Thiyagalingam: Recognizing the Tamil Canadian experience in public life

2025/08/11 2 Comments

Crafting a diaspora policy that would be acceptable to all groups and Canadians as a whole would be challenging to say the least. The Harper government inserted language in the citizenship study guide regarding “imported conflicts,” given integration concerns but of course was selective in who it was aimed at (not Ukrainian Canadians for example). The Israel/Hamas war and related demonstrations and incidents, and the inability for the various envoys to help manage the tensions highlight the difficulties.

While I always favour more and better data, ethnic ancestry data provides a wealth of data on specific communities. And it is virtually impossible to include all conflicts and community stories in curriculum beyond broad brush strokes.

…Policy failure #1: No history or specific policy

Canada does not currently have an explicit “diaspora policy” nor does it mandate the kind of historical literacy that should inform national security assessments, integration efforts and reconciliation strategies — particularly in relation to Tamil Canadians and other diasporas shaped by conflict. This vacuum leaves these communities vulnerable to being stereotyped and to one-size-fits-all treatment under anti-terrorism laws.

A robust policy response should include:

  • Context-sensitive involvement: Government agencies, including Public Safety Canada and Global Affairs Canada, must develop more sophisticated approaches to engaging with communities from conflict-affected regions. This includes educating staff on the history, diversity and trauma that are part of these communities.
  • A stand-alone office: Canada should establish a permanent federal office for diaspora affairs. It could serve as a bridge between communities and government, offer advice on culturally appropriate policymaking and support responsible civic engagement by diaspora groups — without defaulting to surveillance or criminal suspicion when these groups advocate for justice abroad.
  • Access to information: Many Tamil Canadians suspect they were surveilled during the height of the war. Canada should review and declassify outdated intelligence assessments that may have shaped discriminatory policies. This would be similar to how national security files have been disclosed in other jurisdictions to promote trust and accountability.

Policy failure #2: Invisibility 

Despite being one of the largest racialized communities, Tamil Canadians are rarely separated out in national statistics. Without data, there can be no tailored policy. Health outcomes, employment access and experiences of discrimination in the Tamil community remain under-researched, which makes it harder to address specific needs.

Additionally, there are no formal federal or provincial initiatives acknowledging Tamil history in Canada. Ottawa, Ontario and British Columbia have declared January Tamil Heritage Month, but this symbolic recognition has not translated into concrete support for Tamil civic life, education or mental-health services.

Key reforms could include:

  • Distinct Data: Federal and provincial governments should commit to collecting data specific to Tamil Canadians — especially in health, employment and justice sectors. Health statistics could highlight the prevalence of untreated post-traumatic stress disorder among war-affected individuals and lead to targeted mental-health services. Employment information could reveal systemic barriers in credential recognition or workplace inclusion, while justice data could inform culturally responsive legal aid or diversion programs.
  • Education reform: School curriculums should include content on the Sri Lankan conflict and refugee experiences. Younger Tamil Canadian generations and their peers from other backgrounds could then better understand the history that shaped Tamil communities in our country.
  • Mental-health investment: Targeted funding for trauma-informed services in Tamil-majority neighbourhoods is essential. Post-conflict communities often carry intergenerational trauma, and culturally competent services remain scarce.

Public representation and democratic inclusion

That Anandasangaree — a human rights lawyer and former UN delegate — is now Canada’s public safety minister is symbolically powerful. But the backlash to his appointment in May reveals a double standard often applied to racialized politicians. While mainstream leaders are allowed complex affiliations and evolving views, racialized leaders must constantly distance themselves from their roots — lest their identity be read as bias.

This isn’t an isolated phenomenon. Muslim Canadians, for example, facesimilar scrutiny. Mass surveillance of their communities in the aftermath of 9/11 has fuelled Islamophobia and racialized narratives that Muslim leaders and activists must continually fight to overcome.

Canada must move beyond this double standard. We need to recognize that post-conflict communities have a right to civic and political participation — not despite their histories, but because of them.

Toward a more inclusive future

The attacks on Anandasangaree may fade from headlines, but they reveal a lingering discomfort with diasporic communities shaped by complex conflicts. Canada’s public policy must catch up with the country’s demographic realities. Inclusion must be more than symbolic.

The federal government has rightly prioritized equity and anti-racism in recent years. But unless these priorities extend to how we interact with post-conflict communities — in security, education and public service — they will remain incomplete.

We must ensure that younger Tamil Canadians do not inherit the suspicion that shadowed their parents. That means building public institutions capable of viewing communities not just as security risks, but as survivors, contributors and storytellers.

Justice isn’t just about courts and laws. It’s about who feels at home in our democracy.

Source: Recognizing the Tamil Canadian experience in public life

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Anti-Palestinian racism report calls for Canada to recognize May 15 as Nakba Day

2025/08/09 Leave a comment

Well, this will provoke some interesting discussions within the government.

Reading through the report, there appears little recognition that some of the actions, symbols and language in various pro-Palestinian protests have contributed to the rise in anti-Palestinian incidents. The description of the Hamas attack of October 7 is antiseptic and is silent on the rapes and other atrocities, also suggesting an element of denial at play “Hamas launched an attack on Israel on this date, actions which included taking 250 people hostage, some of whom remain in captivity in July 2025:”

There also appears little recognition that public and private bodies can make decisions based on public activity and statements, if these create controversy and impact communities. After all, “actions have consequences.”

Perhaps my experience in government where the line between being publicly silent despite any misgivings informs this view (post-government, of course, many public servants share their personal views fairly widely with considerable diversity of opinions.)

The existing definitions of ethnicity (Arab) and religion (Muslim and Christian) are the preferred way to assess discrimination and hate crimes against Palestinians as they bring the issues into the broader context that affect all groups. In other words, focus more on the universal rather than a plethora of individual definitions based upon individual groups (e.g. anti-Tibet, anti-Khalistan, anti-Tamil etc).

Hate crimes against Muslims increased by 8.5 percent compared to last year, against West Asian/Arab by 18.3 percent, higher than most other groups:

A new report from the Islamophobia Research Hub at York University calls on governments across Canada to increase oversight on how universities, schools, police forces and Parliament deal with the recent spike in instances of anti-Arab and anti-Palestinian racism.

The report also calls on all levels of government in Canada to officially recognize May 15 as Nakba Day. Palestinians mark the day after Israel declared independence in 1948 as the beginning of the destruction of their homeland.

“Provincial governments should develop curriculum, train staff and educate students on Palestinian culture, identity and history, including the history of the Nakba,” the report published Wednesday said.

It also wants all levels of government to “recognize and adopt” a definition of anti-Palestinian racism (APR) “as a distinct and detrimental form of racism that operates at multiple levels of state and society.”

The director of the research hub, Nadia Hasan, an assistant professor in the School of Gender, Sexuality and Women’s Studies at York University, said recognizing both Nakba Day and an official definition for APR would set Canada apart from other countries.

“These are important things for Canada to take very seriously,” Hasan said. “I think it would be a first and an important step for Canada to lead on.”

The report examines the increase in Islamophobic verbal and physical attacks directed at Arab and Palestinian Canadians since the beginning of the conflict between Hamas and Israel.

The war was triggered when Hamas-led militants attacked Israeli communities and military bases near Gaza on Oct. 7, 2023, killing around 1,200 people, including more than 700 civilians, and taking 251 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.

Israel’s military response has devastated the tiny, crowded enclave, killing more than 61,000 people — mostly civilians — according to Palestinian health authorities.

The report says its findings are based on interviews conducted virtually with 16 Canadian community-based organizations that focus on addressing Islamophobia, APR and anti-Arab racism. Media reports were also used. The report does not include any first-hand accounts from victims or injured parties.

Recommendations and calling out the CBC

The report calls for greater oversight of post-secondary institutions by striking “advisory tables” made up of students and faculty to develop strategies for colleges and universities to use in combatting discrimination on campus.

The authors of the report also call for those institutions to undergo third-party reviews of how they responded to incidents of Islamophobia and campus protests against the war in Gaza.

They say school boards across Canada should also face province-wide reviews to determine how schools have dealt with incidents of anti-Palestinian racism and examine “cases that were insufficiently or never investigated.”

Aside from the increased scrutiny on universities, colleges and school boards across the county, the report wants to establish provincial and territorial “hate crime accountability units.”

The units would allow people alleging they have been the victims of discrimination to “report directly about law enforcement agencies’ mishandling of hate-motivated crime cases.”

The report also calls for Canada’s public broadcaster to be “reviewed to ensure fair and balanced coverage of Palestinian perspectives.”

This external review, the report says, should probe the possibility that CBC is disproportionately “rejecting Palestinian guest commentators” leading to biased media coverage.

The report provides two reasons for its focus on CBC.

The first is a report by a former employee who alleged she faced backlash for pitching “stories that would bring a balanced perspective” to the war in Gaza.

The second reason is a letter sent to CBC signed by more than 500 members of the Racial Equity Media Collective asking the public broadcaster to “address an apparent pattern of anti-Palestinian bias, Islamophobia and anti-Palestinian racism within the corporation’s news and documentary culture.”

CBC’s head of public affairs, Chuck Thompson, said an external review is not necessary because CBC is already accountable to the independent CBC Ombudsman, Maxime Bertrand, who regularly reviews complaints about the corporation’s journalism.

“CBC News has amplified countless Palestinian voices in our ongoing coverage of the conflict in Gaza,” he said. “There are now thousands of stories we’ve published and broadcast about Israel and Gaza since 2023, all archived here … we think the work speaks for itself.”

The York University report references CBC News journalism covering dozens of instances of anti-Arab and anti-Palestinian racism.

A policy for MPs

The report is also calling on Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner Konrad von Finckenstein, who administers the Conflict of Interest Act and the code of conduct for MPs, to be given increased responsibilities.

The commissioner, the report says, “should develop a clear and enforceable policy on how parliamentarians are to be held accountable when they disseminate disinformation, especially … when such acts target marginalized communities.”

It provides only one example of an MP allegedly spreading disinformation, a post on X by Conservative deputy leader Melissa Lantsman.

The post includes the line: “Stickers with ❤️s glorifying terror on campus popped up today at UBC.”

The report notes the stickers were falsely associated with the UBC Social Justice Centre.

CBC News has reached out to the Official Opposition for reaction to the allegation but has yet to receive a response.

The 15 recommendations contained in the report also call on the federal government to address issues with the temporary resident visa program for refugees fleeing Gaza and probe alleged Israeli foreign interference in Canada.

A Senate report released November 2023 found Islamophobia remains a persistent problem in Canada and concrete action is required to reverse the growing tide of hate across the country.

The report, the first of its kind in Canada, took a year and involved 21 public meetings and 138 witnesses. It said incidents of Islamophobia are a daily reality for many Muslims and that one in four Canadians do not trust Muslims.

Police and advocacy organizations have also reported increases in antisemitic incidents. In the spring, B’nai Brith Canada reported that in 2024 the total number of reported cases of acts of hatred targeting Jews had reached a record high of 6,219 incidents.

Source: Anti-Palestinian racism report calls for Canada to recognize May 15 as Nakba Day

Report link: Documenting the ‘Palestine Exception’: An Overview of Trends in Islamophobia, Anti-Palestinian, and Anti-Arab Racism in Canada in the Aftermath of October 7, 2023

Filed under Antisemitism, Islamophobia, Multiculturalism Tagged with , , ,

Nicolas: Morale et Caisse de dépôt

2025/08/09 Leave a comment

Uncomfortable comparison with sanctions against South Africa in the 1980s:

…La vérité — et on le voit depuis l’annonce faite par la France, le Royaume-Uni, le Canada et maintenant d’autres nations d’une reconnaissance prochaine de l’État palestinien —, c’est que les mesures même « symboliques », prises dans des pays clés, accroissent une pression diplomatique plus qu’urgente, encore plus dans un contexte de famine.

C’est la Coalition du Québec Urgence Palestine qui organise principalement la mobilisation pour mettre de la pression sur La Caisse et qui a publié la lettre ouverte qui a forcé la réponse — rhétoriquement très faible — de son p.-d.g. La Coalition inclut des syndicats, dont la CSN, Québec solidaire, le Parti vert du Québec, la Ligue des droits et libertés, plusieurs organismes de coopération internationale, des regroupements de femmes, des groupes communautaires.

Plusieurs de ces groupes ont une longue histoire. Plusieurs se faisaient déjà traiter de noms d’oiseaux pour leur engagement contre l’apartheid, dans les années 1980. C’est que la moralité des institutions canadiennes, lorsqu’elle existe, se construit sur la persistance de gens tenaces, qui ne lâchent rien. Je vous laisse faire les parallèles qui s’imposent.

Source: Chronique | Morale et Caisse de dépôt

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Lederman: What the Israeli flag debacle at Auschwitz really says about this moment

2025/08/09 Leave a comment

Good observation:

…Mr. Bartyzel did not answer my question about whether this has happened before. Have unauthorized Israeli flags entered the site previously by people marching in? Has anyone been forced to return their flags to their vehicles and then enter without them? Has such an order been given before Israel became the global pariah it is now? If so, I missed the global outrage.

Today, the Jewish community is on high alert, frightened that antisemitism is lurking around every corner. Here in Canada, B’nai Brith reports that antisemitism has reached “perilous, record-setting heights.” The same thing is happening in the U.S., the U.K., around the world. 

In the midst of this, it is easy for Jews to assume antisemitic intent. While this is often true, it is not always the case. We need to be thoughtful in each circumstance. 

That said, if there is a spot where the consequences of antisemitism can be felt viscerally, it is at Auschwitz-Birkenau, where the absolute worst happened.

I visited the site in 1998 during the March of the Living, with family members including my mother, who survived Birkenau. It was a difficult day for her, but she drew comfort from not just her own descendants, but from seeing so many young Jews from around the world – and the sea of Israeli flags. They were a symbol of what rose from all she had lost: her parents, her little brother, her home, every single possession, her freedom, her youth, her education, her health, her life as she had known it.

Nobody should have to experience such staggering losses. Nobody.

Source: What the Israeli flag debacle at Auschwitz really says about this moment

Filed under Antisemitism, Holocaust, Multiculturalism Tagged with , ,

Yakabuski: Montreal Pride finally stands up to the pro-Palestinian bullies 

2025/08/08 2 Comments

Of note:

…The statement did not name any banned groups, but Ga’ava and the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA) revealed that they had been suddenly disinvited from the event. In a Facebook post, Ga’ava said the explanation given by Fierté Montréal for its exclusion was related to Ga’ava’s description of certain groups that had previously demanded the organization’s banishment from the parade. Ga’ava’s and CIJA officials had said the groups were “pro-terror” and “pro-Hamas” in a Jewish newspaper article. Ga’ava president Carlos Godoy denied those terms constituted hate speech.

On Tuesday, Fierté Montréal reversed itself and lifted the ban on Ga’ava and the CIJA. It apologized to the Jewish community, and particularly Jewish members of Quebec’s LGBTQ community, who felt it had sought to exclude them. What exactly transpired remains unclear, but it is a safe bet that government and corporate sponsors – which account for about 80 per cent of Fierté Montréal’s budget – had something to do with the move. The chairman of Fierté Montréal’s board of directors also resigned on Monday. 

Fierté Montréal’s reversal angered the pro-Palestinian groups that had called for Ga’ava’s exclusion. But it was the correct move. There are legitimate grievances to be aired about the Israeli army’s increasingly disgraceful conduct in Gaza. Yet, attacking Ga’ava appears to have more to do with the role such groups play in underscoring Israel’s protection of LGBTQ rights, in contrast to the oppression LGBTQ persons face in most Arab jurisdictions. That is not a contrast pro-Palestinian activists want to emphasize, perhaps because it exposes their own cognitive dissonance, if not hypocrisy.

These pro-Palestinian LGBTQ activists accuse Israel of “pinkwashing,” or playing up gay rights in Israel to distract attention from its treatment of Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank. But what they are really seeking to do is to silence anyone who suggests otherwise.

Source: Montreal Pride finally stands up to the pro-Palestinian bullies

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Khan: We shouldn’t turn a blind eye to assaults on Muslim women 

2025/08/07 Leave a comment

Agree:

…The scourge of hate is corrosive. It cannot be effectively addressed in a siloed fashion, where each affected group stands alone. Here’s an idea: next time when there’s a hateful incident against one group, let’s have a few representatives of all affected groups stand together to condemn the hate. There are fundamental disagreements between affected groups, but all agree that no member of our Canadian family should be subject to intimidation, threats or violence.

Source: We shouldn’t turn a blind eye to assaults on Muslim women

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Décision rendue fin juillet | Une première peine adaptée aux criminels racisés au Québec

2025/08/07 Leave a comment

Of note:

Dans une décision récente rendue fin juillet au palais de justice de Longueuil, la juge Magali Lepage a condamné l’accusé Frank Paris à 24 mois de prison dans une affaire de trafic de cannabis et de haschich. Ce dernier avait déjà plaidé coupable. Jusqu’ici, rien d’inhabituel.

Or, pour déterminer sa peine, la juge a considéré la jurisprudence, une analyse de la preuve, une balance des facteurs aggravants et atténuants… mais aussi une évaluation de l’impact de l’origine ethnique ou culturelle (EIOEC), une analyse particulière qui se penche sur le parcours personnel d’un criminel à travers la loupe des barrières systémiques auxquelles il a pu faire face.

Après la lecture de l’évaluation, la juge a décidé d’accepter la suggestion de la défense, presque un an plus courte que celle de la poursuite.

Il s’agit d’une première au Québec. Aucun juge québécois n’avait considéré une EIOEC dans la détermination d’une peine jusqu’au 28 juillet dernier. La décision risque donc de faire jurisprudence dans le contexte québécois. De telles procédures existent depuis 2014, ailleurs au Canada.

Qu’est-ce qu’une EIOEC ?

Une EIOEC est un rapport présentenciel d’experts qui est utilisé pour déterminer la peine d’une personne racisée – mais qui est surtout utilisé pour les personnes noires. Elle est donc déposée après qu’un accusé est reconnu coupable, mais avant que la peine soit déterminée.

Le rapport fait un examen exhaustif du parcours de l’accusé, avec une insistance sur les « réalités propres » aux personnes racisées, à la « discrimination systémique » qu’elles ont vécue et aux défis spécifiques auxquels elles sont plus exposées (plus bas taux de diplomation, plus grande proportion de familles monoparentales et de père absent, plus grand risque de vivre dans des quartiers défavorisés et criminalisés, etc.).

On considère que ces facteurs, plus présents chez les Noirs, mènent plus facilement à la criminalité.

Comme l’explique Me Valérie Black St-Laurent, avocate et directrice des opérations chez Jurigo, « l’objectif d’une EIOEC, c’est vraiment d’informer la Cour pour contextualiser le parcours de la personne qui se trouve devant elle et pour qu’elle puisse rendre une peine qui est juste » et individualisée, comme le prévoit le Code criminel.

« C’est individualisé, mais il reste que les statistiques montrent que tout le groupe des personnes noires est victime de discrimination », renchérit Karine Millaire, professeure adjointe à la faculté de droit de l’Université de Montréal.

« Il faut tenir compte du fait qu’il y a une surincarcération des personnes noires qui est issue du fait que notre système est aussi discriminatoire », dit-elle….

Source: Décision rendue fin juillet | Une première peine adaptée aux criminels racisés au Québec

In a recent decision delivered at the end of July at the Longueuil courthouse, Judge Magali Lepage sentenced the accused Frank Paris to 24 months in prison in a cannabis and hashish trafficking case. The latter had already pleaded guilty. So far, nothing unusual.

However, to determine her sentence, the judge considered the case law, an analysis of the evidence, a balance of aggravating and mitigating factors… but also an assessment of the impact of ethnic or cultural origin (EIOEC), a particular analysis that looks at the personal journey of a criminal through the magnifying glass of the systemic barriers he was able to face.

After reading the evaluation, the judge decided to accept the suggestion of the defense, almost a year shorter than that of the prosecution.

This is a first in Quebec. No Quebec judge had considered an EIOEC in determining a sentence until July 28. The decision is therefore likely to become jurisprudence in the Quebec context. Such procedures have existed since 2014, elsewhere in Canada.

What is an EIOEC?

An EIOEC is a face-to-face expert report that is used to determine the sentence of a racialized person – but is mainly used for black people. It is therefore filed after an accused is found guilty, but before the sentence is determined.

The report makes an exhaustive examination of the accused’s career, with an emphasis on the “realities specific” of racialized people, the “systemic discrimination” they have experienced and the specific challenges to which they are more exposed (lower graduation rates, greater proportion of single-parent families and absent fathers, higher risk of living in disadvantaged and criminalized neighborhoods, etc.).

These factors, more present among blacks, are considered to lead more easily to crime.

As explained by Valérie Black St-Laurent, lawyer and director of operations at Jurigo, “the objective of an EIOEC is really to inform the Court to contextualize the journey of the person who is in front of it and so that he can render a sentence that is fair” and individualized, as provided for by the Criminal Code.

“It’s individualized, but the statistics still show that the entire group of black people is a victim of discrimination,” adds Karine Millaire, assistant professor at the Faculty of Law at the University of Montreal.

“We must take into account the fact that there is an over-imprisonment of black people that results from the fact that our system is also discriminatory,” she says….

Patrick Lagacé’s biting critique of the EIOEC reasoning the judgement relied on:

La suite du paragraphe est hallucinante de déresponsabilisation : « Bien que M. Paris ait cru qu’il servait sa communauté d’une façon positive en donnant une tribune aux artistes et l’accès à l’internet, il y vendait aussi des substances illicites. En rétrospective, M. Paris croit qu’il aurait dû cesser de vendre de la cocaïne à cette époque… »

Et c’est comme ça sur 44 pages, cette « évaluation de l’incidence de l’origine ethnique et culturelle », j’en passe et des meilleures : tout est la faute de la société, rien n’a jamais été, rien n’est et ne sera jamais la faute de Frank Paris.

S’il commet des crimes, si la récidive lui tombe dessus à répétition, c’est parce qu’il est noir dans une société anti-black. Et handicapé, mais ça me prendrait une autre chronique pour vous expliquer cette intersectionnalité fascinante qui pousse aussi M. Paris à la criminalité.

Bref, je ne sais pas si les « évaluations de l’incidence de l’origine ethnique et culturelle » nées en Nouvelle-Écosse sont toujours de la bullshit, mais celle de M. Frank Paris, la première utilisée par une juge au Québec, m’apparaît comme ça et juste ça : de la bullshitpur jus.

Source: Un rapport vaguement ésotérique

The rest of the paragraph is hallucinating with deresponsibility: “Although Mr. Paris believed that he served his community in a positive way by giving a forum to artists and access to the Internet, he also sold illicit substances there. In retrospect, Mr. Paris believes that he should have stopped selling cocaine at that time…”
And that’s how it is on 44 pages, this “assessment of the impact of ethnic and cultural origin”, I pass and the best: everything is the fault of society, nothing has ever been, nothing is and will never be the fault of Frank Paris.
If he commits crimes, if recidivism falls on him repeatedly, it is because he is black in an anti-black society. And disabled, but it would take me another column to explain this fascinating intersectionality that also pushes Mr. Paris to crime.
In short, I don’t know if the “evaluations of the incidence of ethnic and cultural origin” born in Nova Scotia are still bullshit, but that of Mr. Frank Paris, the first used by a judge in Quebec, appears to me like this and just that: bullshitpur jus.



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Air Canada says she was being ‘loud, demanding and unruly.’ She says she was being stereotyped. Here’s what the human rights tribunal heard

2025/08/06 2 Comments

Will be interesting to see how the Tribunal rules. Incident dates from 2018 and don’t know whether the delay is normal for the Tribunal. As a business class passenger, she would have access to shorter check-in and boarding lines. As an DEI academic and activist, Francis would likely be more aware and sensitive to perceived discrimination and stereotypes:

It’s not an uncommon scene at any busy airport: A passenger needs help and approaches an airline agent who may come across as rude.

But what happened to a Jamaican Canadian at Vancouver International Airport on March 1, 2018 — as described last week over a five-day hearing at the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal — has highlighted the stark contrast in how a Black woman and airline staff viewed their encounter seven years ago.

The case of alleged discrimination for “Flying while Black” will test how far the Canadian Human Rights Act can go in awarding damages to air travellers for discrimination. Claims against carriers are governed by the Montreal Convention, an international pact that’s a standard liability regime for death and injury, damage or loss of baggage and flight delay only.

Business-class passenger June Francis had had her knees replaced six months before a trip to Toronto. She approached an Air Canada check-in agent for help amid an exceptionally long lineup, the tribunal heard.

She testified that the agent cut her off before she could request an accommodation, yelled at her and told her to “get in line.” Unsuccessful in getting the agent’s name or identification number, she took photos of the agent with her cellphone for identification so she could complain to Air Canada.

Francis, who is five-foot-10, was described as “loud,” “demanding” and “unruly,” the tribunal heard from Air Canada. A supervisor and security guard were dispatched and demanded that Francis delete the photos, or else she would be refused boarding.

Francis testified that the supervisor said to her, “I can see why you are a problem. You do not take directions. I can see why you were treated that way.” 

“It was a very demeaning comment,” Francis said. “It suggested that I needed directions from people to know how to behave.”

The now 70-year-old woman — a Simon Fraser University business professor and a King Charles III Coronation Medal recipient for her anti-racism work — said she felt afraid when she saw the airport security guard.

“I was shaken,” she testified. “I had done nothing wrong. I am a Black woman … I know what has happened from my community when law enforcement arrives.”

On the witness stand, the agent, later identified as Betty Liao, described Francis as rude and aggressive, but denied yelling at her to get in line or that the complainant ever mentioned her physical needs. She also testified she did not remember if Francis asked for her name or identification number to file a complaint, or if she refused. 

Liao did remember telling Francis to stop taking photos of her, and told the tribunal she felt unsafe. “This is too intimidating,” testified Liao, who is five feet tall. “And I have no right to say no?”

In laying out the complaint at the hearing, Francis’s lawyer Sujit Choudhry said this is the first case of flying while Black to reach a full hearing before the tribunal.

“Professor Francis, a grandmother, (then) 62-year-old, recovering from a knee surgery, posed no threat,” he told the tribunal….

Source: Air Canada says she was being ‘loud, demanding and unruly.’ She says she was being stereotyped. Here’s what the human rights tribunal heard



Filed under Multiculturalism, Racism Tagged with , , ,

ICYMI – Urback: Did we really have to make this D-list MAGA singer famous in Canada?

2025/08/05 Leave a comment

Yep:

…But perhaps most irritating of all is that this totally unnecessary controversy has made a MAGA martyr of Sean Feucht: a man who was, and should’ve continued to be, mostly anonymous – a D-list celebrity, if that, in Canada. It is irritating that many of us now know how to pronounce his name; irritating that he has accidentally stumbled upon the type of mainstream attention his brand of worship rock could have never organically drawn; irritating that there will be more eyes on his Pride month posts about the “agenda seeking to destroy our culture and pervert our children.” And irritating that those who value and understand the rights protected by our Charter – of free speech, and free assembly, and freedom from discrimination – have to defend this guy’s rights, even if they loathe what he’s saying. 

Had licensing officials politely shut down the minority of protesters who knew of Mr. Feucht’s existence and objected to his performances, the majority of us could have continued to exist in blissful ignorance, and Mr. Feucht would’ve soon returned to his long list of other grievances. Instead, they’ve set a terrible new precedent for access to public spaces, while inadvertently forcing the rest of us to give him what he clearly desires most: attention.

Source: Did we really have to make this D-list MAGA singer famous in Canada?

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ICYMI: Trudeau radically overhauled the Senate — will Carney keep his reforms?

2025/08/05 2 Comments

We shall see. Chart below contrasts Chrétien, Harper and Trudeau appointments:

…In an interview with CBC Radio’s The House, House leader Steve MacKinnon signalled there may indeed be more changes coming.

“I think the Senate is very much a work in progress,” he said.

“We continue to work constructively with the Senate in its current configuration and as it may evolve. I know many senators, the various groups in the Senate and others continue to offer some constructive thoughts on that.”

Asked if Carney will appoint Liberals, MacKinnon said the prime minister will name senators who are “attuned to the vagaries of public opinion, attuned to the wishes of Canadians and attuned to the agenda of the government as is reflected in the election results.”

Carney is interested in senators who “are broadly understanding of what the government’s trying to achieve,” MacKinnon said.

As to whether he’s heard about efforts to revive a Senate Liberal caucus, MacKinnon said: “I haven’t been part of any of those discussions.”

Alberta Sen. Paula Simons is a member of the Independent Senators Group, the largest in the chamber and one mostly composed of Trudeau appointees (she is one of them, appointed in 2018).

Simons said she knows the Conservatives would scrap Trudeau’s reforms at the first opportunity. What concerns her more are those Liberals who are also against the changes.

“There’s a fair bit of rumbling about standing up a Liberal caucus again. And I am unalterably opposed to that,” she said.

When the last Liberal caucus was disbanded, some of its members regrouped as the Progressive Senate Group, which now includes senators who were never Liberals.

“To unscramble that omelette, whether you’re a Liberal or a Conservative, I think would be a betrayal of everything that we’ve accomplished over the last decade,” Simons said.

“I think the Senate’s reputation has improved greatly as a result of these changes. I think the way we are able to improve legislation has also increased tenfold. It would be foolish and wasteful to reverse that.”

Still, she said there’s been pushback from some Trudeau appointees.

Senate debates are now longer, committee hearings feature more witnesses and there’s more amendments to legislation than ever before, she said.

Not to mention Independent senators can’t be whipped to vote a certain way. All of that makes the legislative process more difficult to navigate.

“Partisan Liberals don’t like the new independent Senate because they can’t control it as easily,” she said.

Marc Gold, Trudeau’s last government representative in the Senate who briefly served under Carney before retiring, said his advice to the new prime minister is to keep the Senate the way it is.

“The evolution of the Senate to a less partisan, complementary institution is a good thing. I think it’s a success, and I certainly hope that it continues,” Gold said….

Source: Trudeau radically overhauled the Senate — will Carney keep his reforms?

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