to our working document.<\/div>
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Much of FAIR’s work lately has been responding to executive orders (protecting women<\/a>,\u00a0changes to schooling<\/a>,\u00a0rethinking gender-related procedures<\/a>), but I’m told that Monica is intending to highlight FAIR’s fourth anniversary by speaking with anyone who will host an interview (almost). If you have a suggestion for a good podcast host that Monica could speak to, let me know. In case you missed it, here is Monica\u00a0speaking with Tara Henley about a year ago<\/a>.<\/div>
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As always, we’d love to chat at our next meeting. Details below.<\/div>
Best regards,<\/div>
Rob<\/div>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Jan 15, 2025<\/strong><\/span><\/p>

Happy new year, members! There is so much good content emerging lately, this lengthy message is a taste of what we’re excited about. From our last meeting, a few tidbits. Among the great conversation topics, we shared recent posts by Jon Kay<\/a>\u00a0about teacher education at UWO (Jon unpacks this\u00a0on the Quillette podcast\u00a0<\/a>as well) and\u00a0Andrew Doyle on leaving GB News\u00a0<\/a>and moving to new, more libertarian opportunities.\u00a0<\/p>

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On our radar are posts by\u00a0Terry Glavin writing for the Free Press\u00a0<\/a>about concerning numbers related to anti-semitism in Canada. There is a House committee on the state of Science and research funding that sat a few weeks ago and some of those clips are starting to surface. Jamie Sarkonak describes some of the evidence in\u00a0this National Post piece<\/a>, and I saw\u00a0this clip where Prof Geoff Horsman\u00a0<\/a>of Wilfred Laurier makes an opening statement about DEI in research. I went down a rabbit hole to find the repository for\u00a0everything related to this committee<\/a>, and in so doing, found mention of a particular government funding agency, the New Frontiers Research Fund. There seems to be a pattern in\u00a0the types of projects\u00a0<\/a>that receive funding. Lee and I are also trying to catch up with a U of A professor\u00a0whose speech was deemed offensive<\/a>, at the same time as the president of the institution claims to be\u00a0rolling back DEI policies<\/a>\u00a0(or is he?<\/a>).<\/div>
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Lastly, some bits from Triggernometry, including an\u00a0interview with someone who made a commentary documentary about the dangers of cultural relativism<\/a>\u00a0(see 0:53 to 7:04 specifically). And as apolitical as we like to be with our content, this\u00a0post from Francis Foster\u00a0<\/a>made me laugh.<\/div>
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For conversation on these and other topics, please join us next Wednesday at 6:30 pm MT. Link below.<\/div>
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Best,<\/div>
Rob<\/div>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Dec 18, 2024<\/strong><\/span><\/p>

As you might guess, I’m juggling a bit right now (and maybe procrastinating a bit as well). In any case, I’m pleased to report how well the talk with Dr Blade went last month. Jonathan Kay was present for the main meeting as well, and the two of them framed out some excellent ideas for the group.<\/div>
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Of interest this month, FAIR\u00a0filed an amicus brief with the Supreme Court<\/a>\u00a0regarding US vs Skrmetti. FAIR in Medicine chair Dr Nikki Johnson presented outside of the Supreme Court, and Leigh-Ann O’Neil of FAIR’s Legal Advocacy team\u00a0hosted a breakdown of the court case<\/a>.\u00a0<\/div>
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Our meeting will be low key this month with the usual open discussion. Join us this Wednesday using the link below. If we don’t see you, we wish you and your warm blessings this winter and a merry Christmas.<\/div>
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Best regards,<\/div>
Rob Piotrkowski<\/div>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Nov 20, 2024<\/strong><\/span><\/p>

Hello members,<\/p>

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The last month has been quite notable. We just got through a year with our newest Executive Director, Monica Harris, who expressed great optimism about FAIR’s direction. She would point to the\u00a0Zack De Piero case<\/a>\u00a0as a hallmark stand that FAIR is backing. At the same time, Canadian lawyer Lisa Bildy joined the list of FAIR advisors, promptly sending a\u00a0message to the Government of Ontario regarding ideological content in schools<\/a>.<\/div>
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Closer to home, we were struck by the authenticity and nuance of\u00a0a message from Indigenous Catholic priest Fr Cristino Bouvette<\/a>. And the delay in sending this message is that, in response to recent bills announced by our provincial government, we’ve invited Dr Linda Blade and Jonathan Kay to speak specifically to Bill 29. The intent of this bill is to create a boundary around female-only sports while acknowledging the need for open categories to accommodate our increasingly complex societal needs.<\/div>
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The best I know at the time of writing, Linda and Jon will present and answer questions at a Canada-wide meeting starting at 5 pm MT. (via this link<\/a>)\u00a0 As they are available, both are invited to our monthly meeting to continue conversing on this topic. We may start that a bit early to tie in better with the first meeting, but shorten it up so that your night isn’t completely lost. Link to the monthly meeting is below.<\/div>
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Best regards,<\/div>
Rob Piotrkowski<\/div>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Oct 16, 2024<\/strong><\/span><\/p>

Greetings,<\/p>

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Things feel like they are changing so quickly that I’m going to pare down the usual update. Feel free to reply with any good reads or videos you’ve been consuming.<\/div>
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To build from the last chapter meeting, I invite you to check out the\u00a0Aristotle Foundation\u00a0<\/a>and its work. Scholars like displaced Canadian Eric Kaufmann contribute to Aristotle. I’m just watching Eric being interviewed on\u00a0this podcast<\/a>, though I’m not finished the whole episode.<\/div>
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Coinciding with our monthly meeting is a presentation to FAIR by the Justice Center for Canadian Freedoms. I believe that, like with Aristotle, an email blast should indicate how to join that meeting, which would provide a link. The JCCF presentation would occur at 5 pm MT on October 16, then the usual chapter meeting would start at 6:30 pm MT for discussion and debriefing. To narrow the scope of our discussion, I’d be interested in your thoughts on either Mark Milke’s talk or the JCCF presentation, any further thoughts on our watch of The Coddling movie, or recent events like the Million March. Link to the usual meeting is below.<\/div>
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Best regards,<\/div>
Rob<\/div>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Sept 25, 2024\u00a0<\/strong><\/span><\/p>

** update. Monthly meeting will be replaced with a webinar featuring Mark Milke. **<\/p>

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Hi everyone,<\/p>

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For those on the periphery, the viewing of The Coddling Movie was really moving during the August meeting, and a request to finish the second half prompted a viewing earlier this month. Overall, the message of the movie was relevant and the stories were raw and compelling. I highly recommend watching this. News is that the director, Ted Balaker, is finishing negotiations with various streaming platforms, so watch for that in the near future.<\/div>
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The main delay in this email is that I’ve wanted to stitch together our meeting with a presentation to FAIR from the Aristotle Institute. I’ve heard that Mark Milke is speaking on September 25, but we’re just clarifying the boundaries that exist that may allow for general members to attend. If all goes well, the session with Mark Milke will replace the usual monthly meeting. If that won’t work, I’ll run our usual fare starting at 7 pm on September 25, a week later than usual. Link to come.<\/div>
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A few of you know that I was updating the FAIR Back to School Toolkit for a Canadian context. Largely, that is done and now there is just some organizational red tape holding things up. I’ll share a link when it’s ready.<\/div>
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The podcast space is really vibrant right now. I’ve seen great interviews from Megan Daum and on Conversations with Peter Boghossian. I’ll link to this\u00a0video essay on Quillette\u00a0<\/a>discussing post-modernism. There are lots of references from one of my favourite TV shows, so I’m a bit biased.<\/div>
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Best,<\/div>
Rob Piotrkowski<\/div>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Aug 21, 2024<\/strong><\/span><\/p>

Hello members,<\/p>

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Summer is usually way more toned down, but late July became a bit chaotic. On our end, FAIR chapter leader Lee engaged with the Edmonton Fire and Rescue services to discuss race-and-gender-essentialist policies and how to fix institutional culture. Also, after seeing an interview on\u00a0Reason with the makers of The Coddling documentary<\/a>, then hearing about watch parties of the film, we floated the idea of hosting a watch party during our next meeting on Wednesday,\u00a0August 21. I hope you can join us for that. I’m a big fan of The Coddling book, and I’m making my way through Haidt’s\u00a0The Anxious Generation<\/i>, so this is in my wheelhouse.<\/div>
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It would be uncharacteristic to leave out at least a reference to the craziness of the last few weeks. I’m going to stay clear of certain global events that were notable (though we can certainly talk about any of these at the meeting after the viewing), but I’m drawn to the sorrow regarding the losses in Jasper recently. It seems that most of the damage was material, and fingers are pointing everywhere, but my thoughts go out to those affected. There are many fundraising efforts to support affected families that I encourage you to consider.<\/div>
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Hope to see you soon.<\/div>
Best,<\/div>
Rob Piotrkowski<\/div>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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July 17, 2024<\/strong><\/span><\/p>

Hello members,<\/p>

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Sorry for the belated message and acknowledgement of Canada Day. I hope your recognition of the holiday went well. If you didn’t read, FAIR advisor\u00a0Jon Kay wrote a piece\u00a0<\/a>discussing how unpacking Canadian history has helped him to see a more positive version of the country’s progress. Kay references the\u00a0Nations of Canada podcast\u00a0<\/a>as inspiration for his perspective, summarizing these\u00a0thoughts on Quillette<\/a>.<\/div>
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The gender identity policy that\u00a0FAIR Alberta wrote an opinion on\u00a0<\/a>was rapidly pushed through by Edmonton Public Schools trustees.\u00a0Kathleen Lowrey writes on her Substack<\/a>\u00a0about the meeting and how it came to be that the matter was fast-tracked in spite of a few trustees acknowledging the need to be discerning on topics like these.<\/div>
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Recently, FAIR executive director\u00a0Monica Harris was on Meghan Daum’s Unspeakable podcast<\/a>. I recommend giving that a listen. As well FAIR employee\u00a0David King explores a side project\u00a0<\/a>related to non-ideological psychotherapy in an interview with Benjamin Boyce and Aaron Kindsvatter.<\/div>
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While there are other issues of note, we can save that for our meeting next Wednesday. Please drop in if you can using the link below. If you have time for an in-person meet-up this summer, please respond and I’ll see what can get coordinated.<\/div>
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Best,<\/div>
Rob Piotrkowski<\/div>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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June 19, 2024<\/strong><\/span><\/p>

Hello FAIR supporters,<\/p>

We’re enjoying the change in weather and hope that you’re well as we head into summer.<\/div>
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Last meeting, we discussed becoming more visible in Alberta beyond just letter-writing. We entertained the idea of doing some “street epistemology” or engaging people at public events. If you have any suggestions in this regard, please respond.<\/div>
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There is an action item that we’d appreciate you spreading the word about. There is a call for feedback on a\u00a0school board policy\u00a0<\/a>that we consider to contain\u00a0divisive language. We are crafting a response and I’ll paste our main points below. If you have thoughts on the matter, please consider filling out the\u00a0feedback form<\/a>\u00a0and sharing the link with others. They are accepting responses until June 12.<\/div>
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FAIR leaders just had a meeting with\u00a0Cathy Simpson<\/a>, who was dismissed for supporting the FAIR in Libraries mandate to uphold library neutrality. There was an indication that Cathy’s legal costs were substantial and they may start a crowdfunding campaign. If you want more information on how to support this effort, please reply and I’ll send information as it becomes available.<\/div>
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This month, we intend to host Melanie Bennet at the meeting for a discussion about her observations of how cultural differences between Canada and the UK were informed by raising a son in both countries. Melanie has been trying to unpack how ideology has been allowed to infuse into institutions like schools, and has read about critical (queer) theory to make sense of things. Melanie co-hosts a\u00a0Canadian podcast<\/a>\u00a0on this topic while advocating for parental rights and I recommend watching her conversation on\u00a0the radical center podcast<\/a>\u00a0for context.<\/div>
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I hope you can attend in 2 weeks! Link below.<\/div>
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Best,<\/div>
Rob Piotrkowski<\/div>
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FAIR Alberta talking points RE: Policy HFA:BP<\/div>