We Need to Reform Multiculturalism | The Prince Arthur Herald

2014/10/24 Leave a comment

Group versus individual identity:

Growing up in a partially government-funded ethnic school, I experienced first hand the disadvantages of our current multicultural policies. Being put in an ethnic school by my parents not only kept me isolated from mainstream society but also limited my opportunities, hindered my self-expression and restricted my freedom of conscious. Looking back, I believe I, just like any other child in this country, had the right to grow and prosper in a diverse educational setting, free of cultural and religious biases. I am convinced that it was the glamorization of our ‘cultural mosaic’ which led my parents, just like many other immigrant parents, to put their child in an ethnic school – because a country which promotes itself as a ‘cultural mosaic’ necessitates the retainment of the ancestral cultures of its people.

I truly believe that if we want to build a country that has equal opportunity and is real in diversity, we need to reform multiculturalism, drop our obsession with this so called ‘cultural mosaic’ and start welcoming newcomers as individuals first, and not as clusters of cultures. We have to take a balanced approach where we neither assimilate newcomers nor encourage them to keep their ancestral culture. Let’s opt for multi-individualism instead of multi-culturalism. If we truly believe diversity to be a strength, then we must believe that the diversity of individuals is stronger than the diversity of cultures, for individuals outnumber cultures. Clinging to the ‘cultural mosaic’ as a social model is outdated and will only result in pseudo-diversity and oppression because in reality, Canada has thirty-five million ‘cultures’, not two-hundred.

Agree with him on the need for common institutions like public education and more emphasis on bringing people together (one of Kenney’s changes and emphasis on integration and interaction, while respecting the individual and group heritage).

Much of this is happening anyway in our larger centres, with slow but steady growth in mixed unions being one manifestation.

We Need to Reform Multiculturalism | The Prince Arthur Herald.

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Hong Kong press scorn Canada’s backdoor wealthy immigrant scheme

2014/10/24 Leave a comment

More on the abuse of the immigrant investor program. Nothing new (see Martin Collacott: The citizenship fire sale – National Post, Under new rules, rich Chinese should learn French if they want to move to Canada | South China Morning Post) but confirmation of bad and naive program design, led more by the political level of previous governments rather than evidence-based from the bureaucracy:

Most of the 30,000 rich Chinese who have recently moved to British Columbia told authorities they would settle elsewhere in Canada, with the deception costing the province access to billions of dollars in loans.

An investigation by the South China Morning Post revealed the widespread illicit practice, which is demonstrated in a huge discrepancy between approval and arrival numbers of Chinese in BC under the Immigrant Investor Programme IIP. The Post’s revelations come as Ottawa prepares to unveil a wealth migration scheme to replace the federal IIP, which was axed in June.

The huge influx of rich Chinese is already a hotly debated issue in Vancouver, which has seen property prices soar.From 2005 to 2012, a total of 29,764 rich Chinese, mostly from the mainland but also from Taiwan and Hong Kong, are known to have moved to BC under the program, which required applicants to loan Canada C$800,000 HK$5.54 million per family and have minimum assets of C$1.6 million.

Yet in the same period, only 13,872 certificates of permanent residency were issued to applicants from greater China who nominated BC as their intended destination.

Ian Young found that 53 per cent of the 29,764 investor immigrants from the mainland, Hong Kong or Taiwan who activated their permanent residency in British Columbia from 2005 to 2012 did so after telling authorities they would live in a different province.

This suggests at least 53 per cent of all Chinese known to have settled in BC under the IIP said they planned to live elsewhere.

Hong Kong press scorn Canada’s backdoor wealthy immigrant scheme | Vancouver Sun.

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Radicalization, the Loss of Canadian Innocence and the Need for Perspective

2014/10/23 Leave a comment

With the two killings this week of Canadian soldiers, one by Martin Couture-Rouleau’s running over soldiers in St-Jean-sur-Richelieu, the other by Michael Zehaf-Bibeau and his the attack on the War Memorial and Parliament Hill.

Surreal morning for me as I was downtown for meetings, about 8 blocks away from the Hill, learning about the shootings from TV monitors, along with others glued to TV monitors following developments. Felt very much, albeit on a much smaller scale, when I was in LA during the 911 attacks.

Some common points in recent commentary.

A note of caution on over-reacting and the need to maintain balance between freedom, access, and security. John Ivison: In response to Quebec terror attack we must remember a healthy balance between security and freedom, a point echoed by Andrew Coyne in Andrew Coyne: We can’t stop every little terror attack, so let’s brace ourselves and adapt where he recommends, not “a panicky search for false assurances, nor even defiance, but a collective insouciance.” Martin Regg Cohn praises the Ontario political leaders for keeping to the normal Parliamentary schedule in The democratic show must go on: Cohn.

While there was universal praise, and deservedly so, for Parliament’s Sergeant-at-Arms, Kevin Vickers, both for his quick and efficient handling of the attack as well as his philosophy of keeping Parliament a public space, Michael Den Tandt savages the overall handling of the attack in Michael Den Tandt: Ottawa shooting shows Canadian capital’s utter lack of readiness, and how information was not communicated. Haroon Siddiqui makes similar, but less well argued points, in Killings of two soldiers raise troubling questions: Siddiqui.

Margaret Wente takes the opposite tack, in an almost boosterish tone, contrary to much of the reporting, argues that Canadians will not change and that the attack was handled calmly and without hysteria in  Terrorists don’t have a chance in this country. Joe Warmington of The Toronto Sun takes the opposite tack in Canada will never be the same, as does Ian MacLeod in The Ottawa Citizen, in Analysis: Effects on Ottawa will be lasting and far-reaching (with video).

Also in the Post, which generally has some of the strongest reporting in this area, Tom Blackwell, their health reporter, reports on the “lone wolf” phenomenon and some of the factors that may result in some being open to radicalization in ‘Rhetoric and bluster’: Was attack on soldiers really terrorism, or just the violent act of a disturbed man? The Globe has a good profile on Michael Zehaf-Bibeau, the War Memorial and Parliament Hill in Suspected killer in Ottawa shootings had a disturbing side, that reinforces some of these points.

From La Presse, a report on the local mosque in St-Jean-sur-Richelieu and what appears to be a very conservative Imam in terms of social teachings but no indication that he preached violence, or whether Couture-Rouleau went to the mosque regularly (seems he was most active on social media) in Un imam controversé à Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu.

Listening to the RCMP outline what they did and what they could do, particularly in the case of Couture-Rouleau (as of writing not as fulsome an account for Zehaf-Bibeau) hard to see that any of the Government’s recent or planned initiatives would have made a difference. The RCMP monitored him, spoke to friends and families who shared their well-founded worries, confiscated his passport but as the RCMP officer at the press conference said, “We couldn’t arrest someone for having radical thoughts, it’s not a crime in Canada.”

Couture-Rouleau, like Michael Zehaf-Bibeau, were both born in Canada. Couture-Rouleau was not a dual-national and would not be subject, had he lived, for citizenship revocation. It is unclear whether Michael Zehaf-Bibeau, given his father was Libyan in origin, would be entitled to Libyan citizenship and thus theoretically subject to revocation.

And while tragedies for the families and friends of the soldiers killed, and (another) reminder that we have extremists among us, both reassuring and worrying that both of these appear to be “lone wolf” attacks rather than groups and more “sophisticated” plans and conspiracies that could result in significantly more casualities.

I tend to be between Wente and Warmington: no, not everything has changed but neither has everything remained the same. Our political leaders, of all stripes, as well as the media and others, will play a role in ensuring, or not, that we retain perspective and balance.

 

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ICYMI: CSIS has tabs on radicalized Canadians who have fought abroad

2014/10/23 Leave a comment

Good analysis of the challenges in knowing the numbers and the nature of radicalized Canadians:

“When we’re talking about 80 returnees, we’re not talking about 80 people who have fought in Iraq and Syria, and we’re not necessarily talking about people who were directly involved in planning terrorist activities,” Coulombe told the committee. “We have Canadians in Afghanistan, in Pakistan, in Yemen, in Lebanon, in the Sahel, in the Maghreb, who are involved in terrorist-related activities. But it could be fundraising, could be propaganda, so I don’t want people to believe that we have 80 returnees who are hard fighters in Iraq and Syria, because that is not the picture we have at the moment.”

CSIS has tabs on radicalized Canadians who have fought abroad.

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Sparks fly between neighbours over Diwali fireworks

2014/10/23 Leave a comment

Not surprising to see such tensions emerge:

While the 2006 amendment was a symbolic tip of the hat to a group of the city’s religious minorities, the new permit rule makes it nearly impossible for residents to use fireworks legally.

At one of the pop-up locations of Phatboy Fireworks in South Brampton – a children’s clothing store with several temporary shelves of Roman candles and multi-shot firework “cakes” at the front – supervisor Surjit Chokar is required to give customers flyers produced by the city that specify that fireworks can be discharged only on lots that are at least 18 metres wide. The city received 675 applications for Diwali fireworks permits this year, only 88 of which were approved. Most applications were rejected because residents’ lots didn’t meet the width requirement, a city spokesperson said.

“I didn’t agree to that part of the bylaw at all,” Mr. Sprovieri said, referring to the 18-metre rule. “I thought that was a ridiculous number and it didn’t give all the people an equal opportunity to enjoy all festivities.”

Revellers looking to celebrate in bigger spaces are also out of luck: fireworks are banned on streets, sidewalks, school yards and parks. But at Mr. Chokar’s store, learning the fine print of the bylaw hasn’t deterred residents from carrying on with their purchases.

“They’re not scared, either,” he said. “Most of the time people call, the police come. But they just give you a warning, they don’t give you a ticket. Because they know everyone’s doing it.”

Before it became legal to sell Diwali fireworks, residents simply bought them from those who were selling them illegally in ethnic supermarkets, video stores and off the backs of trucks.

Despite the massive volume of complaints the city receives, only four people were charged last Diwali for fireworks bylaw infractions. And while the city spent eight times as much money on fireworks patrols on Diwali in 2013 as it did on Victoria Day, total expenditure still only amounted to $16,116.

The perceived lack of teeth on the bylaw frustrates Vee Papadimos, who campaigned in 2011 for an all-out ban on personal fireworks. That year on Diwali, Mr. Papadimos’s front door was hit by a neighbour’s firework. Beyond personal safety, the use of fireworks – particularly on Diwali – also brings late-night cacophony to residential neighbourhoods and leaves behind a trail of garbage in the morning, Mr. Papadimos said.

“Why does it happen on Diwali and why does it not happen on Canada Day?” he asked. “It seems that – and again, not being biased and prejudiced – it’s basically, ‘It’s my culture, it’s my scene, it’s my time to celebrate. I will do whatever the hell I want and it’s too bad and you have to deal with it.’”

Seems like some opportunities for more realistic regulations and messaging on the need for responsible use (i.e., clean up the waste).

Sparks fly between neighbours over Diwali fireworks – The Globe and Mail.

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Barbara Kay: Chinese signs, native ‘medicine,’ niqabbed women — a busy week on the multicultural front

2014/10/23 Leave a comment

Barbara Kay on the niqab issue and citizenship:

Finally, there is our old friend, the niqab, back in the news, with Pakistani-Canadian Mississauga, Ont. resident Zunera Ishaq suing the federal government because the Conservatives’ ban on veiled oath-taking in citizenship ceremonies allegedly violates her Charter right to religious accommodation. (She withdrew from such a ceremony on that account.)

Yawn. Can we please once and for all jettison the false belief that Muslim women are required by Islamic doctrine to wear the niqab? It is a cultural custom observed only in the most tribal and misogynistic of Islamic societies. The question has been put to, and answered, by a plethora of Islamic scholars. And if some niqab-wearers remain ignorant of their own religion’s demands, that’s their problem, not ours. The general timidity amongst pundits to “go there” is irksome.

What a pleasure it therefore was to read in a recent Maclean’s interview the bracingly commonsensical words on this subject from Quebec premier Philippe Couillard. While dismissing the PQ’s contentious Charter of Values, whose sweeping proscriptions of religious symbols helped to bring that party down last April, Couillard explained that the niqab is a case apart from mere crosses, kippahs and hijabs: “Certain principles have to be clarified. One is the question of the face. I think this is a line in the sand for many Quebecers and Canadians: That if you’re going to give services or receive services, your face should be uncovered. That’s about all we’re going to do, and frankly all that needs to be done.” Hear, hear.

While I agree with her praise of Premier Couillard, the issue is not whether or not the niqab is required or not by Islam or whether the belief that it is sincere or not.

Rather, is it acceptable for a niqabi to give or receive government services, take the citizenship oath, obtain a driver’s licence or passport etc, in the context of Canadian society and integration?

Barbara Kay: Chinese signs, native ‘medicine,’ niqabbed women — a busy week on the multicultural front

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The Trouble With Religion – Reza Aslan

2014/10/23 2 Comments

Reza Aslan on scripture and interpretation is shaped by values:

This is the thing — it’s not that you can interpret away problematic parts of a scripture. It’s that the scriptures are inundated with conflicting sentiments about almost every subject. In other words, the same Torah that tells Jews to love their neighbor also tells them to kill every single man, woman, and child who doesn’t worship Yahweh. The same Jesus who told his disciples to give away their cloaks to the needy also told them to sell their cloaks and buy swords. The same Quran that tells believers if you kill a single individual, it’s as though you’ve killed all of humanity, also tells them to slay every idolater wherever you find them.

So, how do you, as an individual, confront that text? It’s so basic, a child can understand: The way that you would give credence or emphasis to one verse as opposed to the other has everything to do with who you are. That’s why they have to sort of constantly go back to this notion of an almost comical lack of sophistication in the conversations that we are having about religion. And to me, there’s a shocking inability to understand what, as I say, a child would understand, which is that religions are neither peaceful nor violent, neither pluralistic nor misogynistic — people are peaceful, violent, pluralistic, or misogynistic, and you bring to your religion what you yourself already believe.

The Trouble With Religion « The Dish.

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“Protecting Canadian Citizenship” – Citizenship Fraud Update – Numbers Still Small

2014/10/22 2 Comments

Citizenship Fraud.037Given the number of citizenship fraud investigations (some 3200), numbers are still relatively low (see my earlier Overstating “Fraud” – New Canadian Media – NCM).

While 300 Notices of Intent to Revoke Citizenship may seem a lot, in the context of an average 140,000 new citizens per year – 2009-13, or the 200,000 plus this year, appears that the rhetoric has exceeded the reality):

Since the beginning of 2014, the Government has revoked the citizenship of 22 people who obtained their Canadian citizenship through fraud or misrepresentation

… Since 1988, the government has revoked citizenship from 119 individuals who were found to have obtained their citizenship fraudulently.

The Government is revoking citizenship on a scale that has never been done before with 300 Notices of Intent to Revoke Citizenship since July 2011.

Protecting Canadian Citizenship – Canada News Centre.

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Adrienne Clarkson: ‘I always felt I belonged’

2014/10/22 1 Comment

More snippets from Adrienne Clarkson interviews on her book, Belonging: The Paradox of Citizenship:

We are often very centred on the Western ideal of citizenship. I wanted to be sure that we looked at the world, not just at the Western Greek ideal, but also that we deal with our own aboriginal gifts in this country, that we deal with an African concept … and that we deal with an Asian Buddhist concept about how you create something that you all belong to. These concepts are valuable to open people’s minds to the idea that in all of the world, people are thinking about these things and they come at it in their different ways.

Ubuntu says you exist because the other exists. You are part of other people. I exist because you exist. I think that’s a wonderful feeling to have because it means we are part of each other and we are part of a kind of understanding of each other, which we don’t feel rationally, but we feel it because we are all human beings. I am human because you are human.

Adrienne Clarkson: ‘I always felt I belonged’.

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Hijabi on Parliament Hill My Experience as a Page in the House of Commons

2014/10/22 Leave a comment

A nice story by Yasmeen Ibrahim about her experience as a page in the House of Commons:

The most important thing that I wish to leave with Muslim youth, especially those who are more visible than others, is that do not assume that just because you are Muslim or that you wear hijab that you will not get the job or get accepted into some program that you applied for. We have all grown up hearing about somebody not getting a job because they wore a veil or being asked to take it off upon accepting a position. For the longest time ever, I succumbed to this and let it be the factor in determining if I should even bother with applying to something or not.

At the same time, we keep saying that we need to increase the Muslim presence on all fronts in order to educate others about Islam and fight Islamophobia. In order to fight stereotypes, we not only need visible Muslims in the fields of engineering and medicine, but also in non-traditional fields like journalism, politics, education, and law enforcement. It was after thinking about this that I realized the only way I can fulfill my part in promoting Islamic awareness is by successfully passing the interview stage and by performing at my highest level in any job I decide to pursue in the future, all while wearing my hijab proudly.

As for youth in general, we all get to a certain point in our lives where we want to make the world a better place. We take part in protests and demonstrations that are dear to our hearts, we sign petitions on issues we feel strongly about, we give motivational speeches about our dreams for the future, and, overall, we become more active citizens. However, politics is the real engine for change in todays world. Laws are what regulate individuals activities and it is through the legislative process that they come to be.

I am not undermining the people that take their concerns to the streets because these individuals do have some sway on political action, but it is mainly up to the government to have the final say. For this reason, it is important that we see those passionate youth, who yearn for change and a better society, possessing a clear understanding of the political process and inside the folds of Canadian government.

Hijabi on Parliament Hill My Experience as a Page in the House of Commons.

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