Majority of Canadians worry about domestic terrorism, according to new survey

2014/11/25 Leave a comment

Results are not that surprising, given recent events, and given that civil liberties rarely do well in public polling.

But encouraging that people recognize the importance of prevention and the contributing role of mental illness and marginalization:

Almost two-thirds of Canadians believe homegrown terrorism is a serious issue, but most do not perceive a threat from radicalized individuals in their communities, according to a new survey.

The national poll, conducted in the wake of deadly attacks on Canadian soldiers, found that just over half of respondents supported new anti-terror legislation that would boost the powers of Canada’s spies. Another 22 per cent said the government should go even further, suggesting they have not been swayed by civil liberties concerns.

At the same time, those surveyed recognized that there are many factors behind radicalization — religion, mental illness and marginalization — and seemed open to a range of preventative measures, not just punitive ones.

“People are sensitive to the fact this is a complex issue that requires a comprehensive approach,” said Christian Leuprecht, a security expert at the Royal Military College of Canada and Queen’s University.

Majority of Canadians worry about domestic terrorism, according to new survey.

Filed under Polling, Radicalization Tagged with , ,

‘Wage jihad against jihadism’: ‘Progressive’ Muslims

2014/11/25 Leave a comment

Outreach to the more secular segment of the Canadian Muslim community and some of the minority sects, whereas many of the challenges are with the more fundamentalist and ‘mainstream’ sects and individuals. While valid, a bit preaching to the converted:

Acknowledging that military action, which also includes arming and training Iraqi and Kurdish security forces, would not stop ISIS by itself, he [Kenney] said it had at least “stopped the spread of Daish [the Arabic name for the group] in Iraq, and we will never know how many lives it has saved.”

The minister made the comments at an event organized by the Coalition of Progressive Canadian Muslim Organizations, which brought together leaders of Canadian Yazidi, Christian, Shia, Ahmadiya, Jewish, Sunni, Kurdish and other groups to discuss strategies for fighting ISIS.

Kamran Bokhari, a Middle East analyst and author, said it was up to police and intelligence agencies to deal with those who break the law, “but they can’t police ideology, that’s the job of the Canadian Muslim community.”

He said a Muslim mainstream would have to emerge to moderate the extremists, whom he noted were not present at the event. “Ultimately what we need to do is wage a jihad against jihadism,” he said, defining the problem as “it’s our way or the highway” thinking.

“How do we reach out to them? That is our challenge.”

The national president of the Ahmadiya Muslim Jama’at Canada, Lal Khan Malik, blamed Muslim scholars whom he said had misunderstood the concept of jihad as a call to kill non-believers. “This is a grossly misguided understanding of Islam,” he said.

The Coalition’s Facebook page hasn’t been active since December 2013 so unclear how active the group is (although the President, Salma Siddiqui, is a regular commentator on Islam and radicalization issues).

‘Wage jihad against jihadism’: ‘Progressive’ Muslims eager to reach out to radicalized youth in Canada

Filed under Multiculturalism

Opinion: Multiculturalism should not be misused to justify divisions: Farid Rohani

2014/11/25 1 Comment

Farid Rohani of the Laurier Institution on multiculturalism and integration:

Canadians must understand that multiculturalism is not about segregation and division.

What we are seeing now, more and more, is a polarization and mistrust among significant segments of our population. What is needed, then, is a more unified vision of Canadian society, one that emphasizes interdependence and cooperation among diverse groups, beginning at arrival and continuing at schools and throughout our communities.

Failure to do so will see some within our communities who don’t understand or accept the fundamental concept of pluralism use violence, including acts of terror and fear to import distant conflicts onto our shores. There will be attempts at imposing their beliefs on the rest of society and they will use, support or facilitate violence, as a method to effect societal change to achieve their goals.

Any polling I have seen suggests that Canadians get it and view multiculturalism in this manner, and place emphasis more on integration than an “anything goes” accommodation.

And no matter what governments and others do, there will always be some who sit outside that political consensus, whether in the context of religious fundamentalism (or other fundamentalisms) or violent extremism.

Overly general, without concrete or practical suggestions.

Opinion: Multiculturalism should not be misused to justify divisions | Montreal Gazette.

Filed under Citizenship, Multiculturalism, Radicalization Tagged with

US Congresswoman-Elect Mia Love: Personification of GOP Hypocrisy on Immigration

2014/11/25 Leave a comment

Sigh …

On November 4, 2014, the Republican Party made black history. Mia Love is the first Republican black woman elected to Congress. Black women aren’t exactly clamoring to join the Republican Party, so it’s obvious why this is an impressive feat. Love also became another “first” that night—the first Haitian-American elected to Congress.

But, as a woman born to immigrants, a group Republicans have been hostile towards for decades, Mia Love’s membership in the Grand Old Party is downright hypocritical.  Her parents, Marie and Jean Maxime Bourdeau, fled Haiti in the 1970s after Jean Maxime had been threatened by the Tonton Macoutes, the brutal police force of Francois Duvalier, the late dictator. According to Mother Jones, the immigration law in place at the time offered the possibility of her parents gaining citizenship if they had a child born in the United States. The law was set to expire in January 1976. On December 6, 1975, Love was born in a Brooklyn hospital.

“My parents have always told me I was a miracle and our family’s ticket to America,” Love told the Deseret News in a 2011 interview.

Congresswoman-Elect Mia Love: Personification of GOP Hypocrisy on Immigration.

Filed under Citizenship Tagged with , , ,

Women gain on corporate boards but visible minority representation dips

2014/11/25 1 Comment

Incredibly low number for visible minorities:

Women have climbed slowly but steadily in recent years from 10.9 per cent of directors in 2001 to 13.7 per cent by 2009 and 15.6 per cent in 2013, the study shows.

However, visible minorities hold just 2 per cent of board seats, a decline from 5.3 per cent in 2010, and people who report having disabilities fill just 1.4 per cent of board seats, down from 2.9 per cent in 2010. Aboriginal directors hold 0.8 per cent of board seats, a number unchanged from 2010.

Diversity council founder Pamela Jeffery said it is disappointing to see a decline in visible minority directors while Canada’s population – especially in major cities where head offices are located – becomes steadily more diverse.

“I think it underscores what we know, which is that most board seats are filled in a less-than-desirable way, with board members sitting at the table asking each other who they know,” she said. “Sadly, aboriginal people or people with disabilities are not in their networks.”

Ms. Jeffery said she is encouraged, however, that the rate of increase for women on boards has accelerated, growing by 1.5 percentage points between 2013 and 2014 after increasing by just 0.32 percentage points in each year on average between 2001 and 2012.

However, Ms. Jeffery said the level of gender diversity remains low compared to many other major countries. Britain, for example, will have 25 per cent women on boards of its top 100 companies by next year, she said.

Women gain on corporate boards but visible minority representation dips – The Globe and Mail.

Filed under Multiculturalism Tagged with , ,

Express entry immigration system starts Jan. 1, leaving employers uncertain

2014/11/24 Leave a comment

Like any new way of doing things, it will take some time to know how well it is working, and whether there are some unforeseen side-effects or changes in behaviour:

The [Canadian Chamber of Commerce’] Anson-Cartwright said that while the government has given employers a first-hand look at the new online system, it will be some time before businesses can say how well the system works at matching skilled immigrants with open jobs.

“The reality is, until we actually have employers experiencing the process, we don’t really know — and neither does the government — how well it will work,” she said.

Employers will not have the same “privileged access” as the provinces and territories, she added.

The provinces will have the option to search the express entry pool, while employers will have to rely on the government to identify potential workers.

“Youd rather see more detail and have a chance to make your own assessment, rather than waiting on individuals to pop up through virtue of how they’ve designed the job system.

“That’s the big uncertainty is how this job-matching system will actually work,” Anson-Cartwright said.

Express entry immigration system starts Jan. 1, leaving employers uncertain – Politics – CBC News.

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BBC News – Radicalisation risk at six Muslim private schools, says Ofsted

2014/11/24 Leave a comment

Ongoing issue in UK schools, this time at private faith-based Muslim schools:

At one school, inspectors found pupils did not know the difference between sharia and British law.

And they said the curriculum at Mazahirul Uloom School in Tower Hamlets “focused solely” on Islamic themes.

In a letter to Ms Morgan, Sir Michael said he was “extremely concerned about the large number of failings” in each of the six schools and was “not convinced” current managers were capable of making necessary improvements.

“I believe that, in all six schools, pupils physical and educational welfare is at serious risk,” he wrote.

“Given the evidence gathered from these inspections, particularly in relation to the narrowness of the curriculum, I am concerned that pupils in these schools may be vulnerable to extremist influences and radicalisation.”

BBC News – Radicalisation risk at six Muslim private schools, says Ofsted.

Filed under Multiculturalism, Religion Tagged with , ,

Douglas Todd: Lessons from U.K. migration debate

2014/11/24 Leave a comment

One take on the UK’s immigration and related debates in a lengthy discussion between Douglas Todd and Eric Kaufmann, professor of politics at Birkbeck College, University of London:

Where is successful integration occurring in Britain?

The proportion of mixed-ethnicity households doubled between 2001 and 2011, Kaufmann says. “The fastest-growing group in England are those of mixed race who share English descent with the majority.”

Many second-generation immigrants are also integrating. “A significant share of the children of European immigrants and some of mixed-race background come to identify as white British, melting into the majority.”

Also, opposition to immigration is lower in neighbourhoods where a large share of minorities has been present for over a decade, giving people time to habituate to each other.

It is the rapid pace of change, rather than diversity itself, Kaufman says, that is causing most Britons to want to reduce immigration levels.

Douglas Todd: Lessons from U.K. migration debate.

Filed under Immigration Tagged with , ,

‘Cloud of misperception’: Canadians don’t know their country as well as they think, online survey finds

2014/11/24 Leave a comment

Cloud_of_misperception__Canadians_don’t_know_their_country_as_well_as_they_think__online_survey_finds___National_PostNot terribly surprising:

Canadians might think they know a lot about other Canadians, and about Canada itself. But Canadians are profoundly confused, at least according to the results of a recent Ipsos Reid global survey, The Perils of Perception. The survey asked Canadians to answer a number of questions about Canada, and then compared their answers to the facts. And the facts, as revealed below, show that the Canada Canadians think they know, is a Canada that doesn’t exist.

“Canadians are flying blind in a cloud of misperception,” said John Wright, a senior spokesperson for Ipsos. “So let’s try and clear some things up.” The good news: we are most certainly not alone. People around the world get their countries wrong too.

‘Cloud of misperception’: Canadians don’t know their country as well as they think, online survey finds | National Post.

Filed under Polling Tagged with ,

Public servants asked to promote Conservative tax plan on Twitter

2014/11/24 1 Comment

Totally inappropriate:

A senior bureaucrat with the Finance department sent out a mass email across government asking organizations to retweet messages about the announcement using the hashtag #StrongFamilies.

“We ask that your organization re-tweet the Department of Finance tweets from @financecanada on the announcement over the following 72 hours,” wrote Jean-Michel Catta, an assistant deputy minister.

“Most of our tweets will contain the hashtags #StrongFamilies ou #Famillesfortes.”

The proposal, which includes income splitting for families with children under 18 and extending the monthly Universal Child Care Benefit to more taxpayers, has not yet received parliamentary approval.

Public servants asked to promote Conservative tax plan on Twitter.

Filed under Government Tagged with , ,

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