With the Charter, Quebec risks closing its mind – The Globe and Mail

2014/02/13 Leave a comment

Louise Arbour in the Globe on the Quebec Values Charter:

In short, we are called upon to choose the kind of world in which we want to live. All this talk about secularism, the neutrality of the state, tolerance or the specificity of Quebec should not obscure the fact that this is not about affirming values, but it’s about promoting and implementing them.

We have avoided the pathologies of nationalisms that feed the far right and all other forms of extremism. Quebec society is modern, open to the world and until now inclusive. In that setting, the proposed charter of secularism is a siren song. It evokes images of a homogeneous Catho-secular society where “our” religious symbols are innocuous, since we have voided them of their purely religious content, but where the religious symbols of “others” are a perpetual menace to us all.

In reality Quebec has succeeded remarkably well in absorbing immigration into a tightly knit society. Fear is always a bad adviser. Rather, social cohesion comes from a generous and welcoming spirit that induces others to integrate. This is, in fact, what newcomers have always done.

With the Charter, Quebec risks closing its mind – The Globe and Mail.

On a (relatively) positive note, the Mayor of Quebec city manages to find a balance between tolerance and his discomfort with more fundamentalist Muslim women:

« Y’a des gens qui pourraient être tentés de blâmer ces femmes-là. Je voudrais dire à ceux qui pourraient être tentés de faire ça à Québec de ne pas le faire. De surtout avoir beaucoup de compassion pour ces femmes-là qui sont obligées de s’attriquer de cette façon-là à cause de préceptes religieux, à cause d’interprétations d’une religion qui, quant à moi, sont fausses. »

M. Labeaume a par ailleurs indiqué qu’il n’avait aucun problème à laisser ces femmes porter de tels maillots. « De toute façon, des nageurs professionnels ont à peu près le même », a-t-il dit.

Il n’a pas caché par ailleurs qu’il les plaignait beaucoup et espérait qu’elles « se révoltent un jour ».

Port du burkini: ​appel à la «compassion»

Fatima Houda-Pépin, excluded from the Liberal Party of Quebec caucus, tabled her own version of laicité, narrower that the proposed Charter coverage but including the creation of an organization to monitor religious fundamentalists. Needless to say, the PQ government is delighted with this, both on substantive and political terms:

Houda-Pepin revient hanter Couillard

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

Barbara Kay: Huron College should open up its Islam course, or shut it down | National Post

2014/02/13 Leave a comment

More on the Huron College Islamic preaching course (Ontario university defends decision to kick non-Muslim out of course that teaches Islamic preaching | National Post).

If seminaries have an exemption from a faith test, does an individual course fall into that category? And if some of the courses on Christian preaching at Huron are open to students of other or no faith, why shouldn’t the one on Islamic preaching. And how do other universities with seminaries or theological colleges handle this?

Nobody, including Watson, has a problem with a course in public speaking about Islam being offered at a college if it is inclusive. He also has no problem with it being exclusive, but offered in a venue such as a mosque or a community centre or a seminary that is not tax-funded. It’s really quite a simple issue. Open up the course or shut it down.

On the other hand, it may be better to have training for Islamic preachers in Canada, rather than relying on imported Imams, less familiar and open to an openly diverse and multi faith society.

Barbara Kay: Huron College should open up its Islam course, or shut it down | National Post.

Filed under Multiculturalism, Religion Tagged with , , ,

The Four Pillars of French Nationality

2014/02/13 Leave a comment

Good overview on French nationality by Victoria Ferauge summarizing a talk by Patrick Weil, one of the leading academics on citizenship and related issues. Well worth reading, including for my Quebec readers, on laicité:

Weil made the very good point that the idea of the separation of Church and state has been wrongly extended from its original purpose – the strict neutrality of the state in matters of religion.  What we can see today is another conception of it which views the state’s role as an accelerator of the decline of religious belief (a pre-requisite, some argue, to creating a truly “modern” society),  To that end there is an attempt to eject religious expression from public life. (See José Casanova for a discussion about these very different views of secularization.)

He contends, and I agree wholeheartedly, that this was never the intention behind la laïcité.  The state is not there to hobble religious expression public or private – on the contrary the state is prevented from favoring any religion over another and is not permitted to do anything to restrict an individual’s freedom of conscience and the expression of his or her beliefs.  Here I would say that this attempt on the part of some in the Hexagon to do that is just as much a problem for me as a Roman Catholic as it is for the members of minority religions here.

The Franco-American Flophouse: The Four Pillars of French Nationality.

Filed under Citizenship Tagged with ,

Citizenship Act Revocation: Commentary

2014/02/12 2 Comments

Strong commentary on both sides of the political spectrum on the revocation and related provisions of the proposed changes to the Citizenship Act, starting with Chris Selley of the National Post:

Grown-up countries clean up their own messes. You don’t “strengthen Canadian citizenship,” as Bill C-24 purports to, by making it easier to revoke, by kicking your junk into another country’s closet. You strengthen Canadian citizenship by holding wayward or treasonous citizens to account, and by demanding fair and equal treatment for even the most unpopular, thereby reinforcing the obligations they violated. Mr. Khadr’s case showed us how far Canada has to go. The Conservatives propose to take us even further in the wrong direction.

Chris Selley: Actually, my citizenship is a right | National Post.

Audrey Macklin and Lorne Waldman of the Canadian Association of Refugee Lawyers, in addition to their previous criticism of the revocation provisions, note additional problems with differential treatment of Canadian-born vs naturalized Canadians:

The provision also holds out the implicit threat that if a naturalized Canadian citizen takes up a job somewhere else (as many Canadians do), or leaves Canada to study abroad (as many Canadians do), the government may move to strip the person of citizenship because they misrepresented their intention to reside in Canada when they were granted citizenship. Whether the government acts on the threat is not the issue; it is enough that people will be made insecure and apprehensive by the possibility that the government may arbitrarily decide to launch revocation proceedings against them if they leave Canada too soon, or remain away too long. That’s not a way to foster a citizenship of commitment. That’s how to foster a citizenship of fear.

I had viewed this provision as more symbolic than enforceable, but Macklin and Waldman have a point as this could be deemed fraud should a naturalized citizen leave Canada for professional or personal reasons. CIC may not today be able to enforce such a provision. However, as the government implements its plans for exit controls, this may change. As many Canadians, both naturally-born and naturalized, live abroad, often for reasons that most would consider valid (i.e., not just “citizens of convenience”), this provision bears greater scrutiny.

Citizenship reforms a serious threat to rights of all Canadians

Lastly, a reminder that not all share this concern. Kevin Hampson in the Mayerthorpe Freelancer, strongly supports the revocation measures:

Being Canadian is a privilege, not a right—that’s the message. Those are much better terms on which to welcome newcomers.

Finally, despite the Toronto Star’s alarmism, it is just and proper to strip citizenship from people who engage in terrorism. Thomas Walkom’s characterization of this view as “radical” shows the extent of his esteem for Canadian citizenship.

Walkom suggests that thousands of Canadians could have their citizenship revoked. Here’s a tip: don’t want to lose your citizenship? Don’t become a terrorist.

“Yesterday’s terrorist can be tomorrow’s hero,” Walkom shrugs. To which we reply: If Canada in the future celebrates Islamic terrorists as heroes, Walkom will have worse things to worry about than Bill C-24.

Canada’s new Citizenship Act is long overdue

Still haven’t seen much commentary in French language media. Will also be interesting to see how ethnic press covers this (how I miss the ethnic media press scan at CIC).

Filed under C-24, Citizenship, Citizenship Act Tagged with , , , ,

Tories’ new budget to close program giving investors path to citizenship – The Globe and Mail

2014/02/12 Leave a comment

Nice to see some evidence-based policy in killing this program. Always had an offensive “buying citizenship for investing in strip malls” aura to it (Martin Collacott: The citizenship fire sale – National Post), as well as “citizens of convenience”:

Sources say the government believes the immigrant investor class pays significantly less in taxes over the decades than other economic immigrants, have less proficiency in English or French and are less likely actually to reside in Canada.

A source said the government is acting based on data that show that, 20 years after arriving in Canada, an immigrant investor has paid about $200,000 less in taxes than a newcomer who came in under the federal skilled worker program, and almost $100,000 less than one who was a live-in caregiver.

In the past 28 years, more than 130,000 people have come to Canada under the investor program, including applicants and their families.

The Conservatives feel newer economic-immigrant programs are doing a better job of attracting newcomers who will integrate well into Canadian society and build the economic base.

These include the Canadian Experience Class, which fast-tracks residency for temporary foreign workers already in Canada and non-Canadians who have graduated from universities and colleges here.

Tories’ new budget to close program giving investors path to citizenship – The Globe and Mail.

Filed under Immigration Tagged with , ,

UK – Islamic preachers: the pied pipers of sexual apartheid? – Telegraph

2014/02/12 1 Comment

More on the ongoing controversy, and ongoing activities, of fundamentalist preachers and the requirement for gender segregation at UK universities:

The speaker this time was Ustadh Alomgir Ali, a lecturer from Haddad’s Muslim Research and Development Foundation. His audience comprised men at the front and women – the majority of whom waited outside in the rain before the lecture began while the men gathered inside – at the back. Although there were no signs enforcing segregation, he spoke at length in favour of gender division and of a “crisis in society”, with the relationship between men and women in need of correction.

“In Islam, we have laid down certain prohibitions because it leads on to other sins,” he told his audience. “The first important point you must learn at university is lowering the gaze.”

His lecture concluded with some advice. “Brothers and sisters, the important thing is to learn etiquette of modesty, lowering your gaze, avoiding touching the opposite gender and avoiding unnecessary socialising with the opposite gender.”

Islamic preachers: the pied pipers of sexual apartheid? – Telegraph.

Filed under Multiculturalism, Religion Tagged with , ,

Citizenship Act Revisions – Reactions

2014/02/11 Leave a comment

web-monedcar10col1

Globe and Mail

 

Courtesy of Actively Passive, more compilation of reaction to the proposed changes.

Saskatchewan reacts to proposed Citizenship Act changes (Joe Couture,www.leaderpost.com)
Saskatchewan Economy Minister Bill Boyd says the provincial government is generally supportive of proposed changes to citizenship rules introduced by the federal government Thursday.
http://www.leaderpost.com/Saskatchewan+reacts+proposed+Citizenship+changes/9479347/story.html

Citizenship Act shift hits family (Robert Barron, www.nanaimodailynews.com)
Marina Filatova is concerned about what the changes to Canada’s Citizenship Act that are being proposed by the Conservative government will mean to her and her family.
http://www.nanaimodailynews.com/opinion/citizenship-act-shift-hits-family-1.826905

 

Canada floats new citizenship rules that could affect thousands of Chinese)
Canada has unveiled sweeping reforms that would require immigrants spend more time as permanent residents, file tax returns and sign an undertaking to continue living in the country if they want to become citizens.

 

Filed under C-24, Citizenship, Citizenship Act

Ontario university defends decision to kick non-Muslim out of course that teaches Islamic preaching | National Post

2014/02/11 Leave a comment

Interesting story about an accountant who wished to sign up for an Islamic preaching course to test whether a non-Muslim could apply but who is opposed to public universities providing such training:

James Turk, the executive director of the Canadian Association of University Teachers, said his group opposes faith tests. The exception, however, is seminaries. It’s reasonable, Mr. Turk said, to require students who are training to be leaders within their religious communities to adhere to those beliefs.

Mr. Watson believes a course on how to preach is better suited for a mosque or community centre than it is for a publicly funded university. The student believes he should have the right to see what Ms. Mattson is teaching, particularly in light of what he believes is a growing strain of Islamic extremism in the community.

Ms. Mattson encouraged Mr. Watson to take one of her alternative courses on Islam and politics instead.

“I don’t know to what extent he has a genuine interest or to what extent he has an ideological commitment to a certain world view of Muslims,” she said. “There are people who have genuine concerns and there are ways for them to engage in discussions with Muslims, or with me, about these issues. I would think the Islam and politics class would have been much more suited to his interests.”

Ontario university defends decision to kick non-Muslim out of course that teaches Islamic preaching | National Post.

Filed under Multiculturalism, Religion Tagged with , ,

Haute fonction publique fédérale – Après le silence, la révolte | Le Devoir

2014/02/11 Leave a comment

More on Library and Archives Canada (LAC) and its former head, Daniel Caron. Part of his problem was that the savage cuts to traditional archival activities, done to meet government expenditure reductions and generate savings to capture the digital records or contemporary events, never had a public constituency. Meanwhile, the LAC constituency of academics, librarians and archivists strongly protested about the loss of traditional archive activities (see Jack Granatstein’s excellent Who will preserve the past for future generations?).

M. Caron dit avoir été injustement cloué au pilori, sans l’appui du ministre du Patrimoine, James Moore, ni même de BAC, où les réformes liées à la numérisation du présent qu’il était en train de mener créaient beaucoup de remous, admet-il. « Les changements étaient importants et ne plaisaient pas à tout le monde, dit-il. Il y a des gens qui avaient un intérêt à me voir partir. Quant au ministre, il avait, lui, un intérêt à se faire du capital politique en tapant publiquement sur un fonctionnaire pour des allégations de mauvaises gestions de fonds publics. Cela est cohérent avec le discours sur la réduction des dépenses ». Et il ajoute : « J’ai également résisté sur des projets d’acquisition de documents liés à la guerre de 1812 [un dossier historique hautement controversé et alimenté par les conservateurs], et poussé pour documenter des mouvements comme Idle No more [mouvement d’affirmation des autochtones et de contestation ciblant l’administration Harper] ou des projets comme Keystone XL [oléoduc canado-américain]. Cela n’a pas été très bien perçu. J’étais au milieu d’un tir croisé, dans une impasse. Je n’avais pas d’autres choix que de me retirer ».

Haute fonction publique fédérale – Après le silence, la révolte | Le Devoir.

Filed under Government Tagged with , ,

Commentary on Bill C-24: Citizenship Act Revisions

2014/02/10 Leave a comment

Not surprisingly, the Toronto Star has a field day criticizing the new citizenship bill, with an editorial and commentary by Haroon Siddiqui and Thomas Walkom:

In typical fashion for Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s law-and-order obsessed government, the laws promise to “protect the value of Canadian citizenship” by cracking down on problems that largely don’t exist. The vast majority of new Canadians are loyal, honest, law-abiding citizens. They have contributed enormously to the building-up of this nation. But you wouldn’t know it to judge from the unwelcome mat rolled out this week by Citizenship and Immigration Minister Chris Alexander. It’s all about cracking down on the marginal few who turn out to be treasonous, terrorists, criminals or fraudsters, and raising the bar for everyone else.

Canada’s new Citizenship Act reeks of mistrust: Editorial | Toronto Star.

He [Minister Alexander], too, is promising “reforms” and more get-tough measures. He will reduce the backlog in citizenship applications (now at 320,000) and waiting times (now between 25 and 35 months). If Kenney cleaned up the backlog in the skilled workers program by throwing out 98,000 applicants who had waited years in the queue, Alexander is going to “improve” the clogged citizenship processing by making immigrants wait four years instead of three to get citizenship, and make them pass a stringent English and French language test, as well as another test on their knowledge of Canada. Never mind that many native Canadians may not pass those tests, either.

As he heralded the “strengthening” of the Citizenship Act, he slipped in such measures as tripling the fee and giving himself the power to grant and strip citizenship — no need for the rule of law and due process, as he appointed himself the Citizenship Czar in some cases.

How to read Ottawa’s latest immigration changes: Siddiqui

Whether they know it or not, there are plenty of dual nationals here. Even the United States extends citizenship to Canadians with at least one American parent.

It can be argued that citizenship is a privilege rather than a right. It can be said that anyone who commits high crimes and misdemeanors — regardless of birthplace — should lose this privilege.

In an ideal world, that might make sense. But in the real world, public opinion can be fickle and government arbitrary.

After World War II, for instance, Ottawa seriously contemplated deporting all Japanese-Canadians, including those born in this country, to Japan. It probably would have been a popular move.

In the real world, as the career of iconic anti-apartheid fighter Nelson Mandela demonstrates, yesterday’s terrorist can be tomorrow’s hero.

Canada’s new citizenship bill a Trojan horse: Walkom

The National Post has limited commentary, but Kelly McFarland strongly supports the Bill:

Canada has always embraced immigration; the country was built on it and depends on it for our continued growth and vibrancy. But past policies have too often been designed to reflect a spirit of generosity so eager that it exposed the process to abuse, and cheapened the value of what is, in a practical sense, the greatest honour a country can bestow. Citizenship means more than simply buying a passport, or obtaining a bolt hole to be used when life in another country becomes too dangerous or inconvenient. Canada has been preyed on openly by people who put in the minimum time required to gain access to its benefits, only to spend the bulk of their lives outside its borders and careless of its culture. Mr. Alexander’s changes should go some distance to remedying those failings.

Some elements of his plan may prove contentious, and perhaps open to challenge in court. The new rules would enable Ottawa to revoke citizenship from dual citizens who commit treason, take up arms against Canada or engage in terrorist acts here or abroad, freeing Ottawa from the need to assist “citizens” who involve themselves in terrorist escapades overseas. Other countries have similar provisions, but while they would apply only in “exceptional” cases, they may be open to challenge on the basis that they create two standards of citizenship, with some Canadians more equal than others….

But overall the reforms are an excellent start, which emphasize the value of citizenship and demand applicants demonstrate a real desire to make Canada their permanent home, absorb its culture and contribute to its progress and well-being.

Citizenship changes recognize high value of being Canadian

Interestingly, there does not appear to be any commentary in Quebec French language media. Whether this reflects the internal focus on Quebec (e.g., the Values Charter and pre-election positioning) or bigger federal stories (e.g., electoral reform) is unclear.

Some immigration and refugee organization issued critical statements. The Canadian Council for Refugees:

“Citizenship is a fundamental status – not something that is ‘deserved’. It is wrong to use citizenship rules to punish people for wrong-doing – that’s the role of the criminal system,” said Loly Rico, President. “Treating dual citizens differently is discriminatory and violates the fundamental principle that all citizens are equal.”

The CCR also opposes the proposal to make permanent residents wait longer before they can apply for citizenship. Extending the wait period undermines efforts to integrate newcomers.

Offering citizenship is a key way Canada embraces newcomers and encourages them to quickly become full participating members of our society. Traditionally this has been an area where Canada excelled.

The Canadian Association of Refugee Lawyers:

Unlike the Conservative government, CARL has full confidence in the Canadian criminal justice system’s ability to effectively punish individuals who violate the law.  As such, CARL condemns the proposed provisions that will allow for citizenship stripping. We do not need to revive the medieval practice of banishment to achieve the goals of punishment, namely deterrence, retribution, denunciation, and rehabilitation.  We now have the benefit of a modern judicial process that includes prosecution, trial before an independent judge and, in the event of conviction, a punishment that expresses society’s condemnation with the full weight of the law.

The current Minister of Citizenship and Immigration’s predecessor falsely claimed that citizenship stripping is commonplace in other countries, including the United States.  In fact, the only western state to make use of this practice in the last few years is the United Kingdom, and it is an outlier whose use of it should serve as a cautionary tale.  Citizenship stripping has been unconstitutional in the United States for over 50 years.

PRESS RELEASE: Canadian Association of Refugee Lawyers reacts to proposed government citizenship bill

Ontario Council of Agencies Serving Immigrants (OCASI)

Issue: Increasing the amount of time a permanent resident must wait before becoming a full participant in Canadian society will not strengthen democracy in Canada. Some permanent residents, such as those who were Convention Refugees, will face difficulties in travelling to see family or take advantage of overseas employment opportunities.

Issue: The government has said that the Bill will reduce the processing time. But this may not make a real difference to immigrants since they will have to wait longer to apply…

Issue: The change will impact on seniors who are currently exempt from these provisions, including those who have been working since they arrived and did not have time to take a language test, those who know enough English or French to live and work in Canada but not enough to pass the required language test, and those who do not have the capacity to learn a new language such as older refugees.

Issue: Increasing the amount of time a permanent resident must wait before becoming a full participant in Canadian society will not strengthen democracy in Canada. Some permanent residents, such as those who were Convention Refugees, will face difficulties in travelling to see family or take advantage of overseas employment opportunities.

Issue: The government has said that the Bill will reduce the processing time. But this may not make a real difference to immigrants since they will have to wait longer to apply.

OCASI Comments On Proposed Citizenship Changes

Filed under Citizenship, Citizenship Act Tagged with , , ,

← Older posts

Newer posts →