Zainab Bint Younus: Don’t speak for Muslim women. Speak to us

2014/04/03 Leave a comment

The Muslim Salafist feminist perspective on the niqab:

Muslim women who wear niqab aren’t some kind of scary “other.” We are Canadian women, as intelligent, vivacious, outspoken, and empowered as every other Canadian woman. I, for one, was raised in Canada; my childhood is complete with hiking, Tim Hortons, organic maple syrup, and hanging out at the mall with my friends (and golly, wouldn’t you believe it, my niqab didn’t do anything to stop my raucous laughter?).

The niqab isn’t a symbol of our “regressive understanding of the world,” but rather, it is primarily an act of worship to God, a symbol of identity, and finally, a conscious choice to not engage in the overwhelming, toxic environment of hypersexualization that cheapens men, women and sexuality by turning people into commodities and objects stripped of humanity.

While she has a point that Jon Kay should have spoken to niqabi women (or read the CCMW report Study dispels stereotypes about Ontario women who wear niqabs), Kay’s point in terms of the impact of the niqab on integration, and how it is perceived, is largely correct. And Younus is silent on the degree to which she interacts with others; her website suggests, as is her right, that her main focus is with respect to debates among Muslims, rather than broader Canadian issues. And her comment on the “toxic environment” illustrates an equal intolerant attitude to the one she condemns.

Zainab Bint Younus: Don’t speak for Muslim women. Speak to us | National Post.

Filed under Multiculturalism, Religion Tagged with ,

Andrew Coyne: Marois’ PQ joins ranks of those who would use notwithstanding clause to block minority rights

2014/04/02 Leave a comment

Cat out of the bag, as the PQ admits that the proposed Charter would require use of the notwithstanding clause in order to survive legal challenge:

How very Canadian: notwithstanding if necessary but not necessarily notwithstanding. Still, Ms. Marois has clarified matters, even if inadvertently. Not only do her remarks suggest the PQ knew all along that the bill it was proposing, the centrepiece of its platform, was unconstitutional, a violation of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, but it had no intention of amending it to bring it into conformity. Either it planned to deliberately blow it up, as in La Presse’s version [Le choc, la charge, la charte | Vincent Marissal], or it would invoke the constitutional override, a possibility it had never conceded until now.

Andrew Coyne: Marois’ PQ joins ranks of those who would use notwithstanding clause to block minority rights | National Post.

Chantal Hébert in L’Actualité:

1- Il n’a jamais fait de doute que la Charte serait contestée devant les tribunaux. Sa compatibilité avec les libertés fondamentales a toujours été matière à débat, et pas seulement à l’extérieur des rangs gouvernementaux. Autrement, le gouvernement aurait produit les avis juridiques que ses propres avocats lui ont certainement préparés au moment de son élaboration.

2- Un gouvernement curieux de savoir comment son projet cohabitait avec les libertés fondamentales aurait pris les devants et l’aurait soumis à la Cour d’appel du Québec pour avoir son avis.

3- Ce ne sont pas de lointains Canadiens qui vont contester la Charte, mais plutôt des citoyens ou, même, des groupes ou des organismes québécois. La Ville de Montréal et la plupart des universités, de même qu’un nombre conséquent d’associations professionnelles et même syndicales, s’opposent fermement à son application.

4- La clause dite nonobstant est renouvelable aux cinq ans sur un vote majoritaire de l’Assemblée nationale. S’il fallait y avoir recours pour appliquer une Charte de la laïcité, attendez-vous à refaire le débat.

Chantal Hébert : La Charte, les chartes et la clause nonobstant

Federal government reaction has been appropriately cautious on this point during the campaign, although all three parties were very strong when the Charter was announced:

Utilisation de la clause dérogatoire par le PQ: les députés fédéraux prudents OTTAWA

 

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

Canada welcomes more new Canadians – Citizenship Stats

2014/04/02 Leave a comment

The usual monthly update on citizenship processing, showing CIC on track to eliminating the backlog through a doubling of the number of new Canadians:

Approximately 33,700 people from 199 countries became Canadian citizens at citizenship ceremonies held across Canada in March 2014. This is almost twice as many compared to March 2013 when 17,089 people were granted citizenship across Canada…

So far in 2014, Canada has welcomed more than 75,900 new citizens at 759 ceremonies across Canada. Comparatively, in the first three months of 2013, Canada welcomed 35,320 new Canadians.

Canada welcomes more new Canadians – Canada News Centre.

Still would like to see a commitment to service standards!

Filed under Citizenship Tagged with ,

Baroness Warsi Speaks Out On Islamophobia, Richard Dawkins, Bingo Posters And ‘Racist’ Ukip

2014/04/02 Leave a comment

A largely positive piece on Baroness Warsi, UK Minister for Faith in the Communities Department:

The peer herself doesn’t seem bothered by the brickbats. “Politics is a pretty ruthless place and it’s not the kind of place which you’d choose for a good work-life balance,” she tells me, with a shrug of her shoulders, during our chat at Lancaster House. “If you’re going to come into politics and try not to upset anybody, and stand on the sidelines, then you might as well go off and be an accountant. I came into politics to make a difference.”

Baroness Warsi Speaks Out On Islamophobia, Richard Dawkins, Bingo Posters And ‘Racist’ Ukip.

Filed under Multiculturalism, Religion Tagged with ,

Le choc, la charge, la charte | Vincent Marissal

2014/04/01 1 Comment

A lengthy and thoughtful analysis of how the PQ got to this point and how central the proposed Charter is to its strategy. One of the best overviews I have seen:

Selon une source qui a assisté à des discussions à de très hauts niveaux au sein du gouvernement Marois, la suite du virage identitaire était déjà décidée: une fois majoritaire, le PQ adopte la Charte telle que présentée, sans clause dérogatoire. Elle sera contestée et battue par une cour fédérale, ce qui fournirait un puissant levier pour la souveraineté.

C’était le plan. La réalité, pour le moment, c’est que Pauline Marois doit se défendre tous les jours de vouloir organiser un troisième référendum, et la Charte a été reléguée à un tout petit rôle dans la présente campagne.

Le choc, la charge, la charte | Vincent Marissal | Actualités.

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

De l’exclusion des expatriés | Le Devoir

2014/04/01 Leave a comment

An opinion piece by Eric Laporte on voting rights for expatriates and a good short comparison table. I am comfortable with Canada’s five-year rule. While one can keep in contact with the politics and culture back home, the reality is that one does become more distant over time and, apart from the US, most expatriates pay taxes to the country they reside in, not their country of citizenship. No representation without taxation.

Un Américain, un Français, un Allemand, un Britannique est fier que l’un des leurs aille à l’étranger pour représenter son pays et aussi, ce qui est le plus important, aille à l’étranger pour aller chercher de la nouvelle expertise. C’est comme ça que les États-Unis se sont bâtis, en allant chercher l’expertise étrangère, non seulement avec l’immigration, mais aussi avec les contacts à l’international. On ne peut pas donner de signe plus clair à un citoyen qu’on ne le soutient pas qu’en lui enlevant ses droits démocratiques.

De l’exclusion des expatriés | Le Devoir.

Filed under Citizenship Tagged with , ,

“Absence of evidence isn’t evidence of absence”

2014/04/01 Leave a comment

An interesting column from Errol Morris on evidence, using the logic of Martin Rees with respect to the existence or not of extraterrestrial life (“absence of evidence isn’t evidence of absence”) to the question during the Bush Administration on whether or not weapons of mass destruction existed or not.

Part of the evidence vs anecdote challenge. Public service evidence on macro-trends can conflict with anecdotes from the political level, but the political level could also argue that the absence of evidence in our studies and research did not mean it did not exist. But still, better to operate with as sound evidence as possible:

What do I take from this? To me, progress hinges on our ability to discriminate knowledge from belief, fact from fantasy, on the basis of evidence. It’s not the known unknown from the known known, or the unknown unknown from the known unknown, that is crucial to progress. It’s what evidence do you have for X, Y or Z? What is the justification for your beliefs? When confronted with such a question, Rumsfeld was never, ever able to come up with an answer.

The Certainty of Donald Rumsfeld (Part 4) – NYTimes.com.

Filed under Government, Public Policy Tagged with , ,

Newer posts →