Ok so I'm getting on the train and there are no open seats and I ask this lady if I could sit next to her (very politely and I soften my voice as to not frighten her) and she says someone is sitting here. So I go to the next seat. Now, less than 2 mins later a man (who happens to be white) asks if he can sit there and she says why sure let me move my stuff. So I have to say something so I ask ummmmm did you just not want ME to sit next to you ? Were you scared ? Not comfortable with a Black Man sitting next to you ? And she says lol smh don't pull the race card stuff with me I dated a Black guy in college. So the guy (who was a nice guy) said listen I'll get up and I said no need I'mma just take this pic and make a Facebook post about it. So then she says did you just take a pic of me ? Well I'm going to tell the conductor that you're over here illegally taking pics of ppl without their consent. So the conductor came up and said hey Etan Thomas love what ...
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A footnote to the May 2016 forest and brush fires in Alberta, Canada is the presence of three hundred South African professional firefighters. They had previously received training in the use of Canadian firefighting equipment. Air Canada transported the firefighters from South Africa to northern Alberta, a flight that lasted more than twenty hours. According to Canadian media, the flight was the first time Air Canada operated to South Africa.
The South Africans are part of Working on Fire, a South African government-funded job creation program with a focus on the marginalized. According to its website, it has five thousand men and women trained in wildfire fighting with two hundred bases around the country. Almost one third are women, the highest percentage of any firefighting force in the world, according to the website of Working on Fire.
Wildfires have always been a part of the ecology of South Africa, often used as a tool for the management of grasslands and some forests. There are two fire seasons: the summer in the Western Cape, and the winter almost everywhere else. As elsewhere, now most fires in South Africa are started by accident or through carelessness.
Working on Fire would appear to be an effective program that directly addresses marginalized youth, especially in the rural areas, in addition to meeting the need for wildfire fighters. It is not clear from media sources whether the Alberta government compensated the South African organization for wildfire fighting services, or instead paid the firemen individually.
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South African firefighters at Edmonton, Alberta airport. Photo: Alberta Wildfire