Working site on citizenship and multiculturalism issues.
2013/09/18 Leave a comment
My interview on Ottawa Morning on CBC, the main morning show. I was lucky to get the prime time morning commuter slot (8:15) and able to reach many public servants and others. Just under 9 minutes.
http://www.cbc.ca/player/AudioMobile/Ottawa%2BMorning/ID/2406800268/
2013/09/18 Leave a comment
Starting to blink as the Quebec Minister for Montréal, Jean-François Lisée signals open to compromise. However, what sort of compromise, and how do you compromise fundamental human rights, is another matter. A suivre:
Charte des valeurs: porte ouverte aux compromis | Le Devoir.
And a range of commentary in The Globe, ranging from Jeffrey Simpson on the Charter being a wedge issue, one that seems to be backfiring on the PQ, and not even working well, Jack Jedwab of the Association for Canadian Studies provides a solid critique, contrasting with Canadian multiculturalism, and Lysiane Gagnon reminds us of the different histories of France and Quebec, and how France is hardly a model to follow. Francine Pelletier in Le Devoir also notes the generational gap on how the Charter and related issues are seen..
The Quebec charter is a wedge issue solely of the mind
No thanks Ms. Marois, I’ll take Canada’s brand of multiculturalism
Could Quebec go further than France?
Less profound commentary comes from Robert Sibley in The Citizen, who focuses on easier issue of the niqab/burqa, and is silent on the hijab. Not one word. And the issue in the Quebec Charter is more the hijab and other head coverings (kippa, turban etc.), rather than the niqab/burqa.
Targeting one religion without making a distinction between the two is intellectually dishonest at best. There is a wide range within the Muslim Canadian community from the secular to those who wear the hijab, and how they wear the hijab a similar range between extreme versions (no hair showing) to colourful and flirtish versions.
Might Quebec’s “charter of values” serve real Islamic values
Tarek Fatah repeats his call in The Sun for banning the burqa/niqab, citing the reason court decision in the UK that allowed for a woman to wear the niqab during her trial. This was a more permissive ruling than the recent Canadian Supreme Court ruling which set some tests. I am with Fatah on this; when it involves government identification requirements, working in a government office, or implicated in the legal system, accommodation is not appropriate. Walking down the street is one thing, compliance with government and legal requirements and practices is another thing.
2013/09/17 Leave a comment
Best commentary and analysis of the day from Chantal Hébert of The Star, trying to understand why Premier Marois engaged in such a risky strategy:
Moreover, the premier’s contributions to the debate so far — starting with the clumsy suggestion that multiculturalism is at the root cause of domestic terrorism in the United Kingdom, and the ill-informed assertion that France’s rigid secular system is a great model — suggest that her views on a diverse society may be shaped by impressions rather than evidence-based knowledge.
For the record, that view — as it is put forward — is strikingly less cosmopolitan than those of better-travelled predecessors such as René Lévesque, Jacques Parizeau and Lucien Bouchard.
At the end of the day, the motivations that drove Marois to lead the PQ across a Rubicon that distances it from the civic nationalism that it has always promoted in the past probably involves a mix of calculation, conviction and willful ignorance. But the combination, under any of its variations, does not add up to a compelling portrait.
Hébert: What motivated Pauline Marois to take such a risk?
First comment by Prime Minister Harper on the Quebec proposed Charter. Focus is on likelihood, rather than principles, compared to other federal leaders (but Minister Kenney has been dealing with those).
Quebec’s charter of values will fail, PM Harper predicts – Politics – CBC News.
Margaret Wente makes her usual generalizations but I think captures the political dynamic well in:
And Warren Kinsella in The Sun provides credit to the federal politicians who have spoken out forcefully on the proposed Charter, where all three major parties have been consistent and clear:
2013/09/17 Leave a comment
A good piece by Jean-Claude Leclerc in Le Devoir about the mixed history of religious symbols, and how it is important to understand that for the current debate, and how times have changed.
Québec et le crucifix – Mais savent-ils ce qu’ils font? | Le Devoir.
2013/09/17 Leave a comment
Interesting. Higher than I would have thought, but interesting more of an issue for Eastern European origin than the Magreb. Macro Canadian studies show comparable levels between foreign and Canadian born for most citizenship indicators (voting, volunteership, charitable donations etc) but have not seen comparable study for English Canada along lines of this one.
Le tiers des immigrants allophones en repli culturel | MARIE ALLARD | Montréal.
2013/09/17 1 Comment
An interesting mini-review of an interesting book, The Myth of Research-Based Policy and Practice, by Martyn Hammersly, questioning the limits of evidence-based policy. I like the conclusion of the review, as in the end, still better than the alternatives:
In the end, I find myself describing evidence-based policy as Churchill described democracy – the worst option excepting all others. Although this book dispelled some of the mythology, when it comes to evidence-based policy, to borrow a phrase from The X-Files, “I want to believe.”
Book Review: The Myth of Research-Based Policy and Practice | LSE Review of Books.
2013/09/16 1 Comment
Sep 16, 2013 07:00 ET
Book-Policy Arrogance or Innocent Bias: Resetting Citizenship and Multiculturalism
The Inside Story between the Conservative Government and the Public Service
OTTAWA, ONTARIO–(Marketwired – Sept. 16, 2013) – Canada is internationally known for its successful citizenship and multiculturalism policies. In 2007, the Conservative Government met unexpected resistance from the Public Service as it began altering longstanding citizenship and multiculturalism policies under Minister Jason Kenney.
In Policy Arrogance or Innocent Bias, Andrew Griffith, retired Director General of Citizenship and Multiculturalism, examines whether the resistance was driven by an arrogant sense of the Public Service “knowing better”, or their innocent bias for conventional wisdom in the face of transformative change.
“Just as the political level is certain about its policies and priorities, the bureaucracy is certain about its evidence and expertise,” noted Griffith, “not surprisingly, the political level felt the bureaucracy was at best resisting change, at worst being disloyal, while public servants felt their expertise and knowledge was being challenged or ignored.”
Griffith illustrates how public servants were forced to face the limits of their expertise and knowledge, while providing the “fearless advice and loyal implementation” central to their professional ethos.
The analysis provides a unique inside view into the making of public policy that will be of interest to media, interest groups, academics and engaged citizens.
“….[this book] deserves a wider view, if only because it confirms what so many of us in Ottawa have been hearing, anecdotally, about the dispirited state of the public service in a hyper-partisan government…. If we want to know why Kenney has managed to become one of Harper’s top ministers, we should probably take a close look at what Griffith is telling us about how things unfolded in terms of citizenship and multiculturalism.”
Susan Delacourt, Toronto Star
The Harper government vs. the public servants
Andrew Griffith is the former Director General – Citizenship and Multiculturalism Branch, Citizenship and Immigration Canada. In 30 years of public service, he served in various departments at home and abroad, including assignments in Argentina, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Geneva and Los Angeles. He was given the Public Service Award twice (2007 and 2010) and the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal (2012). His first book, Living with Cancer: A Journey, was published in 2012.
Policy Arrogance or Innocent Bias: Resetting Citizenship and Multiculturalism is available from Amazon, iTunes (available shortly), and Kobo in ebook for $7.99. Print on demand is available from Lulu at $14.99.
Follow Andrew: LinkedIn: Andrew L Griffith
Twitter: @Andrew_Griffith
Blog: Multicultural Meanderings
Facebook: Andrew Griffith C&M
2013/09/15 Leave a comment
And for a change of pace, and a more profound look at some of the issues around identity, a wonderful excerpt from Lawrence Hill from his Massey Lecture, Blood: The Stuff of Life, to be published shortly (his Book of Negroes is wonderful, and I will have to add this one to my reading list).
Well worth reading. My favourite quotes:
If we were not so wedded to the arcane notions of blood, we would be freer to celebrate our various, complex and divergent identities relating to family and notions of talent and ability, citizenship and race. We would be more whole, self-accepting people, and less judgmental of others. In this day and age, who among us is not all mixed up?
…. Let’s drop the idea of what you are not allowed to be, or to do, because of who you are, but encourage each other to look for the good in our blood, and in our ancestry. We should let hatred and divisiveness spill from us as if it were bad blood, and search for more genuine and caring ways to imagine human identity and human relations.
2013/09/15 Leave a comment
Always nice to have Chantal Hébert’s analysis, as she steps back from the day-to-day chatter and puts it in context. And I think her analysis is correct; while the motives for the Charte are suspect, the reaction within Quebec (and among the federal parties) has been encouraging. Favourite quote:
Common sense suggests that a society that is perpetually consumed by polarizing issues will pay a price. But sweeping them under the rug may take an even higher toll on the democratic fabric of a society — even when that rug is the plush one of the Canadian court system.
Values charter sparks fierce but worthwhile debate: Hébert | Toronto Star.
2013/09/15 Leave a comment
Good analysis by Michel David in Le Devoir of the longer term implications of the PQ politique identitaire strategy with the proposed Charte des valeurs québécoises:
Avec son projet de charte, le gouvernement Marois compromet non seulement les chances de rallier les communautés culturelles au projet souverainiste, comme le font valoir les Indépendantistes pour une laïcité inclusive, mais il va également à l’encontre des politiques d’intégration que le PQ a mises de l’avant dans le passé…
Cette fois-ci, la ligne de fracture n’est pas simplement de l’ordre des moyens. Les objections de Mme Mourani et des nombreux indépendantistes qui s’opposent au projet de M. Drainville portent sur la question beaucoup plus fondamentale du respect des droits et libertés de la personne.
Il permettra peut-être au PQ d’obtenir une majorité à l’Assemblée nationale, mais que sert à l’homme de gagner l’univers s’il y perd son âme, n’est-ce pas ?
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