York U Accommodation: Quebec and Other Commentary

2014/01/13 Leave a comment

More on the York University accommodation case.

No surprise, but Minister Drainville tries to portray Quebec as ahead of the curve, and that similar debates over approaches will occur in English Canada. He misses the point: debate over what is reasonable will always occur, the question is whether, and how far, one can codify this or handle issues on a case-by-case basis, subject to laws, regulations, and values. Ontario rejected sharia (and other faith-based) religious tribunals and funding for faith-based schools. While the risk of ad hoc case-by-case approaches is that sometimes administrators will get it wrong (as did York), government charters will likely get it more wrong, impacting more people, as the QC charter indicates.

Religious rights controversy will spread across Canada, PQ minister warns – The Globe and Mail.

Drainville also has an interview stating that the Charter is an indispensable tool to against fundamentalism. But why such a broad approach if it is really the small percentage of fundamentalists in all religions?

Charte de la laïcité: «Indispensable» contre l’intégrisme

Andrew Coyne reminds us that judgement, not trying to codify everything, is a better approach. Professor Grayson exercised good judgement, York U administration did not, particularly given that part of their mission statement includes:

A community of faculty, students, staff, alumni and volunteers committed to academic freedom, social justice, accessible education, and collegial self-governance, York University makes innovation its tradition.

York accommodation and Quebec values charter aren’t opposites, in fact they are the same

The Globe editorial, while raising some valid points (the sky is not falling over this request) and ends up on the correct note, nevertheless views this as a complex case, in addition to slamming Justice Minister MacKay for his jingoistic – but correct – response:

What has been overlooked to some degree is the fact that, when the student was initially turned down, he accepted the decision and agreed to attend the online course’s group session. York officials were right to reconsider the student’s request after the professor’s refusal. Their decision to accommodate him, on the grounds that the course is online, is not something we support, but it’s not inherently objectionable – especially because the school implied it would not have made the same decision if the request had come from a student taking a regular, in-class course. This is a hard case, on which reasonable people can and do disagree. What cannot be in dispute is this: York’s decision is not a slippery slope leading to segregated classrooms.

Reasonable accommodation at York is not a slippery slope 

Filed under Interculturalisme, Multiculturalism, Religion Tagged with , , ,

British fighters in Syria stripped of UK citizenship | Al Bawaba

2014/01/13 Leave a comment

While revocation of citizenship is understandable under such circumstances, the question arises about due process given the apparently high level of Ministerial discretion.

Will be interesting to see if any similar provisions make it into the proposed changes to the Canadian Citizenship Act.

British fighters in Syria stripped of UK citizenship | Al Bawaba.

Filed under Citizenship, Dual Citizenship Tagged with ,

Reasonable Accommodation: What is Reasonable? – New Canadian Media

2014/01/11 Leave a comment

My piece on reasonable accommodation, trying to clarify what is reasonable and what is not, focussing on common spaces, common norms, and encouraging participation, and providing examples of what is more or less reasonable:

Reasonable Accommodation: What is Reasonable? – New Canadian Media – NCM.

Filed under Multiculturalism, Religion Tagged with ,

York University Accommodation Controversy

2014/01/11 Leave a comment

No surprise, that editorial and other commentary is uniformly in favour of the York U Professor Grayson and against York U Admin (University stands by controversial decision to allow female-free schooling for religious student).

National Post editorial board: Rights crusaders run amok at York University | National Post.

York professor was right to deny student’s request to work apart from women: Toronto Star Editorial

York U prof won’t let male student opt out of working with female classmates – Sun

Ottawa Citizen Editorial: Unreasonable accommodation

 What York University forgot: Gender equality is not negotiable  (Sheema Khan)

Interesting, in Quebec media only (to date), Professor Grayson was quoted in being in favour of the Quebec Charter of Values:

« Tout ceci indique qu’il y a un certain besoin pour le genre de choses qui sont débattues au Québec, lance Paul Grayson en entrevue téléphonique avec Le Devoir. Nous avons des universités publiques. Elles doivent être laïques. On ne peut pas avoir des droits religieux qui ont préséance sur les droits laïques des étudiantes. »

Un prof réclame une charte pour le Canada

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La démagogie au pouvoir | Gérard Bouchard

2014/01/11 Leave a comment

The strongest condemnation of the Quebec Charter of Values to date, by Gérard Bouchard. Says it all:

Pour ce qui est de la connaissance du terrain, on s’en remet aux perceptions courantes plutôt qu’aux études rigoureuses. En matière de suppression des droits, on s’appuie sur le précédent créé par trois ou quatre pays ou régions d’Europe en faisant abstraction de toutes les démocraties du monde qui ont choisi de respecter les libertés, y compris en Europe même. Et on évite soigneusement de parler des traités de droit internationaux auxquels le Québec est assujetti.

Il fallait que tout cela survienne dans le grand parti que fut celui de René Lévesque, si soucieux des droits et de la démocratie, si attaché à la transparence, et dont l’héritage a été fidèlement perpétué par des générations de politiciens et politiciennes, jusqu’à ce qu’il soit perverti par nos actuels dirigeants. C’est triste.

La démagogie au pouvoir | Gérard Bouchard | Votre opinion.

An illustration of demagoguery in action see this op-ed by Jean-François Lisée, Quebec minister for the Montreal area and for international affairs. As always, striking that the model referred to is always European, rather than North American, despite Europe largely failing at integration, and the usual caricature of multiculturalism:

Quebec’s Latest Stand

As well as a further illustration of the absence of evidence-based policy and program work, no studies on the potential impact on the education sector:

Charte: Québec ignore l’avis d’un comité du milieu de l’éducation

Filed under Charte des valeurs québécoise, Interculturalisme, Multiculturalism Tagged with ,

Religious accommodation or ‘accessory to sexism’? York student’s case stirs debate – The Globe and Mail

2014/01/10 Leave a comment

The request by a male student at York University in Toronto to be accommodated in his wish to not be in a study group where he would have to interact with female students has understandably attracted much controversy.

Accommodation is not an automatic right but has to be balanced against the rights of others and the broader interests of society, which include the overall mandate of universities to encourage learning, discussion and knowledge, irrespective of gender, race, sexual orientation etc. Professor Grayson made the right call in rejecting the request; unfortunately the Dean did not and too accommodating.

Seems to have ended up with the student accepting the Professor’s position, but still worrisome that Dr. Grayson was not backed up by the university administration:

The dean’s office told the student if he wished to drop the course, the fee would be refunded. But less than a week later, the student told Dr. Grayson he would “respect the final decision” to deny the request, was pleased with the way it had been handled, and has since met with his learning group. Even so, York has not changed its stand.

“What concerns me is that there’s an apparatus there that says this kind of thing’s okay, and you could have other students making similar requests,” Dr. Grayson said. “… There is room here for decision-making, and as far as I’m concerned, York has made the wrong decision.”

Religious accommodation or ‘accessory to sexism’? York student’s case stirs debate – The Globe and Mail.

And in Britain some similar debates about accommodation in UK university campuses for Muslim speakers who insist on separate seating for men and women (see Campus segregation: ‘religious freedom’ cannot be allowed to trump equality – Telegraph).

Agree that such accommodation in public universities is not reasonable as it undermines integration and equality:

All the more reason, then, that a fearless debate is encouraged to protect the fundamental values of a secular society. Teachings and practices in some faith schools that undermine women’s freedoms also ill prepare boys for the challenges of a modern mixed workplace. Issues such as forced arranged marriages, and domestic violence condoned by the extended family, have to be confronted, not because they are exclusive to any particular religious group, but because they are out of step with our civic life.

Segregation:our secular values need to be protected | Observer editorial | Comment is free | The Observer.

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Passports are powerful tools: Brender | Toronto Star

2014/01/10 Leave a comment

As the government prepares to table its revisions to the Citizenship Act, likely focussing on further improving the integrity and meaningfulness of citizenship, including making it harder to obtain, commentary by Natalie Brender on the realities of instrumental citizenship and passport, and how they should be part of the conversation.

One of the tensions all governments face is the balance between attracting the more dynamic and mobile economic immigrants through facilitating citizenship and making citizenship more difficult, which may make countries less “competitive” in attracting immigrants.

Is all this scheming and tit-for-tat a fair way for the business of citizenship to be run? Maybe not, but very little about passports and citizenship is fair in light of the dangers and protections they bring. It’s not fair that those in war-torn or dead-end countries who have the right cash and connections get to resettle abroad while their poorer compatriots are trapped in place. And which of us wouldn’t avail ourselves of any foreign passport we could if we lived in desperate conditions here in Canada?

These aren’t comfortable realities to face. Many politicians and citizens alike would rather change the topic by hewing to a loftier notion of citizenship as a marker of loyalty, shared values and a common fate. We’re lucky that a passport is more than just a tool in Canada, where it also symbolizes shared values and reciprocal obligations between government and citizens. That said, discussions and policy-setting must take into account more than just the high principles of citizenship. Most of the hardest questions are bound up with the geopolitical realities, economic pressures and human strivings that make a passport one of the most prized commodities existing today.

These thoughts suggest that realism and sympathy are in order as the government proceeds with its citizenship review in 2014. There’s not much danger that the new citizenship rules will constrain Ottawa’s ability to extend Canadian passports as a tool for serving pressing economic interests. But in its zeal to defend “the value of Canadian citizenship,” the Harper government may depict that value in ways that obscure broader global realities and blunt our sympathies. Acknowledging clearly the many ways in which a passport is indeed a tool, as well as a political emblem, will make for a healthier national conversation about citizenship policy.

Passports are powerful tools: Brender | Toronto Star.

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Anti-Semitism Should Not Be Criminalized « Commentary Magazine

2014/01/10 Leave a comment

Commentary magazine on the dangers of criminalizing hate-speech and antisemitism. It was always interesting to listen to the US delegation at the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance explain the US First Amendment, to general scepticism of the other countries, largely European but that like Canada, had hate speech laws or equivalent.

But in general, agree that antisemitism and other forms of racism and discrimination need to be defeated by society, and what is considered acceptable discourse, to have more widespread impact:

But those ideas–when they remain ideas, and not battlefield cries–should be defeated by a society, not outlawed by the government. Jailing anti-Semites for their opinions won’t reduce anti-Semitism. Incarceration can deter action, but it’s unlikely to alleviate grievance, and anyway it is an unjust method of changing minds. The same goes for the government banning “comedians” whose act offends basic notions of decency.

It’s also worth reminding the Jews of Europe that their religious beliefs contain ideas that the modern secular left consider offensive as well. They may find that a heavyhanded government enforcing a standard of righteous thought is on their side this time. If they think it will stay that way, then they, too, have unlearned the lessons of the past.

Anti-Semitism Should Not Be Criminalized « Commentary Magazine.

Filed under Antisemitism, Hate crimes, Holocaust, Multiculturalism Tagged with , ,

Religious freedom chief says he aids diplomats in supporting human rights abroad – The Globe and Mail

2014/01/10 Leave a comment

A few articles on the Office of Religious Freedom, under the direction of Ambassador, Andrew Bennett. The focus on religious freedom is understandable given the rise of religious intolerance and fundamentalism. Not surprisingly, given evidence of increased persecution as well as the Government’s political interests, is the emphasis on persecution of Christians.

Religious freedom ambassador not worried about ‘push back’ from abroad.

Religious freedom chief says he aids diplomats in supporting human rights abroad – The Globe and Mail.

Filed under Multiculturalism, Religion Tagged with ,

Tiger Mom’s claim that cultures blessed with ‘triple package’ get ahead in America sparks uproar | National Post

2014/01/09 4 Comments

Tiger Mom’s latest attempt to generate publicity and controversy, without a more sophisticated discussion of the factors that influence success. Clever packaging of  what she calls “the triple package” – superiority, insecurity and impulse control.

While it is no secret that different groups have overall different levels of economic success (see Table 5: Ethnic Community Specific Challenges and Table 6: Religious Group Specific Challenges), the explanations are more complex than a simple formula:

Asked about the controversy on Monday, sociologists and anthropologists said that despite its merits, the discussion of cultural difference inevitably becomes a minefield of assumptions, stereotypes and political correctness, especially when considered in the Western context.

“It should be possible to discuss cultural differences without evoking charges of racism,” said Morton Weinfeld, who holds the Chair in Canadian Ethnic Studies at McGill University.

“In my view, cultures are important and cultures can differ — otherwise, why are we discussing multiculturalism and reasonable accommodation?”

And yet that discussion quickly becomes “controversial” when groups as a whole are touted as successful, the way Ms. Chua and Mr. Rubenfeld present cultural groups in The Triple Package.

“The implication,” he said, “is that others aren’t.”

Kind of interesting that white Americans didn’t make the cut.

Tiger Mom’s claim that cultures blessed with ‘triple package’ get ahead in America sparks uproar | National Post.

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