Several weeks ago a brouhaha erupted over one of the core missions of this blog, namely my desire to provide a new and balancing perspective on issues of gender and equality, and more to the point, the way in which my expression here might confuse those who support my positions within the freethought movement in general and the Centre for Inquiry in particular.

After tossing and turning for some time, and considering the issues in much detail, I’ve decided to issue a simple formal response.  What I am not going to do is speak to the many specific allegations that were made against me, including misinformed claims regarding such things as volunteer appointments, media interview decisions, and other supposed ways in which my day to day work has been compromised by my position on men’s issues.  Anyone who may continue to have doubts that I am able to do my job successfully is invited to contact me to get another side of the story:  416-402-8856 or justin.trottier@gmail.com.

What I do want to do is clear up any confusion caused between where my blog and its opinions end and where my job at the Centre for Inquiry begins.  Certainly muddying those waters was not my intent.  The disclaimer near the top of the homepage stating: “An independent blog, unaffiliated with any organization”, which has been up there for months was meant to clarify that point.

In various discussions on this matter with my colleagues and Centre for Inquiry management, we’ve agreed it would be best to clarify that while CFI management has in no uncertain terms affirmed my right to blog about any matters of importance to me, yet I should do my utmost to ensure that my extracurricular activities do not diminish my effectiveness at my job.  And that is my commitment to you.

An objective look at the state of the freethought movement by an observer who knew nothing about my blog - and that is precisely the position that most supporters of CFI in Canada are in - would show overall measurable success in critical areas. The membership and donorship in the Centre for Inquiry in Canada continues to expand; we just finished hosting our largest event to date with over 450 people in attendance; earlier in the year we helped run the atheist bus campaign, which is the largest atheist outreach project in Canadian history; I just hired a new part time assistant named Pam Walls; we had the most campus events this fall then in any previous year; and CFI is a regular fixture now in the media, with over 550 media appearances in Canada thus far to our credit.

That last is a point to dwell on.  When I go on TV or radio, I always endeavour - so long as time is available - to seek commentary and opinions from as many people as possible regarding how I should respond to issues I will be asked about.  Those of you on various CFI email lists, know this well.  And I do synthesize many of your comments and use them.  This is helpful to me since it provides access to your great ideas, but it also means I am a far better and more genuine humanist representative, and it also means that your views get into the limelight too.  What I never do is use the opportunities I am afforded, and they are many, to push an agenda on issues peripheral to CFI’s stated aims.

And as further proof of my commitment to ensure this movement reflects diverse points of view, after an incredible amount of work to found the Freethought Association of Canada and turn it into a charity, I nearly immediately stepped down as President and turned it over to its new leader Katie Kish knowing full well our disagreements and her intentions to move it into new areas. I had also hired her to work with me at CFI several months earlier.  That is not what a power hungry dictator would do.

Far from burning bridges, CFI is extending them to new groups.  Those who doubt my sincere commitment to equality and diversity should take note.  This month I was invited to participate in the Canadian Centre for Progressive Christianity’s Explore the Elements Conference to engage in Christian-humanist dialogue, and also spoke at the Hamilton World Religions Conference in dialogue with jews, muslims, sikhs, bahais, buddhists and those representing native spirituality.  Shortly we’ll host Tarek Fatah of the Muslim Canadian Congress.  Last month I directed financial support to the “atheist pride” component of the Gay pride parade in Ottawa, having done the same for the one in Toronto earlier in the summer.

As proof of how far we have come, I am pleased to announce the Centre for Inquiry is now a charitable organization in Canada and ready to issue tax receipts.

I believe the freethought movement in Canada has never been in a better position than it is now.  That is due first and foremost to the dedicated volunteers we have whose tremendous efforts are too often not credited.  I believe, as do the management at CFI, that it is also due to the strong leadership that I’ve provided and plan to continue to provide in my capacity as executive director of the Centre for Inquiry.

As this personal blog of mine moves forward I will endeavour to reflect a more mature and level tone in my postings, and to refrain from unnecessary sarcasm that will only inflame issues further and impede the dialogue I genuinely wish to foster.

Some of you believe the entire idea of advocating for men’s issues is by definition misogynistic.  With you I must respectfully insist we agree to disagree.  But many of you who have posted about my blog are not in that camp.  Many of you believe such issues desperately need airing.  You may simply believe my tone was a poor choice in that regard.  With you I’d like to open a door. I invite those of you who really are interested in being a part of this dialogue on gender and men’s issues to please provide me with comments on how I can do a better job towards that end.

And whether you participate in this or not, I would hope that if you are a freethinker, secularist or skeptic, and care about the stated aims of the CFI, you will work with us on achieving our goals for the movement in Canada.

Sincerely,

Justin Trottier

Please Note:  It’s been decided for a variety of reasons that this letter, which is an official response CFI management and I have agreed I should issue as Executive Director of CFI, and which is therefore not a regular part of my blog, will for that reason not be an appropriate location for blog comments.  You are welcome to post your comments in the general comments section of the blog or to send them to me directly, as described above.