By Fareed Khan
An end of year “report card” issued by Canadians United Against Hate, which evaluated the leaders of Canada's four major federal parties on their policies and actions on fighting hate and defending human rights, resulted in many grades of "D" and "F" being given to Prime Minister and Liberal Party leader Justin Trudeau, Conservative Party leader Erin O'Toole, New Democratic Party leader Jagmeet Singh, and Bloc Quebecois leader Yves-Francois Blanchet. All the party leaders received failing grades when it came to defending the human rights of racialized religious minorities in the province of Quebec impacted by its Bill 21 "secularism" law, and O'Toole and Blanchet received failing grades in every category on which they were evaluated.
In addition to their policies around Bill 21, the party leaders were evaluated on their responses to the following issues:
- committing to implement a nationally led anti-hate strategy coordinated with provincial governments (a key recommendation made to Parliamentarians by Canadians United Against Hate);
- putting in place policies to address systemic racism in all federal government institutions, and addressing racism in policing in Canada at all levels;
- commitments to support Indigenous rights; and
- implementing policies to fight white supremacy.
Since the murder of George Floyd (a Black man) by a white Minneapolis police officer in May 2020 Canadians have continued to demonstrate in the streets against racism. The discovery of the remains of Indigenous children at a former residential school site in British Columbia in May resulted in tens of thousands of Canadians participating in Indigenous rights protests across the country. In addition, the murder of a Muslim family in London, Ontario in June by a white supremacist caused Canadians to take to the streets again calling on the government to undertake efforts to defeat Islamophobia.
Despite these public demonstrations and calls for action Canada’s federal party leaders have demonstrated that their commitment to fighting hate and racism is weak or non-existent. Furthermore, when it comes to Quebec's Bill 21 law they have shown that when push comes to shove and the rights of Canadians are violated under the Charter, they are unwilling to show true leadership by taking the necessary action to defend those rights.
It seems that Canada federal leaders are playing fast and loose with issues around racism even though it is now an issue that is high on the radar of Canadians. It has been a major political issue for Canadians since anti-racism protests erupted across the country in 2020, and in the aftermath of Indigenous rights and anti-Islamophobia protests this year. According to an IPSOS poll 60 per cent of Canadians see it as a major issue and want politicians to implement policies to fight hate and racism. But what they are getting instead from federal leaders are reactive policies and political platitudes. Trudeau, O’Toole and Singh will need to do a lot better in their words and actions if Canadians are to see meaningful policies to fight hate implemented according to Canadians United Against Hate.
The weak reaction of the three leaders to the recent removal of a hijab-wearing Muslim teacher from the classroom at a public school in Chelsea, Quebec showed that they were unwilling to take strong and decisive action against government sanctioned anti-religious bigotry, Islamophobia and anti-Semitism in response to Quebec’s secularism law. it begs the questions, if they are unwilling to take immediate action to protect the human rights of racialized religious minorities in Quebec because it is politically risky and could damage their political fortunes with Quebec voters then how can they be trusted to do the right thing to fight hate and defend the rights of Canadians more broadly across the country?
The lack of action by Trudeau, O'Toole and Singh in response to Bill 21 is seen to be unacceptable in a nation where human rights are supposed to be paramount. The three leaders have failed to take a decisive and unequivocal stand against a provincial law that has as its foundation a policy of anti-religious bigotry and targets observant Muslims, Jews, Sikhs and others who visibly show their faith. This abandonment of their responsibility to stand up for the rights of Canadians, regardless of where they live in the country, not only empower petty tyrants like Quebec premier Francois Legault, it also gives fuel to racists, bigots, Islamophobes and anti-Semites to openly display their bigotry. In such a situation one could ask, why bother having a Charter of Rights or saying that you stand against racism if you are unwilling to take action to defend those rights when they are under assault because of racism?
Supporters of the law like the Quebec premier and BQ leader Blanchet claim that it is within the Quebec government's right to implement the law in defence of Quebec's secular society, and they justify it by pointing out that the law is supported by a majority of Quebecers. Those who have condemned the law have pointed out that secularism in Quebec was never under threat and the law is a solution to a problem that did not exist. In addition, critics note that at one time segregation was also legal, as was refusing voting rights to women, and denying the rights and civil liberties of members of the LGBTQ2 community. However, But just because such policies were legal cannot be a moral justification for policies and actions that are clearly immoral and wrong say the law's critics.
As Canada begins a new year the issues of fighting hate and defending the Charter rights of Canadians will continue to be high on the radar of many people across the country. At a time when there is greater public awareness of the destructive consequences of failing to take action on these issues politicians who do not take a moral stand on them in a meaningful and decisive way will pay a heavy political price.
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REPORT CARD EVALUATION OF CANADA’S FEDERAL PARTY LEADERS
For the sake of this “report card” Canada’s major party leaders and their parties were evaluated on the basis of their policies and actions in the following areas.
Commitment to a National Led Anti-Hate Strategy -- Canadians United Against Hate has circulated this recommendation to all major parties for a number of years, calling on federal leaders to commit to implementing such a strategy should they form government.
Addressing Systemic Racism -- Systemic racism and white privilege exist hand in hand in every major federal institution. They limit the ability of people to fulfill their potential, and they restrict the ability of organizations to effectively achieve their objectives. The issue has been discussed widely in Parliament.
Supporting Indigenous Right -- Indigenous rights are finally on the radar of Canadians. The discovery of the remains of Indigenous children at a former residential school site in British Columbia in May made clear to people across the Canada one aspect of the atrocities suffered by Indigenous children and Indigenous communities, and made discussion of the Indigenous genocide on Canadian soil acceptable. There is also the issue of boiled water advisories for Indigenous reserves in different provinces, which in some cases have been in place for more than two decades, which has incensed many Canadians.
Fighting White Supremacy -- The ideology of white supremacy and groups which promote this racist ideology across Canada has exploded over the last several years. It has manifested itself in online hate, hate in social media, and in racist verbal and physical assaults against BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Colour) individuals in communities across the country, and against Muslim and Jewish religious institutions. It is estimated that there are more than 300 white supremacist groups in Canada, with some of them calling for violent action to preserve “white” culture.
Bill 21 (Quebec’s Secularism Law) -- Quebec’s so-called “secularism” law has been in place since June 2019. The law prevents people who visibly display their faith from holding certain public sector jobs in the province. People from racialized religious communities in Quebec have been forced to leave the province to pursue careers in some cases. The most recent troubling incident under this law involved a hijab-wearing Muslim teacher in Chelsea, Quebec who was removed from the classroom. The Quebec government still refuses to admit the racism inherent in the law, and justifies it with the claim that it is supported by a majority of Quebecers and protects the province’s secular nature.
Commitment to a National Led Anti-Hate Strategy (Grade: D-) -- The Liberals have attempted to corner the political agenda on fighting racism but have failed in taking leadership to conduct a national anti-hate strategy in coordination with provincial governments as called for by Canadians United Against Hate. Over the last two years, since the start of the George Floyd anti-racism protests, they have made policy announcements to fight racism but these have always been reactive rather than the government taking the initiative. Since the Liberals formed government in 2015 acts of hate, racism and white supremacy have increased significantly under their watch, and two hate-motivated mass murders of Muslims have occurred in 2017 in Quebec City and in London, Ontario in June of this year. It was only after the second incident that the Trudeau government started taking seriously the concerns of Canadians about hate and racism, and addressing the issue of Islamophobia.
Addressing Systemic Racism (Grade: D) -- The Liberals have made promises to address this issue in throne speeches and in their 2021 election campaign document. But to date significant actions to move on this issue have been minimal or lacking, even as federal public servants launch a class action suit against the federal government around this issue. Given this lawsuit and the reality that 60 per cent of Canadians want government action to address racism, one would expect quicker action by the Trudeau government to demonstrate that it is listening to its employees and the public at large. However, their slowness in taking meaningful action calls into question the depth of their commitment on this.
Supporting Indigenous Rights (Grade: F) -- While Justin Trudeau has said that no relationship is more important to him than his government’s relationship with Indigenous people its actions seem to say otherwise. The Liberals say they are committed to reconciliation, but they continue to fight Indigenous organizations connected to a Canadian Human Rights Tribunal ruling on Indigenous child welfare compensation, upheld in a federal court. In addition, the Liberal promise to remove boiled water advisories from all affected first nations reserves by 2021 has still not been met. The hypocrisy on the first issue and the failure on the second does not instill confidence in their ability to address the other issues affecting Indigenous people in a timely manner.
Fighting White Supremacy (Grade: D) -- Despite the designation of the Proud Boys as a terrorist organization white supremacist groups continue to proliferate across Canada with little action by the federal government to dismantle the ecosystem of white supremacy in this country. This has resulted in verbal and physical assaults against people from BIPOC communities and murder in the case of a Muslim family in London, Ontario this year, and Muslim worshippers in a Quebec City mosque in 2017, in addition to the proliferation of hate and white supremacy online in Canada. A government sponsored summit on Islamophobia this past summer shows some initiative, but action on recommendations coming out of that summit has been slow in being realized.
Bill 21 (Grade: F) -- While claiming to be against Quebec’s Bill 21 law the government has done nothing to challenge it in the courts or to support private groups that have launched constitutional challenges to the law, despite the fact that people’s lives are being torn apart as long as this legislation is in place. These are not the actions of a party or a leader that claim to be defenders of human rights, or that is committed to fighting racism and bigotry. The government could expedite the legal proceedings by referring the legal challenges slowly making their way through the Quebec courts directly to the Supreme Court. This has not been done due to political considerations, which is an admission that politics seem to trump human rights where Quebec is involved.
Commitment to a National Led Anti-Hate Strategy (Grade: F) -- Since the days of Stephen Harper the Conservatives have struggled to deal with hate and bigotry within their ranks, particularly after they targeted Muslims with what were seen as racist and Islamophobic policies in the dying days of the Harper government. When Andrew Scheer replaced Harper he appointed to his inner circle a co-founder of the hate website Rebel Media – hardly an endorsement of anti-racism credentials. Since Erin O’Toole’s election as leader he has said the right things about fighting hate but his failure to even include the word “racism” or refer to “systemic racism” in the Conservative Party’s 2021 election policy document shows a discomfort in his party to address the issue. Also, his unwillingness to commit to actions that would remove white supremacist elements from the ranks of the Conservatives shows that the party is not as committed to an anti-racist agenda as it claims to be. Furthermore, there has been no policy statement made by Erin O’Toole or the Conservative Party about committing to a national anti-hate strategy as called for by Canadians United Against Hate.
Addressing Systemic Racism (Grade: F) -- The Conservatives made no mention of systemic racism in their election policy document, which calls into question any statements they have made about acknowledging the existence of systemic racism or wanting to see it dismantled. Until and unless a clear policy statement is made to address this issue, which impacts the lives of millions of Canadians, Erin O’Toole’s and the Conservative Party’s credibility on this issue is in question.
Supporting Indigenous Rights (Grade: F) -- The Conservatives have a very troubling history in their actions and policies on Indigenous issues. Their relationship with Indigenous people under the Harper government can be deemed to be a failure. In opposition they have said the right things about improving the Canadian government’s relations with Indigenous people but words are meaningless without actions. Conservative MPs voting against a bill in 2018 that called for the laws of Canada to be in harmony with the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples was a slap in the face to Indigenous people in Canada, and is a reflection of the seeming deep-seated ambivalence in the Conservative Party to true reconciliation. While Mr. O’Toole has tried to shift the direction of the Party to date there is no significant change in the Conservative Party’s policies on this file to show that they have turned a corner on this issue.
Fighting White Supremacy (Grade: F) -- The Conservative Party has a history of playing “footsies” with white supremacist elements in this country. The willingness of Conservative MPs to conduct interviews with and appear on shows for the website Rebel Media, which caters to racist and white supremacist elements in Canada, is deeply disturbing. Despite the website’s history of on-air racism, having people with views supporting white supremacy, anti-Semitism and Islamophobia as “correspondents”, Erin O’Toole agreed to do an interview with the site in January of this year. This action calls into question his credibility on fighting white supremacy and racism, despite what he might say in public statements.
Bill 21 (Grade: F) -- Erin O’Toole has made it clear that Bill 21 is a matter of provincial jurisdiction in Quebec and it is up to Quebec voters to resolve. In taking this position he ignores the fact that the Canadian government is responsible for defending the human rights of all Canadians regardless of where they live. In essence he has sacrificed the rights of racialized religious minorities in Quebec – Muslims, Jews, Sikhs – on the altar of political expediency. This demonstrates a severe lack of leadership for someone who aspires to be prime minister.
Commitment to a National Led Anti-Hate Strategy (Grade: C) -- The NDP seems to be the party that would be the obvious champion to fight racism and defend human rights. They sponsored the Parliamentary resolution to declare the white supremacist “Proud Boys” as terrorists and called on the government to dismantle white supremacy in Canada. The NDP also devoted an entire section in its campaign document to fighting racism. But Singh’s failure to take a strong stand on Bill 21 since 2019 overshadows the NDP’s pluses with a huge minus, and calls into question the NDP’s commitment on defending human rights and fighting racism under his leadership.
Addressing Systemic Racism (Grade: C+) -- The NDP has consistently been on the forefront of addressing issues of systemic racism, whether it be in policing, government institutions or society at large. However, given that they have held the balance of power in the House of Commons since the 2019 election it would be expected that they would make addressing this issue, within the context of federal government institutions, a condition in their support of the Liberals. And while it is probable that they would address this matter were they to form government, their current role as the fourth party in the House of Commons does not allow them to implement government actions on this issue. In this new Parliament anti-racism activists are hopeful that the NDP will take a stronger stand to pressure the government to act given the pervasiveness of systemic racism in government institutions and society at large.
Supporting Indigenous Rights (Grade: B) -- Of all the parties the NDP has been consistent when it comes to Indigenous rights and the relationship that Canada must have with Indigenous people. One of the priorities of the new Parliament for the NDP is Indigenous rights. Their position can be encapsulated in the following statement from their campaign document, “New Democrats are committed to undertaking the important work of reconciliation in good faith, and in true and equal partnership with Indigenous communities across the country. We believe that the Crown’s relationship to Indigenous peoples must be based on an acknowledgement of our country’s colonial history of genocide and stolen lands – and include legally binding commitments to fair and equitable redress going forward.” Were they to form government in all likelihood they would put more energy behind this issue than other parties have to date.
Fighting White Supremacy (Grade: B+) -- Under Jagmeet Singh’s leadership the NDP has taken a very public and vocal stand on fighting white supremacy, including sponsoring motions in the House of Commons, and NDP MPs making numerous statements on this issue in the House and in the media. Anti-racism activists would like to see them use their balance of power position in the new Parliament to pressure the Liberal to take further action to address the rise of white supremacy in Canada.
Bill 21 (Grade: F) -- NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh has stated that he is against Bill 21 and that it is an unjust law. However, the position of the NDP under his leadership on this issue has been disappointing. From his statements during the 2019 election that he wouldn’t intervene until legal challenges on the law reached the Supreme Court, to his acceptance of the claim following the 2021 election English debate that a question on Bill 21 by the debate moderator was an attack on Quebec, his willingness to sacrifice the human rights of racialized religious minorities for the sake of votes in Quebec shows the line he will not cross to defend human rights.
Commitment to a Federally Led National Anti-Hate Strategy (Grade: F) -- A party leader that cannot admit the existence of systemic racism in the province where his party holds seats is a party leader that has little credibility on issues of fighting racism. Even if Blanchet did support a call to implement a nationally led anti-hate strategy, his party’s dogmatic position on provincial rights in Quebec in support of ethno-nationalism would likely mean caveats and exemptions that would make such a strategy ineffective and meaningless. As such, any commitment made by this leader and his party to a federal anti-hate strategy would carry no weight.
Addressing Systemic Racism (Grade: F) -- Refusing to acknowledge systemic racism in the society that your MPs represent makes the BQ leader an ineffective voice to talk about the issue of systemic racism.
Supporting Indigenous Rights (Grade: F) -- The issue of Indigenous rights in Quebec has come into conflict over the issue of Quebec’s Bill 96 French language legislation. The Assembly of First Nations Quebec-Labrador (AFNQL) said in a September statement, “The role of spokesperson for the Legault government and its retrogressive position towards First Nations that the Bloc Québécois is giving itself has no place in a federal election campaign which must instead be geared towards reconciliation. The Legault government’s Bill 96 is a formal attack on the constitutional language rights of First Nations . . . If the Bloc Québécois is opposed to respecting the most fundamental rights of First Nations, which is what it is doing by supporting Bill 96, I ask that they admit to it frankly,” said Ghislain Picard, Chief of the AFNQL.” It seems it doesn’t matter whether it’s the rights of Muslims, Jews, Sikhs or Indigenous people, Yves-Francois Blanchet and the BQ are willing to violate them in the name of ethno-nationalism and French language supremacy.
Fighting White Supremacy (Grade: F) -- White supremacy is firmly rooted in Quebec with groups like Atalante Québec and La Meute leading the charge, and it is fed by Francophone ethno-nationalism. Unless and until the BQ can address the issue of white nationalism within Quebec’s Francophone majority it cannot be a credible voice on this issue, and anything it does say is demonstrates extreme hypocrisy.
Bill 21 (Grade: F) -- The BQ’s unequivocal support of Bill 21 demonstrates hypocrisy when Yves-Francois Blanchet or his MPs speak on issues of defending human rights, whether at home or abroad. If they cannot defend the rights of people in the province where their MPs are elected, then they have no business speaking on issues of human rights. Their actions demonstrate where they stand in their commitment to defending human rights.
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