Barbara Kay: Suffering caused by honour tell tales that smite the heart | National Post

2014/03/27 2 Comments

On the film, Honour Diaries, and Barbara Kay’s commentary. Some may be uncomfortable talking about “honour killings” but I think it is fewer than Kay asserts. Despite some previous musings within the government of the possible need for special legislation against honour killings, existing laws have proven adequate to punish those guilty of murder (e.g., Shafia and Parvez cases):

The lives of girls and women are held cheap in many regions dominated by the Hindu and Sikh religions, but nine out of 10 of the countries with the worst gender-rights disparities are Islam-dominated, according to the World Economic Forum. There is no evading that elephant in the room, and the women in this film gamely attempt to address it head-on. But the subject needs a film in itself.

Many people, and feminists in particular, feel it is racist to judge the gender practices of other cultures, preferring to dwell on the perceived deficits in our own. They must get over that, as all the women in the film agree. Canadian women viewers will walk out of this film feeling as I did: There but for the grace of cultural accident go I.

Barbara Kay: Suffering caused by honour tell tales that smite the heart | National Post.

Some background on the directors and producers of the movie, which doesn’t necessarily detract from the messages of the film (but makes it easier for people to discard them):

Clarion Project as “a nonprofit organization dedicated to exposing the dangers of Islamic extremism, while providing a platform for the voices of moderation. [Executive producer] Shore’s previous films include the award-winning documentary ‘Obsession: Radical Islam’s War Against the West,’ ‘The Third Jihad: Radical Islam’s Vision for America,’ and ‘Iranium.'”

Film wages ‘interfaith campaign’ against abuse of Muslim women

Filed under Honour Killings, Multiculturalism Tagged with ,

Toronto man told undercover officer it was ‘God’s Will’ for him join terror-group Al-Shabab, trial hears | National Post

2014/03/27 Leave a comment

Revealing words on how the extremist mind thinks:

“Here everything is anti-prayer, anti-Islam … even if it’s a tyrannical place, it’s better than Canada,” he said. “I want to live in a place that’s better than this.” Somalia was better than Canada, he said, “because you can live in a place where there’s Islamic law.”

In his rambling conversations, he decried what he considered Canada’s hostility to his faith, claiming that “all non-Muslims hate Islam.” But he appeared to display intolerance himself, saying that “talking to a non-Muslim about morality and shit, they don’t even know what morality is, Christians.”

He also complained that “brothers” at Toronto’s Salahedin mosque had been arrested on security certificates (used to deport foreign nationals deemed threats to Canada’s security), and said nobody cared because only Muslims were affected. Asked how he knew, he said, “My imam talks about it.”

“It’s pretty tyrannical,” he said.

Given that Hersi was born in Somalia, he would, if convicted, likely be someone the Government would consider for revocation under the proposed provisions of the Citizenship Act.

Toronto man told undercover officer it was ‘God’s Will’ for him join terror-group Al-Shabab, trial hears | National Post.

Filed under Multiculturalism, Radicalization Tagged with ,

Les cégeps doutent de l’utilité de la Charte | Gabrielle Duchaine | Charte de la laïcité

2014/03/27 Leave a comment

From the Charter to the reality in the CEJEP (Quebec’s rough equivalent to high school):

Rappelons qu’une disposition de la Charte vise à interdire la prestation de services le visage couvert. «Des filles qui portent un voile, on en voit souvent, et de façon très stylisée en plus. Mais des visages voilés, jamais. Même les longs vêtements amples sont rares», note Johanne Fraser, présidente du syndicat des enseignants du cégep de Saint-Laurent, qui accueille une clientèle particulièrement hétérogène. Même son de cloche au Collège de Maisonneuve, où 85% des élèves de la formation continue proviennent de l’immigration récente.

Les cégeps doutent de l’utilité de la Charte | Gabrielle Duchaine | Charte de la laïcité.

Filed under Charte des valeurs québécoise, Interculturalisme, Multiculturalism Tagged with ,

In Quebec, a dim future for sovereignty – Lysiane Gagnon

2014/03/27 Leave a comment

In light of the dramatic fall in PQ support following PKP’s fist pump, striking just how much public opinion in Quebec has gelled against sovereignty. Two weeks till the election, and a lot could change, but the trend line and generational divide is not encouraging for the PQ:

If there is another referendum, everybody seems to agree, including sovereigntist leaders, that the question will have to exclusively focus on sovereignty. This makes a Yes victory even harder to attain.

Prof. Durand’s data also show that support for sovereignty is lower than it was on the eve of the 1980 and 1995 referendums. The major difference, she says, is that sovereignty no longer mobilizes those under 50 and the most educated.

What’s the future of an option that doesn’t attract younger generations?

In Quebec, a dim future for sovereignty – The Globe and Mail.

Filed under Charte des valeurs québécoise, Interculturalisme, Multiculturalism Tagged with , ,

Stop using ultrasound to determine sex of fetuses, urge doctors, radiologists

2014/03/26 Leave a comment

Interesting article on sex selection ultrasounds (seems to be an issue in the Indo, Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese and Philippine communities). Sad combination of cultural preferences for boys, enabling technology, and the usual self-serving justification by the entrepreneurs offering the service:

Alla Boulavkina, a registered diagnostic medical sonographer and owner of Tri-Cities 3D Sono Image in Vancouver, which offers non-medical fetal ultrasounds, said the scans improve bonding between parents and babies, and that she limits exposure times. “I know how to do it correctly.”

Boulavkina offers gender determination, starting at 20 weeks’ gestation only. Demand for the service, she said, is growing.

“Everybody wants to know, ‘boy or girl?’ Not just to start shopping … it takes time to be mentally ready for the baby,” she said.

“It’s very important to know. It helps people to prepare and be happy. Because sometimes daddy wanted a boy, and then he sees girl, and he’s not happy, and it’s no good for the family. In this case, it gives time to slowly be prepared.”

Stop using ultrasound to determine sex of fetuses, urge doctors, radiologists.

Filed under Multiculturalism Tagged with ,

CSIS tracking 80 Canadians who came home after going abroad for ‘terrorist purposes’

2014/03/25 Leave a comment

CSIS doing its job:

But the speaking notes provided to the CSIS director acknowledge that the intelligence community faces challenges identifying and tracking the movements of such individuals, and bringing charges against them.

The number of individuals overseas is constantly in flux and their motivations are not always easy to discern, according to the notes. Their destinations are often in active conflict zones or failed states, meaning cooperation with foreign partners — and getting sound intelligence — can be difficult.

Further, those engaged in terrorist activities often travel on falsified documents and “Canada has not, to date, systematically collected exit information that could be used to reliably confirm an individual’s departure,” the notes state.

“Despite our best efforts it is highly likely there are Canadians we do not know of who are travelling overseas to engage in terrorist activities.”

CSIS tracking 80 Canadians who came home after going abroad for ‘terrorist purposes’.

Filed under Multiculturalism, Radicalization, Religion Tagged with , ,

Toronto

2014/03/25 Leave a comment

Nice piece from the NY Times on Toronto and its diversity and neighbourhoods.

It’s a great walking town, and part of what makes it so much fun to explore is the range and variety of the neighborhoods in which the city takes pride, and which have resisted the homogenization that has occurred throughout so much of New York City — from Yorkville, with its fashionable shops and department stores, to Old Town, where you can find the St. Lawrence Market, an immense covered structure offering a huge selection of foods and crafts, and where, on Saturdays, local farmers sell their produce. Some of the neighborhoods are known for their architectural beauty: the charming Victorian houses along the tree-lined streets of Cabbagetown, originally a working-class Irish enclave; the equally attractive brick mansions and neo-Gothic cottages of the Annex, a district of artists, professors and students who attend the nearby University of Toronto; the brick rowhouses and manicured lawns of Roncesvalles and the mansions of Forest Hill.

Filed under Multiculturalism Tagged with , ,

Diaspora Politics and PM Trip to Ukraine – My CBC Interview

2014/03/24 Leave a comment

In case interested, my short TV interview on how diaspora politics is a factor in Canada’s response to the crisis in Ukraine and the PM’s trip.

http://www.cbc.ca/player/News/ID/2443812861/

Filed under Multiculturalism, Public Policy Tagged with , ,

Islamic law to be enshrined in British law as solicitors get guidelines on ‘Sharia compliant’ wills

2014/03/24 Leave a comment

Some were not thinking about how Islamic principles list can be reconciled with a human rights and equality perspective. Sad.

Under guidance produced by The Law Society, High Street solicitors will be able to compose Islamic wills that refuse women an equal share of inheritances and discount non-believers entirely, the Sunday Telegraph reported.

The recommendations can also prevent illegitimate children, as well as those who have been adopted, from being included in an inheritance.

Nicholas Fluck, president of The Law Society told the newspaper that the document, which would be recognised by Britain’s courts, would promote “good practice” in applying Islamic principles in the British legal system.

But some lawyers have described the recommendations as “astonishing” and campaigners have warned that the move marks a step towards a “parallel legal system” for Britain’s Muslim communities.

Islamic law to be enshrined in British law as solicitors get guidelines on ‘Sharia compliant’ wills – Home News – UK – The Independent.

Filed under Multiculturalism, Religion Tagged with ,

‘Self-censorship’ in discussion of multiculturalism, says London’s deputy mayor

2014/03/22 Leave a comment

Interesting discussion with Munira Mirza, deputy mayor of London, on multiculturalism, with particular reference to academic circles. Her point on the mistake of treating Muslims as “a homogenous group” particularly relevant (a lesson that can likely be applied to any community engagement strategy):

While at Policy Exchange, Mirza was lead author of a 2007 report, Living Apart Together: British Muslims and the Paradox of Multiculturalism, that claimed that “Government policies to improve engagement with Muslims make things worse. By treating Muslims as a homogeneous group, the Government fails to see the diversity of opinions amongst Muslims, so they feel more ignored and excluded.”

This argument was obviously controversial, but Mirza reports a “quite vicious” response from academics who focused on “quibbling with the technicalities of the research”. There was also “an assumption that, because it was published by a thinktank, it was therefore driven by ideological motives and there was nothing in it that was substantial, whereas we in the universities are much more objective”.

It is here that Mirza detects “a kind of coercive consensus around some of the debates in higher education around issues such as multiculturalism.

“There isn’t much appetite to criticise it as a policy or to entertain the notion that some of these ideas have had damaging effects. I think there’s a degree of self-censorship. I don’t think you get the critical level of discussion and debate [about multiculturalism] in the university sector that you do in the press and media. I think there’s more intelligent public conversation outside than there is inside.”

‘Self-censorship’ in discussion of multiculturalism, says London’s deputy mayor | News | Times Higher Education.

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