“Les parents de Jack Letts, détenu en Syrie, veulent revoir leur fils”

2026/02/10 Leave a comment

Seeing less coverage in English language media than in previous years. Parental nightmare:

“En 2019, en raison du risque qu’il poserait à la sécurité du pays, Jack, qui est né et qui a grandi au Royaume-Uni, s’est fait déchoir de sa citoyenneté britannique. Il ne lui reste que sa citoyenneté canadienne, obtenue par filiation. À l’époque, Ottawa avait déploré que Downing Street se soit « déchargé de ses responsabilités ».

Depuis, le gouvernement canadien refuse de rapatrier Jack, comme tous les autres ressortissants canadiens soupçonnés d’avoir combattu avec Daech. En 2023, la Cour d’appel fédérale avait donné raison à Ottawa en précisant qu’il n’existait pas de « droit absolu » permettant de contraindre l’État à rapatrier ses citoyens afin de « les soustraire aux répercussions de leurs actions ».

Sally Lane espère qu’Ottawa révisera sa position à la lumière des récents développements. Si Jack est traduit en justice en Irak, il risque de subir un procès expéditif et partial, pourrait être contraint de passer aux aveux sous la torture et être condamné à la peine de mort, craignent ses parents.

“« Les abus du système judiciaire en Irak sont bien connus », mentionne Mme Lane. « J’espère que l’attention médiatique va réellement forcer le gouvernement canadien à agir [en le rapatriant], ce qu’il a refusé de faire jusqu’à présent. » Jack pourrait ensuite subir un procès ici, soutient John Letts.

Depuis des années, les autorités kurdes et états-uniennes réclament que les détenus étrangers retournent dans leurs pays d’origine. « Je pense que les Américains utilisent ces transferts comme une technique de rapatriement sous haute pression. C’est la manière qu’ils ont trouvée pour forcer les pays réticents à rapatrier leurs ressortissants », confie Mme Lane.”

“Extrémisme
Les parents de Jack — qui n’ont pas pu parler à leur fils depuis 2017 — se disent tous deux convaincus de son innocence. Jack, qui s’était converti à l’islam à 16 ans et qui s’est rendu en Syrie à 18 ans, s’est fait arrêter parce qu’il se trouvait dans le territoire contrôlé par Daech, clament-ils.



« Ce n’est pas parce que vous travaillez ou vivez dans l’espace géographique contrôlé par Daech que vous êtes forcément membre de Daech », mentionne son père. Plusieurs médias, qui ont affublé leur fils du surnom de Jihadi Jack, l’ont toutefois dépeint comme un homme ayant été radicalisé.



Sally Lane et John Letts ont eux-mêmes dû faire face à la justice en 2019 pour avoir envoyé de l’argent à leur fils. Ils ont été jugés coupables d’un chef lié au financement du terrorisme, puisque l’argent envoyé aurait pu être utilisé par Daech, a statué le tribunal.”

Source: “Les parents de Jack Letts, détenu en Syrie, veulent revoir leur fils”

In 2019, due to the risk he would pose to the security of the country, Jack, who was born and raised in the United Kingdom, was deprived of his British citizenship. All he has left is his Canadian citizenship, obtained by filiation. At the time, Ottawa deplored that Downing Street had “discharged its responsibilities”.

Since then, the Canadian government has refused to repatriate Jack, like all other Canadian nationals suspected of fighting with Daesh. In 2023, the Federal Court of Appeal ruled in favor of Ottawa by specifying that there was no “absolute right” to force the State to repatriate its citizens in order to “subtract them from the repercussions of their actions”.

Sally Lane hopes that Ottawa will revise its position in light of recent developments. If Jack is brought to justice in Iraq, he risks an expedited and biased trial, could be forced to confess under torture and be sentenced to death, his parents fear.

“The abuses of the judicial system in Iraq are well known,” says Ms. Lane. “I hope that the media attention will really force the Canadian government to act [by repatriating it], which it has refused to do so far. “Jack could then face a trial here,” says John Letts. For years, the Kurdish and American authorities have been demanding that foreign prisoners return to their countries of origin. “I think Americans are using these transfers as a high-pressure repatriation technique. This is the way they have found to force reluctant countries to repatriate their nationals, “says Ms. Lane.”

“Extremism

Jack’s parents – who have not been able to talk to their son since 2017 – both say they are convinced of his innocence. Jack, who converted to Islam at the age of 16 and went to Syria at the age of 18, was arrested because he was in the territory controlled by Daesh, they claim.

“It is not because you work or live in the geographical area controlled by Daesh that you are necessarily a member of Daesh,” says his father. Several media outlets, which gave their son the nickname Jihadi Jack, however, portrayed him as a radicalized man.

Sally Lane and John Letts themselves had to face justice in 2019 for sending money to their son. They were found guilty of a charge related to the financing of terrorism, since the money sent could have been used by Daesh, the court ruled.”

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USA: Colleges See Major Racial Shifts in Student Enrollment

2026/02/09 1 Comment

Of note:

The Supreme Court ruling in 2023 banning race-conscious college admissions led to declines in Black and Latino admissions at highly selective universities. At many other schools, the opposite occurred, according to a new analysis.

Overall, freshman enrollment of underrepresented minority groups increased by 8 percent at public flagship universities. The analysis, by a nonprofit organization, Class Action, concludes that those schools were among institutions that benefited as a result of higher rejection rates for Black and Hispanic students at the nation’s 50 most selective schools.

At those top 50 schools, Black freshman enrollment was down by 27 percent and Latino enrollment down by 10 percent.

The data from Class Action, which works to promote equity in education, was based on 2024 federal enrollment figures released in January covering more than 3,000 colleges and universities.

Data released publicly by a smaller number of schools have hinted that highly selective schools admitted fewer Black and Latino students following the Supreme Court decision, but the report was one of the first efforts to analyze the impact of the decision on enrollment demographics across a broad swath of the nation’s colleges.

While the data covers only freshman enrollment the first year after the Supreme Court decision went into effect, it bolsters the prediction by some education experts that the decision would create a chain of consequences. Highly qualified Black and Latino students, who might have been admitted to the Ivy League and other similar schools before the Supreme Court decision, enrolled in less-selective schools as a result of the decision, potentially leading to a “cascade” of less-qualified minority students enrolling in even less-selective institutions.

Some research suggests that the phenomenon, called a “cascade” effect and identified in California following a statewide ban on affirmative action in 1998, may have long-term effects on employment opportunities and earnings for the students who ended up in the least selective institutions.

The new report concludes that the Supreme Court decision reduced the number of students of color at institutions with the highest graduation rates and largest median incomes after graduation, a result that the authors said could lead to persistent racial inequities in income….

Source: Colleges See Major Racial Shifts in Student Enrollment

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Jamie Sarkonak: New Liberal ‘inclusion’ council heralds more division

2026/02/09 Leave a comment

Simplistic and overly biased. Better to bring different groups together than have ongoing separate envoys. Of course, selection of members is key, ideally one wants to find persons from the different groups that are not part of a particular advocacy organization but have visibility and credibility from the group. The Cross Cultural Round Table on Security under the Harper government was relatively useful as while some of the members were tied to specific groups, some were not:

….“It seems that the more reconciliation and diversity the government promotes, the more division we get. Nearly half of the country says it’s “time to move on” from residential schools. Half of Canadians are opposed to new immigration. Half of those born outside of Canada believe the country belongs to Indigenous people. Half of Canadians claim to have witnessed systemic racism. These are all stats from 2025. And then, there’s the general vibe: conversations and comments sections seem to be more racially charged than ever.

The Liberal response to the overdose crisis was to give more drugs to addicts, and it left everyone worse off. On social cohesion, they’re doing something similar: put everyone into boxes and make up reasons to treat some of them better than others, and then wonder how society got so divided.

The answer, which Miller’s committee is unlikely to arrive at, is to drop the agenda of discrimination and start promoting Canadian history — not the abridged version that only focuses on dark parts, enclaves, and the legal victories of progressives. If you want Canadians to feel like they are one people, you need to treat them like it.”

Source: “Jamie Sarkonak: New Liberal ‘inclusion’ council heralds more division”

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L’interdiction des signes religieux affecte l’implication des parents dans les écoles alternatives

2026/02/06 Leave a comment

Reminder of the collateral damage related to laïcité:

L’interdiction de porter un signe religieux, imposée au personnel scolaire, risque de faire particulièrement mal aux écoles alternatives du Québec, puisque cette directive s’applique aussi aux bénévoles, a appris Le Devoir. C’est que, dans ces établissements, l’implication des parents dans la classe de leurs enfants est obligatoire.

Le 30 octobre dernier, le gouvernement Legault a fait adopter son projet de loi 94, qui visait à renforcer la laïcité dans le réseau scolaire québécois. Depuis, les élèves doivent fréquenter leur école à visage découvert, tout comme l’essentiel du personnel scolaire. Il est par ailleurs interdit aux employés de porter un signe religieux. Une directive qui s’étend « à toute personne qui fournit régulièrement des services » entre les murs d’une école, peu importe leur nature, ou encore qui fournit « des services aux élèves », même de façon ponctuelle et gratuite.

« Ainsi, pour fournir bénévolement des services dans l’école de son enfant dans l’une ou l’autre des situations qui précèdent, le parent doit respecter l’interdiction de port de signe religieux », confirme le ministère de l’Éducation, dans un courriel au Devoir. Une clause de droits acquis s’applique cependant aux parents qui fournissaient déjà bénévolement des services dans l’école de leur enfant avant le 30 octobre 2025, « sauf si l’entente en vertu de laquelle ces services sont offerts est renouvelée après cette date ». Ils devront alors retirer leur signe religieux ou cesser de s’impliquer dans leur école.

Dans de nombreux établissements, cette décision pourrait complexifier le travail du personnel scolaire, comme des directions d’école, la présence de parents bénévoles pour aider au rangement des livres dans les bibliothèques ou pour accompagner des enseignants lors de sorties scolaires permettant d’alléger, quelque peu, les effets de la pénurie de main-d’œuvre, évoquent plusieurs intervenants au Devoir.

« Discrimination par association »

Cependant, c’est dans les écoles alternatives — dont le nombre, en augmentation, approche la cinquantaine au Québec — que cette interdiction pourrait avoir le plus de répercussions. Car, dans ces établissements, l’implication bénévole des parents d’élèves, directement dans la classe de ces derniers, est obligatoire. Certaines écoles demandent d’ailleurs un nombre d’heures minimales d’implication bénévole aux parents.

Ainsi, si un parent ne peut plus s’impliquer dans une école alternative parce qu’il porte un signe religieux, « son enfant ne peut plus aller à cette école-là », relève le porte-parole du Regroupement des comités de parents autonomes du Québec, Sylvain Martel. « On va arriver à exclure des enfants de leur école en raison des croyances religieuses de leurs parents », déplore M. Martel, qui voit là « une sorte de discrimination par association ».

Une situation que dénonce le porte-parole du Réseau des écoles publiques alternatives du Québec, Pierre Chénier, qui a été mis au fait de cette situation par Le Devoir.

« Je trouve ça vraiment déraisonnable », lance-t-il, déplorant que cette interdiction vise ainsi des parents motivés par leur « bonne volonté » et leur « désir d’aider ». « Vraiment, je n’en reviens pas », poursuit M. Chénier. Selon lui, cette directive menace de « faire disparaître le modèle » unique des écoles alternatives, qui cherche « l’inclusion plutôt que l’exclusion ». 

Source: L’interdiction des signes religieux affecte l’implication des parents dans les écoles alternatives

The ban on wearing a religious sign, imposed on school staff, may particularly harm alternative schools in Quebec, since this directive also applies to volunteers, Le Devoir learned. It is because, in these institutions, the involvement of parents in their children’s class is mandatory.

On October 30, the Legault government passed its Bill 94, which aimed to strengthen secularism in the Quebec school network. Since then, students have had to attend their school with their faces uncovered, just like most of the school staff. Employees are also prohibited from wearing a religious sign. A directive that extends “to anyone who regularly provides services” within the walls of a school, regardless of their nature, or who provides “services to students”, even on an ad hoc and free of charge.

“Thus, to voluntarily provide services in his child’s school in any of the above situations, the parent must respect the prohibition of wearing a religious sign,” confirms the Ministry of Education, in an email to Le Devoir. However, an acquired rights clause applies to parents who were already voluntarily providing services in their child’s school before October 30, 2025, “unless the agreement under which these services are offered is renewed after that date”. They will then have to withdraw their religious sign or stop getting involved in their school.

In many schools, this decision could complicate the work of school staff, such as school principals, the presence of volunteer parents to help store books in libraries or to accompany teachers on school outings to lighten somewhat the effects of the labor shortage, say several speakers at Le Devoir.

“Discrimination by association”

However, it is in alternative schools — whose number, increasing, is approaching fifty in Quebec — that this ban could have the most repercussions. Because, in these institutions, the voluntary involvement of parents of students, directly in their classroom, is mandatory. Some schools also require a minimum number of hours of volunteer involvement from parents.

Thus, if a parent can no longer get involved in an alternative school because he wears a religious sign, “his child can no longer go to that school,” says Sylvain Martel, spokesman for the Regroupement des comités de parents autonomes du Québec. “We will be able to exclude children from their school because of the religious beliefs of their parents,” laments Mr. Martel, who sees this as “a kind of discrimination by association”.

A situation denounced by the spokesman for the Réseau des écoles publiques alternatives du Québec, Pierre Chénier, who was made aware of this situation by Le Devoir.

“I find it really unreasonable,” he says, deploring that this ban is aimed at parents motivated by their “good will” and their “desire to help”. “Really, I can’t believe it,” continues Mr. Chenier. According to him, this directive threatens to “make the unique model” disappear from alternative schools, which seeks “inclusion rather than exclusion”.

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Carney government replacing Islamophobia and antisemitism envoys with advisory council

2026/02/05 2 Comments

Can’t claim credit but it has been something I have been advocating for some time, as separate envoys tend to accentuate differences:

Prime Minister Mark Carney’s government said Wednesday that it is eliminating Canada’s special envoy positions on fighting Islamophobia and antisemitism.The positions, which Carney had pledged to keep when he ran for Liberal leadership, will be replaced by a new advisory council on “Rights, Equality and Inclusion,” Culture and Identity Minister Marc Miller said in a news release.

“The Advisory Council will be comprised of prominent Canadians from academia, experts and community leaders with a mission to foster social cohesion, rally Canadians around shared identity, combat racism and hate in all their forms, and help guide the efforts of the Government of Canada,” Miller said, without immediately announcing its membership.

First reported by the Star, the move comes as the Liberal government had been looking to fill the special envoy position on combating antisemitism and Holocaust remembrance after former representative Deborah Lyons retired in July, several months before her term was set to end.

Speaking to reporters following a Liberal caucus meeting, Miller said the new council will address rising polarization and division coming in part due to the war in Gaza, but will still recognize the “specificities” of Islamophobia and antisemitism.

“I think we have to give the opportunity to people to be upset,” Miller said. “I think the focus here, though, is to make sure that we are focusing on the unity of the country, on the division that we know is there that’s been fuelled by a lot of things, and making sure that we have a group of experts that will focus precisely on trying to bring people together.” …

Source: Carney government replacing Islamophobia and antisemitism envoys with advisory council

Filed under Antisemitism, Islamophobia, Multiculturalism Tagged with ,

“Légiférer sur la laïcité met à risque les guignolées, craignent les évêques du Québec”

2026/02/05 Leave a comment

Reminder of the risks of overly broad approaches:

“Les activités caritatives, comme les guignolées ou les comptoirs alimentaires, pourraient-elles devenir des victimes collatérales du projet de loi du gouvernement Legault « sur le renforcement de la laïcité » ? C’est du moins ce que craignent les évêques catholiques québécois.

Dans un mémoire qui sera présenté mercredi en commission parlementaire, l’Assemblée des évêques catholiques du Québec (AECQ) lève un drapeau rouge : « la définition des “pratiques religieuses” qui est utilisée dans le projet de loi est trop large et doit être précisée, car elle risque de limiter l’action charitable de plusieurs organismes de bienfaisance ».

Déposé en novembre, le projet de loi 9 « sur le renforcement de la laïcité au Québec » prévoit l’interdiction, dans une panoplie d’édifices publics, de toute « pratique religieuse ». L’usage de la voie publique ou d’un parc à des fins de « pratique religieuse collective » est également proscrit, à moins d’obtenir une autorisation exceptionnelle de la municipalité.

“Quand je me réfère à notre expérience ici, à Saint-Jérôme, au centre-ville, la cathédrale a donné plus de 20 000 $ pour des paniers de Noël. Elle a réalisé ça, entre autres, avec une guignolée au coin des rues par les Chevaliers de Colomb », a observé l’évêque de Saint-Jérôme-Mont-Laurier, Raymond Poisson, en entrevue avec Le Devoir en prévision du passage en commission de l’AECQ. « S’il fallait qu’on arrête de faire ça… »

Devant le ministre responsable de la Laïcité, Jean-François Roberge, mercredi, l’AECQ défendra l’idée que, plutôt que la « pratique religieuse », ce soit « l’enseignement religieux et le culte de toute profession religieuse » qui soient interdits dans les édifices publics et dans les rues. Sans quoi, estime Mgr Poisson, cela pourrait sonner la fin des activités caritatives pour plusieurs regroupements.

« Il y a des organismes qui nous offrent des subventions pour nos comptoirs alimentaires et vestimentaires. On en a dans beaucoup, beaucoup de nos églises », a-t-il ajouté. « Pendant la pandémie, ici, on a continué à livrer 200 boîtes de nourriture aux familles et ce sont les employés municipaux qui les livraient. On ne voudrait pas perdre ça. »

“Dans les neuf recommandations contenues dans leur mémoire, les 23 évêques membres de l’AECQ demandent le maintien des locaux de prières dans les universités et cégeps. Ils souhaitent aussi le retrait d’une disposition du projet de loi 9 prévoyant rendre conditionnel le financement public d’écoles religieuses.

« On a une liberté d’expression et c’est reconnu par des chartes. Je pense que l’État, peut-être, déborde de sa juridiction, ou a un peu trop d’ambition », a affirmé Mgr Poisson au téléphone cette semaine.”

Source: “Légiférer sur la laïcité met à risque les guignolées, craignent les évêques du Québec”

“Could charitable activities, such as puppets or food counters, become collateral victims of the Legault government’s bill “on strengthening secularism”? At least that is what Quebec Catholic bishops fear.

In a report that will be presented on Wednesday in the parliamentary committee, the Assembly of Catholic Bishops of Quebec (AECQ) raises a red flag: “the definition of “religious practices” that is used in the bill is too broad and must be clarified, because it risks limiting the charitable action of several charities”.

Tabled in November, Bill 9 “on the strengthening of secularism in Quebec” provides for the prohibition, in a range of public buildings, of any “religious practice”. The use of the public road or a park for the purpose of “collective religious practice” is also prohibited, unless exceptional authorization is obtained from the municipality.

“When I refer to our experience here in Saint-Jérôme, downtown, the cathedral gave more than $20,000 for Christmas baskets. She achieved this, among other things, with a puppet around the corner of the streets by the Knights of Columbus, “observed the bishop of Saint-Jérôme-Mont-Laurier, Raymond Poisson, in an interview with Le Devoir in anticipation of the passage through the AECQ commission. “If we had to stop doing this…”

Before the Minister responsible for Secularism, Jean-François Roberge, on Wednesday, the AECQ will defend the idea that, rather than “religious practice”, it is “religious education and the worship of any religious profession” that are prohibited in public buildings and on the streets. Otherwise, according to Bishop Poisson, this could ring the end of charitable activities for several groups.

“There are organizations that offer us subsidies for our food and clothing counters. We have them in many, many of our churches, “he added. “During the pandemic, here, we continued to deliver 200 boxes of food to families and it was municipal employees who delivered them. We wouldn’t want to lose that. ”

“In the nine recommendations contained in their report, the 23 bishops members of the AECQ ask for the maintenance of prayer rooms in universities and CEGEPs. They also want the withdrawal of a provision of Bill 9 to make the public funding of religious schools conditional.

“We have freedom of expression and it is recognized by charters. I think the State, perhaps, overflows its jurisdiction, or has a little too much ambition, “said Bishop Poisson on the phone this week.”

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Renforcement de la laïcité: Les villes dénoncent des obligations « coûteuses et déconnectées »

2026/02/05 Leave a comment

Of note, when ideology meets reality:

Ces critiques virulentes proviennent de l’Union des municipalités du Québec (UMQ), qui représente des villes totalisant plus de 85 % de la population québécoise. Ses représentants ont témoigné mardi en commission parlementaire, dans le contexte où le projet de loi 9 est l’une des nombreuses pièces législatives que la Coalition avenir Québec (CAQ) souhaite adopter d’ici au déclenchement des élections.

« En politisant des enjeux ponctuels et en détournant des ressources essentielles, il compromet la capacité des gouvernements de proximité à répondre aux priorités concrètes de la population », déplorent les villes. De plus, « les situations impliquant des enjeux de laïcité sont décrites comme rares, ponctuelles et généralement réglées à l’aide des pouvoirs et outils déjà disponibles en vertu du droit municipal existant », ajoutent-elles.

L’adoption de nouvelles obligations législatives apparaît non seulement injustifiée, mais profondément déconnectée des réalités administratives et opérationnelles municipales. Le projet de loi 9 semble ainsi répondre à des préoccupations marginales, plutôt qu’à des situations concrètes nécessitant une intervention législative additionnelle.

 L’Union des municipalités du Québec

Le projet de loi 9 prévoit aussi que les municipalités devront permettre les prières de rue ou dans les parcs pour les groupes qui en font la demande « de façon exceptionnelle », par résolution du conseil municipal, si la pratique religieuse en question « ne compromet pas la sécurité des personnes, est de courte durée, est accessible à tous et n’entrave pas indûment l’accès à toute personne au domaine public ». Les prières individuelles ne sont pas visées.

« Cette orientation est inadaptée à la réalité municipale : les villes disposent déjà des pouvoirs nécessaires pour gérer ces usages de manière efficace, proportionnée et neutre, sans qu’un resserrement législatif uniforme ne soit requis », affirment les municipalités représentées par l’UMQ.

Source: Renforcement de la laïcité: Les villes dénoncent des obligations « coûteuses et déconnectées »

These virulent criticisms come from the Union des municipalités du Québec (UMQ), which represents cities totaling more than 85% of the Quebec population. Its representatives testified on Tuesday in the parliamentary committee, in the context that Bill 9 is one of the many pieces of legislation that the Coalition avenir Québec (CAQ) wishes to adopt between now and the elections are launched.

“It undermines the ability of local governments to respond to the population’s concrete priorities,” the cities lament. In addition, “situations involving secularism issues are described as rare, punctual and generally resolved using the powers and tools already available under existing municipal law,” they add.

The adoption of new legislative obligations appears not only unjustified, but deeply disconnected from municipal administrative and operational realities. Bill 9 thus appears to respond to marginal concerns, rather than concrete situations requiring additional legislative intervention.

The Union of Municipalities of Quebec

Bill 9 also provides that municipalities will have to allow prayers on the street or in parks for groups that request it “exceptionally”, by resolution of the municipal council, if the religious practice in question “does not compromise the safety of people, is short-lived, is accessible to all and does not unduly hinder access to the public domain for anyone”. Individual prayers are not targeted.

“This orientation is inappropriate for municipal reality: cities already have the necessary powers to manage these uses in an effective, proportionate and neutral manner, without uniform legislative tightening being required,” say the municipalities represented by the UMQ.

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Order of Canada Appointments: 2025 and historical

2026/02/04 Leave a comment

The deck below highlights 2025 appointments and compares them with previous years since 2013.

Over this period, women’s representation has increased slightly, with ups and downs; visible minority representation has more than doubled, with Indigenous representation remaining overall stable but with considerable ups and downs. Indigenous are overrepresented at the companion and officer levels.

Women and visible minorities are underrepresented in relation to their share of the population. Sector representation has considerable year-to-year variation. Ontario has the highest degree of overrepresentation, with Atlantic Canada and the North being slightly overrepresented.

Order of Canada 2013-25 Diversity – Key slidesDownload

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“La communauté musulmane de Québec déplore l’intransigeance du gouvernement”

2026/01/30 Leave a comment

A noter:

“Neuf ans se sont écoulés depuis la tuerie de la grande mosquée de Québec, mais des séquelles se font encore sentir, ravivées par les lois sur la laïcité adoptées par le gouvernement caquiste, qui « encouragent la xénophobie et le racisme », selon les leaders de la communauté musulmane de la capitale.

Le 29 janvier 2017, au moment où Alexandre Bissonnette faisait irruption au milieu de la prière pour ouvrir le feu sur les fidèles, une fillette se tenait entre le tireur et ses victimes. « C’est ma fille. Elle avait huit ans », a raconté mercredi Nizar Ghali, blessé par deux balles à l’abdomen lors de la tragédie.

Le père de famille, ce soir-là, a frôlé la mort sous les yeux de son enfant. Dans les jours qui ont suivi l’attaque, pendant que la ville se recueillait, consternée, et pleurait les six défunts, Nizar Ghali, lui, luttait pour sa vie à l’hôpital, plongé dans le coma.

Aujourd’hui tiré d’affaire — « le corps va bien, l’esprit va quand même assez bien aussi », précisait-il mercredi au Devoir à la veille des commémorations —, il travaille à combattre les « amalgames » qui font le lit, à son avis, du racisme et de la xénophobie.

“Et il en a long à dire sur la vision de la laïcité promue par le gouvernement caquiste. La loi 21 sur l’interdiction des signes religieux et son expansion dans les garderies subventionnées par l’État prévue par le projet de loi 9 passent mal. « Les femmes voilées se sentent lésées par ces lois-là parce qu’elles estiment qu’[elles] sont faites spécifiquement pour elles », explique le docteur diplômé de l’Université Laval. « Pour nous, ça envoie le message que l’État ne veut pas que la femme musulmane prenne de l’expansion dans la société. »

Sa fille, aujourd’hui âgée de 17 ans, a décidé de porter le hidjab. Le père, lui, craint que ce choix ne constitue un obstacle à son épanouissement.

« Ce n’est pas le passé qui nous inquiète, c’est l’avenir, confie Nizar Ghali. Elle arrive à l’âge où tout le monde commence à entrevoir un petit peu son avenir. Il est encore trop tôt pour savoir quel genre de job elle va chercher ou quel domaine d’études elle va poursuivre, mais si elle rencontre des embûches, c’est sûr que ça va être de plus en plus difficile pour elle. Si, au contraire, elle trouve une société qui l’accueille comme elle est, je présume que ça va la soulager après ce qu’elle a vécu. »”…

Source: “La communauté musulmane de Québec déplore l’intransigeance du gouvernement”

“Nine years have passed since the killing of the Great Mosque in Quebec City, but sequelae are still being felt, revived by the laws on secularism adopted by the Caquist government, which “encourage xenophobia and racism,” according to the leaders of the capital’s Muslim community.

On January 29, 2017, when Alexandre Bissonnette broke into the middle of prayer to open fire on the faithful, a girl stood between the shooter and his victims. “She’s my daughter. She was eight years old, “said Nizar Ghali on Wednesday, wounded by two bullets in the abdomen during the tragedy.

The father of the family, that evening, come close to death before the eyes of his child. In the days following the attack, while the city was gathering, dismayed, and mourning the six deceased, Nizar Ghali was fighting for his life in the hospital, immersed in a coma.

Today out of trouble – “the body is fine, the mind is still quite well too,” he said Wednesday at Le Devoir on the eve of the commemorations – he is working to fight the “amalgams” that make the bed, in his opinion, of racism and xenophobia.

“And he has a lot to say about the vision of secularism promoted by the Caquist government. Bill 21 on the prohibition of religious signs and its expansion into state-subsidized daycare centers provided for by Bill 9 is doing badly. “Women with veils feel aged by these laws because they believe that [they] are made specifically for them,” explains the doctor graduated from Université Laval. “For us, it sends the message that the State does not want Muslim women to expand in society. ”

His daughter, now 17 years old, decided to wear the hijab. The father, for his part, fears that this choice will be an obstacle to his development. “It’s not the past that worries us, it’s the future,” says Nizar Ghali. She reaches the age where everyone begins to see a little bit of her future. It is still too early to know what kind of job she will look for or what field of study she will pursue, but if she encounters pitfalls, it is certain that it will be more and more difficult for her. If, on the contrary, she finds a society that welcomes her as she is, I assume that it will relieve her after what she has experienced. “…

Filed under Islamophobia, Multiculturalism, Religion Tagged with ,

Why do 3 major diseases disproportionately impact Black Canadians? New genome project aims to find out

2026/01/30 1 Comment

Useful and important study. As noted, developing trust will be a challenge:

Black people are disproportionately impacted by certain diseases, including Type 2 diabetes, hypertension and an aggressive form of breast cancer known as triple-negative. Starting on Feb. 1, researchers from Ontario, Quebec and Nova Scotia are launching the genCARE project to map the genomes of more than 10,000 Black Canadians with these three diseases, as well as people who have no underlying medical conditions.

The leaders of the project — funded by Genome Canada — hope their findings will help inform where treatment and preventive care can be targeted, as well as achieve more equitable, anti-racist health outcomes.

“If we are not there, we will not be counted,” Prescod said. “We will not be involved in finding solutions.”

Prescod estimates that less than five per cent of genetic studies worldwide include data from Black people, which means the findings of those studies may not apply to them.

Prescod hopes the research results will allow her to help her patients at Black Creek better manage their conditions.

The ultimate goal of genCARE, according to Dr. Upton Allen, the project’s administrative lead, is to take a patient’s genetic makeup and other factors into consideration during diagnosis and treatment — a practice known as precision medicine.

“It might help us to better understand why certain people get these disorders, why some get it more severe than others,” Allen said. “It might even help us to better design treatments that are more targeted.” 

Overcoming mistrust

Allen says researchers involved with the project must overcome a long history of discrimination against Black people that has fuelled their mistrust of medical institutions. 

And that makes recruitment difficult in a project that he says needs thousands of participants.

Source: Why do 3 major diseases disproportionately impact Black Canadians? New genome project aims to find out

Filed under Multiculturalism Tagged with , ,

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