Apparently, stirring up racial tensions in the name of “saving taxpayers’ money” is a noble cause these days. A cause worthy of the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee medal.

Gary McHale, loud, obnoxious, anti-Native Gary McHale has just been told he’ll be awarded the honour in the coming weeks.

To win one of these awards, the Governor General’s website says that one has to “[h]ave made a significant contribution to a particular province, territory, region or community within Canada…”

In fairness, a “significant contribution” doesn’t necessarily mean a positive one.

Yes, McHale has made a significant contribution to racial relations in Caledonia. He’s made being racist nearly okay. He’s battled “political correctness” (as he says) and tried to restore the White man’s proper place in Canada: wherever he wants it to be.

He’s also targeted the OPP’s policing tactics during the process, the reason why his nominators named him.

He was nominated by the prestigious Canadian Taxpayers’ “Federation,” a right-wing organization that claims to speak on behalf of, well, me, despite not clearly advertising the mechanisms for me to vote out the current lot of republicans, libertarians and racist sympathizers.

Their claim is that he exposed that the OPP was spending more than a hundred million dollars policing the events that surrounded reclamation of the Douglas Creek Estates at Caledonia. No word if money was actually saved, of course. No mention of how much the OPP had to pay every time McHale himself organized a rally of obnoxious, anti-Native protesters.

Of course, I wouldn’t expect anything less from this so-called Federation. I would choke on my communist gruel if I heard they nominated someone who actually exposed wasted tax dollars, like whoever it was who exposed the ORNGE scandal (the Toronto Star?), E-Health (I can’t remember), the Mississauga gas plant scandal (both opposition parties?) or the F-35 fighter jet embarrassment (Kevin Page).

The nomination is as fitting as the “Federation” is a front group for anything but a voice for Canadian “taxpayers” (which, by the way, is everyone who’s ever bought something, anywhere in Canada).

Yes, it’s fitting that the day after the Idle No More global day of action, a man who is only famous for his anti-Native protests, is awarded an honour of the Queen. Indeed, she holds a position that is the most anti-Native of all.

The centuries of genocide that have happened in Canada were enabled by the colonial project of England (and France, Spain, Holland, Portugal…) and the Queen wears the blood of the murder carried out as a result of her Empire. Of course McHale’s award makes sense.

But aside from the historical appropriateness, there’s another angle. More than 60,000 Diamond Jubilee awards have been given out this year. If you throw 60,000 Diamond Jubilee Awards into a crowd of 60,000 people, you’re bound to hit an asshole or two (or more). And just as likely is that others who deserve the award have been honoured, too (like my aunt who has volunteered for the Timmins General Hospital for 60 years, who, though, has never organized a race-based protest that I’m aware of).

There’s also been some people who have rejected the award. Before this, many activists turned in their awards to stand in solidarity with Idle No More. After news that McHale was award circulated, Bill Montour, Chief at Six Nations (the community that has been most targeted by McHale in the past few years) turned in his medal. “I don’t want to have a medal, carrying the same medal (as McHale)” he told the Hamilton Spectator.

The confluence of the emergence of Idle No More and McHale’s medal honour is really interesting. It’s a reminder of how far Canada still has to go to undo the normalcy of white supremacy.

Although, I’ll give McHale some credit. His brand of racism is a lot easier for average (read: White) people to spot. Maybe if racism in Canada was more of his overt brand, there would be a critical mass of those of us who benefit from this system to say: enough…

…and actually mean it enough to help change our society.

Nora Loreto

Nora Loreto is a writer, musician and activist based in Québec City. She is the author of From Demonized to Organized, Building the New Union Movement and is the editor of the Canadian Association...