Vancouver Island landfill ordered to remove and destroy 'triggering' Halloween sign
Vancouver Island landfill ordered to remove and destroy 'triggering' Halloween sign
Staff at a Vancouver Island landfill have been ordered to remove and destroy a Halloween decoration amid complaints that it is cruel and distasteful, particularly towards Indigenous women.
Similar signs have graced landfills and residential front yards ahead of Halloween for decades.
But the dark joke no longer lands in light of the discovery of human remains in a Manitoba landfill last year, and the belief that other Indigenous women were similarly murdered and discarded near Winnipeg.
I’m divided on this one. On the one hand, there’s a crisis facing indigenous peoples. On the other hand, this is a pretty normal Halloween sign that has nothing to do with that. It might be in poor taste but I’m not fully convinced.
There's no fault here, imo...the person that put up the sign probably wasn't thinking about events in Winnipeg. But that doesn't change the fact that someone was killed and thrown away like trash. This sign pokes fun (albeit unintentionally) at a very real and raw situation. It's fair to ask them to remove the sign, so as not to put the families of these missing women through more pain.
Honestly, everything could trigger some group based on that logic. What about a zombie pictured with missing limbs at the local recreation center triggering amputees. What about a nerf whistling football at a school setting off refugees who'd escaped bombing in their home country.
Why does this scenario warrant action, when other similar situations do not?
There's a line that needs to be drawn somewhere, and I honestly don't think this sign is on the wrong side of it.
If this was posted on a landfill in or near Winnipeg, I'd agree that it needs to come down and would be legitimately triggering.
In a completely different province... I don't see the issue.
It's also a landfill on Vancouver island, and I'm from BC as well where I have hardly ever heard of these Manitoba landfill bodies. It easily could have been done in complete ignorance.
Even if it was done intentionally in bad taste, which I can't imagine it was, ordering its removal is going too far IMO. It's okay to have poor taste.
I'm queer and this summer we saw some people burning rainbow flags. I don't like what they did, but I wouldn't want it to be forbidden either.
Know your enemies? I kind of agree with you, but this was not a matter of police action or government orders, as I understand it the company itself decided it wasn't funny. I think I have a right to put funny signs in my yard, but if a neighbor asked me to take it down I wouldn't think they were overstepping either, what's appropriate is supposed to be negotiated between people.
Know your enemies?
Certainly that, but also I'm in favor of erring in the side of letting people make their own decisions and mistakes, as long as they don't affect others excessively. It's not black and white, we all have different ideas of where to draw the line.
what’s appropriate is supposed to be negotiated between people
Completely agreed. I'm just sharing my opinion, which is not any more valuable than any other.
Is no one going to point out how cheap that is? Minimum charge is $6 for a can of household garbage…
People are too sensitive and read too much into things these days. Relax. It's a joke...
In light of recent events I am all for taking those signs down.
I am also for the ban of fireworks for similar reasons.