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Toronto dad upset he's not allowed to watch daughter's swim class
Toronto Sun ^ | Saturday, April 06, 2013 | Jenny Yuen

Posted on 04/07/2013 12:41:22 PM PDT by rickmichaels

TORONTO - When a single dad signed his nine-year-old daughter up for female-only swim lessons, he didn’t realize he — as a man — was going to be banned from watching her practice.

Chris (who didn’t want his last name published) was shocked when he had the blinds to the viewing area of the Dennis R. Timbrell Recreation Centre pool in Flemingdon Park shut on him and then was told by staffers it was for “religious reasons.”

“I spoke to a staff member and she told me that it’s because of Muslim women, that we’re not allowed to look at them or whatever,” Chris, 38, told the Toronto Sun Friday. “I don’t think religion has a role to play in a public pool.”

Chris said he enrolled his daughter online through the city’s website and registered her for the Ultra Swim 1: Female class – a nine-week course offered for free at the community centre.

Nowhere on the form did it mention that males could not watch the lessons.

So, when he showed up with his child at the pool on March 28 and again on Thursday night, he was confused when told he wasn’t allowed to watch.

“She doesn’t have a lot of friends and I wanted her to swim with girls,” Chris explained. “I don’t know what parent wouldn’t want to watch their child participate. There were other fathers there who weren’t too happy.”

Local Councillor John Parker hadn’t heard of the particular case until the Sun contacted him Friday, but said the dad’s point is a “legitimate one” and raises a “fair issue.”

“If we have a young child and there is a desire for the parent to provide supervision I would hope that we would not be so inflexible,” he said.

The Ward 26-Don Valley West councillor said there are only so many hours available in the pool.

“So we have to decide and we have to determine just what are the options that are available to us and how many hours are there in the day to allow the different options that communities want,” Parker said. “So far the pressure has been to provide hours for women only, this gives rise to the legitimate question: ought we to find time for mixed groups precisely to accommodate the concern that this parent has raised.”

Female-only swim programs began 20 years ago on the basis of “accommodating cultural and religious practices and requirements,” confirmed city aquatics manager Anne Jackson.

“Without a female-only program, there would be women that wouldn’t be able to participate in swimming,” Jackson said. “This is the way it needs to be in order to accommodate the programs. We’re not opening the door to one cultural group only — this is all females we’re accommodating.”

Late last month, Dennis R. Timbrell began a male-only swim course where only men could watch from the sidelines — no moms. The program bred from the same religious/cultural reasons, Jackson said.

If any parents wish to watch their child who is enrolled in a female or male-only swim class, they would have to move them to a mixed boys/girls class that runs three days a week.

The weekly gender-specific swim classes are open to anyone from two to 18, but Jackson said the city won’t consider separating existing classes into younger age groups (that would allow parents of the opposite sex to be present) because it wouldn’t “accommodate the needs of the majority of people who want to participate in a girls-only program.”

She agreed, however, the registration forms should be clearer in stating that only parents of the same gender of the child will be admitted.

“I think that’s a fair criticism,” Jackson said.

There are currently nine pools across Toronto that run the female-only swim program. All pools follow the same policy of not allowing people of the other sex to watch practices, Jackson said.


TOPICS:
KEYWORDS: blamecanada; canada; deathtoislam; globaljihad; islamicsupremacists; keepowt; lifeamongthekufir; muslims; muslimwomen; muzzies; parentalrights; rop; segregation; waronterror
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To: Trod Upon

well it’s canada, but the pressure is here. canada’s population is 10 times smaller’so percentagewise muzzies may be a larger’group there.


21 posted on 04/07/2013 1:08:45 PM PDT by Secret Agent Man (I can neither confirm or deny that; even if I could, I couldn't - it's classified.)
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To: rickmichaels

This is where the father needs to show up and say, “To hell with all that—it’s my DAUGHTER and I will watch her if I choose.”

Enough of capitulating to these fascists.


22 posted on 04/07/2013 1:15:59 PM PDT by CatherineofAragon (Support Christian white males---the architects of the jewel known as Western Civilization)
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To: rickmichaels

I don’t know if it’s apples and oranges, but the comments here sound like just the opposite of the comments on the story about the family on the airplane that complained about the movie. I guess in the airplane case, it’s ok to have a few moonbats dictate what movie all the other passengers could watch.


23 posted on 04/07/2013 1:24:48 PM PDT by Veggie Todd (That's some bad hat, Harry.)
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To: rickmichaels

‘I can’t watch the swim practice with my daughter? You can go tell her to get her clothes on, as she’s not participating in this program, and you can go fetch the refund for the fees for this program.’

That’s it. Why do people feel the need to accommodate the dictates of city officials? You stand up, walk away, and tell your friends, notify the press, put pressure on the program to change. But you sure as heck don’t bring your daughter for a second time.

And trust me, if parents take a stand, the program goes away, as these programs need a certain level of participation to continue.

Never, ever, ever let any government official separate you from your children, for any reason, in any circumstances, without your legal representative present. That goes for instances like this, travels through an airport, etc. If the press the issue, state clearly that you are more than willing to comply with their wishes just as soon as your lawyer can arrive, as you abjectly refuse to surrender any of your parental rights without legal consultation.


24 posted on 04/07/2013 1:39:03 PM PDT by kingu (Everything starts with slashing the size and scope of the federal government.)
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To: rickmichaels

When will this happen here?

If Orthodox Jews had asked for something like this it would have been denied - establishment of religion.
But let the bearded savages ask for something and everybody bows down and gives it to them.


25 posted on 04/07/2013 1:44:34 PM PDT by I want the USA back (Pi$$ed off yet?)
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To: rickmichaels

You have the right to be there to be sure your daughter is OK. Kids have drowned in public pools! Takes only a minute and your kid is gone! The parent will keep a constant watch on HIS child, as nobody else can or should!

My reply? I see. Since you can’t guarantee that someone will be watching over her every second, I’m taking her out of the group. Oh, and what are you afraid of? Everyone knows that that group is peaceloving, kind and tolerant and would never chop your head off for refusing one of their demands.


26 posted on 04/07/2013 1:49:11 PM PDT by I want the USA back (Pi$$ed off yet?)
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To: rickmichaels
Well, there is a simple way to get rid of those small misunderstandings. We, as an enlightened society, need to go beyond mere swimming classes and nip the troubling problem right at the bud by outlawing cross-gender marriages and allowing adoption only of children of the gender of both parents. /s
27 posted on 04/07/2013 1:49:45 PM PDT by Greysard
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To: Kozak

Orthodox Jewish schools for girls do not allow men to watch their productions especially if the girls will be singing or dancing.


28 posted on 04/07/2013 1:56:33 PM PDT by Borges
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To: gleeaikin

Gender discrimination and religious discrimination. Would this be allowed in the US?

Yes. But as long as a “boy” claimed he believed he was a girl he/she would be allowed in........


29 posted on 04/07/2013 1:57:47 PM PDT by SECURE AMERICA (Where can I sign up for the American Revolution 2013 and the Crusades 2013?)
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To: ClearCase_guy

Yes...and I am darn sick of this.


30 posted on 04/07/2013 1:58:00 PM PDT by Shady (Libya shows us how Americans rate...)
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To: gleeaikin
Gender discrimination and religious discrimination.

It is understood that white men are the discriminators not the discriminatees.

31 posted on 04/07/2013 2:00:39 PM PDT by oldbrowser (They are marxists, don't call them democrats)
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To: rickmichaels

Who cares if a lot of dads are unhappy, one girl who debased herself to slavery in the hands of Islam is appeased this week. Wonder what they will demand next week?


32 posted on 04/07/2013 2:07:22 PM PDT by American in Israel (A wise man's heart directs him to the right, but the foolish mans heart directs him toward the left.)
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To: Veggie Todd

Two parents asked for a family movie aboard a plane with families. No demands were made, simply requests. The family has no means of not being on the plane. The family takes steps to distract their kids and the pilot diverts the plane on his own.

A government body capitulates to and enforces rules in favor of Muslims, forcing all to comply. They give a little nod and look concerned for the non-Muslims but haven’t the balls to tell the Muslims (a conquering ideology) to get lost.

Your ludicrous statement says these two scenarios are alike and should be treated as such. Unreal.


33 posted on 04/07/2013 2:11:00 PM PDT by Future Snake Eater (CrossFit.com)
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To: rickmichaels

Just have the muslim kids wear a chadour when they swim. A lead chadour.


34 posted on 04/07/2013 2:15:38 PM PDT by muir_redwoods (Don't fire until you see the blue of their helmets)
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To: JCBreckenridge
The solution - pull your daughter out of the swim class. Problem solved.

Second solution - drop a nuclear bomb on Mecca.

Then search every mosque in America for incriminating evidence, arrest, try and depending on the verdict put the guilty ones in prison or execute them. If any are found to be innocent then deport them along with the guilty ones after their release and dead sealed in a drum which is filled with swine blood.

Finally, destroy every last mosque America and cover the destruction on worldwide broadcast TV live while confiscating any korans that are still found and burn them long with the book's owner.

Not a solution, but a decent start.

35 posted on 04/07/2013 2:17:44 PM PDT by Eaker (Manners are good when one may have to back up his acts with his life. — Robert A. Heinlein.)
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Please help Finish This
FReepathon THIS Month!!

36 posted on 04/07/2013 2:34:54 PM PDT by RedMDer (May we always be happy and may our enemies always know it. - Sarah Palin, 10-18-2010)
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To: rickmichaels

Build their own pool. Or learn to swim in one of their black sheets.


37 posted on 04/07/2013 2:42:50 PM PDT by crusty old prospector
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To: rickmichaels

Mooselimbs get “religious reasons”, Christians are told to go Hell.

I can’t wait until a mooselimb figures out his daughter got birth control pills and an abortion at 13.


38 posted on 04/07/2013 2:45:26 PM PDT by CodeToad (Liberals are bloodsucking ticks. We need to light the matchstick to burn them off.)
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To: elcid1970

And yet they sodomize their children and beat their women but that’s okay because it’s THEIR religious practices. If it were the other way aroundand a Christian didn’t want a Muslim to watch the girls swim, there would be a national outcry and Muslims would storm the building. The World has gone completely nuts; Revelation must be upon us. Most of the signs are there and there is a strange air floating around current world events.


39 posted on 04/07/2013 2:50:07 PM PDT by jsanders2001
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To: CodeToad

She’ll die - because they have to bring honor back in through murder...the reasoning alone tells one how evil and vile this culture/religion is...why we allow it in the US amazes me-—then Pravda just announced we have become socialist! Who’da thunk!


40 posted on 04/07/2013 2:53:30 PM PDT by BCW (Going John Galt -- see everyone that is smart on the other side...)
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