“Immigrant Vote” to Gain Strength in 2015 – New Canadian Media

2014/09/16 Leave a comment

Good interview with Prof. Triadafilopoulos of UofT on immigrant voting patterns and trends. Looking at this in context of my upcoming book on multiculturalism. Following two observations of interest:

6. Given your findings, what does your study suggest on the subject of immigration generally being a non-partisan issue in Canada?

It will likely remain the case. There’s no political pay-off for populist anti-immigrant rhetoric at the federal level.

Canada is unique among major immigration countries in the degree to which immigration policy is de-politicized, and immigration itself is enthusiastically embraced by federal political parties. Quebec’s provincial politics since 2007 may be a partial exception to this pattern, but this has not had a discernible impact on Quebec voices in federal policy debates over immigration.

7. Do you have any further thoughts on the “immigrant vote” in the 2011 federal elections you said it was inconclusive at the time of writing?

We have not done the necessary analysis to move beyond what we have.  We hope to do so soon.  The key point is that all parties in Canada support a relatively liberal immigration policy, as reflected in annual admissions.  There is also consensus on the utility of an official multiculturalism policy – our Conservative Party is rather different than similar parties in other countries.

“Immigrant Vote” to Gain Strength in 2015 – New Canadian Media – NCM.

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At a landmark Berlin rally, Merkel vows to fight anti-Semitism

2014/09/16 Leave a comment

Given the history of the Holocaust, resurgence of antisemitism in Germany worrisome, with political leaders responding with appropriate strong messaging:

“That people in Germany are threatened and abused because of their Jewish appearance or their support for Israel is an outrageous scandal that we wont accept,” Merkel said. “It’s our national and civic duty to fight anti-Semitism.”

Merkel only rarely attends demonstrations, but she joined German President Joachim Gauck and Jewish community leaders for the rally at the Brandenburg Gate in central Berlin.

“Anyone who hits someone wearing a skullcap is hitting us all. Anyone who damages a Jewish gravestone is disgracing our culture. Anyone who attacks a synagogue is attacking the foundations of our free society.”

The rally itself, organized by the Central Council of Jews in Germany, was extraordinary. Jews in Germany generally keep a low profile, but community leaders have said Jews were feeling threatened by anti-Semitism after the Gaza conflict.

More than half a million Jews lived in Germany when the Nazis took power in 1933. That number was reduced to about 30,000 by the Holocaust. The population has since grown to about 200,000 – a source of pride for Merkel and many Germans.

At a landmark Berlin rally, Merkel vows to fight anti-Semitism | Reuters.

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Among the Harper governments list of secrets: Soldiers on Viagra

2014/09/16 Leave a comment

Not exactly in keeping with the spirit of the Accountability Act:

There were 61 complaints last year to Suzanne Legault, the country’s information commissioner, about the cabinet confidence clause, almost twice the number in 2012. Figures from the commissioner’s office show it used the exclusion 2,117 times in 2012-13, a 20 per cent increase over the year before.

More recent data won’t be available until end of 2014, Legault told The Canadian Press in an interview.

She is concerned, however, about how wide-ranging the definition of a cabinet secret has become, especially since once the exclusion is declared, not even she can see the documents in question.

“When you look at the scope of the exclusion, it is extremely broad,” Legault said.

“It’s very, very broad. It basically catches anything that mentions a record that’s a cabinet confidence. In my view, the actual scope of this does not respect fundamental tenets of freedom of information.”

Media outlets aren’t the only ones for whom the flow of information in Ottawa has slowed to a trickle. Watchdog agencies like the auditor general, the military ombudsman and the parliamentary budget officer are also complaining.

Auditor general Michael Ferguson said last spring that his attempts to audit the long-term health of public pension plans had been stymied by bureaucrats at Finance and Treasury Board.

Ferguson said he was “surprised” at the scope of information officials refused to disclose.

Kevin Page, who took the Harper government to federal court when he was parliamentary budget officer, said the law needs a major overhaul.

“Under my time as the budget officer we were told on numerous occasions — from crime bills to elements of the government’s economic forecast to departmental spending restraint plans post budget 2012 — that Parliament and the PBO could not get access to information because it was a cabinet confidence,” Page said.

“The stakes were high. The government was asking Parliament to vote on bills without relevant financial information and were hiding behind the veil of cabinet confidence. This undermined accountability for Parliament and the accountability of the public service.”

Among the Harper governments list of secrets: Soldiers on Viagra.

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India: Why archaic citizenship laws must go – The Hindu

2014/09/16 Leave a comment

On some of the apparent inconsistencies between Colonial and present-day India citizenship laws, and a call to repeal the former, particularly as they apply to the Indian diaspora (over 20 million):

Today, persons of Indian origin face problems due to marital disputes with spouses of foreign origin or nationality issues arising out of foreign domiciles. The desirable approach, therefore, would be to create appropriate forums or authorities within the legal system that would address such issues by granting opportunities for hearing and redressal. Accordingly, deportation or removal of a person to a foreign jurisdiction would be an abject surrender to a foreign dominion.

Having resolved to be a sovereign, socialist, secular, democratic Republic, we in India are capable and competent of adjudicating our nationality issues to provide redressal for persons of Indian origin. Our post-independence laws provide the solutions which our vibrant judiciary interprets to protect fundamental freedoms guaranteed under the Constitution. Hence, pre-independence laws in conflict with rights today must be revoked.

Why archaic citizenship laws must go – The Hindu.

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How not to be ignorant about the world

2014/09/15 4 Comments

For those interested in data and cognitive biases, this TED video by Hans and Ola Rosling on ignorance and cognitive bias worth watching. The four general “rules” to follow when faced with uncertainty:

  1. Things are generally getting better;
  2. Assume the majority situation is in the middle;
  3. Social progress precedes economic progress; and,
  4. Sharks kill few (we exaggerate risk)

Worth watching (19 minutes)

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Jason Kenney and a guy at the Fraser Institute trade blows in Twitter cat fight | Press Progress

2014/09/15 Leave a comment

A great example of how to use Twitter to debate, and another demonstration of why Jason Kenney is such a strong minister (his series of tweets with Bob Rae is another example Jason Kenney Blasts Bob Rae’s ‘Obscene’ Temporary Foreign Workers Tweet).

Kenney  engages equally with those on the right as with those on the centre and left:

Jason Kenney and a guy at the Fraser Institute trade blows in Twitter cat fight | Press Progress.

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Blatchford: Kim-like takeover bid a terrifying twist in the Rob Ford drama

2014/09/15 Leave a comment

Best piece on the Ford family reality show I have read:

Rob Ford, hospitalized with a tumour this week and facing what he admits “could be a battle of my lifetime,” was withdrawing from the mayor’s race. He’s sick and scared, you see; he didn’t say that directly, but that’s what his decision to drop out meant, and fair enough.

But as it turns out, neither he nor anyone else in the family is so sick or so scared that they didn’t didn’t also set in motion the old bait-and-switch, with Rob simultaneously announcing his candidacy for councillor in Ward 2, his home ward, and that he’d asked brother Doug to “finish what we started together,” and that Doug would now carry on in the mayoral race.

Oh, and as well, even as Doug was being registered at the clerk’s office downtown, so was their nephew, Michael Ford, withdrawing as a candidate for the Ward 2 seat to make room for the mayor, and instead throwing his hat into the ring for school trustee in neighbouring Ward 1.

It was as though it was inconceivable that Toronto, like Pyongyang, should manage without a Ford for every citizen. As Kim Jong-un took over as Supreme Leader upon the death of his father, Kim Jong-il, the Eternal General, in 2011, who himself took over the reins of power from his old man, Kim Il-sung, the Great Leader, when he died in 1994, so were the Fords digging deep into their gene pool.

On the tube, no kidding, reporters were soon referring to the press conference Doug Ford would be holding that evening at “Mamma Ford’s house.” They might as well have called Diane Ford “Dear Mother,” you know?

To use a PM Harper word, it would be good for Toronto and the country if this “trifecta” of Fords would be given a time-out by the electorate, although Rob will likely win back his counsellor seat.

Blatchford: Kim-like takeover bid a terrifying twist in the Rob Ford drama.

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Not everyone who went to fight in Syria goes on to live life as a Jihadi: Some return fed up with the experience

2014/09/15 Leave a comment

A caution that some policies meant to reduce radicalization can be counter-productive:

“The whole jihad was turned upside down,” the militant recently told Shiraz Maher, a senior researcher for the International Center for the Study of Radicalization at King’s College London. “Muslims are fighting Muslims. I didn’t come for that.”

The fighter’s disillusionment, experts say, has become a recurring theme among some of the thousands of young men and women from around the globe who have answered ISIS’s call for holy war but have found the reality is significantly less glorious than what they were promised.

For those trying to stanch the flow of fighters and combat extremism here in Britain, it’s a perspective that could be the perfect antidote to ISIS propaganda. And yet it’s one that is seldom if ever heard here, in part because of government policy that focuses on keeping Brits who have gone to war from returning home — and locking them up if they even try.

“A lot of them feel trapped by [ISIS] not letting them go, and by the British government not letting them back,” said Richard Barrett, a former counterterrorism director with Britain’s foreign intelligence service, MI6. “But if you want people to understand that it’s bloody terrible out there, you have to hear from these people.”

Not everyone who went to fight in Syria goes on to live life as a Jihadi: Some return fed up with the experience

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Citizenship act got it right | Editorial | Opinion | Toronto Sun

2014/09/15 Leave a comment

As usual, the Sun misrepresents the issue: it is mainly about where you are born. Those born Canadian extremists (e.g., Damian Clairmont, André Poulin, the Gordon brothers, John Maguire) would not be subject to revocation, given where they were born and lack of dual nationality.

Those who came to Canada as children, like Shirdon, would be subject to revocation, based upon dual citizenship, actual or potential. Some, again like Shirdon,  were part of the same Calgary cell.

Different punishment for the same crime.

Won’t stand up in court, which the Government’s track record on a number of crime and other issues highlights:

On Thursday morning a reporter asked the Liberal leader in a scrum if Canadians who go abroad to fight with terrorists should be stripped of their citizenship.

Here’s his response: “Canada has strong rules and penalties surrounding enforcing acts of terrorism. A two-tier citizenship system concerns me. The idea that some people because of behaviour, no matter how reprehensible, makes it conditional for anyone who gains Canadian citizenship without being born here. That is one of the principles that has made Canada great, that a Canadian is a Canadian is a Canadian.”

First, let’s clarify a matter. It has nothing to do with where you’re born. It just matters that you’re a dual national.

But everyone should be upset with his closing line. Is Trudeau serious lumping everyone in together? Does he really think we can’t draw distinctions between people? What about Farah Mohamed Shirdon?

Citizenship act got it right | Editorial | Opinion | Toronto Sun.

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Glenn Gould In Rapture : Krulwich Wonders… : NPR

2014/09/13 Leave a comment

For fans of Glenn Gould (I do a lot of my writing listening to him), a great little article and video of him at work (3 minutes):

Whats going on here, I can only guess, but here’s what you’re about to see: In the video below, the great musician Glenn Gould, supreme interpreter of Bach, is sitting at his living room piano on a low, low chair, his nose close to the keys. He’s at his Canadian country house in his bathrobe.

Through the window, you catch snatches of his back yard. It’s a windy day and he’s got a coffee cup sitting on the piano top. He’s working on a Bach partita, not just playing it, but singing along in his swinging baritone. As he plays, he gets so totally, totally lost in the music that suddenly 1:57 from the top, smack in the middle of a passage, with no warning, for no apparent reason, his left hand flips up, touches his head; he stands up, and walks in what looks like a trance to the window. Theres an eerie silence. Then, in the quiet, you hear the Bach leaking out of him. He’s still playing it, but in his head, he’s scatting the beats. Then he turns, wanders back, sits down, and his fingers pick up right where his voice left off, but now with new energy, like hes found a switch and switched it.

Glenn Gould In Rapture : Krulwich Wonders… : NPR.

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