By Fareed Khan
As 2022
comes to an end Canadians United Against Hate (CUAH) issued its annual year-end “report card”
evaluating the leaders of Canada's four major federal political parties on
their actions and policies in 2022 to fight hate, racism and xenophobia, and
defend human rights.
The
evaluation (full report below) reviewed the actions and policies of Liberal
prime minister Justin Trudeau, Conservative Party leader Pierre Poilievre, New
Democratic Party leader Jagmeet Singh, and Bloc Quebecois leader Yves-Francois
Blanchet in a number of categories including: their commitment to supporting an
aggressive national anti-hate strategy led by the federal government (as repeatedly called for by CUAH); supporting Indigenous rights; addressing systemic racism;
fighting white supremacy; their stands on Quebec’s Bill 21 (“secularism” law)
and Bill 96 (language law); and their record on defending Canadians’ rights
under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
Based on the evaluations given all four party leaders should hang their heads in shame after receiving many grades of "C", “D” and “F”, with Tory leader Poilievre and BQ leader Blanchet receiving failing grades in every category on which the evaluations are based. Also notable is that all four party leaders received failing grades when it came to standing up for the fundamental human rights of Quebec's minority communities with regard to the province's Bill 21 “secularism” law which targets racialized religious minority communities in the province (Muslims, Jews, Sikhs), and its Bill 96 language law which places further restrictions on the language rights of Quebec Anglophones.
COMMITMENT TO A FEDERALLY LED NATIONAL
ANTI-HATE STRATEGY – Grade: D 
COMMITMENT TO A FEDERALLY LED NATIONAL
ANTI-HATE STRATEGY – Grade: F 
COMMITMENT TO A FEDERALLY LED NATIONAL
ANTI-HATE STRATEGY – Grade: C+ 
COMMITMENT TO A FEDERALLY LED NATIONAL
ANTI-HATE STRATEGY – Grade: F
While
public protests against racism have declined since 2020 an overwhelming
majority of Canadians continue to believe that fighting racism should be a key
government priority. They also continue
to support Indigenous rights and reconciliation, the fight against
Islamophobia and anti-Semitism, and defending the fundamental human
rights of all Canadians. However, Canada’s
federal party leaders have shown that their commitment to fighting hate and
racism is weak or at times non-existent when push comes to shove, and that they
will support the Charter rights and civil liberties of Canadians only when it
is politically convenient.
Federal leaders seem to be playing fast and loose
with issues around hate and racism despite the fact that it is now high on the
radar of Canadians, as a
September 2021poll by IPSOS showed where 60 per cent of respondents said that racism was a major issue that needed to be dealt with, and they wanted
politicians to implement meaningful and aggressive policies to fight hate and
racism.
Since
anti-racism protests exploded across Canada in 2020 following the murder of
George Floyd in Minneapolis by a white US police officer fighting hate has been
a major political issue on the radar of Canadians.
This was reinforced in 2021 when tens of thousands of Canadians participated in Indigenous rights and anti-Islamophobia
protests, and the ongoing public dialogue about fighting the growing
presence of hate and white supremacy.
But what Canadians seem to be getting from their leaders is reactive
policies and political platitudes. If
the fight against hate, racism and white supremacy is to be successful then all
federal leaders need to do a lot better and be more aggressive in their
approach to tackling hate in our society.
The
issue of how Canadian leaders protect the fundamental human rights of Canadians
also rose to prominence in 2022 when the premiers of Ontario and Quebec used
the Constitution’s Section 33 “notwithstanding” clause to override rights under
the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
Canadians
got a glimpse of the weakness of federal leaders’ commitment to defending
Charter rights in their responses to Quebec’s racist Bill 21 and Anglophone bashing Bill 96 laws. The unwillingness of federalist leaders Trudeau, Poilievre
and Singh to forcefully stand against these unjust laws should be seen as unacceptable
in a nation where human rights are supposed to be paramount.
All three have failed the test of leadership when it comes to
challenging Quebec laws which violate the fundamental rights of Quebec’s
racialized religious minority communities and the province’s Anglophone minority. It appears that defence of Charter rights
only matters to the three leaders when it involves those rights
being violated outside Quebec, where their righteous indignation has been far more vocal and aggressive.
By not
forcefully opposing the two Quebec laws the three federalist party leaders have
shown their hypocrisy about how committed they are to defending Canadians’ Charter
rights. Their response is essentially a capitulation to the xenophobic agenda of the Quebec government, and in the process gives fuel to racists and xenophobes in the province. In addition,
it is a declaration that the human rights of Quebec’s minority communities have to
take a back seat to their political agendas, and that the
Quebec government has free reign to violate Charter rights whenever it wants.
As
Canadians look forward to 2023 the issue of fighting hate and defending the fundamental rights of all
Canadians, regardless of the province or territory in which they live, must be a
high priority.
At a time when hate and white supremacy is growing, and when people in
Quebec, Ontario and other provinces are worried about how committed governments are to
defending fundamental rights, it is up to the Canadian government to live up to
its legal and moral responsibilities to protect Canadians from hateful elements in society, and
to live up to its obligations to protect the Charter rights of
Canadians against provincial excesses.
No Canadian should have their fundamental rights violated in Canada, or
be subjected to vitriolic and violent hate and racism. Canada’s federal leaders must do better. It is their moral obligation to do so, and it
is part of fulfilling the oath they take when they are given the privilege of being
Members of Parliament and national leaders.
************
Report Card Evaluation of Federal Party
Leaders on Issues of Hate & Human Rights (2022)
The
following “report card” is an evaluation of the leaders of Canada’s four major
federal political parties on their actions and policies related to hate,
racism, xenophobia and human rights in 2022.
The party leaders were evaluated in relation to their actions and
policies on the specific issues outlined below.
COMMITMENT TO A FEDERALLY LED NATIONAL
ANTI-HATE STRATEGY
Canadians
United Against Hate has circulated this recommendation to all major parties for
a number of years, with a request that party leaders commit to this if 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.
SUPPORTING INDIGENOUS RIGHTS
Indigenous rights are more prominent on the radar of Canadians. The discovery of the remains of Indigenous children at various former residential school sites in western Canada made
clear one aspect of the atrocities suffered by Indigenous children, and made
discussion of the Indigenous genocide on Canadians soil acceptable.
FIGHTING WHITE SUPREMACY
The
ideologies of white supremacy and right-wing extremism, and groups which promote them across Canada, have exploded over the last several years. They have manifested themselves through online hate,
hate in social media, in racist verbal and physical assaults against BIPOC
and LGBTQ individuals in communities across the country, and against Canadians who are
Muslim and Jewish. Some of this was
clearly evident in the three week long convoy
occupation of Ottawa in February where white supremacists and racists were
very visible among the organizers.
BILL 21 (QUEBEC’S SECULARLISM LAW) AND BILL
96 (QUEBEC'S LANGUAGE LAW)
Quebec’s
so-called “secularism”
law has been in place for three-and-a-half years, and the provincial
government introduced amendments to its French language law placing even more
language restrictions on the province's Anglophone minority than exist
already. People from racialized
religious communities in Quebec have been forced to leave the province to
pursue careers in some cases. Many
Anglophones are also considering moving out of Quebec in order to avoid feeling
persecuted because they are not part of the linguistic majority. The Quebec government still refuses to admit
the racism
inherent in their secularism law, and they justify their language law by
claiming that the French language in the province is under
threat.
DEFENDING RIGHTS UNDER THE CHARTER OF RIGHTS
AND FREEDOMS
Defence
of Charter rights was very much in the news in 2022, with governments in Quebec
and Ontario
using the Section 33 "notwistanding"
clause to once again shield them from constitutional legal challenges to
legislation which violated the human rights and civil liberties of certain
groups of individuals and communities in those provinces. Section 33 was meant to be used by
governments only in the most extreme circumstances when there was some sort of
civil emergency that threatened social order or government stability. This has not been the case in any instances
where it has been used by provincial and territorial governments since 1982.
JUSTIN TRUDEAU / LIBERAL PARTY
– Overall
Grade: D
The
Liberals have attempted to corner the political agenda on fighting racism but
have failed in demonstrating the level of leadership needed to put in place an
aggressive and visible national anti-hate strategy coordinated with provincial
governments as repeatedly called for by Canadians United Against Hate in a
number of submissions to the federal government over the past several years.
Since
2020, in the aftermath of the George
Floyd anti-racism protests, the government has made policy announcements to
fight racism but these have generally been reactive rather than proactive. Since the Liberals formed government in 2015
acts of hate, racism and white supremacy have increased significantly. A new
report released by Statistics Canada in August showed that hate crimes
reported to police jumped by 72 per cent since 2019, with a majority of crimes
targeting religion, sexual orientation, and race/ethnicity. Attacks against Muslims, Jews, Asians, and
members of the LGBTQ2 community have been on the rise and yet the government's
actions in response seem to lack urgency.
There
has also been a significant rise in online hate since before the pandemic and
the government's proposed online harms legislation is still facing
much criticism from anti-hate, human rights and civil liberties
activists. In addition, there have been
three incidents of hate motivated murders of Muslims that have occurred since
the Liberals came to power – in 2017 in Quebec
City, in Toronto
in September 2020, and in London,
Ontario in June 2021. Only after the
third murder did the federal government start taking seriously Canadians'
concerns about hate and racism in this country.
And while Justin Trudeau has a minister for diversity and inclusion that
minister's responsibilities also includes housing at a time when Canadians are
facing an affordable housing crisis, which means that the minister is likely to
be focussed on that issue at the expense of diversity and inclusion
priorities.
The
commitment of $85
million over four years in the 2022 federal budget for a new anti-racism
strategy and a "national
action plan" on combating hate is a positive initiative by the
government and shows that they are listening to what anti-hate organizations
are saying. But this amounts to a
fraction of what is needed annually to address the rising tide of hate across
the country. A more effective amount
would be $75 million per year with more than half that amount dedicated to a
national public education campaign led by the federal government and
coordinated with provincial governments.
While
the government is moving in the right direction the deficiencies in the actions
taken by the federal government is what accounts for the low evaluation given.
ADDRESSING SYSTEMIC RACISM – Grade: D
The
Liberals have made promises to address this issue in a number of throne
speeches and in their campaign documents in 2019 and 2021. But to date significant actions to move on
this issue have been extremely slow in being implemented. This slow approach to addressing systemic
racism takes place even as Black
members of the federal public service pursue a class action suit against
the federal government accusing it of systemic racism, discrimination and
employee exclusion, alleging that since the 1970s roughly 30,000 Black civil
services employees have lost out on "opportunities and benefits afforded
to others based on their race." One
would expect quicker action by the government to demonstrate that they are
listening to their Black employees and to Canadians at large, but instead the
government filed a court motion to dismiss
the lawsuit, claiming that the court doesn't have jurisdiction over the case
and that the claim should instead be pursued through a labour grievances
process.
It also
appears that the issue of systemic
racism in the RCMP has been moved to the back burner, with little to
indicate that the government has taken action to move this issue forward
quickly. Incidents of anti-Indigenous
racism and police brutality against Indigenous people by the RCMP over the past
several years have grabbed media headlines and elicited political reactions
that things need to change, but visible progress on this file has been sadly
lacking.
One
other area where quick action has been lacking, and presents a danger to
Canada's security, is racism
within the Canadian military. A
scathing report released in April on racism in the Canadian Armed Forces says
the military is not
doing enough to detect and prevent white supremacists and other extremists
from infiltrating its ranks. The report
also takes the military to task for not acting on dozens of previous studies
and reviews on racism in the ranks over the past two decades.
The
lawsuit, the lack of meaningful action to address racism in the RCMP, and years
of failure in taking action to tackle racists in Canada's military, shows that
things are moving too slowly to effectively address racism within Canada's
federal institutions. The government
would get a failing grade were it not being forced into taking action to
address these issues.
SUPPORTING INDIGENOUS RIGHTS – Grade: C
While
Justin Trudeau has said that no relationship is more important to him than his
government’s relationship with Indigenous people the government’s actions seem
to say otherwise. The Liberals say they
are committed to reconciliation, but the government's long-running fight
against Indigenous organizations connected to a Canadian
Human Rights Tribunal ruling on Indigenous child welfare compensation
upheld in a federal court, indicates otherwise.
While an agreement was reached in that lawsuit in 2022 the fate of the $40
billion settlement agreement is up in the air after the Canadian Human
Rights Tribunal questioned whether the terms of the deal meet the conditions of
its pivotal discrimination ruling.
In
addition, the Liberal promise made in 2016 to remove boiled
water advisories from all affected first nations reserves by 2021 has still
not been met. As of December there are
still 31 Indigenous communities where advisories are in effect and where
bottled water has to be shipped in.
While the current number of advisories is a far cry from the more than
160 that were in place during the Liberal's first year office it is
unacceptable that the issue was not addressed within the five year time frame
that the government promised.
The
government's hypocrisy on the first issue and the failure on the second does
not instill confidence on their ability to swiftly and adequately address other
Indigenous rights issues in a timely manner.
In addition, the Trudeau government has still not implemented all the
recommendations of the Truth
and Reconciliation Commission or all the calls to action contained in the
report of the Missing and
Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls Inquiry. They are moving forward on all these issues
but at a pace that is far too slow given how long Indigenous people have been
waiting to see justice done on all the issues on this file. The government now has three more years in
which to complete the work already promised and it has the guaranteed support
of the NDP which included some major Indigenous rights issues in the agreement
it signed with the Liberals earlier this year to keep them in power.
FIGHTING WHITE SUPREMACY – Grade: D
Despite
the designation of the Proud Boys, Atomwaffen and a number of other white supremacist
groups as terrorist
organizations these sorts of groups continue to proliferate
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
by those connected to the white supremacist community, Muslims who have been
murdered by white supremacists on three separate occasions, threats
against Canadian Jews who have a public profile by white supremacists and
neo-Nazis, the proliferation of hate and white supremacy online, and the very
visible display of white supremacy and neo-Nazism during the convoy occupation
of Ottawa.
Government
sponsored summits on anti-Semitism and Islamophobia in 2021 shows some
initiative on the part of the government, but action on recommendations coming
out of those forums have been slow in being implemented. The creation of the post of special
representative to combat anti-Semitism prior to the anti-Semitism summit
but after Muslims had been murdered demonstrated that the federal government
does not seem to consider racist attacks against Muslims to be equal to racist
attacks against Jews. This was further
demonstrated when the government announced the anti-Semitism "summit"
after a Muslim family was murdered in London, Ontario in a hate-motivated
attack in June 2021 (the third such incident targeting Muslims in four years). But it was only after there was an outcry
from Canadian Muslims accusing the government of insensitivity to the threats
against the Muslim community that an Islamophobia summit was announced. In response to issues raised by leaders in
the Muslim community government eventually declared January
29th as an official day to combat Islamophobia (after a three year long
Muslim community campaign), and in the spring of 2022 it announced the creation
of the position of special
representative to combat Islamophobia.
But as of the end of December 2022 the position still remains vacant,
which is an indication of the seeming lack of urgency by the federal government
to tackle the rising tide of white supremacy, and hate targeting the Muslim
community.
BILL 21 (QUEBEC’S "SECULARLISM"
LAW) AND BILL 96 (QUEBEC'S LANGUAGE LAW) – Grade: F
While
claiming to be against Quebec’s Bill 21 law Justin Trudeau's Liberals have done
nothing as a government to challenge it in the courts or to support private
groups that have mounted Constitutional challenges to the law, despite the fact
that people’s lives are being torn apart by it.
The federal government's lack of action on this is not the action of
those who claim to be defenders of human rights, or 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 trumps human rights when it
comes to issues in Quebec.
The
same can be said about the federal government's response to Quebec's Bill
96 language law, which is an attack on the linguistic rights of the
Anglophone minority in that province.
The pre-emptive
use by Quebec of the Constitutions’ "notwithstanding" clause to
protect the legislation against Constitutional challenges is a glaring
admission that the law
violates the Charter rights and civil liberties of Quebec Anglophones, and
it is a public declaration that the Quebec government cares little about the
human rights of Quebec's minority communities.
And by failing to challenge the Quebec government on this law the
federal Liberals are also saying that the rights of Quebec’s Anglophone
minority don’t deserve to be protected from the excesses of the Quebec government.
The
federal government has power under the Constitution to disallow
provincial laws but it has chosen not to do so even in the case where basic
human rights that are supposed to be protected are repeatedly violated, and so
this too is an admission that the federal government is willing to sacrifice
human rights on the altar of political expediency.
DEFENDING RIGHTS UNDER THE CHARTER OF RIGHTS
AND FREEDOMS – Grade: F
The
violation of rights guaranteed under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms were a
very prominent issue during 2022. The
government of Quebec continued to violate Charter rights under its racist Bill
21 “secularism” law as Constitutional challenges to it worked their way through
the courts, and added to their record of rights violations with their
Anglophone bashing Bill 96 French language law.
In
Ontario the Doug
Ford Conservatives became the first government in that province to use the
notwithstanding clause to violate fundamental rights not once but three times
since it was first elected in 2018. The
latest incident was the use of the clause in legislation to impose a work
contract on educational workers (a law that was subsequently rescinded due to a
massive public backlash).
While
the federal government cried foul over the use of Section 33 both in Quebec and
Ontario, expressing outrage and indignation at the actions of provincial
governments, it did not even consider using powers allowed the federal
government under the Constitution to prevent the provincial governments from
implementing the laws. As such it is fair
to conclude that the federal government did the absolute least it could do and
failed to protect the fundamental rights of Canadians in the two provinces.
PIERRE POILIEVRE / CONSERVATIVE PARTY
–
Overall 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 website “Rebel
Media” (considered a hate site by anti-hate groups) – hardly an endorsement
of his anti-racism credentials.
When
Erin O’Toole was chosen as Conservative leader he said the right things about
fighting hate and racism but his failure
to even include the word “racism” or refer to “systemic racism” in the
Conservative Party’s 2021 election campaign policy document shows the
unwillingness of his party to properly address the issue, as was his
unwillingness to commit to actions that would remove racist and white
supremacist elements from the ranks of the Conservative Party.
The
election of Pierre Poilievre as Conservative Party leader is a step backwards
for the party on issues of hate. His support,
and that of many Tory MPs who supported his leadership bid, of the leaders
of the convoy protest and occupation, who were known promoters of racism,
hate and white
supremacy, showed that the party is happy and willing to work with such
elements as long as it is politically expeditious. Such political moves have enabled racist and
hateful elements in society because they see the Poilievre led Conservatives as
an ally that is willing to engage with them and give them legitimacy.
Furthermore,
there has been no statement made by Poilievre or any of his caucus about
committing to a national anti-hate strategy, or fully supporting the
anti-racism efforts that have been implemented by the federal government. Where statements about hate and racism have
been mentioned by Poilievre it has been performative, and has been more about
scoring political points against Justin Trudeau and his government rather than
legitimately addressing the pandemic of hate in Canadian society in any
meaningful way.
In
addition, the presence of MPs and elements within the party who are against the
expansion of rights to the LGBTQ2 community, as well as Poilievre’s
own voting record against any measures to extend rights to this community
(including when he voted against same-sex marriage), is a sign that while he
may have elevated to leadership positions the two openly gay members of his
caucus, his party’s actual commitment to advancing LGBTQ2 rights is weak given
that he needs to appease the social conservative voters that were critical to
his leadership victory.
ADDRESSING SYSTEMIC RACISM – Grade: F
The
Conservatives made no mention of “systemic
racism” in their 2021 election campaign document (unlike the Liberals and
the NDP), which calls into question any statements they have made about
acknowledging its existence or committing to actions to see it dismantled. Also, there have been no changes to the
official positions of the Conservative Party on the issue of systemic racism
since Erin O'Toole was deposed as leader of the party, and there are no
indications that a change is forthcoming.
Until
and unless a clear policy statement is made by Poilievre about how his party
will tackle systemic racism in federal institutions and across Canadian society
he and the Conservatives have little credibility on this issue, and Canadians
would be foolish to trust them given the alliances they have made with convoy
occupation organizers and the white supremacist elements that support them.
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, beginning with the
cancellation of the Kelowna
Accord, an agreement announced by Prime Minister Paul Martin in November
2005 that was the result of an 18-month consultative process involving the
federal government, provincial and territorial governments, and five national
Indigenous organizations. When Harper
formed the government in 2006 he cancelled the agreement over strong objections
by Indigenous organizations.
In
opposition the Conservatives have said the right things about improving the
Canadian government’s relations with Indigenous people if they came to power
but words are meaningless without actions, and the party’s record from when
they were the government doesn’t instill confidence. This view was reinforced when Conservative
MPs voted 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. It was seen as a slap in the
face to Indigenous people across the country and is an indication of the
deep-seated ambivalence in the Conservative Party to the issue of
reconciliation.
While Erin
O’Toole tried to shift the direction of the Conservative Party on Indigenous
issues there have been no significant policy changes on this file under Pierre
Poilievre's leadership. As such there
is no evidence to date that there has been a significant change in the
Conservative approach to Indigenous issues or the matter of reconciliation to
demonstrate that the party under Poilievre’s leadership has 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. This happened
again when the convoy protest occupied Ottawa in February and disrupted Canada-US
border traffic near Windsor, Ontario and southern Alberta. The leaders of the protest, who were
ultimately charged
criminally by police, were known propagators of racism, white supremacy,
Islamophobia and anti-Semitism. And yet
interim Conservative leader Candice
Bergen and future leader Pierre
Poilievre supported the convoy protest (as did quite a few Conservative
MPs).
The Conservative
Party's history of standing with racists and white supremacists, and not
expelling those elements from within their party is deeply disturbing given the
rise in hate and white supremacy across the country, the substantial increase
in police reported hate crimes over the past few years, and the detrimental
impact it is having on racialized and minority religious communities, and on
the LGBTQ2 community. The support that Poilievre
and many in his caucus gave to convoy protesters calls into question his
credibility on fighting white supremacy and racism, despite what he might say
in public statements about the party being a home to people of all ethnic
backgrounds.
BILL 21 (QUEBEC’S "SECULARLISM"
LAW) AND BILL 96 (QUEBEC'S LANGUAGE LAW) – Grade: F
Under
previous leaders, as well as under Pierre Poilievre, the Conservatives have
made it clear that Bill 21 is a matter of provincial jurisdiction in Quebec and
it is up to Quebec voters to resolve the Charter rights and civil liberties
issues around it.
The
same is now the case with Quebec’s Bill
96 language law which further strips the province’s Anglophone community of
its minority language rights. In taking
this position the Conservatives ignore the fact that it is the moral and legal
responsibility of the Canadian government to defend the human rights of all
Canadians regardless of where they live.
In essence the Conservatives are willing to sacrifice the rights of
racialized religious minorities in Quebec, as well as that of Quebec
Anglophones, on the altar of political expediency. This demonstrates a severe lack of leadership
for a party led by a man that sees itself as a government in waiting.
DEFENDING RIGHTS UNDER THE CHARTER OF RIGHTS
AND FREEDOMS – Grade: F
The
Conservatives demonstrated their weak commitment to defending the rights of
Canadians when they chose to side with convoy protesters who, through their
actions, violated the rights of the residents of Ottawa and of Canadians in
border communities around Winsor, Ontario and southern Alberta.
In
addition, by supporting the leaders of the convoy protest and those who
occupied the Parliamentary precinct of downtown Ottawa Poilievre and the
Conservatives sided with people who wanted to overthrow
the duly elected government of Canada, and in the process supported violating
the rights of Canadians who had voted in the 2021 election. Furthermore, by supporting the
insurrectionists it can be fairly argued that these Conservative MPs were in
breach of their oath of office, one in which they swore loyalty to Canada’s
head of state (Queen Elizabeth II at the time) and her government, to act as
the Crown’s “loyal Opposition”. And it can also be argued that they were in violation
of Sections 51 and
59 of
the Criminal Code, which address the crime of sedition.
These
actions on the part of the Poilievre Conservatives demonstrates that they are
willing to break the law as long as it can advance their political goals, and
that they are unwilling to stand up for the rights of all Canadians against
those who would wilfully violate the rights of Canadians.
JAGMEET SINGH / NEW DEMOCRATIC PARTY
– Overall Grade: C-
The NDP
seems to be the party that would be the obvious champion to fight racism and
defend human rights based on their track record of being a party committed to
social justice. Their campaign
document in the 2021 election dedicated sections to upholding Indigenous
rights, addressing the harms of residential schools, upholding LGBTQ2+ rights,
and confronting racism. In addition,
under Jagmeet Singh the NDP has been very vocal about addressing
white supremacy and hate, including sponsoring a Parliamentary
resolution to declare the white supremacist group the “Proud Boys” as a
terrorist organization, and has repeatedly called on the federal government to
do more to dismantle white supremacy in Canada.
They
are currently propping up the Liberal minority government through a signed
agreement that will keep the Liberals in power until 2025 if they follow
through on promises made to the NDP.
However, among the key promises in the Liberal-NDP agreement, committing
greater resources to fighting hate or a federally led hate strategy is not
among them. Based on their political
stand and public statements on issue related to hate, racism and xenophobia the
NDP holds the greatest potential of being an anti-hate champion. But this will only happen if they manage to
form government, which is a long shot under the best of circumstances.
Consequently,
while Jagmeet Singh’s NDP receives the best evaluation among the three major
parties it still falls short of receiving a higher evaluation given the missed
opportunity of including major anti-hate initiatives as part of their agreement
with the Liberals.
ADDRESSING SYSTEMIC RACISM – Grade: C+
Over
the last several decades the NDP has consistently been on the forefront of addressing
issues of racism, whether it is in policing, government institutions or
society at large. Since they are the key
to keeping the governing Liberals in power since the 2021 election it would be
logical that they would make addressing this issue a factor in their support of
the government. And while it is expected
that this issue would be a key priority were they to form government their
current role as the fourth party in the House of Commons does not allow them
the leverage to implement their agenda on this issue.
In
addition, it is surprising that they did not include issues around fighting
hate and racism as part of the agreement they made with the Liberals. But despite this anti-hate activists are
hopeful that the NDP will take a stronger stand to pressure the government to
adopt more aggressive action on systemic racism. But until there is a more concerted effort by
Singh and the NDP to pressure the government to make this a higher priority
Canadians will have to wait and see if they will live up to their potential.
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. Jagmeet Singh made this a priority in the
NDP’s 2021 election document touching on issues of reconciliation, Indigenous
rights, self-determination, adequate housing, education, the long-term impact
of residential schools, Indigenous child welfare, clean water, and a host of
other issues that Indigenous people have been advocating on for decades. Their approach with respect to Indigenous
rights can be encapsulated in the following statement from their 2021campaign
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.”
The
fact that one of the major sections of the NDP agreement to keep the Liberal in
power includes commitments to boost spending on Indigenous housing, giving the
power to First Nations, Inuit, and Metis communities to decide how investments
are designed and delivered, accelerate implementation of the Federal Pathway to
Address Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls and 2SLGBTQQIA+ People,
and support for communities wishing to continue searching for children’s
remains at sites of former residential schools, demonstrates their willingness
to commit political capital to Indigenous rights and reconciliation, and
therefore accounts for the high marks they receive. But future evaluations in this area will be
determined by whether they can make the Liberal keep the promises made in the
Liberal-NDP agreement.
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 to put
greater pressure on the Liberal to take decisive action on this issue. The fact that this was not included as part
of the Liberal-NDP agreement is very disappointing, especially after the
visible displays of racism, white supremacy, neo-Nazism, and transphobia that
Canadians witnessed during the convoy protest in Ottawa. The fact that issues around fighting hate and
racism were not included in the agreement, which was signed weeks after the
protests ended, is a lost opportunity and a failure on the part of Jagmeet
Singh to leverage NDP support to pressure the Liberals to be more aggressive
around the anti-hate / anti-racism file.
BILL 21 (QUEBEC’S "SECULARLISM"
LAW) AND BILL 96 (QUEBEC'S LANGUAGE LAW) – 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, to 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 rights under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
The
same can be said for the NDPs support of Quebec’s Bill 96 language law where
Singh endorsed the use of the controversial “notwithstanding” clause that will
shield the legislation from Constitutional challenges. By taking a position which strips the
linguistic rights of non-Francophones in the province Singh and the NDP show
that they are hypocrites when it comes to the rights of Quebec Anglophones.
On both
these Quebec laws the NDP under Singh have squandered the their moral high
ground on being defenders of the Charter rights of Canadians, and in the
process they have shown that they are just as politically opportunistic when it
comes to votes in Quebec as are the other party leaders.
DEFENDING RIGHTS UNDER THE CHARTER OF RIGHTS
AND FREEDOMS – Grade: F
Under
Jagmeet Singh the NDP has a hit and miss record when it comes to defending
Charter rights. Its Achilles Heel is the
stand it has taken on Quebec’s Bill 21 and Bill 96 laws. In other parts of the country when provincial
governments violate Charter rights or when the federal government does so the
NDP has been very vocal about the need to defend the rights of Canadians. But like with the other party leaders Singh
has failed the moral test when it comes to vigorously defending the rights and
civil liberties of Quebec’s racialized religious minorities and its Anglophone
linguistic minority. This is a dark
stain on the NDP and is contrary to the history of a party which was founded
on principles of social justice and equality of citizenship.
YVES-FRANCOIS BLANCHET / BLOC QUEBECOIS
–
Overall Grade: F
A party
that cannot admit the existence of systemic racism in the province where they
have seats is a party that has little credibility on issues of fighting
racism. The BQ continues to demonstrate
this in their unjustifiable position around the protection of minority rights
in Quebec. Even if the BQ did support a
call to implement a nationally led anti-hate strategy, their dogmatic position
on minority rights in Quebec in support of ethno-nationalism would likely
mean caveats and exemptions that would make such a strategy ineffective in that province.
Consequently,
they fail the test of having a moral compass on this issue.
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 this issue. Until Yves-Francois Blanchet and his caucus
can admit that Quebec is a province where systemic and societal racism is very
common, where the provincial government implements policies that target
racialized and linguistic minority communities, and willfully violates their
basic rights, the BQ should be seen as a party that engages in racism and
xenophobia.
SUPPORTING INDIGENOUS RIGHTS – Grade: F
The
issue of Indigenous rights in Quebec has come into conflict with Quebec’s Bill 96 French language legislation.
The Assembly
of First Nations Quebec-Labrador (AFNQL) said in a statement
during the 2021 election, “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,
Anglophones or Indigenous people, Yves-Francois Blanchet and the BQ are willing
to violate the rights of these communities in the name of a toxic ethno-nationalism and French
language supremacy in Quebec.
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 an ideology of Francophone
ethno-nationalism that has been adopted by the provincial government as a
guiding principle, and supported by Yves-Francois Blanchet’s Bloc
Quebecois. Unless and until the BQ can
address the issue of white nationalism within Quebec’s Francophone majority,
and the lack of action by the province to address the growth of white
supremacy, the party cannot be a credible voice on this issue, and anything it
does say demonstrates extreme hypocrisy, which is a currency that is common
among federal party leaders.
BILL 21 (QUEBEC’S SECULARLISM LAW) AND BILL
96 (QUEBEC'S LANGUAGE LAW) – Grade: F
The
BQ’s unequivocal support of Bill 21 and Bill 96 demonstrates supreme 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 that human rights
are negotiable in Quebec and that the rights and political views of white
Francophones supersede those of racialized minority communities and the
Anglophone minority.
DEFENDING RIGHTS UNDER THE CHARTER OF RIGHTS
AND FREEDOMS – Grade: F
Under
current and previous leaders the Bloc Quebecois has repeatedly demonstrated
that it does not believe in Canada’s Charter of Rights and Freedoms because
Quebec didn’t get its way when the Charter was ratified by all legislatures
across Canada except Quebec. It also
shows its disdain for the Charter when it repeatedly supports Quebec each time
it uses the Charter’s Section 33 “notwithstanding” clause to shield its
legislation from Constitutional challenges.
Since 1982 Quebec has used the clause 17
times, the most of any province or territory. The last time it was used was for the Bill 96
French language law.
SPECIAL MENTIONS
PREMIER FRANCOIS LEGAULT (QUEBEC) – Grade: F
The premier
of Quebec won a massive majority in the 2022 Quebec provincial election winning
90 out of 125 seats. This victory has
cemented his hold on power for the next four years despite the fact that his
government’s violation of minority religious rights under the Bill 21
“secularism” law received much negative media coverage. With his decision to take a hard line on the
language rights of the Anglophone minority and further restrict those rights he
has shown that for him human rights don’t matter. In addition, his public comments that there
is no
systemic racism in Quebec (despite enormous evidence to the contrary) shows
that he lives in a world of white privilege and white blindness, and that his
main concern is catering to the interests of the white Francophone majority.
PREMIER DOUG FORD (ONTARIO) – Grade: F
The
Ontario premier won his second straight majority, increasing the Progressive
Conservative Party’s seat total from the previous election, despite the fact
that he violated the fundamental Charter rights of Ontarians on two occasions
since he was first elected In 2018. By
doing so he became the first Ontario premier to ever use the Section 33
“notwithstanding” clause to override Charter rights. In 2022 he used it a third time in
legislation intended to force education workers back to work (a law that was
later rescinded
after massive a public backlash).
In
using Section 33 Ford has shown that he is willing to violate the fundamental
rights of those Ontarians who get in the way of his political agenda. A section of the Constitution that was only
meant to be used in the most extreme circumstances is a “political
tool” according to Ford, and it would not be surprising if he resorts to
using Section 33 again if it is to his political advantage.
Ford
is also a premier who, after his party
formed government in Ontario in 2018, cut funding to the province’s
anti-racism directorate at a time when
racism and hate crimes were on the rise. Despite
his populist, “friend of the average citizen”, rhetoric Ford has shown through
his actions that his no friend to persecuted minority communities, or those who
stand up for their fundamental rights.
With another three and a half years left in his mandate we foresee a
government that will not take broad action on issues of hate, racism and
xenophobia, and could again attack the fundamental rights of Ontarians.
PREMIER DANIELLE SMITH (ALBERTA) – Grade: F
Following
her election as leader of the United Conservative Party (UCP) Alberta premier
Danielle Smith made the claim in a media conference that unvaccinated people
were the “most
discriminated against group” that she has seen in her lifetime. The outcry from anti-racism groups and
Indigenous leaders was immediate, with many calling her ignorant and oblivious
to Canada’s ugly history of racism and white supremacy. Smith failed to apologize for the
comment.
She put
her foot in her mouth again when she said in early December that Alberta's
relationship with Ottawa was that same as that of First Nations under the
Indian Act – a racist act that has been widely criticized as enabling racist
and genocidal policies against Indigenous people. Indigenous leaders demanded an apology, in
addition to demanding that she withdraw
the sovereignty act which was something that was part of her platform
running for the UCP leadership. In
addition, past social media posts have come to light showing that Smith engaged
in genocide denial with regard to Indigenous people.
How can
someone who is the leader of a province with such a diverse population have
made such comments and posted such lies and disinformation about Indigenous
people? The premier’s past and recent
comments shows that she is out of touch with reality, and ignorant of the ugly,
racist history of Canada, is someone who has flirted with domestic extremists
to win the leadership of the UCP, and is a political leader who has laid out
the welcome mat for white supremacists.
BRITISH COLUMBIA NDP – Grade: F
When
British Columbia premier John Horgan announced his resignation earlier this
year, thereby initiating a race for the leadership of the province’s New
Democratic Party, little did anyone expect that it would end in controversy
with the party disqualifying
Anjali Appadurai, a racialized women, and only one of the two candidates in
the race.
Many
NDP supporters claimed that the decision smacked of racism and misogyny, and
was the latest example of how the party had strayed from its social democratic
roots. The party that prided itself on
standing for progressive values, promoting diversity, equity and inclusivity,
fighting racism, and supporting women did exactly the opposite with the
disqualification. It sent the message to
young, racialized women in British Columbia that they are welcome in the NDP as
long as they are prepared to be a prop, and they had better not get uppity, or
embarrass those who control the party (i.e. white men). At its heart, the decision to terminate
Appadurai’s candidacy spoke directly to the issues faced by all racialized
Canadians in politics, especially racialized women.
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