David | Le creuset québécois

2025/02/03 Leave a comment

Some Quebec reaction to the CAQ integration and interculturalisme proposals and the reference to a Quebec melting pot along with Premier Legault:

Tant pis pour le premier ministre Legault, qui a manqué « un moment solennel dans l’histoire du Québec », au dire du ministre de l’Immigration, de la Langue française et de l’Intégration, Jean-François Roberge.

Plutôt que d’assister à la présentation du projet de loi sur le nouveau « modèle d’intégration nationale », que M. Roberge estime être LE projet de la session parlementaire, M. Legault a préféré se rendre sur la Côte-Nord, où il a senti le besoin de parler de Donald Trump. Allez donc savoir pourquoi !

Depuis que la Coalition avenir Québec (CAQ) est au pouvoir, on a perdu le compte de ces moments solennels, voire historiques, où se joue le sort de la nation. Le premier ministre s’est peut-être dit qu’il avait le luxe de sauter un tour.

De mémoire, c’est néanmoins la première fois qu’un projet de loi évoque le « creuset » québécois, ce qui est la traduction française du légendaire melting-pot américain. Cela traduit une volonté d’intégration plus poussée que l’« interculturalisme » recommandé par le rapport Bouchard-Taylor.

Il est assurément souhaitable que l’ensemble de la société québécoise conjugue ses efforts pour favoriser une meilleure intégration des nouveaux arrivants et qu’une loi vienne les encadrer. Les Québécois n’en demeurent pas moins les premiers responsables de la pérennité d’une nation de langue et de culture françaises. Le désir d’intégration des immigrants sera fonction de notre propre détermination.

Il faudra attendre au moins 18 mois avant de voir la « politique nationale d’intégration » qui doit rendre le nouveau modèle opérationnel. À cette date, le Québec sera à la veille de la campagne électorale, de sorte que cette politique pourrait bien ne jamais être appliquée. Tout comme le projet de constitution québécoise auquel s’affaire Simon Jolin-Barrette, elle semble plutôt destinée à alimenter le discours de la CAQ.

***

L’idée d’un « contrat social » entre l’État et les immigrants n’est pas nouvelle. On l’avait évoqué lors des États généraux du Canada français à la fin des années 1960. Elle avait été reprise 25 ans plus tard par la ministre de l’Immigration dans le gouvernement Bourassa, Monique Gagnon-Tremblay, qui y voyait déjà le « garant d’une intégration réussie ».

En 1994, on avait ridiculisé le « contrat moral » proposé par l’Action démocratique du Québec, par lequel les immigrants devraient s’engager à « vivre et à travailler en français », mais il a néanmoins inspiré la « Déclaration d’adhésion aux valeurs communes » introduite par la libérale Yolande James en 2008 et le « test des valeurs » imposé par la CAQ en 2019.

La nouveauté du modèle proposé par M. Roberge consiste à étendre le contrat aux institutions et aux organismes qui relèvent du gouvernement (municipalités, universités, écoles, hôpitaux…), de même que les bénéficiaires de subventions, dont le financement pourrait être coupé s’ils ne contribuent pas à l’intégration de façon satisfaisante.

C’est là que les choses risquent de se compliquer. Pour mettre en valeur la diversité tout en faisant la promotion d’un tronc culturel commun, faudrait-il inclure des artistes québécois dans la programmation des Nuits d’Afrique ou mettre la poutine au menu des festivals gastronomiques qui célèbrent les cuisines étrangères ?

Comment la conformité aux objectifs d’intégration sera-t-elle évaluée ? Les fonctionnaires ont la fâcheuse habitude d’appliquer avec zèle les directives qu’on leur donne. Certains ont conservé un très mauvais souvenir de la défunte Commission de protection de la langue française. Faudra-t-il créer une « police des festivals », comme l’a demandé la co-porte-parole de Québec solidaire, Ruba Ghazal ?

***

Rouvrir les classes de francisation qui ont été fermées au cours des derniers mois serait certainement un bon début, mais M. Roberge fait partie de ceux qui pensent que les compressions budgétaires n’existent que dans l’esprit de gens qui ne comprennent rien à la comptabilité. À en croire le gouvernement, plus on investit en éducation ou en santé, plus il faut supprimer des postes.

Comme chacun sait, le Québec est le seul endroit en Amérique du Nord où le racisme systémique n’existe pas, même si les immigrants sont quotidiennement victimes de comportements racistes, que ce soit au travail, dans la rue, quand ils cherchent un logement, postulent un emploi ou ont affaire à la police.

Ils seraient peut-être plus enclins à s’intégrer si on admettait que tout cela ne peut pas être simplement le fait d’individus qui n’ont pas encore compris ou accepté les règles du vivre-ensemble dans une société ouverte et que des mesures vigoureuses étaient prises.

Il y a aussi l’épineuse question des écoles religieuses privées subventionnées, qu’elles soient juives, musulmanes ou autres, qui ne contribuent manifestement pas à l’intégration en endoctrinant systématiquement leurs élèves. M. Roberge reconnaît que cela devrait « faire partie de la réflexion », mais M. Legault a catégoriquement exclu de leur couper les vivres.

Finalement, il aurait peut-être dû être à Québec pour entendre les explications de son ministre.

Source: Chronique | Le creuset québécois

Too bad for Prime Minister Legault, who missed “a solemn moment in the history of Quebec,” according to the Minister of Immigration, the French Language and Integration, Jean-François Roberge.

Rather than attending the presentation of the bill on the new “national integration model”, that Mr. Roberge considers to be THE project of the parliamentary session, Mr. Legault preferred to go to the North Shore, where he felt the need to talk about Donald Trump. Go find out why!

Since the Coalition avenir Québec (CAQ) has been in power, we have lost count of these solemn, even historical, moments when the fate of the nation is at stake. The Prime Minister may have thought he had the luxury of jumping a round.

From memory, it is nevertheless the first time that a bill evokes the Quebec “crucible”, which is the French translation of the legendary American melting pot. This reflects a desire for integration more advanced than the “interculturalism” recommended by the Bouchard-Taylor report.

It is certainly desirable that the whole of Quebec society joins its efforts to promote a better integration of newcomers and that a law will regulate them. Quebecers nevertheless remain the first responsible for the sustainability of a nation of French language and culture. The desire for integration of immigrants will depend on our own determination.

It will take at least 18 months before we see the “national integration policy” that should make the new model operational. On that date, Quebec will be on the eve of the election campaign, so this policy may never be applied. Just like the draft Quebec constitution in which Simon Jolin-Barrette is busy, it seems rather intended to feed the CAQ’s discourse.

The idea of a “social contract” between the state and immigrants is not new. It was mentioned during the States General of French Canada in the late 1960s. It was taken over 25 years later by the Minister of Immigration in the Bourassa government, Monique Gagnon-Tremblay, who already saw it as the “guarantor of successful integration”.

In 1994, the “moral contract” proposed by the Action démocratique du Québec was ridiculed, by which immigrants should commit to “living and working in French”, but it nevertheless inspired the “Declaration of adherence to common values” introduced by the liberal Yolande James in 2008 and the “test of values” imposed by the CAQ in 2019.

The novelty of the model proposed by Mr. Roberge consists of extending the contract to institutions and organizations that fall under the responsibility of the government (municipalities, universities, schools, hospitals, etc.), as well as to beneficiaries of subsidies, whose funding could be cut if they do not contribute to integration satisfactorily.

This is where things may get complicated. To highlight diversity while promoting a common cultural core, should we include Quebec artists in the programming of the Nuits d’Afrique or put poutine on the menu of gastronomic festivals that celebrate foreign cuisines?

How will compliance with the integration objectives be assessed? Officials have the unfortunate habit of zealously applying the directives given to them. Some have kept a very bad memory of the defunct Commission de protection de la langue française. Will it be necessary to create a “festival police”, as requested by the co-spokeswoman of Québec solidaire, Ruba Ghazal?

Reopening the francization classes that have been closed in recent months would certainly be a good start, but Mr. Roberge is one of those who think that budget cuts only exist in the minds of people who don’t understand anything about accounting. According to the government, the more we invest in education or health, the more jobs need to be cut.

As everyone knows, Quebec is the only place in North America where systemic racism does not exist, even if immigrants are victims of racist behavior on a daily basis, whether at work, on the street, when they are looking for housing, applying for a job or dealing with the police.

They might be more inclined to integrate if it were admitted that all this cannot simply be the result of individuals who have not yet understood or accepted the rules of living together in an open society and that vigorous measures were taken.

There is also the thorny question of subsidized private religious schools, whether Jewish, Muslim or otherwise, which clearly do not contribute to integration by systematically indoctrinating their students. Mr. Roberge acknowledges that this should “be part of the reflection”, but Mr. Legault categorically ruled out cutting off their food.

Finally, he might have had to be in Quebec City to hear his minister’s explanations.

Filed under Interculturalisme, Multiculturalism Tagged with ,

Quebec’s CAQ government tables ‘integration’ bill for new immigrants

2025/02/01 Leave a comment

Here we go…:

Immigration Minister Jean-François Roberge tabled Thursday a bill meant to distinguish the province’s approach to newcomers from what Roberge called Canada’s “vicious” multiculturalism.

Bill 84, laid out in a 12-page document called “An Act respecting national integration,” includes a list of expectations for the Quebec state, Quebecers and new immigrants to Quebec. It aims to establish the province’s integration model, which is inspired by the concept of interculturalism.

Roberge said Tuesday that the difference between interculturalism and multiculturalism is that the former creates “relations between people,” whereas the latter “doesn’t define a common culture.”

The bill calls on new immigrants to learn French upon arrival in Quebec and to respect a set of values, including those enumerated in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

“This law reiterates that Quebec is a nation in its own right with a strong culture,” Roberge told journalists Thursday. “As a nationalist government, we are therefore taking our responsibilities and making a strong gesture to protect our social cohesion, our way of living together, our identity.”

The document defines Quebec culture as “characterized in particular by the French language, the civil law tradition, specific institutions, distinct social values, a specific history, and the importance given to equality between women and men, to the laicity of the State and to the protection of Quebec’s only official and common language.”

The bill commits Quebec to “foster the learning of French as well as the learning of democratic values,” but does not specifically say the province has to provide French courses.

The bill also says the government would ensure organizations helping immigrants follow the bill and could remove funding to those that do not, although Roberge admitted to journalists Thursday there were not yet clear guidelines on how the province would enforce the bill.

In recent months, the province has cancelled hundreds of French courses due to funding issues. After Roberge announced on Tuesday that he would be tabling the bill this week, opposition parties were reluctant to show support given the province’s struggle to meet francization demands.

Veronica Islas, who runs Carrefour de ressources en intercultuel, an organization helping immigrants in Montreal, said the proposed legislation’s lack of clarity on how it would be implemented and why it was being created left her fearing it would have the adverse effect of alienating or “othering” people.

“Words have meaning and there’s a difference between integration and inclusion,” Islas said.

Roberge also defended himself on Tuesday from the idea that he was once again using nationalism to win back voting intentions.

“During our first mandate, we took the step of adopting Bill 21 when we were leading in the polls — and by a long, long shot — [and] we did the same thing with Bill 96,” he said. “We are taking strong, identity-based actions to ensure the Quebec model, regardless of the polls.”

The bill also says Quebec must facilitate “access to Quebec works, cultural content and heritage property, [enhance] them and fosters their discoverability.”

The government recently announced a series of financial cutbacks at several cultural institutions, including the end of free entry to a number of museums on Sundays. A group called the Common Front for the Arts of Quebec has held protests amid calls for increased funding of arts and culture activities in the province. It has emphasized the importance of Quebec’s national identity.

Source: Quebec’s CAQ government tables ‘integration’ bill for new immigrants

Filed under Integration, Interculturalisme, Multiculturalism Tagged with ,

Le Devoir Éditorial | Intolérance, stupeur et consternation [racism among health care workers]

2025/01/31 Leave a comment

Timing could not be worse as CAQ government prepares its model of integration for Quebec. Reminder that reciprocal obligations apply to the host population as well:

C’est une histoire à faire hurler, sise aux frontières de nos espoirs d’intégration des immigrants et de la plate réalité du terrain, encore raviné par des poches d’intolérance et de discrimination. Les allégations de racisme au cégep et au CISSS de l’Abitibi-Témiscamingue, subi par des hommes et des femmes venus d’Afrique pour devenir infirmiers ici, ont tout pour ébranler le gouvernement Legault, lui qui doit dévoiler jeudi un projet de loi-cadre destiné à redéfinir le modèle québécois d’intégration des immigrants. Quelle ironie !

Il y a de ces hasards de calendrier qui font réfléchir. Le Devoir révélait mardi, sous la plume de sa journaliste Lisa-Marie Gervais, que des étudiants venus d’Afrique à l’invitation du gouvernement du Québec pour prêter main-forte en soins infirmiers avaient subi ce qui a toutes les allures du racisme. Dans un rapport obtenu par notre reporter et relatant les humiliations sévères infligées aux étudiants, ce passage ne peut que faire frémir : « Il paraît qu’en Afrique, vous êtes tous des animaux. C’est pour ça qu’au Rwanda, les gens se sont entretués. » Cette phrase indigne aurait été prononcée par une enseignante qui devait accompagner et former ces personnes, tous déjà des infirmiers dans leur pays natal.

L’origine de cette affaire compte pour beaucoup dans l’horreur qu’elle inspire. C’est dans le cadre d’un de ces programmes idylliques lancés par le Québec pour suppléer à une pénurie de main-d’œuvre au sein du personnel infirmier que ces étudiants ont foulé le sol québécois. Partis de leur continent africain avec une solide formation infirmière, ils étudiaient et subsistaient grâce à un programme du ministère de l’Immigration, de la Francisation et de l’Intégration (MIFI) décliné en quatre phases, et visant à terme la formation aux normes du Québec de 1500 infirmiers francophones. Le tout dans le cadre du Plan d’action ministériel pour la reconnaissance des personnes immigrantes.

L’ensemble de l’œuvre bénéficie du soutien des ministères de la Santé et des Services sociaux et de l’Enseignement supérieur. Ces détails non négligeables viennent ajouter une couche d’opprobre à l’affaire : ce fiasco est survenu sous la gouverne d’autant d’instances responsables vantant les mérites de ce parfait entrecroisement de l’offre et de la demande.

Le drame des étudiants humiliés s’est joué à plusieurs chapitres. D’abord, il y a eu les insultes racistes et les actes de dénigrement venus d’enseignantes et de responsables, tant du cégep de l’Abitibi-Témiscamingue que du CISSS où les étudiants effectuaient des stages et du travail à temps partiel comme préposés aux bénéficiaires, le tout en totale conformité avec le programme gouvernemental. Ensuite, l’échec scolaire. Ce sont des taux d’échec anormalement élevés le printemps dernier qui ont sonné la première alarme, car ainsi recalés, les candidats ont vu le sol se dérober sous leurs pieds : perte instantanée de l’allocation versée par le MIFI, impossibilité de travailler, retrait de l’assurance médicale. Certains ont pu effectuer une reprise, d’autres, non. Une infirmière ayant soutenu les victimes en dénonçant le traitement subi a été congédiée du CIUSSS où elle travaillait.

Un consortium indépendant dépêché en Abitibi-Témiscamingue pour résorber la crise a témoigné dans un rapport accablant de la nature des opérations de dénigrement constantes subies par les étudiants. Mais, comble de l’injure, ledit rapport ne s’est pas rendu aux autorités concernées, comme si on avait voulu cacher l’inénarrable. Une demande d’accès à l’information et une démarche journalistique ont permis de découvrir de quel traitement « dégueulasse » — le mot du ministre responsable de la Lutte contre le racisme, Christopher Skeete, en réaction à notre reportage — les étudiants avaient été victimes.

Interrogé sur cet événement malheureux, le directeur à la formation continue du cégep, Julien Pierre Arsenault, a parlé d’une question de « perceptions ». Dans d’autres médias, mardi, il dénonçait avec plus de vigueur les allégations de racisme.

Tout cela survient alors que le ministre de l’Immigration, de la Francisation et de l’Intégration, Jean-François Roberge, doit dévoiler jeudi un projet de loi-cadre dictant les termes d’un nouveau modèle d’intégration au Québec. Le ministre, qui dénonce haut et fort toute forme de xénophobie ou de racisme comme celle transpirant de notre reportage, affirme que son intention n’est pas seulement de dicter les exigences attendues des nouveaux arrivants, mais de déterminer aussi quels sont les devoirs et responsabilités de la société d’accueil, au nom d’un « principe de réciprocité ».

Les récits racontant des manifestations claires de racisme systémique dans les univers de l’éducation et de la santé ont malheureusement été suffisamment nombreux pour qu’on s’en inquiète. Bien que ce gouvernement résiste encore à nommer ce racisme installé dans certaines de nos organisations, il devrait comprendre qu’en repoussant les évidences, il contribue en quelque sorte à gangrener les préjugés. C’est le premier signe d’une volonté d’intégration de façade.

Source: Éditorial | Intolérance, stupeur et consternation

It is a story to scream, located on the borders of our hopes for the integration of immigrants and the flat reality of the field, still ravined by pockets of intolerance and discrimination. The allegations of racism at the CEGEP and the CISSS of Abitibi-Témiscamingue, suffered by men and women who came from Africa to become nurses here, have everything to shake the Legault government, which is due to unveil on Thursday a framework bill to redefine the Quebec model of immigrant integration. What an irony!

There are those calendar coincidences that make you think. Le Devoir revealed on Tuesday, under the pen of its journalist Lisa-Marie Gervais, that students who came from Africa at the invitation of the Quebec government to lend a hand in nursing care had suffered what has all the appearance of racism. In a report obtained by our reporter and reporting the severe humiliations inflicted on students, this passage can only make you shudder: “It seems that in Africa, you are all animals. That’s why in Rwanda, people have been king each other. This unworthy sentence would have been pronounced by a teacher who had to accompany and train these people, all already nurses in their native country.

The origin of this case counts for a lot in the horror it inspires. It was as part of one of these idyllic programs launched by Quebec to make up for a shortage of nursing staff that these students set foot on Quebec soil. Starting from their African continent with a solid nursing training, they studied and subsisted thanks to a program of the Ministry of Immigration, Francisation and Integration (MIFI) declined in four phases, and eventually aimed at training 1500 French-speaking nurses to Quebec standards. All under the Ministerial Action Plan for the Recognition of Immigrants.

The entire work is supported by the Ministries of Health and Social Services and Higher Education. These significant details add a layer of reproach to the case: this fiasco occurred under the guidance of so many responsible bodies touting the merits of this perfect intertersection of supply and demand.

The drama of the humiliated students was played out in several chapters. First, there were racist insults and acts of denigration from teachers and managers, both from the Abitibi-Témiscamingue CEGEP and from the CISSS where students carried out internships and part-time work as beneficiaries’ attendants, all in full compliance with the government program. Then, school failure. It was abnormally high failure rates last spring that sounded the first alarm, because thus failed, the candidates saw the ground escape from under their feet: instant loss of the allowance paid by the MIFI, inability to work, withdrawal of medical insurance. Some were able to make a recovery, others were not. A nurse who supported the victims by denouncing the treatment suffered was dismissed from the CIUSSS where she worked.

An independent consortium dispatched to Abitibi-Témiscamingue to resolve the crisis testified in a damning report on the nature of the constant denigration operations suffered by students. But, to the height of the insult, the said report did not go to the authorities concerned, as if they had wanted to hide the unspeakable. A request for access to information and a journalistic approach made it possible to discover what “disgusting” treatment – the word of the minister responsible for the fight against racism, Christopher Skeete, in reaction to our report – the students had been victims.

Asked about this unfortunate event, the director of continuing education of the CEGEP, Julien Pierre Arsenault, spoke of a question of “perceptions”. In other media, on Tuesday, he more vigorously denounced allegations of racism.

All this comes as the Minister of Immigration, Francisation and Integration, Jean-François Roberge, is due to unveil on Thursday a draft framework law dictating the terms of a new integration model in Quebec. The minister, who loudly denounces any form of xenophobia or racism such as that transpiring from our report, says that his intention is not only to dictate the demands expected of newcomers, but also to determine what the duties and responsibilities of the host society are, in the name of a “principle of reciprocity”.

Unfortunately, there have been enough stories of clear manifestations of systemic racism in the worlds of education and health to be concerned. Although this government still resists naming this racism installed in some of our organizations, it should understand that by pushing back the evidence, it contributes in some way to gangrenous prejudice. This is the first sign of a desire to integrate the facade.

Filed under Integration, Multiculturalism, Racism

Multiculturalism is a bad fit for Quebec, immigration minister says

2025/01/30 Leave a comment

Here we go again. On the positive side, they will need to develop a definition that can be reviewed and assessed:

The minister responsible for immigration has justified the presentation of new legislation on the integration of immigrants by saying he wants to promote a common Quebec culture and less “ghettoization” of new arrivals.

Jean-François Roberge, the minister of immigration, francization and integration, said the legislation he will table Thursday will act as a counterweight to the Canadian concept of multiculturalism, which he said remains a bad fit for Quebec because it fails to clearly define a common culture with principles Quebecers believe in. Newcomers need to clearly understand Quebec is different from the rest of Canada when they arrive, Roberge said.

He said the proof of the need for a new bill, with a focus on the concept of interculturalism, lies in part in new data produced by Quebec’s French language commissioner showing the children of immigrants identify less with Quebec than their parents did.

“There is something broken,” Roberge told reporters at a news conference. “I don’t think we have, at this moment, a clearly defined social contract. We never outlined it. “We can’t criticize people who are not aware of something that has never been clearly defined.

“With our plan, with our bill, we will be pretty clear: We are a nation, we have a culture, we have democratic values, men and women are equal. People coming here must accept that.”

Roberge, however, was vague on how he plans to apply what is for now a statement of principles. The mechanics of how it will be applied will be included in the legislation, he said. He said the bill will revolve around the principle of reciprocity and a “moral obligation to adhere to Quebec culture in the larger sense.”

“We are a welcoming society; we remain open to the world. We want diversity on the Quebec territory, but we want a mix. We don’t want people living apart from one another. We think the ghettoization does not serve social cohesion.”

Roberge dismissed questions about whether the Coalition Avenir Québec government is again stirring up the identity issue as a way to shore up its sliding popularity. He said the CAQ government adopted other pieces of identity legislation, such as Bill 21 on state secularism and Bill 96 overhauling the Charter of the French Language, early in its mandate before the party fell from grace with voters.

“Our values don’t change based on the latest polls,” Roberge said. Roberge made the comments as the National Assembly resumed work Tuesday following the Christmas break.

Much of the focus of the session will be on the economy and the potential impact of U.S. tariffs. Premier François Legault made it clear at a caucus last week that other issues will be on the agenda, including those revolving around identity.

Roberge set the stage for the bill in a video Monday in which he said the new legislation will be a logical followup to Bills 21 and 96. “For the first time in our history, we will define who we are and how we want to continue to evolve as a nation,” Roberge said in the video. “With this bill, we propose a social contract uniting all Quebecers.”

But he was hit with questions about the government’s current inability to offer enough French courses to meet the demand from those arriving here. On the defensive, Roberge said Quebec is teaching the language to more people than ever — 80,000 in 2024 alone — and will improve the situation further in 2025. Waiting lists are long because too many immigrants have arrived in Quebec and he plans to reduce the total in the future, he said.

“Those who are here will be able to learn French and we will put the brakes on new arrivals, including temporary (immigrants), on our territory.”

Quebec’s opposition parties remained skeptical Tuesday about the government’s motives. Interim Liberal leader Marc Tanguay said his party is always open to discussing such issues as interculturalism, but warned the new bill has to respect fundamental rights. He said the government also has to put up the money to back its principles, which he said it has not done in the past.

“I think the first person who spoke of interculturalism was (former Liberal premier) Robert Bourassa in the ‘70s,” Tanguay said. “We are interculturalists and ready to work on this, but again the devil is in the details. We must not divide (Quebecers).”

Québec solidaire co-spokesperson Ruba Ghazal said there is an “incoherence” in Roberge’s message because he says immigrants need to integrate, yet the government keeps cutting French courses.

Parti Québécois Leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon said that while he doesn’t believe everything in the new bill will be useless, the CAQ’s track record on immigration remains questionable because of its lack of results. “Let’s just say the CAQ has been good at window-dressing for the past seven years, so we’ll keep an eye on that,” St-Pierre Plamondon told reporters.

Source: Multiculturalism is a bad fit for Quebec, immigration minister says

Filed under Integration, Interculturalisme, Multiculturalism Tagged with , ,

Five years on, Chinese Canadians recall ridicule and racism over pandemic precautions

2025/01/28 Leave a comment

Another reminder. One of my memories was flying back from LA late January 2020 and we and Chinese were the only ones wearing a mask:

…Once the pandemic was officially underway, data would eventually emerge suggesting caution in Chinese communities had yielded results, notably in the Metro Vancouver community of Richmond, B.C.

The city’s population is 54 per cent ethnically Chinese, according to the 2021 census, making it the most Chinese city in North America.

More than two years into the pandemic, British Columbia’s COVID-19 case distribution report in July 2022 showed the city had an infection rate by far the lowest in the Lower Mainland, and less than half of that in nearby Surrey. In a colour-coded infection heat map from that time, Richmond stands out as a pale island, surrounded by more heavily infected neighbouring municipalities.

Zhang says he has no doubt why Richmond’s COVID-19 numbers were so low before the virus mutated and new variants resulted in much higher rate of spread worldwide.

“I believe the COVID-19 cases in the Chinese community were the lowest since we paid so much attention to the pandemic and we set up systems to protect ourselves from COVID-19,” he said.

Poutanen said the process of making health recommendations against a new, evolving virus was similar to shooting at a moving target.

Health officials in Canada initially recommended against mask use by healthy, asymptomatic individuals. That ran counter to what health officials were saying in China and Hong Kong.

“Initially the thought was (for) symptomatic masking, but general masking was not needed,” Poutanen said of the Canadian response.

“That was partly because the thought was symptomatic spread is predominantly how this was being transmitted, but that changed. I certainly think that no question, masking — the mask mandates and knowledge of what masking can do now — is one of the ongoing infection control measures that we continue to use that is effective.”

Wu and other Chinese community members pointed to memories of the SARS outbreak from 2002 to 2004 in Hong Kong and mainland China, where hundreds of people died, as the dominant factor in their response to COVID-19. SARS also killed more than 40 people in Canada.

Wu still winces at the thought of how she was treated in the earliest days of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“It was just like it happened from yesterday,” Wu said, recalling being “the centre of attention” when she went masked and gloved into a grocery store, other shoppers “rolling their eyes.”…

Source: Five years on, Chinese Canadians recall ridicule and racism over pandemic precautions

Filed under Multiculturalism Tagged with , ,

Lipstadt: Antisemitism Is a Bipartisan Problem

2025/01/28 Leave a comment

Another reminder and warning:

At the conclusion of my confirmation hearings before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in 2022, I was approached by a member of the committee who asked which posed a greater threat, antisemitism emanating from the political left or the political right? The question did not surprise me. I had heard it often, long before President Joe Biden had nominated me to serve as the State Department’s special envoy to monitor and combat antisemitism, the position I held for the past three years.

I replied that it made little difference to me whence the antisemitism came, I was against it. I described myself as an “equal opportunity” hater of antisemitism. The senator who asked seemed satisfied with my answer.

As the new administration begins and I leave this position, I have come to see, more clearly, that this oft-debated left/right question — that is, which side is worse — often serves as a political smoke screen.

The problem is that many on both the left and the right fail to call out antisemitism when it appears on their side of the political spectrum: Too many on the left are silent when it rears its head on university campuses. Too many on the right fail to condemn the overt antisemitism expressed by white nationalists. When I encounter this, it is clear to me that the intent is not to fight antisemitism but to use antisemitism as a cudgel against political opponents.

This is far too narrow a prism through which to acknowledge, assess and call out this hateful phenomenon. In the past few years, having witnessed the continued harm of antisemitism worldwide, I have become convinced that these double standards, which reduce the fight against antisemitism to partisan bickering, obscure the far greater threat that is Jew hatred.

I now see the threat in a multitiered fashion. Antisemitism is, first and foremost, a peril to Jews, their institutions and their communities. Whether the attack is on a synagogue in Australia, soccer fans in Amsterdam or women in Kibbutz Re’im and at the Nova music festival near the Israel-Gaza border, Jews are the target. And this alone would make it a legitimate matter for governments to address seriously. But antisemitism poses a threat beyond the threat to Jews.

It also threatens democracy and the rule of law. The cornerstone of antisemitism is a conspiracy myth which holds that “the Jews” control the most powerful levers of society, in government, media, finance and more. This lethal belief posits that Jews seek to empower and enrich themselves at the expense of all others. One might be inclined to dismiss this outlandish myth as merely a wild fantasy. But it has served as the rationale for genocide. Millions have been murdered because of it.

Those who adhere to this conspiracy theory — who see power ceded, not to a legitimate government, but to a Jewish cabal — have lost faith in the rule of law and are looking for someone or some group of people to blame. They’re willing to believe that their votes do not help them, their leaders do not represent them and their institutions do not protect them. Their distorted worldview renders accountable, rules-based government an illusion.

We have repeatedly seen malign groups and governments using it as a means of deepening public division within societies and among countries. Russia has propagated antisemitic conspiracy myths to help justify its war against democratic Ukraine. Iran supports the terrorist groups Hezbollah, Hamas and the Houthis by helping them cultivate antisemitic ideologies to justify depraved violence throughout the region. Their primary goal may not be only to spread Jew hatred, but to use Jew hatred to sow societal divisions and make all of us doubt the political health and strength of the democratic world.

Anything that erodes the rule of law and undermines our national security must be confronted collectively. But when antisemitism is viewed through a left/right lens, we risk making it the subject of a partisan debate. In doing so, we obscure the global threat it poses.

My tenure at the State Department was dedicated to ensuring that world leaders commit to taking the politics out of this issue. In 2024, the United States led 38 countries and four international bodies in outlining the Global Guidelines for Countering Antisemitism. These guidelines represent a landmark global framework intended to tackle Jew hatred and outline 12 best practices for governments and civil society to identify and act against this scourge. The guidelines make clear: “avoid politicization.” By endorsing these guidelines, members of the international community vow to combat antisemitism not as a political issue, but as a moral and policy imperative.

And in 2023, the United States released our first National Strategy to Counter Antisemitism. The National Strategy calls on members of Congress from both parties to work together and condemn antisemitism in all its forms. As I reflect on my tenure, I am proud of the important partnerships that I have forged on both sides of the aisle. Together, we must recognize that antisemitism assaults the very principles that define our open, free and democratic society. Tackling the current surge of global antisemitism must remain a bedrock of bipartisanship.

When antisemitism leads to violence, as it all too often does, the question we must ask ourselves is: How will we — Jew and non-Jew, left and right, people of all persuasions and beliefs — unite and respond?

Source: Antisemitism Is a Bipartisan Problem

Filed under Antisemitism Tagged with

Trudeau to fill Senate vacancies before retiring: source

2025/01/28 Leave a comment

Diversity stats of appointments by PM (last minute senate appointments can be a poisoned chalice for governments):

…Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is planning a final wave of appointments to fill the 10 vacancies in the Senate before he retires in March, Radio-Canada has learned.

The move would allow him to leave a mark on Parliament for years to come, as these unelected legislators will be able to sit until the age of 75.

A source familiar with the matter says that the selection process for the future senators is already underway and should be completed before his departure. After proroguing Parliament earlier this month, Trudeau announced that he will leave power after the Liberal Party chooses a new leader on March 9.

In a written response, the Prime Minister’s Office confirmed that the advisory board for Senate appointments is at work to propose candidates for all vacancies.

“Prorogation did not affect the ability of the Governor General to make appointments to the Senate based on the advice of the prime minister,” said PMO spokesman Simon Lafortune. “The prime minister takes his responsibility to appoint senators seriously and will do so as long as he remains in office.”

The prime minister likes to praise the independence of the senators he has appointed since 2016, but he has nonetheless picked several high-profile Liberals to sit in the Senate in recent years.

The Conservative Party of Pierre Poilievre, which is leading in national polls, has long been critical of Trudeau’s choices of senators. The Conservatives now fear that Trudeau-appointed senators will try to block their agenda if the party wins the next election, which is expected in the spring.

There are currently 12 senators affiliated with the Conservative Party in the 105-seat chamber.

“For someone who advocated an independent Senate, [Trudeau] will have ended up filing the Senate with a large majority of Liberals or people who support his policies,” said Conservative Senator Claude Carignan….

Source: Trudeau to fill Senate vacancies before retiring: source

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Lederman: At Auschwitz, there was no why

2025/01/28 Leave a comment

Lest we forget:

…Some of those lucky enough to survive Auschwitz not completely broken – many were – emerged with various whys as they sought a reason to go on. Primo Levi needed to tell the world. Elie Wiesel made it his mission to stop such horrors from happening ever again.

My mother’s why was simpler, less grandiose – if no less extraordinary. She met another survivor, they married, had three daughters. My parents, no longer alive, now have 23 descendants walking (or, in one sweet case, still just crawling) the Earth. We are her why.

I keep searching for mine. An obvious lesson of Auschwitz – beyond “do not murder” – could be to show kindness, care and respect for our fellow human beings. (I’ve had my moments, I know. I’m working on it.)

These can be small gestures, or they can be very big ones. But they must trump cruelty. I don’t think I need to explain why.

Source: At Auschwitz, there was no why

Filed under Antisemitism, Holocaust Tagged with

Anti-Defamation League finally comes for Elon Musk after his series of Nazi ‘jokes’

2025/01/27 Leave a comment

So Tesla owners, any buyers’ remorse?

The Jewish Anti-Defamation League has attacked tech billionaire and close Donald Trump adviser Elon Musk for making light of the Holocaust with a series of Nazi “jokes” Thursday.

The sharp criticism came just days after the ADL defended Musk against accusations of anti-semitism and racism by saying his controversial stiff-armed salute at Trump’s inauguration Monday was simply “awkward” and not a Nazi salute — even though it was widely hailed as such by white nationalists and many other of Trump’s MAGA supporters.

Musk mocked the controversy over his salute Thursday with a series of quips on X featuring word play with the names of some of Adolf Hitler’s leading Nazis, including Rudolph Hess, Joseph Goebels, Hermann Göring and Heinrich Himmler, who played key roles in killing 6 million Jews.


“Don’t say Hess to Nazi accusations!” Musk wrote in a post, adding: “Some people will Goebbels anything down! Stop Gőring your enemies! His pronouns would’ve been He/Himmler! “

Musk concluded: “Bet you did nazi that coming,” with a laughing-to-tears emoji.

This time ADL head Jonathan Greenblatt quickly slammed back at Musk on X: “We’ve said it hundreds of times before and we will say it again: the Holocaust was a singularly evil event, and it is inappropriate and offensive to make light of it … @elonmusk, the Holocaust is not a joke.”

In its own post Thursday the ADL quoted Greenblatt’s message, and added: “Making inappropriate and highly offensive jokes that trivialize the Holocaust only serve to minimize the evil and inhumanity of Nazi crimes, denigrate the suffering of both victims and survivors and insult the memory of the six million Jews murdered in the Shoah.”

The response was a pointed turnaround following the uproar after Musk’s controversial salute Monday, when the ADL came to his defense.

“This is a delicate moment,” the ADL emphasized in its message on X then.

“It seems that [Musk] made an awkward gesture in a moment of enthusiasm, not a Nazi salute, but again, we appreciate that people are on edge. In this moment, all sides should give one another a bit of grace, perhaps even the benefit of the doubt, and take a breath,” it added.

Musk has yet to respond to the new ADL criticism.

Source: Anti-Defamation League finally comes for Elon Musk after his series of Nazi ‘jokes’

Along with: Elon Musk makes surprise appearance at AfD event in eastern Germany

Elon Musk made a surprise appearance during Germany’s Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) election campaign event in Halle in eastern Germany on Saturday, speaking publicly in support of the far-right party for the second time in as many weeks.

Addressing a hall of 4,500 people alongside the party’s co-leader, Alice Weidel, Musk spoke live via video link about preserving German culture and protecting the German people.

“It’s good to be proud of German culture, German values, and not to lose that in some sort of multiculturalism that dilutes everything,” Musk said.

Last week, the US billionaire caused uproar after he made a gesture that drew online comparisons to a Nazi salute during President Donald Trump’s inauguration festivities.

On Saturday, he said “children should not be guilty of the sins of their parents, let alone their great grandparents”, apparently referring to Germany’s Nazi past.

“There is too much focus on past guilt, and we need to move beyond that,” he said.

Musk, who spoke of suppression of speech under Germany’s government, has previously attacked German chancellor Olaf Scholz on X.

For his part, Scholz on Tuesday said he does not support freedom of speech when it is used for extreme-right views.

Musk spoke in favour of voting for the far-right party. “I’m very excited for the AfD, I think you’re really the best hope for Germany’s fight for a great future for Germany,” he told onlookers.

Filed under Antisemitism, Holocaust Tagged with ,

Akkad: Biden was a failure. Trump will be a catastrophe

2025/01/27 Leave a comment

Remarkably simplistic analysis, assessing Biden only by his action and inaction with respect to Israel and Gaza. No mention of Ukraine, no mention investments in the American economy etc. Also telling is his silence on Hamas and the October 7 killings and hostage taking, which affected both white and brown Israelis:

…But a deranged right-wing capitalizing on the empty dissociation of neo-liberal politics is not some uniquely American phenomenon. It is coming for Canada, it is coming for Germany, it will fester everywhere the performance of great virtue accompanies the absence of substance. There is immense cruelty on the way, and given how quickly the CEO class has positioned itself in total fealty to the Trump administration, there will be little institutional resistance. If only as an act of pre-emptive penance to future generations’ history books, it will be important to document this cruelty, to not become desensitized. Just as it is important to document the cruelty that has led us here.

Joe Biden spent his much of his final few days as President trying to frame his administration as a successful one. It’s what Presidents do. There’s nothing interesting or novel about it, and anyway many of his predecessors have presided over the killing of faraway brown people in much greater numbers before retiring comfortably into the role of respected elder statesman. What is perhaps most fascinating about this particular bit of reputation massage is that it may well mark the last time any such administration is able to even pretend its success isn’t dependent on ignoring the suffering of distant others. Because distance is a relative thing. Today the town that burns is by chance someone else’s, but not for long. Today the crops fail elsewhere, but not for long. Today the drone executes a child in another part of the world, but not for long.

Today, America loves you back.

Source: Biden was a failure. Trump will be a catastrophe

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

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