Fighting pandemic of hate and racism in Canada must be a priority in the new Parliament

By Fareed Khan

If the results from the federal election say anything it is Canadian voters speaking loudly and telling Justin Trudeau, Erin O'Toole and Jagmeet Singh to stop the politicking and get back to work.  One of the areas of business where Parliamentarians need to work harder when the House of Commons is back in session is to deal with Canada's other pandemic that has been around long before COVID-19, the pandemic of hate and racism that has been ignored for decades, which has resulted in deadly violence, and for which insufficient resources and political capital have been committed.

Many Canadians were incredulous that during the election campaign the issue of fighting hate and racism was barely mentioned, despite the fact that 60 per cent of Canadians see racism as a serious problem facing the country.  An IPSOS study released on September 3rd revealed that there is increased awareness among Canadians about the continued mistreatment against Indigenous people, domestic terrorism targeting Muslim Canadians, racism against Black Canadians, and anti-Asian hate crimes.  This awareness has led to Canadians expecting governments to implement policies and programs to address these issues.

The lack of discussion about fighting hate during the campaign defies logic considering that since May 2020 Canadians have come out in the tens of thousands to protest in the streets against hate and racial injustice.  Canadians called for racial justice for Black people in the thousands following the murder of George Floyd by a white police officer in the US.  They took to the streets again in the thousands calling for action to fight Islamophobia following the murder of the Afzaal Family in London, Ontario in an act of anti-Muslim hate.  They demonstrated in the thousands again in support of justice for Indigenous people following the discovery of unmarked graves of Indigenous children at former residential school sites.  In light of this racial awakening and public calls for action it makes no sense that the leaders of the three major parties did not make these issues key points in their campaign messaging. 

However, Trudeau and Singh should be commended in one respect.  Among the three major parties the Liberals and NDP both included sections dedicated to addressing racism and hate, demonstrating that they are aware of the importance of these issues to Canadians.  Yet despite that political nod to these concerns it is puzzling that the Liberals and NDP chose not to highlight them in their messaging to set themselves apart from the Conservatives, who did not do themselves any favours when they avoided using the words “racism” and “Islamophobia” anywhere in the Conservative campaign platform.  This not only showed the inability (or unwillingness) of O’Toole’s party to address the concerns of racialized Canadians, but it was a clear indication of the party's very weak commitment to fighting hate and supporting racial justice.  It does not bode well for O’Toole or his party's future prospects among Canadians who see fighting racism as a priority.

On the matter of Quebec's Bill 21 "seculrism" law none of the political leaders scored any political points with racialized communities when they sacrificed human rights on the altar of political expediency.  Trudeau, O’Toole and Singh turned their backs on those impacted by the racist legislation when they refused to challenge outrageous allegations made by Bloc Québécois Leader Yves François Blanchet.  In a media scrum following the English language debate Blanchet claimed that the moderator had called all Quebecers "racists" by asking a question about the Quebec law.  Instead of taking a principled stand against this outrageous accusation all three federalist party leaders retreated into their corners and let Blanchet dominate the narrative around the issue, perpetuating the ridiculous myth that the law was about defending secularism in Quebec.

The one man who must be singled out for his position on Bill 21 is Jagmeet Singh.  It was supremely discouraging that an observant Sikh who knows the law was unwilling to commit to taking action to defend the rights of observant Sikhs, Muslims and Jews in Quebec, despite claims that the NDP will be there for the people that need them.

When Parliament reconvenes, anti-racism and human rights activists expect Trudeau, O'Toole, and Singh to get to work to decisively address these issues, and help Canadians to push back the ever-increasing hate and the rise of white supremacy we are seeing across the country.

We will be watching and we will hold our federal political leaders accountable for their actions or lack thereof.

© 2021 The View From Here.  © 2021 Fareed Khan.  All Rights Reserved

Trudeau, O’Toole and Singh didn’t address racism during the election, they need to make it a priority in the new Parliament

By Fareed Khan

The election that a majority of Canadians did not want is over and it returned a Parliament barely different than the previous one.  Now that it is over it is time for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Conservative leader Erin O'Toole, and New Democratic Party leader Jagmeet Singh to get to work dealing with Canada's other pandemic, the one none of the party leaders addressed during the election campaign that has been around long before Covid19 landed on our shores, namely the pandemic of racism and hate which has been ignored for decades.  

Addressing this issue is even more urgent given that more than 800,000 Canadians voted for the People’s Party of Canada, a party that is anti-immigrant, anti-refugee, and has embraced racism and white supremacists.

Many Canadians, particularly members of racialized communities, were troubled that combatting hate was barely mentioned by Trudeau, O’Toole or Singh during the campaign.  It begs the question “why not” when 60 per cent of Canadians see it as a serious problem, according to a poll released on September 3rd.

Canadians took to the streets to protest in the tens of thousands over the last year and a half calling for racial justice, for action to fight Islamophobia, and supporting justice for Indigenous people.  Yet none of the three major party leaders took this as a signal to make the fight against hate and racism one of their priorities in their campaign messaging.

However, the Liberal and NDP leaders should be credited for including proposals to fight racism in their respective policy documents while O’Tooles Conservatives did not.  In fact the Tories failed to mention the words “racism” and “Islamophobia” even once in their campaign platform.  This says volumes about how serious the Conservatives are about fighting hate and supporting calls for racial justice.  It also shows that they have a ways to go before racialized minority communities see them as a sincere partner in the fight against hate.

 

One area where all three party leaders were spectacular failures with racialized communities is around Quebec’s Bill 21 “secularism” law, a law deemed racist by human rights experts and legal scholars.  For the sake of political expediency all three leaders turned their backs on those Quebecer’s impacted by the discriminatory Quebec law which targets racialized religious minorities.  Furthermore, all three leaders need to be chastised for failing to challenge Bloc Quebecois leader Yves Francois Blanchet for his specious claim that the moderator of the English language debate had called Quebecer’s “racists” by asking a question about Bill 21.  And while Trudeau left the door open to a legal challenge to the law by the federal government, it should be noted that he made the same promise in the 2019 election but did nothing to follow up on it afterwards. 

As the only racialized leader of a major party Singh also needs to answer for his failure to take a strong and principled stand against Bill 21, and support of the rights of Sikhs, Muslims and Jews in Quebec.  One would expect him to be at the forefront of opposition to the Quebec law instead of caving in to Quebec’s Francophone ethno-nationalists.  The fact that he is not is deeply disappointing and contradicts his claims that the NDP would be there for the people that needed them, and that he is committed to the cause of anti-racism.

These actions demonstrate the hypocrisy of all three men for claiming to be defenders of human rights in their campaign platforms, but refusing to stand up for the human rights of Quebec’s minority religious communities against an unjust Quebec law that promotes government sanctioned racism.  In so doing they sent the message that in Canada not all minority communities are worthy of human rights, or having them defended by our national political leaders. 

As soon as Parliament reconvenes Trudeau, O’Toole and Singh must put the fight against hate into high gear and help push back this pandemic which is deeply affecting the lives of millions of Canadians.  They also need to rethink their positions on Bill 21 if they want to have any credibility as defenders of human rights.  If they fail to do this in the new Parliamentary session the anger of Canadians who have marched in the streets over the last year and a half will be expressed loudly and politically.  Anti-racism activists in particular will be watching what they do closely, and will hold all of them accountable for their failure to confront this deeply rooted and ugly disease which needs a forceful national effort led by principled political leaders to counter it.

© 2021 The View From Here.  © 2021 Fareed Khan.  All Rights Reserved

What is “reprehensible” is BQ leader Yves Francois-Blanchet's support for officially sanctioned hate and bigotry by the Quebec government

By Fareed Khan

During a media conference in Sherbrooke, Quebec on August 31st Bloc Quebecois leader Yves Francois- Blanchet said it was “reprehensible” that Quebec Muslims and civil rights organizations were continuing with their constitutional challenges to Quebec’s Bill 21 “secularism” law, which primarily targets religiously observant Muslims, Sikhs and Jews, and prohibits them from working as teachers, police officers, judges and other jobs that are publicly funded if they wear items or clothing that identifies their faith.  However, what is truly reprehensible is Blanchet’s support for Quebec’s ‘secularism’ law, legislation that is de facto state-sanctioned hate and bigotry against racialized religious minorities in that province.

Politicians in overtly racist and fascist states frequently use such language to describe the actions of human rights and democracy activists who oppose their governments.  However, to hear it from a Canadian politician who claims to have a “progressive” political view is galling because it demonstrates Blanchet's support for racist and ethno-nationalist politics in Quebec, something that is very unsettling.  History has shown what happens when such politicians and their brand of politics are left unchallenged, and are allowed to promote ideas that pour gasoline on the embers of racist ideologies.

By condemning those who are challenging the province’s secularism law in court Blanchet was essentially saying “sit down and shut up” to people whose rights are being trampled by the Quebec government.

Under Canadian law it is entirely legal for Canadians to challenge what they consider are unjust laws in the courts if they feel their rights are being infringed.  By saying what he did Blanchet demonstrated a total disrespect for the legal rights of Canadians in Quebec, and displayed the attitude of a politician who seems to believe in approaches used by authoritarian regimes against their critics.  It also demonstrates a level of hypocrisy that is unbelievable considering that Francophone Quebecers have also launched legal challenges to federal laws they opposed to stand up for their rights.  Blanchet’s approach on this issue seems to be “do as we say not as we do”.

Quebec's secularism law has been a very controversial issue since it was first proposed by the right wing government of Quebec Premier Francois Legault.  From its inception it was intended to violate the rights of Quebec's minority religious communities under the guise of defending secularism.  The Legault government knew it would violate fundamental religious rights guaranteed under Section 2a of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms so it invoked the "notwithstanding clause" of the Charter in the legislation, which allows governments to override Charter guaranteed rights, with little fear that it would be overturned by the courts.

Following a year in which Canadians came out in the tens of thousands to speak out in support of racial justice it is unbelievable that federalist party leaders are silent on the issue of Quebec’s racist secularism law.   If Justin Trudeau, Erin O’Toole and Jagmeet Singh are sincere about supporting the fight against hate, bigotry and racism they must stand strongly against the ethno-nationalism that is being promoted by the Quebec government through its secularism law, and supported at the federal level by Blanchet and his party.

Quebec’s secularism law is now more than two years old and has upended the lives of many Quebec families.  Many individuals from racialized communities in Quebec have been forced to leave that province to pursue their professions in the face of the Bill 21 law.  It is intolerable that all federalist party leaders have not come together to unequivocally stand against the law, and support legal challenges to defend the rights of Canadians under the Charter.  They have sacrificed the human rights of certain religious communities in Quebec on the altar of political expediency.

The lack of action by Trudeau, O’Toole and Singh on Bill 21 is not only wrong it is unacceptable and makes all federalist leaders untrustworthy when they claim to be defenders of human rights and democratic freedoms.  Because if they cannot defend the human rights of people in Quebec affected by its secularism law then how can they be trusted to defend the fundamental rights and freedoms of Canadians in other areas, or of persecuted minorities overseas?  Canadians deserve better than political leaders who do not have a backbone on issues of fundamental justice.  Unfortunately, in this election there are none that can provide the type of strength of conviction that all Canadians deserve.

© 2021 The View From Here.  © 2021 Fareed Khan.  All Rights Reserved.