Stephen Harper plays the politics of hate against Muslims
Posted: Mon Feb 16, 2015 2:52 pmStephen Harper plays the politics of hate against Muslims
[ http://www.thestar.com/opinion/commenta ... slims.html ]
February 14, 2015
Quebec’s charter of values was designed to tap into anti-Muslim bigotry. But the Parti Québécois government of Pauline Marois couldn’t quite figure out how to target Muslims alone. Wrapping itself in the secular flag, it proposed a ban on all religious attire and symbols, hoping that the Montreal Jewish General Hospital and institutions of other faiths would take up its offer of opting out for five years. That would clear the way to ban niqab-wearing women from accessing public services, including health, and fire hijab-wearing women from daycare centres and the health sector. PQ strategist and cabinet minister Jean-François Lisée admitted that much: “We are not dummies. Nobody will be at the doors of Jewish hospitals taking kippas off of doctors’ heads. That’s not the case.”
But the Jewish General took a principled stand and said it would take the government to court. Opposition to the bill gathered momentum and the PQ was defeated in last year’s election.
Stephen Harper is shameless and cleverer. He is stoking fear of Muslim terrorism, and pandering to public unease about Muslims and Islam.
He has already been campaigning for this year’s federal election against “radical Islam,” “jihad” and “jihadists” (sounding more and more like the Chinese government going on about the “jihadi peril” in Xinjiang province by the Muslim Uighurs).
Harper has just added another arrow to his campaign quiver. He will wage his own jihad against one niqab-wearing woman from Toronto who wants to keep her face covered while being sworn in at the citizenship ceremony.
Multiculturalism Minister Jason Kenney had refused to let her become a citizen — ironic for a government that promotes patriotism and gender equality. She took him to court, arguing that her Charter rights were being violated. Last week, the Federal Court agreed and ruled that Kenney’s policy was “unlawful.” Yet another irony for a law-and-order government.
Harper is appealing the decision, citing public opinion: “I believe, and I think most Canadians believe that it’s offensive that someone would hide their identity …”
Populist demagogues always rationalize discrimination in the name of serving public sentiment — no matter the cost, in taxpayer dollars and societal divisions.
Divide and conquer is, in fact, a Harper specialty. So is stomping on the weak, as seen in the federal cuts to essential health services for refugees.
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[ http://www.thestar.com/opinion/commenta ... slims.html ]
[ http://www.thestar.com/opinion/commenta ... slims.html ]
February 14, 2015
Quebec’s charter of values was designed to tap into anti-Muslim bigotry. But the Parti Québécois government of Pauline Marois couldn’t quite figure out how to target Muslims alone. Wrapping itself in the secular flag, it proposed a ban on all religious attire and symbols, hoping that the Montreal Jewish General Hospital and institutions of other faiths would take up its offer of opting out for five years. That would clear the way to ban niqab-wearing women from accessing public services, including health, and fire hijab-wearing women from daycare centres and the health sector. PQ strategist and cabinet minister Jean-François Lisée admitted that much: “We are not dummies. Nobody will be at the doors of Jewish hospitals taking kippas off of doctors’ heads. That’s not the case.”
But the Jewish General took a principled stand and said it would take the government to court. Opposition to the bill gathered momentum and the PQ was defeated in last year’s election.
Stephen Harper is shameless and cleverer. He is stoking fear of Muslim terrorism, and pandering to public unease about Muslims and Islam.
He has already been campaigning for this year’s federal election against “radical Islam,” “jihad” and “jihadists” (sounding more and more like the Chinese government going on about the “jihadi peril” in Xinjiang province by the Muslim Uighurs).
Harper has just added another arrow to his campaign quiver. He will wage his own jihad against one niqab-wearing woman from Toronto who wants to keep her face covered while being sworn in at the citizenship ceremony.
Multiculturalism Minister Jason Kenney had refused to let her become a citizen — ironic for a government that promotes patriotism and gender equality. She took him to court, arguing that her Charter rights were being violated. Last week, the Federal Court agreed and ruled that Kenney’s policy was “unlawful.” Yet another irony for a law-and-order government.
Harper is appealing the decision, citing public opinion: “I believe, and I think most Canadians believe that it’s offensive that someone would hide their identity …”
Populist demagogues always rationalize discrimination in the name of serving public sentiment — no matter the cost, in taxpayer dollars and societal divisions.
Divide and conquer is, in fact, a Harper specialty. So is stomping on the weak, as seen in the federal cuts to essential health services for refugees.
MORE:
[ http://www.thestar.com/opinion/commenta ... slims.html ]