Urback: Hate absolutely has its place in Canada. It has been normalized, ignored and excused

2026/07/30 Leave a comment

Unfortunately correct, particularly for the Jewish community but not limited to it:

…We know that hate has its place in Canada not simply because these acts have occurred, but because nothing meaningful is being done about them. The Prime Minister won’t name the problem. Law enforcement, Crown prosecutors and politicians all blame each other for failing to take action. Ottawa’s response is to assemble an advisory council on Rights, Equality and Inclusion, and to throw money at Jewish institutions to beef up their security. That is as clear an admission as anything that hate indeed has its place in Canada: We know the hate is here, but instead of tackling it, we’ll give you money to insulate yourselves from it. 

This is Canada’s new normal. A bakery’s windows are smashed, and we sigh and move on. Buildings are shot at, and we click our tongues. Many Jews are now actively exploring emigration to places where hate is less readily excused or ignored, unlike in Canada, where politicians insist “this is not who we are” while pretending not to recognize what this country has become. 

A day after the attacks on Kiva’s Bakery, Minister of Canadian Identity and Culture Marc Miller, who will also chair the Advisory Council on Rights, Equality and Inclusion, wrote on X that “Antisemitism has no place in our communities, and it is an attack on the values of inclusion and respect that define our country.” But that view is precisely the problem. Antisemitism absolutely has a well-established place in our communities now; a weekend trip to Bathurst and Sheppard will confirm that. The more pertinent question before the government now is if it intends to actually do something about it, or simply offer money for bulletproof glass and continue deluding itself with the notion that hate has not been normalized in Canada.

Source: Hate absolutely has its place in Canada. It has been normalized, ignored and excused

Filed under Antisemitism, Islamophobia, Multiculturalism Tagged with

Urback: According to Justin Trudeau, Justin Trudeau is fear-mongering on immigration,

2024/04/06 Leave a comment

Keller: The Trudeau government’s housing promises can’t fix a crisis of its own making

Good use of pointed satire to highlight the hypocrisy or wilful (?) blindness:

Someone, somewhere, appears to have taken a blowtorch to Canada’s immigration system. It’s a mess. We have too many people, and not enough homes, not enough transit, not enough health care infrastructure. International students are lining up at food banks and homeless shelters. Canadians’ attitudes on immigration are becoming more negative.

Who set fire to our once-enviable immigration system? Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is on a mission to find out. Just as soon as he gets all of this soot out of his hair.

Speaking at a press conference Tuesday, Mr. Trudeau laid out the facts. “Over the past few years we’ve seen a massive spike in temporary immigration … that has grown at a rate far beyond what Canada has been able to absorb,” he said. He gave an example: in 2017, two per cent of Canada’s population was made up of temporary immigrants; today, it’s 7.5 per cent. “That’s something we need to get back under control,” he said, adding that temporary immigration has “caused so much pressure in our communities.”

A few years ago, someone named Justin Trudeau would have accused Mr. Trudeau of fear-mongering for making these sorts of remarks about immigration. In fact, he saidexactly that when, for example, Conservative MP Steven Blaney asked about the massive backlog in immigration applications amid a wave of asylum seekers in 2018. “It is completely irresponsible of the Conservatives to arouse fears and concerns about our immigration system and refugees,” Mr. Trudeau said at the time.

“The reason for the delays is that the Harper Conservatives spent 10 years cutting our immigration services and getting rid of the employees who process applications,” he continued. “They did not manage our immigration system responsibly.”…

Source: Opinion: According to Justin Trudeau, Justin Trudeau is fear-mongering on immigration

Less clever, but equally pointed:

 

The only way to bring housing supply and demand back into a more equitable balance, at least in the next few years, is to lower demand. And the only way to do that is for the Trudeau government to retrace its hasty steps on temporary foreign residents. That is what the government has promised. That is what it has to do.

Source: The Trudeau government’s housing promises can’t fix a crisis of its own making

My reflections on this change of direction by the PM, and the related push on housing, is that it feels like fin de régime flailing around and desperation.

The change brings to mind, one of my favourite scenes from one of my favourite movies, Casablanca:

  • Rick: How can you close me up? On what grounds? [Vote me out?]
  • Captain Renault: I’m shocked! Shocked to find that gambling is going on in here. [immigration has grown too fast]
  • [a croupier hands Renault a pile of money]
  • Croupier: Your winnings, sir. [poll numbers]
  • Captain Renault: [sotto voce] Oh, thank you very much. [someone, somewhere else, broke immigration]
  • [aloud]
  • Captain Renault: Everybody out at once….

 

 

Filed under Immigration Tagged with , , ,