Geoff Russ: Sorry, Carney, but the idea that newcomers don’t bring hatreds with them is a fiction

2026/06/22 1 Comment

More on values in right-leaning media, overly comparing to UK:

…If the prime minister means what he says, he should follow it up with action, such as instituting a Canadian values test for newcomers. It’s true that not every migrant will become an extremist or give a second thought to history. However, highly motivated individuals can have an outsized effect and it is the government’s duty to ensure that extremism does not continue to gain a foothold in this country.

The once-mighty Great Britain, currently racked by ethnic and religious violence caused in part by irresponsible mass immigration, is our future if Canada doesn’t abolish its myths about “blank slates.” People do not always forget the past when they get off an airplane.

Source: Geoff Russ: Sorry, Carney, but the idea that newcomers don’t bring hatreds with them is a fiction

Filed under Multiculturalism Tagged with , ,

LILLEY: Jamil Jivani campaigning to end ‘Liberal racism’ in public service

2026/06/19 2 Comments

Numbers vary of course by level and occupational group but overall, the annual reporting framework (pride and shame motivators) has largely worked well to ensure a public service more representative of the overall Canadian population.

Harper government weakened annual reporting but did not change the Act. Unclear whether Carney will follow up on the Trudeau era task force recommendations or not, as they very much reflected that government’s philosophy and approach:

…The Employment Equity Act was passed in 1986 to attempt to reduce barriers to employment for some groups. It was a success, but the special treatment for these select groups continues even though they are now, for the most part, overrepresented in the federal civil service.

Women are one of the protected groups given special access to government jobs. According to Statistics Canada, women make up 47% of the overall labour force, according to the most recent jobs report from Statistics Canada, but women make up 57% of the federal workforce.

Indigenous Canadians make up 4% of the available workforce, according to federal data, and yet they account for 5.5% of the federal civil service. According to federal data, visible minorities make up 22.7% of the available workforce and hold 23.9% of all jobs in the federal government.

None of these groups are underrepresented and yet they are getting special treatment for jobs. Jivani is right: This is a form of discrimination, this is a form of racist policy and it shouldn’t be allowed.

Chances are that if you asked most Canadians if these types of practices should be allowed, they would say no. In a world where Liberals MPs

Source: LILLEY: Jamil Jivani campaigning to end ‘Liberal racism’ in public service

Filed under employment equity, Multiculturalism Tagged with

Canada’s misguided mosaic metaphor

2026/06/19 Leave a comment

Not convinced by the arguments. Multiculturalism operates within the Canadian legal framework, which includes of course hate speech restrictions. It is not an anything goes given the legal framework but allows for accommodations to facilitate participation in Canadian society.

One can argue, as I myself as done, that sometimes this leads to more divisive policies than integrative ones, but the framework remains valid IMO. I think the bigger issue with respect to antisemitism is that lack of moral courage by leaders to call out unacceptable behaviours, whether at universities, schools, neighbourhoods etc and the general reluctance of the police to preserve the public space.

…Our immigration system—and our political class—for years lacked the vocabulary to say so, because saying so would require admitting that the mosaic has conditions. It would require treating the shared core, the mortar, as more important than any individual tile.

Carney’s Dublin speech is the kind of thing a prime minister says when he wants to feel, and to make others feel, that Canada is a generous idea. His Toronto speech was the kind of thing a prime minister says when the generous idea has produced bullet holes in synagogue windows. The distance between those two speeches is the distance between Canada’s self-conception and Canada’s actual crisis.

That distance will not close until we are honest about what the mosaic requires to hold together, and honest about what it cannot, and must not, accommodate.

Stephen Staley is the Director of Fault Lines and a longstanding contributor to The Hub on Canadian policy, culture, and civic life. He is a senior advisor at the Oyster Group, one of Canada’s leading communications and public affairs firms.

Source: Canada’s misguided mosaic metaphor

Filed under Multiculturalism Tagged with ,

Elkouri: Allégations de racisme au SPVMLe #metoo du racisme, Nicolas: Sinon, nous nous répéterons

2026/06/19 Leave a comment

Valid critique:

…Dans le cas qui nous concerne, devant la gravité des actes racistes allégués ayant mené au démantèlement d’une équipe de patrouilleurs montréalais, le gouvernement caquiste concède que l’on ne parle pas de quelques pommes, mais bien d’un panier pourri au complet. Mais ce qui est inquiétant, c’est que l’on refuse encore obstinément d’examiner le sol contaminé du verger. Pas question de reconnaître la nature systémique du problème, répète-t-on.

Pour rétablir la confiance, on n’aura toutefois pas d’autre choix que de sortir du déni comme on l’a fait dans la foulée du mouvement #moiaussi.

Comment ? Comme Yves Boisvert et Fabrice Vil, je crois qu’une enquête publique indépendante s’impose2, 3. C’est aussi l’avis de Massimiliano Mulone, professeur agrégé de criminologie à l’Université de Montréal et coauteur d’un rapport alarmant sur les interpellations policières et le profilage racial au SPVM dont la seule et unique recommandation a été ignorée.

Les problèmes de discrimination raciale dans les pratiques policières ne sont pas circonscrits à quelques individus ou à un quartier. L’enjeu central, c’est la nature systémique du problème. D’où l’utilité de prendre un pas de recul pour analyser la chose en profondeur….

Source: Allégations de racisme au SPVM Le #metoo du racisme

… In the case that concerns us, given the seriousness of the alleged racist acts that led to the dismantling of a team of Montreal patrolmen, the Caquist government admits that we are not talking about a few apples, but about a complete rotten basket. But what is worrying is that we still stubbornly refuse to examine the contaminated soil of the orchard. There is no question of recognizing the systemic nature of the problem, we repeat.

To restore confidence, however, we will have no choice but to get out of denial as we did in the wake of the #moiaussi movement.

How? Like Yves Boisvert and Fabrice Vil, I believe that an independent public inquiry is necessary2, 3. This is also the opinion of Massimiliano Mulone, associate professor of criminology at the University of Montreal and co-author of an alarming report on police arrests and racial profiling at the SPVM whose one and only recommendation was ignored.

The problems of racial discrimination in police practices are not limited to a few individuals or a neighborhood. The central issue is the systemic nature of the problem. Hence the usefulness of taking a step back to analyze the thing in depth….

Nicolas | Sinon, nous nous répéterons

…Ce que moi-même et bien des gens qui s’y connaissent un peu voudrions voir, c’est une enquête publique sur le racisme systémique dans la police, un moratoire sur les interpellations et une révision en profondeur du règlement municipal, question d’éliminer les autres « poignées » sur lesquels les policiers pourraient se rabattre pour continuer à harceler indûment les citoyens de nos communautés.

On verra si on préfère les « solutions » qui n’en sont pas, et qui n’ont jamais fonctionné, mais qui donnent l’impression d’avoir « fait quelque chose » après une « onde de choc ». Si c’est le cas, dans quelques années, le Québec sera à nouveau « surpris » qu’il subsiste du racisme dans les corps policiers et que les droits de la personne de citoyens soient bafoués.

Alors, nous nous répéterons. Poze.

Source: Chronique | Sinon, nous nous répéterons

What I myself and many people who know a little about it would like to see is a public inquiry into systemic racism in the police, a moratorium on arrests and a thorough revision of the municipal by-law, a matter of eliminating the other “handles” on which the police could fall back to continue to unduly harass the citizens of our communities.

We will see if we prefer “solutions” that are not, and that have never worked, but that give the impression of having “done something” after a “shock wave”. If this is the case, in a few years, Quebec will again be “surprised” that racism remains in police forces and that citizens’ human rights are flouted.

So, we will repeat ourselves. Poza.

Filed under Multiculturalism, Racism Tagged with , ,

Silberstein: Rank Islamophobia in Congress is a crisis for American Jews

2026/06/19 1 Comment

Of note:

A growing caucus in the House of Representatives is targeting Muslims, and American Jews should be deeply concerned.

The Sharia-Free America Caucus, established in December, now boasts more than 60 members, all of whom are Republican. In announcing its establishment, one of its founders, Rep. Chip Roy of Texas, warned that, “from Texas to every state in this constitutional republic, instances of Sharia adherents masquerading as ‘refugees’ — and in many cases, sleeper cells connected to terrorist organizations — are threatening the American way of life.”

His language was reminiscent of past xenophobic claims made about Irish and Jewish immigrants flooding the country with, respectively, Catholicism and communism. And the fact that the caucus has expanded in influence speaks to the continued radicalization of the Republican Party and the growing threat of American Christian nationalism. The attacks on our Muslim neighbors from the party in power call for Jews to stand up in defense of the value of religious pluralism in the United States.

American Muslims are the right’s immediate targets. But Muslims and Jews both stand to lose if the U.S. becomes an even less liberal and more strictly Christian nation than it is today.

A fictional threat

No one should dismiss the Sharia-Free America Caucus as a flash in the pan. Its membership includes a member of the Republican House leadership, Majority Whip Tom Emmer of Minnesota, who has said that “Sharia is completely incompatible with the American way of life and threatens the very fabric of our society.”

The caucus has introduced a number of pieces of legislation to combat the fictional threat of Sharia law, prompting a public letter signed by 119 Democrats demanding the House leadership not allow a vote on these ridiculous bills.

The Democrats are right to be drawing attention to this appalling demonstration of rank bigotry by dozens of Republican members of Congress. It should go without saying that there is no threat of Sharia law supplanting secular American law. Such talk is nothing but the crude fantasy of demagogues.

Instead, the caucus is twisting ordinary religious practices to demonize millions of Americans.

Sharia law, like Jewish halacha, is an unsettled body of religious law that has been interpreted, reinterpreted, and debated for centuries. In the U.S., scholars of Islamic law can weigh in on certain kinds of civil cases such as business disputes. This is exactly how batei din operate for many observant Jews: not as structures that replace American law, but as mechanisms that specific communities turn to voluntarily to help decide internal questions.

Just as the establishment of a Halacha-Free America Caucus would be an illegitimate and plainly hateful assault on the dignity of American Jews, so the existence of this caucus is an insulting act of bigotry toward American Muslims. The message being sent to them is clear: You do not belong here, and if you want to stay out of trouble, you can only practice your faith in ways the majority religious group finds acceptable.

A dark American history

These attacks against Muslims are continuous with a strain of illiberalism and xenophobia in the history of the U.S. with which Jews should be familiar. Yes, this country welcomed ships of Eastern European Jewish refugees at Ellis Island; but it also enacted the 1924 Johnson-Reed immigration quotas — which ultimately helped trap Jews in Nazi-occupied Europe.

After the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, American Muslims faced widespread discrimination in the name of national security — including illegal detainments and unconstitutional invasive police surveillance of communities. Once the terrorism panic subsided, Islamophobia became a standard part of the right-wing playbook….

Abe Silberstein is the Associate Director, North America, of The Abraham Initiatives, an Israel-based NGO working to achieve equality between Jewish and Palestinian citizens of Israel.

Source: Rank Islamophobia in Congress is a crisis for American Jews

Filed under Antisemitism, Islamophobia, Multiculturalism Tagged with , ,

PROC report: Challenges Regarding Special Voting [Recommendations]

2026/06/18 1 Comment

In general, sensible recommendations with my comments below each one. On a personal note, both of our children are expats, one’s ballot arrived in time (from the USA) the other not (from Europe):

Recommendation 1: That the Government of Canada should consider introducing legislation to amend the Canada Elections Act so as to require electors residing abroad to provide proof of their last place of Canadian residence as part of their application to be added to the International Register of Electors. 

Agree. While the current honour system has merit, given the potential for significant increases in expatriate voting due to C-3 expansion of citizenship transmission beyond the second generation, this would enhance the integrity, and perceived integrity, of expatriate votes.

Recommendation 2: That the Canada Revenue Agency and Elections Canada consider pursuing closer cooperation in order to determine, where possible, the most recent Canadian addresses of voters living abroad so as to assign them the electoral district in which they may vote, and improve the delivery of election information to voters living abroad. 

Worth considering as part of integrity measures and complements recommendation 1. Would only apply to those who submitted tax returns.

Recommendation 3: That for elections held on a fixed date under 56.1(2) of the Canada Elections Act, voters should be allowed to apply for a special ballot at least 45 days before election day, even if the writ has not yet been issued. Elections Canada would then be able to send a special ballot to the elector as soon as the writ has been issued. 

Makes sense. Unfortunately, given fixed election dates are more notional than real so likely little practical impact.

Recommendation 4: That the Canada Elections Act be amended to set the deadline for candidate nominations to close three days earlier than at current (i.e., on day 24 before election day, instead of on day 21 before election day). 

Would help. Not supported by Conservatives.

Recommendation 5: That Elections Canada should use couriers, when it deems appropriate, to send ballots to voters living abroad who are on the International Register of Electors. They should also provide voters with a return label to return their ballot via courier. 

Given that most expatriates don’t pay Canadian taxes, should Elections Canada pick up the tab? Alternatively, Elections Canada could offer a fee-based expedited delivery service, as it does for passports.

Recommendation 6: That Elections Canada should undertake further study of the hybrid ballot delivery systems that are used elsewhere in the world, such as printing a ballot at home to assess the feasibility of implementing them in Canada. 

Never argue about further study but found Elections Canada testimony convincing in terms of some of the issues. Conservatives expressed considerable concerns regarding possible negative impact on integrity.

Recommendation 7: That the Government of Canada should not consider any measures which would see special ballots cast by electors electronically. 

Clear response, based on integrity concerns.

Recommendation 8: That, at present, the Committee does not hold the view that electors, who cast their vote by special ballot, ought to be permitted to write the name of a political party instead of writing the name of a candidate, as was proposed in Bill C-65, An Act to amend the Canada Elections Act of the 1st Session of the 44th Parliament. 

Interesting that they ended up here. But the logic is sound, even if one’s vote is party-based, MPs are elected individually. Also required expatriate voters to research the names of candidates, not just indicate the party they support.

Recommendation 9: That the Government of Canada should undertake a study to assess the feasibility of embassies providing ballots and/or acting as polling stations during Canada’s federal general elections. 

No issue with studying the issue but suspect some integrity and operational issues.

Recommendation 10: That the Government of Canada should ensure that, subject to security and logistical considerations, Canada’s embassies, high commissions and consulates provide opportunities for Canadian electors abroad to submit their special ballots for expeditious return to Elections Canada. 

Easier than Recommendation 9, but given the “subject to security and logistical considerations” and the impact on regular mission operations, even the mailbox function would raise complications in terms of meeting ballot deadlines and when they would be counted.

Recommendation 11: That having conducted a comprehensive review of the testimony, the Committee holds the view that there is no consensus on the creation of extraterritorial electoral ridings. 

Fair enough. Good discussion on issue and various complications.

Recommendation 12: That the Committee believes that candidates and political parties bear the greatest responsibilities for motivating electors, including those residing abroad, to turn out to exercise their franchise. For greater certainty, this recognition does not remove or diminish from the responsibilities borne by Elections Canada and Global Affairs Canada to provide information to Canadian electors residing abroad on how to exercise their right to vote. 

Agreed!

Source: PROC report: Challenges Regarding Special Voting [Recommendations]

Filed under Citizenship, elections, Multiculturalism Tagged with , ,

Is This the End of Political Islam?

2026/06/16 Leave a comment

Good commentary. Delivery failures and corruption (not unique of course to Islamic governments):

…For now, many scholars doubt that political Islam will rise again soon. In a new book, “Waning Crescent: The Rise and Fall of Global Islam,” Faisal Devji, a historian at Oxford, compares political Islam to Communism, Baathism and other ideologies that sprang up during a specific historical moment and later lost their relevance. Terrorism tarnished the Islamist brand, too, Professor Devji told me. Most Muslims abhorred the cinematic violence of Al Qaeda and the Islamic State, also known as ISIS. “With the emergence of Al Qaeda and ISIS, you had a massive rethinking of what a Muslim public life and politics should look like,” he said.

Of course, measuring what people want across an area as vast as the Middle East is difficult. A further tangle is how to define political Islam, which can encompass everything from President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey, an Islamist at the head of a constitutionally secular state, to radical jihadists who attack anyone who disagrees with them, including other Muslims.

To avoid such complications, Arab Barometer, a public opinion tracker, focuses on specifics, said Michael Robbins, the group’s director. Its surveys ask whether it is better for religious people to hold state positions, whether clerics should have sway over government decisions and whether religion should be private and separated from socio-economic life. It compares those indicators in six Arab countries — Egypt, Jordan, Morocco, Iraq, Lebanon and Tunisia.

Overall, its results suggested that only a minority was enthusiastic about political Islam. From 2012 to 2025, support for religious people in government ticked above 50 percent in just two of the countries, Jordan and Morocco. Support for clerical influence over state policy rose in five countries, but was above 40 percent only in Iraq, at 58 percent. (In the United States, by comparison, 43 percent of people say the government should promote Christian values, according to the Pew Research Center.) Solid majorities in four of the countries agreed that religious practice should be a private matter.

But public opinion holds limited sway in the Middle East. Polling in many countries is scant, and power is held mostly by autocrats who don’t have to worry about angry voters chucking them out in the next election….

Source: Is This the End of Political Islam?

Filed under Multiculturalism, Religion Tagged with

Dotan Rousso: Canada must vet new immigrants for cultural compatibility 

2026/06/16 Leave a comment

Increased focus by right leaning media. Repeats earlier fears regarding earlier waves of immigrants:

…The most common objection to using culture as a selection criterion is that cultural compatibility cannot be measured. That is simply not true. Democracies already test for civic knowledge, constitutional understanding, and commitment to democratic institutions. Canada could place greater emphasis on civic integration requirements, stronger citizenship standards, constitutional literacy, and screening for support of extremist organizations and ideologies. It could also examine integration outcomes more carefully when determining immigration levels from particular regions.

A successful immigration policy does not merely ask whether an applicant can fill a job vacancy. It asks whether newcomers and the host society can realistically build a common future together.

Canada’s political leaders have spent decades insisting that culture is largely irrelevant to immigration. The evidence increasingly suggests otherwise. The real question is no longer whether culture matters. The real question is whether our leaders have the courage to admit it.

Source: Dotan Rousso: Canada must vet new immigrants for cultural compatibility 

Filed under Immigration, Multiculturalism Tagged with ,

Why some say Quebec politicians helped fuel the racism they unanimously denounced

2026/06/16 Leave a comment

Valid critique:

Amid all the debates and disagreements leading up to the end of the short spring session at the National Assembly this week, there was one issue that recently united Quebec’s MNAs. 

In a rare move, four political parties tabled four separate motions last week denouncing a gathering in Shawinigan, Que., captured in a photo, during which more than a dozen masked white nationalists held a banner that read, “Je me souviens d’un Québec blanc,” French for “I remember a white Quebec.”

The motions — tabled by the Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ), Québec Solidaire, the Quebec Liberal Party, and the Parti Québécois (PQ) — were passed unanimously. 

The condemnation was swift.

But observers — as well as some Quebec MNAs — have since pointed out that rhetoric from the province’s political class in recent years helped contribute to the behaviour it was denouncing.

“This is not something that [happened] in a vacuum,” said Frédéric Boisrond, a sociologist and author who follows Quebec politics. 

“This is something that has been growing like a tumour for years.”…

Source: Why some say Quebec politicians helped fuel the racism they unanimously denounced

Filed under Immigration, Multiculturalism Tagged with , ,

Lederman: Trump, the Tates and the sycophants that sustain them

2026/06/15 Leave a comment

Good calling out of those complicit. Just doing their job is the modern equivalent of just following orders…:

…But here’s who does know: The people around them. The suck-ups and sycophants. Around the Tates – their security, business and legal advisers; the woman hired to handle their PR after their arrest in Romania. And in Washington, the President’s people – other elected Republicans who pretend their leader knows what he’s doing, his press secretaries who berate the media at his behest. Outsiders too, like the soccer organization that awarded him a peace prize. They know – and they stick around and cheerlead anyway. They aid and abet. They amplify, normalize. It’s a game for them – or a job, well-paid, while real people suffer. Monsters.

Source: Trump, the Tates and the sycophants that sustain them

Filed under Multiculturalism, Trump administration Tagged with , ,

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