Museum of Civilization changes driven by clashing visions of Canada, former CEO says

2013/11/27 Leave a comment

Others have commented on the change from the Museum of Civilization to the Museum of Canadian History. Whether one calls this values or ideologically driven, Rabinovitch is right on the significance of the change, and taking it to the most fundamental level. Reflects overall government emphasis on history, the military and Crown through a range of initiatives.

While there was much to criticize in the Museum of Civilization, in terms of how it skirted controversies and at times was almost Disneyish in its portrayal of Canadian history, it did give visitors a sense of the social history of Canada.

Rabinovith is scathing in his critique:

…. the underlying tension in the museum “is with the Harper-Kenney vision of Canada as a land of victorious armed forces, brawny resource extractors and compliant monarchists.”

That Conservative vision rejects what he says had been the mainstream Canadian identity — “a cosmopolitan country engaged with the wider world, where citizens seek solutions through informed debate, compromise, social justice and respect for diversity.

“That cosmopolitan vision is loathed by some Reform-Conservatives as a Lester Pearson-Pierre Trudeau invention,” Rabinovitch said, adding that the Museum of Civilization “is seen as its symbolic temple in the heart of the national capital.

“Its heresies must be uprooted. Real Canadian history, interpreted by select historians, must be installed to express Canada’s true identity as a muscular northern outpost of Western values.”

Museum of Civilization changes driven by clashing visions of Canada, former CEO says.

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Freedom of conscience and the Quebec Charter of Values

2013/11/26 2 Comments

Thoughtful commentary by Jocelyn Maclure of Université de Laval on the Charter.

First, we can be bothered by many things in our interactions with employees in the public and parapublic sectors. Putting up with aggravation is a necessary condition of social cooperation and peaceful coexistence. Happily, freedom of conscience and religion do not entail the right not to be exposed to other people’s appearances and beliefs that we may find disagreeable. If that were the case, tolerance and freedom of conscience would be a spur to the segregation of communities, a little along the lines of the “pillarization” model in the Netherlands, where for many years Catholics, Protestants and Social Democrats have all had their own separate social institutions.

Second, although wearing a religious symbol is clearly an expressive act laden with meaning, we must not attribute to that act ana priori unambiguous meaning in conflict with shared public values. For example, we often infer from the struggle of some women in Muslim countries against the imposition of the veil that the veil is necessarily a symbol of the domination of women by men. But this is a false inference. In a liberal democratic society such as Quebec, a Muslim woman may have other reasons for wearing the veil that are bound up with her faith and identity.  And we must not yield to a form of magical thinking that leads us to imagine that barring overt religious symbols from public institutions will somehow help women who are oppressed by men in their daily lives. Not only does the ban restrict the freedom of those who wish, of their own volition, to wear an overt religious symbol, but it does virtually nothing to help the most vulnerable women, who are scarcely represented in the public and parapublic sectors.

The analogy with political symbols does not succeed in justifying restrictions on freedom of religion or equal access to job opportunities in the public and parapublic sectors. Our civil and political rights safeguard our basic political interests, while freedom of conscience and religion protects the religious and secular convictions and commitments that endow human life with meaning. We can rightly be proud that our democratic institutions properly uphold both these rights and freedoms.

Freedom of conscience and the Quebec Charter of Values » Institute for Research on Public Policy.

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‘ Family Class’ immigration reforms a good first step but taxpayers still face significant costs from sponsorship of parents and grandparents

2013/11/26 Leave a comment

Most recent paper by Martin Collacott of the Fraser Institute on family class immigration and in particular, the Parent and Grandparent family class reforms, advocating further tightening and greater cost recovery. As always, easier for these studies to quantify costs to governments (OAS, healthcare etc) and harder to quantify benefits (e.g., value of childcare and other family-related services), and a costs-benefits comparison with the Live-In Caregiver program would be interesting.

But given the current economic focus of our immigration program, bringing in older family members has fewer economic benefits than younger ones, and the paper argues for a greater financial contribution to cover the additional costs to governments.

Worth reading – haven’t seen much comment on this paper yet.

‘ Family Class’ immigration reforms a good first step but taxpayers still face significant costs from sponsorship of parents and grandparents | Fraser Institute.

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Judge me by my ideas, not my religion

2013/11/25 Leave a comment

Margaret Somerville, who writes from a conservative perspective on contemporary ethical issues (e.g., euthanasia, reproductive ethics), complains about being labelled and dismissed as  “a Roman Catholic apologist”. While I disagree with most of her views, I do agree with her criticism of being labelled and dismissed, rather than her arguments being criticized – or supported – on the substance.

Of course, we all are guilty of using labels as shortcuts, whether in political, religious or social spheres, and would all benefit if we would rush less to judgement and suspend our “automatic thinking”. Hard to do in practice, and I expect Professor Somerville may also have similar challenges.

Moreover, if religious people are disqualified on the basis of their lack of neutrality, adherents of other belief systems, such as secularism, should be dealt with likewise. Clearly, that would be an unworkable situation as everyone would be excluded, because we all have beliefs that guide us. The answer to this dilemma is that all voices have a right to be included and heard in the democratic public square. This liberty right is the correct understanding of the nature of a secular state and respecting it is at its heart. Importantly, as this demonstrates, such a state is the polar opposite of one that espouses secularism.

Judge me by my ideas, not my religion – The Globe and Mail.

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Edmonton police set to unveil official hijab that Muslim officers can wear on duty | National Post

2013/11/25 Leave a comment

Practical example of accommodation (similar to turbans). Highlights again the difference between English Canada and Quebec, where even the more open approaches to accommodation (i.e., Bouchard-Taylor) would not accommodate religious symbols for officials in position of authority.

Edmonton police set to unveil official hijab that Muslim officers can wear on duty | National Post.

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Un débat sur un «Québec laïque» dérape | Le Devoir

2013/11/25 1 Comment

For those interested, a good sense of some of the polarization and tensions in debates over the Quebec charter. Not surprising given some of the personalities involved: Djemila Benhabib, fervente militante contre le fondamentalisme musulman, Paul de Bellefeuille, vice-président du Syndicat de la fonction publique et parapublique du Québec, qui s’est prononcé en faveur de la charte de la laïcité, Alexa Conradi, la présidente de la Fédération des femmes du Québec (FFQ), et d’Amir Khadir, député de Québec solidaire.

The article is on the breakdown of civilized debate, not on the substance of what was debated.

Un débat sur un «Québec laïque» dérape | Le Devoir.

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Respect each other’s religious differences: Marmur

2013/11/25 Leave a comment

Nice piece by Rabbi Dov Marmur on interfaith relations and diversity, and how it does not mean sameness. On the other hand, some discussion of the common elements of faith can be useful.

Respect each other’s religious differences: Marmur | Toronto Star.

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When the right turns left on diversity – The Globe and Mail

2013/11/23 1 Comment

Good piece by Doug Saunders of the Globe on how the European right is learning how to love diversity, learning from the Canadian experience. Will be interesting to see what Australia’s new government of the right does.

When the right turns left on diversity – The Globe and Mail.

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Charte ― La petite noirceur – L’actualité

2013/11/23 Leave a comment

Good piece by Chantal Hébert in l’Actualité on the Quebec Charter, making a comparison between the federal Conservative government’s disregard for evidence and the PQ:

Comme l’argumentaire conservateur en matière de criminalité, de registre des armes à feu ou de recensement, celui du gouvernement péquiste privilégie la croyance populaire, voire les préjugés, par rapport aux données empiriques.

De mes lointains rudiments de journalisme 101, j’ai surtout retenu que les faits sont aux débats de société éclairés ce que les piles sont à une lampe de poche. Et de mes cours d’histoire du Québec, que la période qu’on a baptisée la Grande Noirceur doit son nom à ce que la lumière des connaissances vivotait sous le boisseau d’un pouvoir démagogue.

Quels mots les historiens utiliseront-ils pour décrire un débat que le gouvernement choisit délibérément d’éclairer avec des bouts de chandelles ?

Charte ― La petite noirceur – L’actualité.

Chris Selley of the National Post on the niqab daycare controversy, deploring the lack of calm commentary in contrast to inflaming the debate:

The Liberals agreed. The Coalition avenir Québec agreed. Even Françoise David of Québec solidaire, the tolerant face of the sovereignty movement, insisted that an “uncovered face is a requirement for education and communication.”

Perhaps it is. I’m not sticking up for the niqab. But if any Quebec politician has conspicuously called for calm, or implored Quebecers not to go around photographing people who offend their sense of cultural propriety and soliciting mass scorn on social media, it escaped my notice.

It’s precisely the dehumanizing element of the photograph and the backlash that makes this so unsettling: It’s as if these two women aren’t citizens wearing something we’d prefer they not, but a phenomenon to be tackled. Societies can get to a lot of very dangerous places from that starting point.

So it sure would be nice to hear, at least, a few soothing voices from officialdom. Having lovingly nurtured this false crisis for so long, and for such cynical ends, the political class might want to double-check it’s still able to exert any control over it.

Quebec’s latest niqab panic

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Racism is prevalent, persisting and perpetually growing, experts warn

2013/11/23 Leave a comment

Interesting piece of perceived racism in the 905 communities of Bramptom and Mississauga (Toronto area), some of the most diverse communities in Canada. Bit long, and I think reality is a bit more nuanced than some of the results and commentary would indicate (Globe did a series on Brampton a number of months ago):

Racism is prevalent, persisting and perpetually growing, experts warn.

Filed under Hate crimes, Multiculturalism, Racism Tagged with ,

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