French: Justice Jackson Just Helped Reset the D.E.I. Debate

2025/06/09 Leave a comment

Of interest:

…In its ruling, the Supreme Court rejected the Sixth Circuit’s test. It held that all plaintiffs approach the law equally, regardless of their group identity, and all plaintiffs have to meet the same legal burdens to win their case. There can be no extra hurdle for members of majority groups.

I wasn’t surprised by the outcome, but I was at least mildly surprised that it was unanimous. And I was definitely surprised by the author of the majority opinion — Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, one of the court’s most liberal members.

Jackson’s words were clear. Nondiscrimination law is focused on protecting individuals. Quoting previous Supreme Court cases, Jackson wrote, “Discriminatory preference for any group, minority or majority, is precisely and only what Congress has proscribed.” As a consequence, “Congress left no room for courts to impose special requirements on majority-group plaintiffs alone.”

Crucially, the court didn’t rule that Ames had been discriminated against. Instead, it sent the case back down to the lower court to be decided under the proper, equal standard.

Standing alone, the Ames case is relatively narrow in scope. It only holds that all employment discrimination plaintiffs have to meet the same test. Taken together with the court’s other recent cases, including most notably 2023’s Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard, which prohibits race preferences in university admissions, the lesson is plain: Any discrimination rooted in immutable characteristics, such as race, sex or sexual orientation, will automatically be legally suspect, regardless of whether the motivation for discrimination was malign or benign…

Source: Justice Jackson Just Helped Reset the D.E.I. Debate

Filed under DEI, Multiculturalism Tagged with ,

More visible minority candidates ran — and won — in Canada’s federal election. The Conservatives boosted the numbers

2025/06/06 2 Comments

Coverage of our study:

More visible minorities ran and were elected in the spring federal election compared to the previous election, an increase that a new report found was driven by representation in parties on the right.

There were 315 visible minorities representing the six major parties, according to the report published by the Institute for Research on Public Policy. The candidates accounted for 20.1 per cent of the 1,568 candidates in the April 28 election. This was an increase from 18.2 per cent in 2021, 16.8 per cent in 2019 and 13.4 per cent in 2015.

While the Liberals, New Democrats and Greens all reported a drop in their visible minority representation from the 2021 race — by 0.9, 3.2 and 1.3 percentage points respectively — Pierre Poilievre’s Conservatives and Maxime Bernier’s People’s Party of Canada saw their numbers up by 5.9 percentage points and seven points, with the Bloc Québécois up 1.3 points. (The People’s Party failed to win a seat.)

The report refers to “visible minorities” as persons, other than Indigenous people, who are non-Caucasian in race or non-white in colour, as defined by Statistics Canada. 

“The Liberals almost seemed to have dropped the ball in terms of candidate recruitment compared to the Conservatives, who obviously were making a fairly concerted effort to recruit a larger number of visible minority candidates,” said Andrew Griffith, who co-authored the report with retired McGill University political science professor Jerome Black.

“They were still building off the Jason Kenney legacy that visible minorities are our natural conservatives,” added Griffith, referring to the former Conservative immigration minister tasked with building bridges with minority communities under the Harper government.

And the deliberate recruitment efforts seemed to yield results, with the proportion of elected visible minority MPs up by 2.4 percentage points, accounting for 17.8 per cent or 61 of the 343 MPs in the new Parliament.

While the number of Liberal MPs who are visible minorities fell by 2.2 percentage points, the Conservatives boosted their visible minority MPs in the House of Commons by 7.5 percentage points. 

The MP breakdown, by ethnicity, was South Asian, 29 seats, Black, 11 seats; Chinese and Arab/West Asian, both seven; Latin American, two; Filipino and Southeast Asian, each with one; and three listed under “other/multiple” backgrounds.

University of Toronto professor Emine Fidan Elcioglu said she was not surprised by the shift as the Conservatives rebranded the party under prime minister Stephen Harper to cultivate support from ethnic communities.

“They wanted to seem like the new party of diversity, so they were very intentional in their ethnic outreach,” said the sociologist, who studies migration politics.

“They were (previously) pushing forward policies that alienated immigrant visible minority communities. They were also reframing themselves as pro-good immigrant, anti-bad immigrant.”

Over the years, she said, visible minority groups have also started to embrace that thinking as shown in recent public debates about the impacts of immigration on the housing and affordability crisis.

Poilievre is “very much looking at these groups as a potential part of his base,” Elcioglu noted. “But I think we need to be really careful to not assume that just because there is more visible minority candidates in the party, that is necessarily going to be fundamental in voter motivation.”

Having more racialized candidates doesn’t necessarily translate to more inclusion, she said, and it could just be a cover for more stringent immigration policies, more austerity measures and more gutting of the social security safety net that affect the society’s most marginalized and vulnerable.

“So, great, you recruit people who are not white men, but what are you doing with that?” asked Elcioglu. 

The report also found the number of women running in the April election down from the 2021 election by 2.4 per cent to 553, and Indigenous candidates by 0.9 per cent to 48. In total, 104 women and 12 Indigenous people were elected.

“It seems like there’s almost a glass ceiling of about 30 per cent for women,” said Griffith. “For Indigenous MPs, it’s a bit different just because of how the population is distributed across the country, but that also has stalled.” 

Candidate profiles and assessments in the analysis are based upon candidate photos, names and biographies, general web searches, and ethnic and other media that focused on particular groups.

Source: More visible minority candidates ran — and won — in Canada’s federal election. The Conservatives boosted the numbers

Filed under Aboriginal, Multiculturalism Tagged with , ,

Carney government introduces bill to beef up border security

2025/06/05 1 Comment

Predictable criticism from refugee and immigration advocates who invariably either cannot ackowledge abuses of the system or come up with possible measures to deal with the same, beyond calling for more resources.

One nugget that should improve processing and service for citizenship is:

“Make it easier for IRCC to share client information between different IRCC programs (e.g. using permanent residence application data to process citizenship applications).”

My sense is that the immigration and asylum provisions will likely be supported by the Conservative opposition but there will likely be tensions within the Liberal caucus:

…The bill was immediately met with concerns about privacy, refugee rights and its omnibus aspect.

NDP MP Jenny Kwan said the bill should be “alarming” to Canadians and risks breaching their civil liberties, particularly for its changes on immigration.

“They are trying to create this illusion that Canada’s border is more secure in some way, but however, a lot of the components within the bill targets Canada’s own immigration policies and processes that has nothing to do with the United States,” she said, questioning why there were no measures specifically targeting illegal guns coming from the U.S., for example.

“There are lots of pieces that I think should be concerning to Canadians.”

Anandasangaree, a former human rights lawyer, defended seeking those new powers Tuesday.

“I worked my entire life in the protection of human rights and civil liberties. That’s a marquee part of the work that I’ve done before politics, in politics,” he told reporters.

“In order for me to bring forward legislation, it needed to have the safeguards in place, it needed to be in line with the values of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, and I fundamentally believe that we have striked the balance that, while expanding powers in certain instances, does have the safeguards and the protections in place to protect individual freedoms and rights.”

Those safeguards include not allowing information on immigration to be shared with other countries unless permitted by the minister, as well as judicial oversight that would require a warrant except in “exigent” circumstances. 

The proposed legislation, which will require the support of another party to pass in the minority Parliament, is meant to address the surge of asylum-seekers and the ballooning backlogs in refugee applications. Anyone who first arrived Canada after June 24, 2020 would not be allowed to make a refugee claim after one year, regardless of whether they left the country and returned; irregular migrants who enter Canada from the U.S. between land ports of entry would also be denied the rights to asylum.

“They’re coming up with all of these various ways to basically turn the tap off, to actually make it a more restrictive process,” said Queen’s University immigration and refugee law professor Sharry Aiken.

“That will harm vulnerable people and deny some groups of claimants their right to accessing a fair hearing” by the independent Immigration and Refugee Board, Aiken said.

Canada has seen the number of asylum-seekers triple in less than a decade, from 50,365 in 2017 to 171,845 last year. As of April, the refugee tribunal has 284,715 claims awaiting a decision.

More international students, visitors and foreign workers are seeking asylum to prolong their stays in Canada after Ottawa clamped down on the runaway growth of temporary residents and reduced permanent resident admissions amid concerns of the housing and affordability crisis.

The Canadian Council for Refugees said the proposed asylum changes mirror the American approach, where borders are militarized and securitized as refugees and migrants are viewed as a security threat.

“Under international law, there is no time frame on the right to seek protection. Where we do find this precedent is in the U.S.,” said Gauri Sreenivasan, the council’s co-executive director.

Anandasangaree said those who are affected by proposed ineligibility rules for asylum could ask for an assessment by immigration officials to ensure they would not face harm if sent back to their country.

However, critics said that process is less robust than a full hearing by the refugee board, and this would simply pass the administrative burden to the already strained Immigration Department and the Federal Court.

“It could force many people who have no choice because they are under threat in their country or in the U.S. to live underground without status,” Sreenivasan warned.

Source: Carney government introduces bill to beef up border security

And Althia Raj questions who pressed for these changes (likely under development for some time by IRCC officials given the numbers and abuses):

….Those who work with refugees are also alarmed.

Prime Minister Mark Carney’s first piece of legislation pulls away the welcome mat for asylum seekers. It makes it nearly impossible for those who have been in Canada for more than a year, either as students, permanent residents, or temporary workers, and those who’ve snuck into Canada between land border crossings and have been here for more than two weeks, from having their asylum cases heard.

“A lot of people are going to get rejected because they’re not going to have an opportunity to explain for themselves why they would be in danger when they go back (home),” said Adam Sadinsky, an immigration and refugee lawyer with Silcoff Shacter in Toronto.

On Parliament Hill, the NDP’s Jenny Kwan described the law as “violating people’s due process and taking away people’s basic rights,” and also noted that it will drive people underground.

A problem that could be fixed by beefing up the immigration system — staffing and resources — will instead encourage those who are in Canada, and fear being deported to their home country, to stay here illegally. It will make it much more difficult for federal, provincial and municipal authorities to know who is living here, where they are, and what services they need. And it may simply move staffing and resource pressures away from the Immigration and Refugee Board toward the federal court, who will now hear more requests for stays to remain in Canada and for judicial review of unfavourable decisions.

On CBC, Anandasangaree said his “comprehensive bill” was directly linked with what is happening at the Canada-U.S. border, but it also “responds to … the mandate (Canadians) gave us on April the 28th.”

Does it? Are these the values that Canadians voted to uphold?…

Source: Opinion | Border bill primed to give Mark Carney’s government sweeping new powers. Who asked for this?

Filed under Immigration, Multiculturalism, Refugees Tagged with , , , , ,

The diversity of candidates and MPs stalled for some groups in this election

2025/06/05 Leave a comment

My latest collaboration with Jerome Black on the diversity of candidates and MPs. Stall for women and visible minorities, ongoing increase for visible minorities.

In summary, differences in political-party representation reflect dissimilarities in demographic trends (such as higher growth rates of visible minorities), overall election dynamics, political-party recruitment efforts, and the extent to which groups feel their concerns are reflected in political platforms and messaging.

Source: The diversity of candidates and MPs stalled for some groups in this election

Filed under Aboriginal, gender, Immigration, Multiculturalism Tagged with , ,

Christopher Dummitt: Systemic discrimination is legal in Canada

2025/06/04 Leave a comment

Apart from the header, valid questions although I am not convinced the DEI programs necessarily “exacerbate ethnic conflict in Canada:”

…The question is: how long will this remain the case? And, even more importantly, what counts as evidence for disadvantage? Who gets to decide whether current-day disadvantage comes from discriminatory treatment or not?

The reality is that different social groups have different social outcomes. As Thomas Sowell pointed out years ago, it would be bizarre to think that they wouldn’t. The question is: are these differences a result of choices, cultures and random chance — or are they a more nefarious expression of discrimination, either systemic or outright?

One of the odd things to happen in our intellectual circles — our universities and even our law schools — is that this question is rarely asked with an open-ended curiosity as to what the answer might be.

One wonders whether it even comes up when employers or universities set about establishing discriminatory affirmative action programs. Or, more likely, are they working from a consensus within the institution that there really are disadvantaged groups — and that this is obviously caused by discrimination?

We should be clear: it’s entirely possible that disadvantages are caused by subtle forms of discrimination that continue despite Canada’s now very equal legal system. It’s certainly possible — and the idea ought to get a fair hearing.

But in many progressive circles today, it’s now considered rude to even ask the question — to wonder whether social and economic differences between groups might be caused by something other than prejudice.

This is why the topic of viewpoint diversity — in our universities, our law schools, in the world of expertise — isn’t the esoteric topic it might seem.

Even as the wider Canadian society seems to be retreating from the excesses of cancel culture and woke shibboleths (good news on that front), the staffing of our knowledge institutions, our universities and our law schools still overwhelmingly comes from those on the left — from the same groups who assume that socioeconomic variation is, de facto, linked to discrimination.

These are the people who get to decide when — if ever — the only legal form of systemic discrimination allowed in Canada (affirmative action) will ever end.

There’s plenty of evidence coming out of think-tanks and even Statistics Canada that the Canada of 2025 has moved a long way from the Canada of 1981, where affirmative action was justified. The most economically well-to-do Canadians are not those of European ancestry — despite the popular perception to the contrary. The groups of Canadians with the highest income — and highest levels of educational attainment — are those of South Asian and Chinese ancestry. Whites tend to come in the middle of the pack, while Black Canadians and Indigenous people are lower down the economic scale. If affirmative action is going to continue, the public needs to be reassured that those justifying its existence, at the very least, keep up to date with which groups are up and which are down — though even this framing shows how divisive such policies would be.

There’s also plenty of evidence that the “race conscious” programs allowed by the Charter — and pushed by DEI advocates — actually exacerbate ethnic conflict in Canada.

There could, of course, be evidence that continued systemic discrimination justifies affirmative action. But it would help to know that the organizations instituting these types of progressive discrimination are at least open to the idea that Canada can, and will, move on.

Source: Christopher Dummitt: Systemic discrimination is legal in Canada

Filed under Multiculturalism Tagged with ,

Trump’s $5 million Gold Card offers the rich a fast lane to residency

2025/06/03 Leave a comment

Good assessment of this harebrained scheme, unlikely to attract the worthy. Lack of details on how it would work also cause for concern. Silver’s comment at the end sounds about right:

Lawyers’ phones are ringing with wealthy foreigners wanting to know more about how to score a “Gold Card” – a glorified green card that would allow them to live and work in the U.S. without going through the usual hassle or red tape. Apparently, the card’s $5 million price tag is not scaring off the jet-setters looking to make the U.S. home. Or at least one of their homes.

“$5 million to these people is jet fuel cost. It means nothing to them,” says Matthew Kolken, an immigration lawyer from Buffalo, NY, who has Canadian clients asking about the Gold Card. The clients declined to comment, but Kolken says he thinks the Gold Card is underpriced, if anything, considering the time and hassle it would save foreign multi-millionaires.

“It allows them to potentially buy their way into the United States,” says Kolken. “They would just be able to throw down their Amex Black Card.”

And plenty are interested.

“I have one from India, one from Pakistan, and two from Egypt. And a colleague who has a few [clients] from Russia,” says immigration attorney Mona Shah. Most are drawn to the offer of an express lane to permanent residency, plus more favorable tax implications; foreign nationals living in the U.S. on a Gold Card would only be taxed on their U.S. earnings.

Shah says the security — and the status — of being able to flash that “Gold Card” to get waved into the U. S. is also a big draw, as well as what Trump has described as “privileges – plus.” The president hasn’t elaborated on what that means, but Shah says clients are imagining VIP perks that range from easy loans to a special fast-track lane through Customs at U.S. airports.

“They seem to believe that this is going to be some kind of separating first class from economy class, and that this is some kind of ‘red carpet’ visa and they will be treated like a VIP everywhere,” says Shah.

But whether any such perks – or obligations – will come with the Gold Card remains far from clear, and the administration is not offering any more details some three months after President Donald Trump first started hyping the idea.

“It’s a great thing, the Gold Card. Remember the words ‘the Gold Card!'” he proclaimed to reporters in the Oval Office in February. “Wealthy people will be coming into our country by buying this card. They’ll be wealthy and they’ll be successful and they’ll be spending a lot of money and paying a lot of taxes and employing a lot of people. And we think it’s going to be extremely successful, never been done before anything like this.”

Trump added that he’d be happy to call it the “Trump Gold Card.” In fact officials say a government website is now using the name TrumpCard.gov, and Trump has since revealed a sample card with a picture of his face on the front.

Trump has said the proceeds of the Gold Card would go to help pay down the budget deficit, and possibly even chip away at the massive $36.2 trillion national debt.

“We’ll be able to sell maybe a million of these cards, maybe more than that,” Trump said. “A million cards would be worth $5 trillion. And if you sell 10 million of the cards, that’s a total of $50 trillion. We have $35 trillion in debt. That’d be nice.”

But most immigration experts and attorneys see that figure as wildly unrealistic. They expect sales to be in the low thousands.

Immigration lawyer Darren Silver says he’s received a flurry of calls about the Gold Card, but interest wanes as soon as he explains this program is not like the existing EB-5 visa program, which requires an investment of something closer to $1 million in a business that creates jobs or $800,000 for investments in a lower-income ‘targeted employment area.’

Silver says his clients are surprised when he tells them the Gold Card is not an investment that might offer any returns. It’s effectively just a donation.

“I had to explain to them, ‘you’re gifting the U.S. government $5 million. That’s all you’re doing.'” says Silver. “And once I explain that to them, they’re out.”

Source: Trump’s $5 million Gold Card offers the rich a fast lane to residency

Filed under Immigration, Multiculturalism Tagged with , , , ,

Roberge veut renvoyer le multiculturalisme dans les « limbes de l’histoire »

2025/05/30 Leave a comment

Forgets, of course, s27 of the Charter and the Multiculturalism Act, not to mention that the differences between multiculturalism and interculturalism are relatively small, as both properly understood pertain to civic integration and the CAQ’s more divisive approach has been subject to considerable criticism.

And somewhat ironic for Minister Roberge to state that the parties in the Assemblée nationale opposed Bill 84 given “clientélisme partisan when arguably, so is the CAQ:

« Le multiculturalisme ne s’applique plus sur le territoire québécois, enfin ! […] C’est un modèle qui a toujours été nuisible pour le Québec », a affirmé le ministre mercredi à l’Assemblée nationale.  

Selon lui, dans ce modèle, l’État se donne le devoir de permettre aux nouveaux arrivants de garder leur culture et leur langue d’origine. « C’est ça, le multiculturalisme canadien. On vit les uns aux côtés des autres », a-t-il expliqué.  

Sa nouvelle loi – qui s’inspire de l’interculturalisme – vise à envoyer le signal aux immigrants qu’ils « arrivent dans un État qui a son propre modèle d’intégration » et qu’ils doivent accepter le contrat social du Québec basé sur des valeurs comme la démocratie, la langue française, l’égalité entre les hommes et les femmes ou encore la laïcité.  

« Sans quoi, bien, ce n’est pas une bonne idée de venir ici », indique Jean-François Roberge.  

Mais il reste des éléments à mettre en place afin de clarifier le modèle du ministre. Il promet qu’une « Politique nationale sur l’intégration à la nation québécoise et à la culture commune » sera mise en œuvre avant l’élection de 2026.  

Jean-François Roberge ajoute qu’après l’adoption de cette politique nationale, « tous les ministères, tous les organismes, les municipalités, etc., lorsqu’ils vont subventionner un projet d’un partenaire, vont devoir s’assurer que ce projet est compatible avec les fondements du modèle d’intégration nationale ». 

Le ministre assure que les financements qui ont déjà été octroyés ne seront pas retirés.  

Dans cinq ans, il y aura un rapport pour évaluer le nouveau modèle d’intégration. Les critères seront élaborés dans la Politique nationale.  

Le projet de loi 84 a été adopté mercredi matin au Salon rouge. Le Parti québécois a voté avec le gouvernement. Les solidaires et les libéraux s’y sont opposés. Le ministre s’en est désolé.  

« Je ne sais pas trop, c’est probablement pour des questions de clientélisme partisan. Il devait y avoir quelques membres très très multiculturalistes qui n’ont pas compris que c’était un projet d’ouverture », a-t-il dit.  

Source: Roberge veut renvoyer le multiculturalisme dans les « limbes de l’histoire »

“Multiculturalism no longer applies to Quebec territory, finally! […] It is a model that has always been harmful to Quebec, “said the minister on Wednesday in the National Assembly.

According to him, in this model, the State makes it its duty to allow newcomers to keep their culture and language of origin. “This is Canadian multiculturalism. We live side by side,” he explained.

His new law – which is inspired by interculturalism – aims to send the signal to immigrants that they are “arriving in a state that has its own model of integration” and that they must accept Quebec’s social contract based on values such as democracy, the French language, equality between men and women or secularism.

“Without that, well, it’s not a good idea to come here,” says Jean-François Roberge.

But there are still elements to be put in place in order to clarify the minister’s model. He promises that a “National Policy on Integration into the Quebec Nation and the Common Culture” will be implemented before the 2026 election.

Jean-François Roberge adds that after the adoption of this national policy, “all ministries, agencies, municipalities, etc., when they are going to subsidize a partner’s project, will have to ensure that this project is compatible with the foundations of the national integration model”.

The Minister assures that the funding that has already been granted will not be withdrawn.

In five years, there will be a report to evaluate the new integration model. The criteria will be developed in the National Policy.

Bill 84 was adopted Wednesday morning at the Red Hall. The Parti Québécois voted with the government. The solidarity and liberals opposed it. The minister apologized.

“I’m not sure, it’s probably for questions of partisan clientelism. There must have been some very multicultural members who didn’t understand that it was an opening project,” he said.

Filed under Interculturalisme, Multiculturalism Tagged with ,

Canadians optimistic about national unity regardless of political differences, data show

2025/05/30 Leave a comment

Some interesting attitude research:

In the leadup to recent political disruptions, including tensions with the U.S. and growing discussion of Western separatism, most Canadians were hopeful about the future of national unity and appeared to harbour positive or neutral feelings toward each other, regardless of differences in political views, according to newly released data.

Two Statistics Canada reports published Wednesday delve into measures of national unity and social cohesion, a relatively new area of exploration for the federal statistics agency.

As the research was conducted in April, 2024, it does not capture recent shifts in sentiment in response to more recent developments such as the trade war with the U.S. However, one of the reports says, the data “serve as a useful baseline for Canadians’ sense of national unity and their societal outlook prior to these events and future comparisons.”

Most respondents were hopeful about the future of Canadian society. More than eight out of 10 said they were hopeful about unity, and a similar proportion said so about democracy.

A slightly lower proportion – 75 per cent – said they were hopeful about the economic opportunities. However, difficulty meeting financial obligations and poor health conditions were linked to relatively lower hopefulness about unity….

Source: Canadians optimistic about national unity regardless of political differences, data show, Unity in Canada: Experimental measures of feelings towards people with similar or different views

Filed under Multiculturalism Tagged with , ,

ICYMI: Tate Britain is forcing gallery visitors to confront history and social issues. Could it be turning people off? 

2025/05/22 Leave a comment

Nuance and balance are important:

…Apart from the bureaucratic mindset, it is the lack of nuance that most exasperates critics. Waldemar Januszczak, the influential art writer, complained in The Sunday Times recently of the Tate’s “growing obsession with identity politics and the dour exhibition-making that results from it,” which he wrote was partially to blame for a decline in visitors. “People don’t go to art galleries to be lectured or turned into better citizens. They go to be transported,” he added.

Art critics panned Tate Britain’s 2023 rehanging of its permanent collection – a major undertaking for a gallery of its stature – for losing a sense of wonder in art. Jonathan Jones of the left-leaning Guardian newspaper said that “today’s Tate Britain is where art goes to sleep. That’s largely because it is committed to a worthy view of art.”

Several commentators took issue with the large text introductions on the wall of each room and the labels next to paintings in the 16th-, 17th- and 18th-century rooms of the collection. They typically contain three to four paragraphs of social history with repeated mentions of the slave trade, the great wealth of the landed classes who profited from empire and then a line or two about where the artists in the room fitted in. Commentary about style and craft is noticeable by its absence.

Artists working 300 to 400 years ago are often held to the standards of today. At Tate Britain, masters such as Thomas Gainsborough, Joshua Reynolds and George Stubbs are chided for painting “flattering portraits, scenes of contented workers, and idyllic landscapes,” when in fact “British society, both here and across an expanding empire, is far from cohesive or peaceful.”

“My advice,” said Roger Turner, a private tour guide leading a party of six from a suburban London church around the permanent collection recently, “is not to look at the labels. These information boards are essentially propaganda. They prevent people from looking at the paintings and appreciating them.”

Tate Britain suffers its own particular discomfort over the slave trade, which is addressed on its website and in written displays at the gallery. 

Originally called the Tate Gallery, it was founded by a legacy from Henry Tate, who made his fortune as a sugar refiner whose company later merged into the global giant Tate & Lyle. As the gallery notes, Mr. Tate may have begun his business a couple of decades after the abolition of the slave trade in the British Empire, but his industry was rooted in slavery. …

Source: Tate Britain is forcing gallery visitors to confront history and social issues. Could it be turning people off?

Filed under Multiculturalism Tagged with

ICYMI: Bouchard | Retour sur le nationalisme identitaire

2025/05/22 Leave a comment

Another thoughtful commentary by Bouchard:

Le nationalisme identitaire est une forme dégradée de nationalisme. Ce dernier, quand il est bien entendu, exprime un sentiment qui fait aimer sa nation et inspire le désir de la servir pour la faire progresser. Il invite à un engagement porteur de progrès, axé sur des valeurs, des idéaux. Il se traduit dans des initiatives concrètes qui font avancer une société.

Un nationalisme qui nous a bien servis

Notre passé en offre des exemples, qu’il s’agisse du mouvement patriote, de la Révolution tranquille ou du souverainisme. Chaque fois, la nation poursuivait un idéal porteur de grands enjeux. Et dans chaque cas, le nationalisme fut un puissant moteur. À ces exemples, on pourrait ajouter, bien qu’avec les importantes réserves que l’on devine, le programme de la Survivance. Il faut reconnaître qu’il poursuivait un idéal très élevé (trop élevé ?) de pureté morale inspiré des valeurs chrétiennes et soudé à la survie de la langue.

Au fil des ans, les enjeux se modifiaient et le nationalisme se redéfinissait en fonction des urgences de l’heure. Ainsi, à partir des années 1960, le nationalisme rompait avec celui du siècle antérieur. Les aspirations et les urgences ayant changé, notre nation se mobilisait désormais au service d’autres valeurs et d’autres finalités, d’ordre économique, social, politique et culturel. nationalisme identitaire est une forme dégradée de nationalisme. Ce dernier, quand il est bien entendu, exprime un sentiment qui fait aimer sa nation et inspire le désir de la servir pour la faire progresser. Il invite à un engagement porteur de progrès, axé sur des valeurs, des idéaux. Il se traduit dans des initiatives concrètes qui font avancer une société.

Le nationalisme de la CAQ

Le type de nationalisme promu par François Legault et le ministre Bernard Drainville ouvre une voie sans issue et nocive. La notion identitaire qui lui est accolée est floue. Le premier ministre lui-même n’arrive pas à la définir clairement. Elle prête aussi à controverse. Elle peut se durcir, éveiller des sentiments primaires, donner dans le renfermement, l’exclusion et la privation de droits. On a alors affaire à un horizon rétréci, symptôme d’un nationalisme éviscéré qui a évacué les contenus prometteurs.

En plus, ce type de nationalisme ne s’adresse pas à tous les Québécois. On le voit quand M. Legault confond Québécois et Canadien français (par exemple à propos du projet de musée d’histoire nationale). On le voit encore plus clairement dans la dernière politique annoncée par le ministre Drainville, une politique qui élargit abusivement à tout le personnel relié à une école l’interdiction d’afficher des signes religieux. Ce personnel entretient-il avec les élèves un contact continu, intense ? Ici, le nationalisme identitaire glisse dans l’exclusion et l’irrespect des droits.

J’approuve entièrement le texte de Françoise David, Louise Harel et Christine Saint-Pierre publié dans La Presse du 22 avril. Le prétexte donné à l’appui de la loi 21 pour interdire le port de signes religieux chez les enseignantes et les enseignants mettait en cause l’influence néfaste exercée sur les élèves quand l’enseignement se fait endoctrinant. En quoi ce prétexte vaut-il pour le personnel travaillant hors des salles de classe ?

Ne soyons pas dupes. Cette mesure est manifestement le fruit d’un calcul électoraliste de la part d’un parti déjà bien mal en point et dont la feuille de route ne cesse de se détériorer. On essaie encore de raviver la peur d’un islamisme envahisseur désireux de corrompre notre société. Cette menace est usée. Elle a souvent servi depuis trente ans au Québec. Mais où voit-on les signes, les effets de cette agression ? On ne jongle pas de cette façon avec un enjeu qui a des ramifications profondes et légitimes chez certains Québécois.

La laïcité fait évidemment partie des valeurs les plus relevées. À la condition de ne pas la dévoyer.

Dans ce domaine comme dans d’autres, notre premier ministre flirte avec la confusion. Il fait souvent référence à « nos valeurs » et quand il veut aller plus loin, il aime évoquer la laïcité. Mais il y a plus que la laïcité dans nos valeurs. Et dans la laïcité, il y a plus que l’interdiction faite aux « islamistes » de prier en public ou la nécessité de « chasser le religieux de nos écoles ». À ce sujet, du reste, on comprend mal que ce prosélyte d’une laïcité intégrale soutienne le financement d’écoles à vocation explicitement religieuse.

Du bon usage de l’identité et du nationalisme

L’identité peut être conçue de diverses façons. Selon moi, la définition la plus simple, la plus consensuelle, peut se formuler ainsi : un ensemble largement partagé de traits, de valeurs, de souvenirs et de symboles qui créent un sentiment d’appartenance, lequel avec le temps se transforme en solidarité. À ce point, ce genre d’identité en vient à coiffer un rapport social indispensable à toute mobilisation. Il se forge dans la durée à même des réalisations méritoires, source d’une fierté légitime pour l’ensemble de la nation.

Le nationalisme québécois a présentement grand besoin d’une perspective assortie de résonances précises. Il faudrait y greffer des contenus sociaux, culturels, économiques et politiques à l’image de ce que fut le néonationalisme de la Révolution tranquille.

En ce qui concerne la sphère culturelle en particulier, il y a urgence. De nombreuses études et de nombreux témoignages l’attestent. On a parlé d’une « dissolution silencieuse » de notre nation (Maxime Plamondon, Le Devoir, 7 février 2025). Il faut aussi penser aux jeunes qui ont besoin de se former l’esprit, de développer des sensibilités, des aspirations qui en feront des adultes plus avertis et des citoyens plus responsables. Des Québécois plus alertes et plus engagés aussi. Il est urgent de leur donner les moyens de s’abreuver à d’autres sources que les réseaux sociaux et les scories d’une nouvelle culture ambiante stérilisante.

Voilà une priorité sans équivoque que notre gouvernement ignore. Une culture vivante permet d’irriguer, d’enrichir la vie collective. C’est une finalité qui nous élève et qui raffermit les fondements de notre nation. Si on s’y mettait, le Québec pourrait à nouveau par sa culture briller dans le monde comme il l’a déjà fait.

Enfin, le souverainiste que je suis déplore vivement le fait que le chef du Parti québécois se joint avec enthousiasme à la croisade mal inspirée du ministre Drainville. Je croyais que ce parti, ayant tiré la leçon du passé, avait retrouvé la sagesse.

Source: Idées | Retour sur le nationalisme identitaire

Identity nationalism is a degraded form of nationalism. The latter, when it is understood, expresses a feeling that makes his nation loved and inspires the desire to serve it to make it progress. It invites a commitment to progress, focused on values, ideals. It translates into concrete initiatives that move a society forward.

Identity nationalism is a degraded form of nationalism. The latter, when it is understood, expresses a feeling that makes his nation loved and inspires the desire to serve it to make it progress. It invites a commitment to progress, focused on values, ideals. It translates into concrete initiatives that move a society forward.

A nationalism that has served us well

Our past offers examples, whether it is the patriotic movement, the Quiet Revolution or sovereignism. Each time, the nation pursued an ideal with great stakes. And in each case, nationalism was a powerful engine. To these examples, we could add, although with the important reservations that we guess, the Survival program. It must be recognized that he pursued a very high ideal (too high?) Of moral purity inspired by Christian values and welded to the survival of language.

Over the years, the stakes changed and nationalism was redefined according to the urgencies of the hour. Thus, from the 1960s, nationalism broke with that of the previous century. Aspirations and emergencies having changed, our nation was now mobilizing in the service of other values and other purposes, of an economic, social, political and cultural nature. Identity nationalism is a degraded form of nationalism. The latter, when it is understood, expresses a feeling that makes his nation loved and inspires the desire to serve it to make it progress. It invites a commitment to progress, focused on values, ideals. It translates into concrete initiatives that move a society forward.

The nationalism of the CAQ

The type of nationalism promoted by François Legault and Minister Bernard Drainville opens a dead end and harmful. The notion of identity attached to it is blurred. The Prime Minister himself cannot define it clearly. It also lends itself to controversy. It can harden, awaken primary feelings, give in confinement, exclusion and deprivation of rights. We are then dealing with a narrowed horizon, a symptom of an eviscerated nationalism that has evacuated promising content.

In addition, this type of nationalism is not aimed at all Quebecers. We see it when Mr. Legault confuses Quebecers and French Canadians (for example about the national history museum project). This is seen even more clearly in the latest policy announced by Minister Drainville, a policy that abusively extends the ban on displaying religious signs to all school-related staff. Does this staff maintain continuous, intense contact with students? Here, identity nationalism slips into the exclusion and disrespect of rights.

I fully approve of the text by Françoise David, Louise Harel and Christine Saint-Pierre published in La Presse on April 22. The pretext given in support of Law 21 to prohibit the wearing of religious signs among teachers called into question the harmful influence exerted on students when teaching is indoctrinating. How does this pretext apply to staff working outside the classroom?

Let’s not be fooled. This measure is clearly the result of an electoral calculation on the part of a party already in very bad shape and whose roadmap is constantly deteriorating. We are still trying to revive the fear of an invading Islamism eager to corrupt our society. This threat is worn out. She has often served for thirty years in Quebec. But where do we see the signs, the effects of this aggression? We do not juggle in this way with an issue that has deep and legitimate ramifications among some Quebecers.

Secularism is obviously one of the highest values. On the condition of not divertinting it.

In this area, as in others, our Prime Minister flirts with confusion. He often refers to “our values” and when he wants to go further, he likes to evoke secularism. But there is more than secularism in our values. And in secularism, there is more than the prohibition of “Islamists” to pray in public or the need to “drive the religious out of our schools”. On this subject, moreover, it is difficult to understand that this proselyte of integral secularism supports the financing of schools with an explicitly religious vocation.

Good use of identity and nationalism

Identity can be designed in various ways. In my opinion, the simplest definition, the most consensual, can be formulated as follows: a widely shared set of traits, values, memories and symbols that create a sense of belonging, which over time turns into solidarity. At this point, this kind of identity comes to shape a social relationship essential to any mobilization. It is forged over time by meritorious achievements, a source of legitimate pride for the entire nation.

Quebec nationalism is currently in great need of a perspective with precise resonances. Social, cultural, economic and political contents should be added to it, like what was the neonationalism of the Quiet Revolution.

With regard to the cultural sphere in particular, there is urgency. Many studies and many testimonies attest to this. We spoke of a “silent dissolution” of our nation (Maxime Plamondon, Le Devoir, February 7, 2025). We must also think of young people who need to train their mind, to develop sensitivities, aspirations that will make them more informed adults and more responsible citizens. Quebecers who are more alert and more committed too. It is urgent to give them the means to drink from sources other than social networks and the slags of a new sterilizing ambient culture.

This is an unequivocal priority that our government ignores. A living culture makes it possible to irrigate and enrich collective life. It is a purpose that elevates us and strengthens the foundations of our nation. If we get down to it, Quebec could once again shine in the world through its culture as it has already done.

Finally, the sovereignist that I am deeply deplores the fact that the leader of the Parti Québécois is enthusiastically joining in the poorly inspired crusade of Minister Drainville. I believed that this party, having learned the lesson of the past, had regained wisdom.

Our past offers examples, whether it is the patriotic movement, the Quiet Revolution or sovereignism. Each time, the nation pursued an ideal with great stakes. And in each case, nationalism was a powerful engine. To these examples, we could add, although with the important reservations that we guess, the Survival program. It must be recognized that he pursued a very high ideal (too high?) Of moral purity inspired by Christian values and welded to the survival of language.

Over the years, the stakes changed and nationalism was redefined according to the urgencies of the hour. Thus, from the 1960s, nationalism broke with that of the previous century. Aspirations and emergencies having changed, our nation was now mobilizing in the service of other values and other purposes, of an economic, social, political and cultural nature. Identity nationalism is a degraded form of nationalism. The latter, when it is understood, expresses a feeling that makes his nation loved and inspires the desire to serve it to make it progress. It invites a commitment to progress, focused on values, ideals. It translates into concrete initiatives that move a society forward.

The nationalism of the CAQ

The type of nationalism promoted by François Legault and Minister Bernard Drainville opens a dead end and harmful. The notion of identity attached to it is blurred. The Prime Minister himself cannot define it clearly. It also lends itself to controversy. It can harden, awaken primary feelings, give in confinement, exclusion and deprivation of rights. We are then dealing with a narrowed horizon, a symptom of an eviscerated nationalism that has evacuated promising content.

In addition, this type of nationalism is not aimed at all Quebecers. We see it when Mr. Legault confuses Quebecers and French Canadians (for example about the national history museum project). This is seen even more clearly in the latest policy announced by Minister Drainville, a policy that abusively extends the ban on displaying religious signs to all school-related staff. Does this staff maintain continuous, intense contact with students? Here, identity nationalism slips into the exclusion and disrespect of rights.

I fully approve of the text by Françoise David, Louise Harel and Christine Saint-Pierre published in La Presse on April 22. The pretext given in support of Law 21 to prohibit the wearing of religious signs among teachers called into question the harmful influence exerted on students when teaching is indoctrinating. How does this pretext apply to staff working outside the classroom?

Let’s not be fooled. This measure is clearly the result of an electoral calculation on the part of a party already in very bad shape and whose roadmap is constantly deteriorating. We are still trying to revive the fear of an invading Islamism eager to corrupt our society. This threat is worn out. She has often served for thirty years in Quebec. But where do we see the signs, the effects of this aggression? We do not juggle in this way with an issue that has deep and legitimate ramifications among some Quebecers.

Secularism is obviously one of the highest values. On the condition of not divertinting it.

In this area, as in others, our Prime Minister flirts with confusion. He often refers to “our values” and when he wants to go further, he likes to evoke secularism. But there is more than secularism in our values. And in secularism, there is more than the prohibition of “Islamists” to pray in public or the need to “drive the religious out of our schools”. On this subject, moreover, it is difficult to understand that this proselyte of integral secularism supports the financing of schools with an explicitly religious vocation.

Good use of identity and nationalism

Identity can be designed in various ways. In my opinion, the simplest definition, the most consensual, can be formulated as follows: a widely shared set of traits, values, memories and symbols that create a sense of belonging, which over time turns into solidarity. At this point, this kind of identity comes to shape a social relationship essential to any mobilization. It is forged over time by meritorious achievements, a source of legitimate pride for the entire nation.

Quebec nationalism is currently in great need of a perspective with precise resonances. Social, cultural, economic and political contents should be added to it, like what was the neonationalism of the Quiet Revolution.

With regard to the cultural sphere in particular, there is urgency. Many studies and many testimonies attest to this. We spoke of a “silent dissolution” of our nation (Maxime Plamondon, Le Devoir, February 7, 2025). We must also think of young people who need to train their mind, to develop sensitivities, aspirations that will make them more informed adults and more responsible citizens. Quebecers who are more alert and more committed too. It is urgent to give them the means to drink from sources other than social networks and the slags of a new sterilizing ambient culture.

This is an unequivocal priority that our government ignores. A living culture makes it possible to irrigate and enrich collective life. It is a purpose that elevates us and strengthens the foundations of our nation. If we get down to it, Quebec could once again shine in the world through its culture as it has already done.

Finally, the sovereignist that I am deeply deplores the fact that the leader of the Parti Québécois is enthusiastically joining in the poorly inspired crusade of Minister Drainville. I believed that this party, having learned the lesson of the past, had regained wisdom.

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