From the Toronto Star (Racism charge hurts: Officer by Isabel Teotonio, June 30):
The Toronto police officer who fatally shot Filipino teenager Jeffrey Reodica told coroner's court yesterday he is a native Indian and finds offensive suggestions that racism played a role in his treatment of the 17-year-old.
[. . .]
Belanger was asked by his lawyer about his own race and told the five-person jury that he is a full-status Indian. He also said he is offended by suggestions made by some lawyers that racism played a role in his actions.
[. . .]
Read all of Isabel Teotonio's article.
Friday, June 30, 2006
Fernando Zola: Refugee claimant who raped teen seven times gets 25 years
From the Toronto Star (25 years for rapist Zola by Peter Small, June 30):
A judge has rejected a Crown application to slap a dangerous offender designation on a failed refugee claimant who went on a two-week rape and robbery rampage.
Superior Court Justice Brian Trafford sentenced Fernando Zola to the equivalent of 25 years in prison — 18 years plus time already served credited at the customary two-for-one ratio.
"The defendant's conduct was savage and cruel," and there is a risk he'll re-offend, Trafford said. But he added there isn't enough known about the child rapist's background to brand him a dangerous offender to be locked up indefinitely.
[. . .]
On Dec. 27, 2002, the French-speaking Angolan, who is believed to be in his 30s, began a crime spree shortly after his refugee claim was rejected.
He robbed three stores in Vaughan and abducted two girls, aged 15 and 13, off Toronto streets in separate incidents, threatening to kill them and raping them both. He held the 13-year-old girl in his Kipling Ave. apartment overnight, handcuffing her and forcing intercourse seven times as well as demanding a $20,000 ransom from her mother before police caught him.
[. . .]
Read all of the Star article
A judge has rejected a Crown application to slap a dangerous offender designation on a failed refugee claimant who went on a two-week rape and robbery rampage.
Superior Court Justice Brian Trafford sentenced Fernando Zola to the equivalent of 25 years in prison — 18 years plus time already served credited at the customary two-for-one ratio.
"The defendant's conduct was savage and cruel," and there is a risk he'll re-offend, Trafford said. But he added there isn't enough known about the child rapist's background to brand him a dangerous offender to be locked up indefinitely.
[. . .]
On Dec. 27, 2002, the French-speaking Angolan, who is believed to be in his 30s, began a crime spree shortly after his refugee claim was rejected.
He robbed three stores in Vaughan and abducted two girls, aged 15 and 13, off Toronto streets in separate incidents, threatening to kill them and raping them both. He held the 13-year-old girl in his Kipling Ave. apartment overnight, handcuffing her and forcing intercourse seven times as well as demanding a $20,000 ransom from her mother before police caught him.
[. . .]
Read all of the Star article
Thursday, June 29, 2006
Shots fired at police and paramedics
From the Toronto Star (Police hunt downtown gunman by Curtis Rush, June 29):
A man who opened fire on police and paramedics early this morning remains on the loose, police said.
Two women were taken into custody at the scene on Dundas St. E., but so far no charges have been laid.
Late this morning, police were still conducting an investigation in the Dundas St. E. and River St. area.
[. . .]
Police responded to reports of a shooting at about 4:30 a.m. and found a man with gunshot wounds. He was taken to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
As police approached a male suspect fired several shots at the officers and paramedics. An EMS SUV was hit by two bullets, but no one was injured.
[. . .]
Read all of the Star article.
A man who opened fire on police and paramedics early this morning remains on the loose, police said.
Two women were taken into custody at the scene on Dundas St. E., but so far no charges have been laid.
Late this morning, police were still conducting an investigation in the Dundas St. E. and River St. area.
[. . .]
Police responded to reports of a shooting at about 4:30 a.m. and found a man with gunshot wounds. He was taken to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
As police approached a male suspect fired several shots at the officers and paramedics. An EMS SUV was hit by two bullets, but no one was injured.
[. . .]
Read all of the Star article.
Since when do small-c conservatives believe in corporate welfare and government make-work projects?
From CanWest News Service (Conservatives tout economic benefits of defence spending by Richard Foot, June 28):
Defence Minister Gordon O’Connor opened a week of massive military spending announcements Monday by portraying the purchase of new hardware not as an essential outfitting project for the army, navy and air force, but as a national job-creation scheme.
“The cumulative effect of the (week’s) announcements on industry is that every part of the country — nearly every town in this country — is going to be affected by these projects and is going to benefit from them,” O’Connor said after relaunching plans to acquire three new supply ships for the navy.
[. . .]
O’Connor, Fortier and Gen. Rick Hillier, the chief of defence staff, will travel the country this week, unveiling an estimated $15 billion worth of defence purchases focused on giving the military the “mobility” it needs to transport troops and equipment to areas of operation, such as Afghanistan.
[. . .]
Precisely how much of the government’s $2.1 billion will end up in Canada, or how many jobs it might create, isn’t clear.
Four shipbuilding consortiums have been identified as qualified bidders on the project and, while the new supply ships must be constructed in Canada, much of the design and engineering work, as well as the building of weapons and other systems, will likely take place outside the country, naval officials said Monday in a background briefing.
[. . .]
Read the whole article.
Psst, I know a great way to create jobs. Let's start a war. That's always good for the economy. All those tanks and guns. Yes, yes. The money you spend on weapons is money you can't invest in other things, but all that destruction leads to reconstruction and more work. What's that you say? Broken window fallacy? Never heard of it.
I'm not saying the military doesn't need new equipment, but if it does, the government should justify the purchase by pointing to Canada's defense needs, not by using spurious economic arguments.
Defence Minister Gordon O’Connor opened a week of massive military spending announcements Monday by portraying the purchase of new hardware not as an essential outfitting project for the army, navy and air force, but as a national job-creation scheme.
“The cumulative effect of the (week’s) announcements on industry is that every part of the country — nearly every town in this country — is going to be affected by these projects and is going to benefit from them,” O’Connor said after relaunching plans to acquire three new supply ships for the navy.
[. . .]
O’Connor, Fortier and Gen. Rick Hillier, the chief of defence staff, will travel the country this week, unveiling an estimated $15 billion worth of defence purchases focused on giving the military the “mobility” it needs to transport troops and equipment to areas of operation, such as Afghanistan.
[. . .]
Precisely how much of the government’s $2.1 billion will end up in Canada, or how many jobs it might create, isn’t clear.
Four shipbuilding consortiums have been identified as qualified bidders on the project and, while the new supply ships must be constructed in Canada, much of the design and engineering work, as well as the building of weapons and other systems, will likely take place outside the country, naval officials said Monday in a background briefing.
[. . .]
Read the whole article.
Psst, I know a great way to create jobs. Let's start a war. That's always good for the economy. All those tanks and guns. Yes, yes. The money you spend on weapons is money you can't invest in other things, but all that destruction leads to reconstruction and more work. What's that you say? Broken window fallacy? Never heard of it.
I'm not saying the military doesn't need new equipment, but if it does, the government should justify the purchase by pointing to Canada's defense needs, not by using spurious economic arguments.
Wednesday, June 28, 2006
Belanger testifies at Reodica inquest
From CBC News (No choice but to shoot teen, officer tells inquest, June 28):
The plainclothes police officer who shot and killed 17-year-old Jeffrey Reodica in 2004 told a coroner's inquest in Toronto Tuesday that he had no choice but to shoot the teenager.
Det. Const. Dan Belanger spent a gruelling day being cross-examined by lawyers of the family.
Belanger testified that while he and his partner struggled on the ground trying to handcuff the teen, the 17-year-old managed to lift himself with one hand and pull a knife out with the other.
He told the inquest that Reodica swiped at him a number of times with the knife.
[. . .]
Read all of the CBC article. A detailed, if somewhat biased, account of the events leading to Reodica's death can be found here: Why did Jeffrey die? The article provides a lot of interesting detail, but in my opinion it is biased against the police. Read it and judge for yourself.
The death of a teenage boy is sad, but it seems to me there is a larger issue: the state of race relations in this part of Scarborough. Reodica was part of an armed mob of non-whites chasing a group of white boys. How often does this sort of thing happen in Scarborough? We know it happens in East York.
The plainclothes police officer who shot and killed 17-year-old Jeffrey Reodica in 2004 told a coroner's inquest in Toronto Tuesday that he had no choice but to shoot the teenager.
Det. Const. Dan Belanger spent a gruelling day being cross-examined by lawyers of the family.
Belanger testified that while he and his partner struggled on the ground trying to handcuff the teen, the 17-year-old managed to lift himself with one hand and pull a knife out with the other.
He told the inquest that Reodica swiped at him a number of times with the knife.
[. . .]
Read all of the CBC article. A detailed, if somewhat biased, account of the events leading to Reodica's death can be found here: Why did Jeffrey die? The article provides a lot of interesting detail, but in my opinion it is biased against the police. Read it and judge for yourself.
The death of a teenage boy is sad, but it seems to me there is a larger issue: the state of race relations in this part of Scarborough. Reodica was part of an armed mob of non-whites chasing a group of white boys. How often does this sort of thing happen in Scarborough? We know it happens in East York.
Court rejects Costa Rican family's bid to stay deportation
From CBC News (Court rejects Toronto family's bid for deportation extension, June 28):
A Toronto family's request for a deportation extension has been denied by a Federal Court judge.
The Costa Rican family has been at the centre of a controversial case since immigration officials pulled two of the children from school and held them in a detention centre.
Kimberly, 15, and 14-year-old Gerald Lizano-Sossa, were eventually released and the family was granted a deportation extension so they could stay together until the two finished their school year.
The family's lawyer appeared in Federal Court Monday to request a stay on the deportation order until their application for permanent residency on humanitarian and compassionate grounds could be heard.
[. . .]
Read all of the CBC article.
If this were the only foreign family who wanted to settle in Canada, I would say let them, law or no law. But, of course, they're not the only ones. Canada is a good place to live. A lot of people would like to come here, but if we let everyone in, our social system would collapse. That's why I react strongly to newspaper articles about illegal immigrants that play on readers' emotions. Reports that focus on the pain felt by one family miss the big picture. I don't deny that this family in a painful situation. I have sympathy for their desire to live here. I don't know these people, but I have no reason to say they're bad even if they did break the law. People who are basically decent sometimes do, but if Canada allows them to get away with it, we encourage others to do the same. One family of illegal immigrants is no big deal, but we have to remember the millions of other families who would like to come here. How many immigrants can Canada absorb without compromising the quality of life of its citizens? We are already taking in far too many legal immigrants. We don't need the added burden of illegals. Yes, illegals work, but they also drive down wages and in many cases take jobs away from Canadians. Illegal immigration also creates an underground economy in which criminals and even terrorists can hide.
A Toronto family's request for a deportation extension has been denied by a Federal Court judge.
The Costa Rican family has been at the centre of a controversial case since immigration officials pulled two of the children from school and held them in a detention centre.
Kimberly, 15, and 14-year-old Gerald Lizano-Sossa, were eventually released and the family was granted a deportation extension so they could stay together until the two finished their school year.
The family's lawyer appeared in Federal Court Monday to request a stay on the deportation order until their application for permanent residency on humanitarian and compassionate grounds could be heard.
[. . .]
Read all of the CBC article.
If this were the only foreign family who wanted to settle in Canada, I would say let them, law or no law. But, of course, they're not the only ones. Canada is a good place to live. A lot of people would like to come here, but if we let everyone in, our social system would collapse. That's why I react strongly to newspaper articles about illegal immigrants that play on readers' emotions. Reports that focus on the pain felt by one family miss the big picture. I don't deny that this family in a painful situation. I have sympathy for their desire to live here. I don't know these people, but I have no reason to say they're bad even if they did break the law. People who are basically decent sometimes do, but if Canada allows them to get away with it, we encourage others to do the same. One family of illegal immigrants is no big deal, but we have to remember the millions of other families who would like to come here. How many immigrants can Canada absorb without compromising the quality of life of its citizens? We are already taking in far too many legal immigrants. We don't need the added burden of illegals. Yes, illegals work, but they also drive down wages and in many cases take jobs away from Canadians. Illegal immigration also creates an underground economy in which criminals and even terrorists can hide.
CTV News: three of the men charged in Jane Creba's shooting death were out on bail
From CTV News (Creba shooting suspect granted bail hearing delay, June 28):
CTV News has learned Smith, 20, and two others charged in the shooting death were on bail at the time of the gun battle on Yonge Street between two gangs.
Police allege Smith is the man in the tan suit caught on surveillance cameras around the time of the shooting.
He had been released on bail about five months before the gang fight after being arrested and charged with domestic assault.
Some seven weeks after that, we was released from custody again after being arrested and charged with breaching his bail, possession of crack cocaine and possession of property obtained by crime, court documents show.
Read the whole article.
CTV News has learned Smith, 20, and two others charged in the shooting death were on bail at the time of the gun battle on Yonge Street between two gangs.
Police allege Smith is the man in the tan suit caught on surveillance cameras around the time of the shooting.
He had been released on bail about five months before the gang fight after being arrested and charged with domestic assault.
Some seven weeks after that, we was released from custody again after being arrested and charged with breaching his bail, possession of crack cocaine and possession of property obtained by crime, court documents show.
Read the whole article.
Congolese aid officials denied visas for refugee conference
From the Toronto Sun (Aid workers denied visas by Tom Godfrey, June 28):
Immigration officials are being lobbied to allow six prominent Congolese aid workers into Canada to attend conferences on refugees.
The six were refused month-long visas to attend a 450-delegate Canadian Council of Refugees conference in Toronto two weeks ago, Paul Tshibanda, of Action Refugee Africa, said yesterday.
"We are very disappointed and frustrated," he said. "It is impossible to bring good people here because they can't get visas. "
The men re-applied for other conferences but were told last week by Canadian embassy officials in Congo that they won't be receiving visas over fears they may not return home, he said.
[. . .]
Read all of Tom Godfrey's Sun article
The reluctance to grant the visas is a consequence of the Supreme Court's 1985 Singh decision. Before this ruling, immigration officials could use their discretion when someone made a refugee claim. If officials thought the claim was bogus, they would send the claimant packing. No fuss, no muss. Now however, merely making a claim can lead to years of hearings and appeals, at the end of which, the claimant can ask to stay on humanitarian grounds. Officials are reluctant to grant visas to people they suspect might make a claim, because once someone says he's a refugee, it's almost impossible to get rid of him. It's not uncommon for a failed claimant to marry and have Canadian-born children who are automatically citizens. When it finally comes time to go home, the failed claimant can argue it's cruel to separate him from his offspring. Also, Canada, unlike most countries, allows claimants to work, which means they have an incentive to drag out the case as long as possible even if they know it's a lost cause. Many asylum seekers simply disappear before their case is settled. That's what Canada's most notorious terrorist, Ahmed Ressam, did. He claimed refugee status but abandoned his claim without ever leaving Canada. A 2003 report by Auditor General Sheila Fraser found that Ottawa had lost track of 36,000 failed refugee claimants.
Immigration officials are being lobbied to allow six prominent Congolese aid workers into Canada to attend conferences on refugees.
The six were refused month-long visas to attend a 450-delegate Canadian Council of Refugees conference in Toronto two weeks ago, Paul Tshibanda, of Action Refugee Africa, said yesterday.
"We are very disappointed and frustrated," he said. "It is impossible to bring good people here because they can't get visas. "
The men re-applied for other conferences but were told last week by Canadian embassy officials in Congo that they won't be receiving visas over fears they may not return home, he said.
[. . .]
Read all of Tom Godfrey's Sun article
The reluctance to grant the visas is a consequence of the Supreme Court's 1985 Singh decision. Before this ruling, immigration officials could use their discretion when someone made a refugee claim. If officials thought the claim was bogus, they would send the claimant packing. No fuss, no muss. Now however, merely making a claim can lead to years of hearings and appeals, at the end of which, the claimant can ask to stay on humanitarian grounds. Officials are reluctant to grant visas to people they suspect might make a claim, because once someone says he's a refugee, it's almost impossible to get rid of him. It's not uncommon for a failed claimant to marry and have Canadian-born children who are automatically citizens. When it finally comes time to go home, the failed claimant can argue it's cruel to separate him from his offspring. Also, Canada, unlike most countries, allows claimants to work, which means they have an incentive to drag out the case as long as possible even if they know it's a lost cause. Many asylum seekers simply disappear before their case is settled. That's what Canada's most notorious terrorist, Ahmed Ressam, did. He claimed refugee status but abandoned his claim without ever leaving Canada. A 2003 report by Auditor General Sheila Fraser found that Ottawa had lost track of 36,000 failed refugee claimants.
Tuesday, June 27, 2006
Tories may lose the Azerbaijani vote
From Canadian Press via CNews (Azerbaijanis miffed at Conservative presence at event for disputed territory by Jennifer Ditchburn, June 23):
Conservative MP Jason Kenney's presence at a fundraiser for a bitterly disputed region in Eastern Europe has created some diplomatic unpleasantness with the Azerbaijani embassy and community in Canada.
Kenney, who is parliamentary secretary to the prime minister, attended a banquet June 11 held by the Hayastan All-Armenian Fund banquet. The group does charitable works in Armenia and specifically Nagorno Karabakh, a breakaway region that Canada does not recognize as a state.
The area has been effectively controlled by Armenia since 1994, and remains a hotly contested area of land since some of it includes occupied Azerbaijani territory. It's is almost completely populated by ethnic Armenians.
[. . .]
Read the whole article
Conservative MP Jason Kenney's presence at a fundraiser for a bitterly disputed region in Eastern Europe has created some diplomatic unpleasantness with the Azerbaijani embassy and community in Canada.
Kenney, who is parliamentary secretary to the prime minister, attended a banquet June 11 held by the Hayastan All-Armenian Fund banquet. The group does charitable works in Armenia and specifically Nagorno Karabakh, a breakaway region that Canada does not recognize as a state.
The area has been effectively controlled by Armenia since 1994, and remains a hotly contested area of land since some of it includes occupied Azerbaijani territory. It's is almost completely populated by ethnic Armenians.
[. . .]
Read the whole article
Indian tribe claims Toronto but will settle for the Island airport
From the Toronto Star (New look at land claims by Bryan Laforme, June 20):
Considerable public attention is focused on the continuing standoff in Caledonia, Ontario, but meanwhile, there's another highly significant land claim that remains unresolved — in Toronto.
My people, the Mississaugas of New Credit First Nation, are still owed fair compensation for the land on which Toronto now sits. Not only Toronto, but also a good chunk of the Greater Toronto Area — nearly 101,600 hectares (251,000 acres), from Ashbridge's Bay to Etobicoke Creek, extending 45 kilometres (28 miles) north.
Our claim for compensation is recognized by the federal government; we have both agreed to negotiate. We have some creative solutions that we believe would resolve the case.
[. . .]
But we are still waiting for fair compensation.
One idea that we have proposed as a fair solution for all — a win-win, if you will — is to provide our Nation with the land on which Toronto's City Centre (Island) Airport now sits. This property is now under the jurisdiction of the Toronto Port Authority, a federal agency.
The airport has aroused controversy and considerable opposition, particularly from nearby residents. The Mississaugas of New Credit would be interested in revitalizing this land to establish a First Nations culture presence in the heart of Toronto.
[. . .]
Read the whole op-ed.
Considerable public attention is focused on the continuing standoff in Caledonia, Ontario, but meanwhile, there's another highly significant land claim that remains unresolved — in Toronto.
My people, the Mississaugas of New Credit First Nation, are still owed fair compensation for the land on which Toronto now sits. Not only Toronto, but also a good chunk of the Greater Toronto Area — nearly 101,600 hectares (251,000 acres), from Ashbridge's Bay to Etobicoke Creek, extending 45 kilometres (28 miles) north.
Our claim for compensation is recognized by the federal government; we have both agreed to negotiate. We have some creative solutions that we believe would resolve the case.
[. . .]
But we are still waiting for fair compensation.
One idea that we have proposed as a fair solution for all — a win-win, if you will — is to provide our Nation with the land on which Toronto's City Centre (Island) Airport now sits. This property is now under the jurisdiction of the Toronto Port Authority, a federal agency.
The airport has aroused controversy and considerable opposition, particularly from nearby residents. The Mississaugas of New Credit would be interested in revitalizing this land to establish a First Nations culture presence in the heart of Toronto.
[. . .]
Read the whole op-ed.
Ottawa has a backlog of almost 800 unsolved aboriginal land claims
From Canadian Press via Maclean's (Backlog of unsolved land claims nears 800 as minister plans overhaul by Sue Bailey, June 27):
More Caledonia-type conflicts are brewing as the number of native land claims nears 800 and the average wait time for settlements tops nine years.
The most complicated cases take longer. It's not unusual for the federal justice department to take five years to draft a legal opinion on a claim's basic merits. Indian Affairs Minister Jim Prentice says he plans a major "retooling" of a badly flawed system that critics blame for rising tensions and stunted development.
"The backlog is not acceptable and we're working on it," Prentice said in an interview.
"Claims vary in complexity. But by any measure, the current system is not working effectively."
A three-day conference starting Wednesday in Gatineau, Que. will gather experts on ways to push for improvements.
Prentice says he's considering increased mediation, more skilled negotiators and other ways to simplify a notoriously cumbersome process. More funding may also be needed for a system that cost Ottawa $536 million in 2004-05 to negotiate, settle and implement land claims.
[. . .]
Read the whole article. Melvin H. Smith's book Our Home or Native Land? (ISBN 0773758216) is essential reading for people interested in Indian land claims.
More Caledonia-type conflicts are brewing as the number of native land claims nears 800 and the average wait time for settlements tops nine years.
The most complicated cases take longer. It's not unusual for the federal justice department to take five years to draft a legal opinion on a claim's basic merits. Indian Affairs Minister Jim Prentice says he plans a major "retooling" of a badly flawed system that critics blame for rising tensions and stunted development.
"The backlog is not acceptable and we're working on it," Prentice said in an interview.
"Claims vary in complexity. But by any measure, the current system is not working effectively."
A three-day conference starting Wednesday in Gatineau, Que. will gather experts on ways to push for improvements.
Prentice says he's considering increased mediation, more skilled negotiators and other ways to simplify a notoriously cumbersome process. More funding may also be needed for a system that cost Ottawa $536 million in 2004-05 to negotiate, settle and implement land claims.
[. . .]
Read the whole article. Melvin H. Smith's book Our Home or Native Land? (ISBN 0773758216) is essential reading for people interested in Indian land claims.
No bail for two teens facing terrorism-related charges
From CBC News (Bail denied for two teens facing terrorism-related charges, June 27):
The two youngest people charged in connection with an alleged bomb plot in Ontario have been denied bail.
The youngest of 17 Toronto suspects, a 15-year-old, and an 18-year-old, who was 17 at the time of arrest, appeared in a Brampton, Ont., court Tuesday afternoon where a justice of the peace denied their petitions.
Both face charges under the federal Anti-terrorism Act of belonging to a terrorist group and engaging in terrorism-related training.
[. . .]
On Monday, nine other suspects appeared in court to set future court appearances while two others appeared via video link.
[. . .]
Read the whole article
The two youngest people charged in connection with an alleged bomb plot in Ontario have been denied bail.
The youngest of 17 Toronto suspects, a 15-year-old, and an 18-year-old, who was 17 at the time of arrest, appeared in a Brampton, Ont., court Tuesday afternoon where a justice of the peace denied their petitions.
Both face charges under the federal Anti-terrorism Act of belonging to a terrorist group and engaging in terrorism-related training.
[. . .]
On Monday, nine other suspects appeared in court to set future court appearances while two others appeared via video link.
[. . .]
Read the whole article
The Pink Trail to Canada
From the Asian Pacific Post (The 'Pink Trail' to Canada, June 27):
The modus operandi is quite simple.
Two guys approach the Canadian High Commission in Delhi with applications for immigration visas.
They claim to be partners and against the legal backdrop of India banning homosexuality, they are unable to lead a peaceful life together.
Canada it seems is the only country they can live a life as a homosexual couple.
They get their visa based on the claim but shortly after landing in Canada, it was soon revealed that they aren't really gays, much less a couple.
Indian media reported last month that it has come to the attention of officials that many youths are using the ban on homosexuality to get an immigration visa to certain western countries where same-sex-marriage is legal.
[. . .]
Read the whole article More about people falsely claiming to be homosexual so that they can get refugee status can be found here: Canada allows gays to claim refugee status,
The modus operandi is quite simple.
Two guys approach the Canadian High Commission in Delhi with applications for immigration visas.
They claim to be partners and against the legal backdrop of India banning homosexuality, they are unable to lead a peaceful life together.
Canada it seems is the only country they can live a life as a homosexual couple.
They get their visa based on the claim but shortly after landing in Canada, it was soon revealed that they aren't really gays, much less a couple.
Indian media reported last month that it has come to the attention of officials that many youths are using the ban on homosexuality to get an immigration visa to certain western countries where same-sex-marriage is legal.
[. . .]
Read the whole article More about people falsely claiming to be homosexual so that they can get refugee status can be found here: Canada allows gays to claim refugee status,
Bell Sympatico to monitor customers' online surfing. May share information with government.
From Canadian Press via the Globe and Mail (Big Brother watching you surf?, June 27):
One of Canada's largest Internet service providers is warning its customers that Big Brother is lurking on-line, with the federal government expected to revive an Internet surveillance bill.
If the legislation is reintroduced, it could allow police unfettered access to personal information without a warrant, experts warn.
Bell Sympatico has informed its customers that it intends to "monitor or investigate content or your use of your service provider's networks and to disclose any information necessary to satisfy any laws, regulations or other governmental request."
[. . .]
Read the whole Canadian Press article. The article quotes Michael Geist, an internet law professor at the University of Ottawa. He has a blog.
One of Canada's largest Internet service providers is warning its customers that Big Brother is lurking on-line, with the federal government expected to revive an Internet surveillance bill.
If the legislation is reintroduced, it could allow police unfettered access to personal information without a warrant, experts warn.
Bell Sympatico has informed its customers that it intends to "monitor or investigate content or your use of your service provider's networks and to disclose any information necessary to satisfy any laws, regulations or other governmental request."
[. . .]
Read the whole Canadian Press article. The article quotes Michael Geist, an internet law professor at the University of Ottawa. He has a blog.
Human rights extremists threaten Canada's national security
There is a story in today's Globe and Mail concerning former Canadian Supreme Court justice and current UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour. According to the Globe article, Arbour recently gave a talk where she said (Arbour's role in torture case under fire by Kirk Makin, June 27, 2006):
governments are bound by international prohibitions against sending individuals back to countries where they face the risk of torture under any circumstances.
Human rights activists, however, are upset because Arbour was one of the Supreme Court justices who in 2002 decided Canada may, under "exceptional circumstances" deport people who face a "substantial risk of torture".
The legal principle established by this decision has come to be known as the 'Suresh exception'. It takes its name from Manickavasagam Suresh, who the Canadian government believes was a fundraiser for the terrorist Tamil Tigers. Suresh has been fighting deportation since 1995 when a judge ruled he should be deported "as quickly as possible." See Stewart Bell's Oct. 29 National Post article.
Bell writes at length about the Suresh case in his 2004 book Cold Terror: How Canada nurtures and exports terrorism around the word (ISBN 0470834633). From pp. 59-60:
Suresh, meanwhile, was trying a new approach to beat Canadian authorities. "I fear that I will be detained, tortured and ultimately murdered in Sri Lanka, he said. He appealed to the Supreme Court of Canada on the grounds that deportation would be a death sentence. Ten lobby groups asked the court's permission to intervence. Seven were allowed to take part, including FACT, the Canadian Arab Federation, Canadian Council for Refugees, Amnesty International, Canadian Council of Churches, the Centre for Constitutional Rights and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.
[Hyphenated Canadian - not Louise Arbour who was at the time a justice hearing the case.]
All argued that Suresh should not be deported. "The right to be free from torture is an absolute human right that applies to all people in all circumstances," said Alex Neve, who heads Amnesty's Canadian chapter. "We're concerned that no country, including Canada, start to carve out exceptions, limitations and restrictions to that right." The Canadian Bar Association was later added as an intervenor, also on the side of Suresh.
When the government lawyers appeared before the country's top justices, they would be facing not only Suresh's lawyers, but also a row of powerful interest groups. A more one-sided fight would be hard to find. The federal lawyers were blunt about what was at stake. "This case will determine whether Canada will become a haven for terrorists," the government legal team said in its submission to the court. "The elimination of terrorism requires the elimination of the funds which fuel violence. To preserve the security of Canada and the integrity of Canada's refugee determination system, Canada must not be a haven and a fundraising base camp for terrorists." The government's "Statement of Facts" went on to describe the LTTE as an organization that promotes its agenda "by directing terror at civilians." Suicide bombings, land mines, murders, ethnic cleansing, kidnapping and forced conscription of child soldiers were attributed to the LTTE and its "cult-sacrificial death culture and rejection of democratic institutions ... These examples of brute force and contempt for human rights require money. The LTTE raises money through drug trafficking. It also raises money by relying upon the willing and unwilling expatriate communities abroad, such as the large number of Tamil refugees in Canada."
[Hyphenated Canadian - In March, Human Rights Watch issued a report which described the Tigers' use of extortion to raise funds. Read the press release or the whole report.]
The World Tamil Movement and the Federation of Associations of Canadian Tamils were named as "examples of political and benevolent front organizations which support the LTTE." The lawyer representing FACT countered that fundraising was a constitutionally protected form of expression and that there was no evidence that FACT or its members, including Suresh, had committed any crimes or were responsible for terrorist violence. "The federal government is constitutionally justified in addressing a terrorist presence in Canada, but only through means that are proportional. Placing individuals at risk of deportation for engaging in associational and expressive activities is a particularly deleterious consequence for members of a community who legitimately fear mistreatment, persecution and even torture upon returning to Sri Lanka."
The court decision sealed Canada's fate as a haven for terrorists, ruling that if terrorists caught in Canada were at risk of being tortured in their homelands, the government could not deport them except in rare circumstances, where their presence in Canada poses such a great public danger that they have to be removed. Suresh's case was sent back to the immigration department for another look. He was still living in Toronto at the time of this writing. "If we can't get rid of Suresh," a former high-ranking intelligence official told me, "whom can we get rid of?"
Immigration expert Martin Collacott who recently completed a report, Canada's Inadequate Response to Terrorism, for the Fraser Institute is dismayed by the court's ruling. From Bell's National Post article (Accused terrorist's low-key life, October 29, 2005):
Canada's former high commissioner to Sri Lanka, Martin Collacott, said the fact that Mr. Suresh remains in the country so long after his arrest shows that Ottawa's counterterrorism policies need to be re-examined.
Courts have put such tight restrictions on the deportation of foreign terrorists who are at risk of torture that it has become virtually impossible to get rid of many of them.
"It's not working or it's working very badly," said Mr. Collacott, a former counterterrorism co-ordinator at the Department of External Affairs.
"Once the people are here and their lawyers are in action, the lawyers have been able to build up a great array of appeal possibilities," he said.
"It's another example of the fact Canada is not either serious about, or able to cope with, the problem of terrorism."
Read all of Stewart Bell's article.
As I mentioned at the beginning, human rights activists don't much like the court's ruling either, but for different reasons. They are dismayed that people said to be facing a substantial risk of torture can be deported at all, even if only under "exceptional circumstancese".
From the Globe and Mail article (Arbour's role in torture case under fire by Kirk Makin, June 27):
"When I go abroad to international conferences and people talk to me about the Suresh exception, they are absolutely dumbfounded that this is something good old, congenial Canada is willing to do," said University of Toronto law professor Kent Roach.
"The Suresh exception is not something that has brought credit to Canada and our Supreme Court," he said.
[. . .]
Audrey Macklin, a U of T law professor who specializes in immigration issues, said that when the court created the exception, it probably hoped that it would never be used. "Instead, the government has taken the position that each of the [five] men being held on security certificates falls within the exception," she said.
The case is also being cited in the European Court of Human Rights to back a bid by Lithuania, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom to overturn a previous court ruling that absolutely banned deporting people to face a substantial possibility of torture.
One of the security-certificate cases -- that of Mahmoud Jaballah -- is likely to furnish the test case that will put the Suresh exception back before the Supreme Court, Prof. Macklin predicted. A Federal Court judge has already approved a security certificate that would deport Mr. Jaballah to Egypt despite clear evidence that he will face a substantial risk of torture.
Read all of Kirk Makin's article
I gave this blog entry a provocative headline: Human rights extremists threaten Canada's national security. My reason is straightforward. Most foreigners suspected of being involved in terrorism come from countries like Egypt, Pakistan, Algeria and Sri Lanka, where governments do, unfortunately, torture prisoners. If human rights activists have their way, any terrorist could come to Canada from one of those countries and stay here forever by claiming they would be tortured if they were sent home. The activists say there are other ways of dealing with suspected terrorists. They say people suspected of terrorist activities can be prosecuted under domestic law, but prosecutions would be complicated and extremely costly. Just monitoring terrorists uses up enormous resources. As things stand now, both CSIS and the RCMP say they need more money to do their jobs properly. See here and here. There's just no way Canada could keep track of, let alone prosecute, all the terrorists who would settle here if the courts made it impossible for Ottawa to deport them to countries where they might be tortured.
governments are bound by international prohibitions against sending individuals back to countries where they face the risk of torture under any circumstances.
Human rights activists, however, are upset because Arbour was one of the Supreme Court justices who in 2002 decided Canada may, under "exceptional circumstances" deport people who face a "substantial risk of torture".
The legal principle established by this decision has come to be known as the 'Suresh exception'. It takes its name from Manickavasagam Suresh, who the Canadian government believes was a fundraiser for the terrorist Tamil Tigers. Suresh has been fighting deportation since 1995 when a judge ruled he should be deported "as quickly as possible." See Stewart Bell's Oct. 29 National Post article.
Bell writes at length about the Suresh case in his 2004 book Cold Terror: How Canada nurtures and exports terrorism around the word (ISBN 0470834633). From pp. 59-60:
Suresh, meanwhile, was trying a new approach to beat Canadian authorities. "I fear that I will be detained, tortured and ultimately murdered in Sri Lanka, he said. He appealed to the Supreme Court of Canada on the grounds that deportation would be a death sentence. Ten lobby groups asked the court's permission to intervence. Seven were allowed to take part, including FACT, the Canadian Arab Federation, Canadian Council for Refugees, Amnesty International, Canadian Council of Churches, the Centre for Constitutional Rights and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.
[Hyphenated Canadian - not Louise Arbour who was at the time a justice hearing the case.]
All argued that Suresh should not be deported. "The right to be free from torture is an absolute human right that applies to all people in all circumstances," said Alex Neve, who heads Amnesty's Canadian chapter. "We're concerned that no country, including Canada, start to carve out exceptions, limitations and restrictions to that right." The Canadian Bar Association was later added as an intervenor, also on the side of Suresh.
When the government lawyers appeared before the country's top justices, they would be facing not only Suresh's lawyers, but also a row of powerful interest groups. A more one-sided fight would be hard to find. The federal lawyers were blunt about what was at stake. "This case will determine whether Canada will become a haven for terrorists," the government legal team said in its submission to the court. "The elimination of terrorism requires the elimination of the funds which fuel violence. To preserve the security of Canada and the integrity of Canada's refugee determination system, Canada must not be a haven and a fundraising base camp for terrorists." The government's "Statement of Facts" went on to describe the LTTE as an organization that promotes its agenda "by directing terror at civilians." Suicide bombings, land mines, murders, ethnic cleansing, kidnapping and forced conscription of child soldiers were attributed to the LTTE and its "cult-sacrificial death culture and rejection of democratic institutions ... These examples of brute force and contempt for human rights require money. The LTTE raises money through drug trafficking. It also raises money by relying upon the willing and unwilling expatriate communities abroad, such as the large number of Tamil refugees in Canada."
[Hyphenated Canadian - In March, Human Rights Watch issued a report which described the Tigers' use of extortion to raise funds. Read the press release or the whole report.]
The World Tamil Movement and the Federation of Associations of Canadian Tamils were named as "examples of political and benevolent front organizations which support the LTTE." The lawyer representing FACT countered that fundraising was a constitutionally protected form of expression and that there was no evidence that FACT or its members, including Suresh, had committed any crimes or were responsible for terrorist violence. "The federal government is constitutionally justified in addressing a terrorist presence in Canada, but only through means that are proportional. Placing individuals at risk of deportation for engaging in associational and expressive activities is a particularly deleterious consequence for members of a community who legitimately fear mistreatment, persecution and even torture upon returning to Sri Lanka."
The court decision sealed Canada's fate as a haven for terrorists, ruling that if terrorists caught in Canada were at risk of being tortured in their homelands, the government could not deport them except in rare circumstances, where their presence in Canada poses such a great public danger that they have to be removed. Suresh's case was sent back to the immigration department for another look. He was still living in Toronto at the time of this writing. "If we can't get rid of Suresh," a former high-ranking intelligence official told me, "whom can we get rid of?"
Immigration expert Martin Collacott who recently completed a report, Canada's Inadequate Response to Terrorism, for the Fraser Institute is dismayed by the court's ruling. From Bell's National Post article (Accused terrorist's low-key life, October 29, 2005):
Canada's former high commissioner to Sri Lanka, Martin Collacott, said the fact that Mr. Suresh remains in the country so long after his arrest shows that Ottawa's counterterrorism policies need to be re-examined.
Courts have put such tight restrictions on the deportation of foreign terrorists who are at risk of torture that it has become virtually impossible to get rid of many of them.
"It's not working or it's working very badly," said Mr. Collacott, a former counterterrorism co-ordinator at the Department of External Affairs.
"Once the people are here and their lawyers are in action, the lawyers have been able to build up a great array of appeal possibilities," he said.
"It's another example of the fact Canada is not either serious about, or able to cope with, the problem of terrorism."
Read all of Stewart Bell's article.
As I mentioned at the beginning, human rights activists don't much like the court's ruling either, but for different reasons. They are dismayed that people said to be facing a substantial risk of torture can be deported at all, even if only under "exceptional circumstancese".
From the Globe and Mail article (Arbour's role in torture case under fire by Kirk Makin, June 27):
"When I go abroad to international conferences and people talk to me about the Suresh exception, they are absolutely dumbfounded that this is something good old, congenial Canada is willing to do," said University of Toronto law professor Kent Roach.
"The Suresh exception is not something that has brought credit to Canada and our Supreme Court," he said.
[. . .]
Audrey Macklin, a U of T law professor who specializes in immigration issues, said that when the court created the exception, it probably hoped that it would never be used. "Instead, the government has taken the position that each of the [five] men being held on security certificates falls within the exception," she said.
The case is also being cited in the European Court of Human Rights to back a bid by Lithuania, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom to overturn a previous court ruling that absolutely banned deporting people to face a substantial possibility of torture.
One of the security-certificate cases -- that of Mahmoud Jaballah -- is likely to furnish the test case that will put the Suresh exception back before the Supreme Court, Prof. Macklin predicted. A Federal Court judge has already approved a security certificate that would deport Mr. Jaballah to Egypt despite clear evidence that he will face a substantial risk of torture.
Read all of Kirk Makin's article
I gave this blog entry a provocative headline: Human rights extremists threaten Canada's national security. My reason is straightforward. Most foreigners suspected of being involved in terrorism come from countries like Egypt, Pakistan, Algeria and Sri Lanka, where governments do, unfortunately, torture prisoners. If human rights activists have their way, any terrorist could come to Canada from one of those countries and stay here forever by claiming they would be tortured if they were sent home. The activists say there are other ways of dealing with suspected terrorists. They say people suspected of terrorist activities can be prosecuted under domestic law, but prosecutions would be complicated and extremely costly. Just monitoring terrorists uses up enormous resources. As things stand now, both CSIS and the RCMP say they need more money to do their jobs properly. See here and here. There's just no way Canada could keep track of, let alone prosecute, all the terrorists who would settle here if the courts made it impossible for Ottawa to deport them to countries where they might be tortured.
Courtroom battle over marching order of Caribana parade
From the Globe and Mail (Caribana's marching orders land troubled festival in court by Jeff Gray, June 27):
The bizarre courtroom battle is only the latest twist in the soap opera behind the massive summer festival, long plagued by a litany of financial problems and political infighting.
Caribana's colourful signature parade is made up of 16 mas bands, which march with hundreds of members and whose displays end up costing tens of thousands of dollars. Last month, the Toronto Mas Band Association chose the order of the parade by lot at a meeting. But Markham husband-and-wife-team Cecil and Roz Roach, whose mas band is known as the Bazodee Connection, say they received notice of the meeting only after it happened. They were assigned the last spot in their category, 14th overall and third from the end of the entire parade.
The pair, who expect to spend as much as $40,000 on the event, say the association's own bylaws guarantee members 10 days notice of any meeting.
Read all of Jeff Gray's Globe article
The bizarre courtroom battle is only the latest twist in the soap opera behind the massive summer festival, long plagued by a litany of financial problems and political infighting.
Caribana's colourful signature parade is made up of 16 mas bands, which march with hundreds of members and whose displays end up costing tens of thousands of dollars. Last month, the Toronto Mas Band Association chose the order of the parade by lot at a meeting. But Markham husband-and-wife-team Cecil and Roz Roach, whose mas band is known as the Bazodee Connection, say they received notice of the meeting only after it happened. They were assigned the last spot in their category, 14th overall and third from the end of the entire parade.
The pair, who expect to spend as much as $40,000 on the event, say the association's own bylaws guarantee members 10 days notice of any meeting.
Read all of Jeff Gray's Globe article
Lorrie Goldstein: what makes you think you have guns and gangs under control?
Lorrie Goldstein writes in the Toronto Sun (Innocents are dying, June 27):
This weekend there were eight shooting in Toronto, two of them fatal. Last weekend there were six shootings. No one died, but kids as young as 13 were wounded.
So can someone in authority -- anyone -- explain to the rest of us why, exactly, it is you think you've got this whole gangs and guns thing under any better control this summer than you did last summer?
Anybody?
[. . .]
Read all of Lorrie Goldstein's column.
This weekend there were eight shooting in Toronto, two of them fatal. Last weekend there were six shootings. No one died, but kids as young as 13 were wounded.
So can someone in authority -- anyone -- explain to the rest of us why, exactly, it is you think you've got this whole gangs and guns thing under any better control this summer than you did last summer?
Anybody?
[. . .]
Read all of Lorrie Goldstein's column.
Monday, June 26, 2006
Bevilacqua proposes doubling immigration levels. Candidate has "an expansionist view of Canada."
Some days I don't know whether to laugh or cry. From the Globe and Mail (Bevilacqua proposes 'expansionist' policy to boost immigration by Campbell Clark, June 24):
Canada needs to double the flow of immigrants into the country to build up its population and drive economic growth, Liberal leadership candidate Maurizio Bevilacqua said yesterday.
In a bold proposal to throw open the doors to the country, Mr. Bevilacqua proposed that Canada expand its immigration system beyond filling holes in the labour market, bringing in far more foreign relatives of Canadians to expand the population.
His proposal calls for Canada to increase its immigration rate immediately to 1 per cent of the population, or about 325,000 people, rather than the roughly 240,000 a year it brings in now. By 2016, he would increase immigration to 1.5 per cent of the population, which would be about 490,000 people a year based on the current population.
"We can't be timid," Mr. Bevilacqua said in an interview yesterday. "I have very much an expansionist view of Canada."
Canada needs to recruit workers and deal with labour-market needs, but also must engage in nation-building, Mr. Bevilacqua said.
[. . .]
Read all of Campbell Clark's Globe article
Canada needs to double the flow of immigrants into the country to build up its population and drive economic growth, Liberal leadership candidate Maurizio Bevilacqua said yesterday.
In a bold proposal to throw open the doors to the country, Mr. Bevilacqua proposed that Canada expand its immigration system beyond filling holes in the labour market, bringing in far more foreign relatives of Canadians to expand the population.
His proposal calls for Canada to increase its immigration rate immediately to 1 per cent of the population, or about 325,000 people, rather than the roughly 240,000 a year it brings in now. By 2016, he would increase immigration to 1.5 per cent of the population, which would be about 490,000 people a year based on the current population.
"We can't be timid," Mr. Bevilacqua said in an interview yesterday. "I have very much an expansionist view of Canada."
Canada needs to recruit workers and deal with labour-market needs, but also must engage in nation-building, Mr. Bevilacqua said.
[. . .]
Read all of Campbell Clark's Globe article
Urban sprawl and disappearing farmland in British Columbia
Southern Ontario isn't the only part of Canada fighting urban sprawl. Greater Vancouver, which is the second most popular destination for new immigrants after Toronto, is also experiencing rapid population growth and there is pressure to build on BC farmland. From the Toronto Star (Down on the farm, the view is anything but rosy by Murray Whyte, May 27):
But it's not just the thought of friction with the new neighbours that has farmers nervous. It's the growing hunger for the land itself.
For decades, B.C. farmers have had a buffer. In 1973, then-premier Dave Barrett, concerned that the province was losing 6,000 hectares of farmland each year to development, established the Agricultural Land Reserve — 4.7 million hectares of the province's richest farmland to be held permanently.
The thinking was that the fertile soil found mostly in the lush Fraser Valley, the Okanagan Valley and Vancouver Island would be preserved to grow the food needed for the province's burgeoning population.
But with B.C.'s economy moving at high speed, many have grown concerned that the reserve's protective shell has weakened.
Earlier this month, the David Suzuki Foundation released a report investigating incursions into the province's ALR lands. According to the foundation, from March 2001 to March 2005, the reserve's governing body, the Agricultural Land Commission, approved 71.4 per cent of applications throughout B.C. to remove land from the ALR for development purposes. On the island, that approval rate soared to 86.8 per cent, the equivalent of 1,060 hectares.
Read all of Murray Whyte's Star article. The David Suzuki Foundation's report on BC's Agricultural Land Reserves can be downloaded at the bottom of this news release.
But it's not just the thought of friction with the new neighbours that has farmers nervous. It's the growing hunger for the land itself.
For decades, B.C. farmers have had a buffer. In 1973, then-premier Dave Barrett, concerned that the province was losing 6,000 hectares of farmland each year to development, established the Agricultural Land Reserve — 4.7 million hectares of the province's richest farmland to be held permanently.
The thinking was that the fertile soil found mostly in the lush Fraser Valley, the Okanagan Valley and Vancouver Island would be preserved to grow the food needed for the province's burgeoning population.
But with B.C.'s economy moving at high speed, many have grown concerned that the reserve's protective shell has weakened.
Earlier this month, the David Suzuki Foundation released a report investigating incursions into the province's ALR lands. According to the foundation, from March 2001 to March 2005, the reserve's governing body, the Agricultural Land Commission, approved 71.4 per cent of applications throughout B.C. to remove land from the ALR for development purposes. On the island, that approval rate soared to 86.8 per cent, the equivalent of 1,060 hectares.
Read all of Murray Whyte's Star article. The David Suzuki Foundation's report on BC's Agricultural Land Reserves can be downloaded at the bottom of this news release.
What would Miss Jean Brodie think?
Death to the Saxonist Entity! Martin Kelly links to another BBC story about an English soccer fan who has been victimized in Scotland. Martin previously linked to a BBC story about an English fan and his son who had been assaulted in an Edinburgh park. Somehow I don't think Miss Jean Brodie would approve, despite her predilection for il Duce and Francisco Franco. Apparently, Scotland isn't what it used to be. The nation that once produced the Brodie set has become the country of Trainspotting and Stella does tricks.
The impact of population growth on local neighbourhoods
A couple of weeks ago, I blogged about the McGuinty government's announcement of a new strategy to combat urban sprawl in southern Ontario. An important aspect of the Places to Grow plan is higher residential densities. The theory is that if people live closer together they won't be as dependant on the car as they are now. However, there is at least one potential problem with the government's new strategy. Achieving higher densities means bringing unwanted real estate development into established neighbourhoods. Proposals for tall buildings often come up against local resistance. If the opposition is strong enough, municipal councils will stop the development, but developers can still appeal to the Ontario Municipal Board, which has the power to overrule city councils.
Ian Urquhart, who writes about provincial affairs for the Toronto Star, has a column in which he points out that along with the proposal to curb urban sprawl, Queen's Park is making changes to the legislation governing the OMB. Urquhart argues that weakening the OMB will make it harder to implement the government's plan to control sprawl. He writes (Weakening OMB could create more sprawl, June 26):
But implementing Places to Grow could nevertheless prove to be politically problematic down the road.
That's because, while most people support "intensification" in theory, in practice, ratepayer groups are bound to oppose it.
Or, as Burlington Mayor Rob MacIsaac has put it, "The only thing the public hates more than sprawl is intensification."
Take, for example, two recent development proposals, one in Toronto, the other in Oakville.
In Toronto, just south of the Sherway Gardens shopping mall at Highway 427 and the QEW, a developer proposed to build four high-rise condo towers. City planning staff supported the proposal, but the local ratepayers vociferously opposed it, and Toronto city council rejected it.
And on the fringe of downtown Oakville, on the site of Sharkey's Dockside Café, town council rejected a proposal for a 14-storey condo tower after vehement protests from local ratepayers.
In both cases, the Ontario Municipal Board (OMB) — the court of last resort for development issues — sided with the developers and overturned the council decisions.
It seems paradoxical, then, that, simultaneously with its Places to Grow initiative, the provincial government is pressing forward with Bill 51, which would appear to limit the powers of the OMB. (The bill flows from a Liberal election promise to reform the OMB to "prevent developers from forcing unwanted municipal expansion." On the next page of their 2003 platform, the Liberals promised to curb urban sprawl.)
The thing I find frustrating is this. Urban sprawl is a consequence of population growth. Population growth, in turn, is a consequence of immigration. Canada has a low birth rate that will eventually fall below replacement level. Toronto and other southern Ontario cities are growing because half of the 250,000 or so immigrants who come to Canada each year settle in this province. We wouldn't have to choose between urban sprawl and skyscrapers in residential neighbourhoods if Ottawa would just reduce immigration levels. Of course, this would make real estate developers unhappy.
Do the people fighting local development see the connection between immigration and the real estate projects they oppose? Do they understand that as long as immigration stays at its present level, developers will be able to claim their projects are necessary? As a Star reporter smugly put it:
But whether residents — living in neighbourhoods that are perfect just the way they are, thank you very much — want it or not, growth is coming.
But of course, growth is only coming because politicians like Stephen Harper allow it. Harper has the power to reduce immigration. Canadians have the right to say no to unnecessary population growth. There is nothing inevitable about our country's ridiculous immigration policies. Immigration is not an unstoppable force of nature. It's a political decision.
Ian Urquhart, who writes about provincial affairs for the Toronto Star, has a column in which he points out that along with the proposal to curb urban sprawl, Queen's Park is making changes to the legislation governing the OMB. Urquhart argues that weakening the OMB will make it harder to implement the government's plan to control sprawl. He writes (Weakening OMB could create more sprawl, June 26):
But implementing Places to Grow could nevertheless prove to be politically problematic down the road.
That's because, while most people support "intensification" in theory, in practice, ratepayer groups are bound to oppose it.
Or, as Burlington Mayor Rob MacIsaac has put it, "The only thing the public hates more than sprawl is intensification."
Take, for example, two recent development proposals, one in Toronto, the other in Oakville.
In Toronto, just south of the Sherway Gardens shopping mall at Highway 427 and the QEW, a developer proposed to build four high-rise condo towers. City planning staff supported the proposal, but the local ratepayers vociferously opposed it, and Toronto city council rejected it.
And on the fringe of downtown Oakville, on the site of Sharkey's Dockside Café, town council rejected a proposal for a 14-storey condo tower after vehement protests from local ratepayers.
In both cases, the Ontario Municipal Board (OMB) — the court of last resort for development issues — sided with the developers and overturned the council decisions.
It seems paradoxical, then, that, simultaneously with its Places to Grow initiative, the provincial government is pressing forward with Bill 51, which would appear to limit the powers of the OMB. (The bill flows from a Liberal election promise to reform the OMB to "prevent developers from forcing unwanted municipal expansion." On the next page of their 2003 platform, the Liberals promised to curb urban sprawl.)
The thing I find frustrating is this. Urban sprawl is a consequence of population growth. Population growth, in turn, is a consequence of immigration. Canada has a low birth rate that will eventually fall below replacement level. Toronto and other southern Ontario cities are growing because half of the 250,000 or so immigrants who come to Canada each year settle in this province. We wouldn't have to choose between urban sprawl and skyscrapers in residential neighbourhoods if Ottawa would just reduce immigration levels. Of course, this would make real estate developers unhappy.
Do the people fighting local development see the connection between immigration and the real estate projects they oppose? Do they understand that as long as immigration stays at its present level, developers will be able to claim their projects are necessary? As a Star reporter smugly put it:
But whether residents — living in neighbourhoods that are perfect just the way they are, thank you very much — want it or not, growth is coming.
But of course, growth is only coming because politicians like Stephen Harper allow it. Harper has the power to reduce immigration. Canadians have the right to say no to unnecessary population growth. There is nothing inevitable about our country's ridiculous immigration policies. Immigration is not an unstoppable force of nature. It's a political decision.
New York Times Magazine article about Muslims in 'Londonistan'
Mark C at Daimnation! links to a lengthy New York Times Magazine article about Muslims in London: After Londinistan. So far I've only skimmed it, but I think it's worth a look given that Canada has a growing Muslim population.
Ottawa to review practice of allowing Canadian residents to run in foreign elections
From Canadian Press via the Toronto Star (Should Canucks run in foreign elections? by Jim Bronskill, June 26):
The federal government will review the practice of allowing Canadian residents to run in foreign elections, months after sanctioning participation in Italy's national ballot.
The move signals a desire in federal circles to set clear policy for Canadian involvement in the political affairs of other countries, especially given Canada's varied ethnic makeup.
The Canadian Heritage Department will lead the study and intends to have a report by the end of the year, said Len Westerberg, department spokesman.
Last November, then-foreign affairs minister Pierre Pettigrew announced a "special arrangement" between Canada and Italy to permit Italian citizens and dual citizens residing in Canada to run for designated seats in the Italian parliament.
[. . .]
Read the whole article
In February, I blogged about a Winnipeg man who was running for the Italian parliament. Last year historian Jack Granatstein expressed concerns about the influence of ethnic lobbies on Canadian foreign policy. The Indian government, among others, has been cultivating influence among Indo-Canadians. In the United States, Indian-Americans have been trying to influence Washington's policies towards India. This year, the Philippines' ambassador to Canada saw fit to interfere in a local dispute between a Montreal-area school board and Filipino parents over the eating habits of their son. In my neighbourhood, I sometimes see signs for candidates running in Portuguese elections and the Portuguese ambassador has lobbied on behalf of illegal immigrants living here.
The federal government will review the practice of allowing Canadian residents to run in foreign elections, months after sanctioning participation in Italy's national ballot.
The move signals a desire in federal circles to set clear policy for Canadian involvement in the political affairs of other countries, especially given Canada's varied ethnic makeup.
The Canadian Heritage Department will lead the study and intends to have a report by the end of the year, said Len Westerberg, department spokesman.
Last November, then-foreign affairs minister Pierre Pettigrew announced a "special arrangement" between Canada and Italy to permit Italian citizens and dual citizens residing in Canada to run for designated seats in the Italian parliament.
[. . .]
Read the whole article
In February, I blogged about a Winnipeg man who was running for the Italian parliament. Last year historian Jack Granatstein expressed concerns about the influence of ethnic lobbies on Canadian foreign policy. The Indian government, among others, has been cultivating influence among Indo-Canadians. In the United States, Indian-Americans have been trying to influence Washington's policies towards India. This year, the Philippines' ambassador to Canada saw fit to interfere in a local dispute between a Montreal-area school board and Filipino parents over the eating habits of their son. In my neighbourhood, I sometimes see signs for candidates running in Portuguese elections and the Portuguese ambassador has lobbied on behalf of illegal immigrants living here.
Sunday, June 25, 2006
Teacher writes: "I'm sick and tired of celebrating diversity"
From a letter to the editor in the Toronto Star (We celebrate diversity but it is tearing us apart by Tim Richardson, June 24):
I agree that more interaction is needed, but, as a teacher, I'm disheartened to always see my students break out into groups in class based on ethnic lines.
When I read the title of Omar Alghabra's piece I looked forward to seeing specific suggestions about how interaction could take place but instead I was struck by the same old excuses: "... most Muslims have suffered under various forms of colonialism ..." When are people going to stop blaming someone else and take ownership over the violent people in their midst?
[. . .]
I'm sick and tired of "celebrating diversity." It's tearing us apart by emphasizing our differences — not a good way to build a country.
Read all of Tim Richardson's letter.
I agree that more interaction is needed, but, as a teacher, I'm disheartened to always see my students break out into groups in class based on ethnic lines.
When I read the title of Omar Alghabra's piece I looked forward to seeing specific suggestions about how interaction could take place but instead I was struck by the same old excuses: "... most Muslims have suffered under various forms of colonialism ..." When are people going to stop blaming someone else and take ownership over the violent people in their midst?
[. . .]
I'm sick and tired of "celebrating diversity." It's tearing us apart by emphasizing our differences — not a good way to build a country.
Read all of Tim Richardson's letter.
Canada allows homosexuals to claim refugee status. One result: asylum seekers say they're gay when they're not.
From the Toronto Star (Fearless in Canada by David Graham, June 25):
To win a refugee case involving homosexuals, immigration lawyers have to establish two things: that their client is in fact gay, and that there is a risk of persecution in the client's country of origin. Immigration lawyer Max Berger, who has handled many refugee claims based on sexual orientation, acknowledges that there are false claims.
But, he counters, "the system is full of bogus refugee claimants, whether they are citing political or religious discrimination. There is a core of genuine cases and a cluster of copycat cases."
Berger even predicts false refugee claimants will attend today's Pride parade to get photos they can present at their hearings. And he recalls an initial interview with one man who claimed refugee status based on his sexual orientation, then asked, "If this is successful can I sponsor my fiancée?"
The answer was no.
Proving homosexuality can be difficult. Often it comes down to the decision maker's intuition, a sort of professional gaydar.
"It's a real roll of the dice," says Battista. "The same decision maker dealing with a claimant from Indonesia, where there are no laws against homosexuality, went positive on that claim, then with another one from Singapore (where male homosexuality is illegal), she went negative.
"It makes it easier if the claimant is from a country where it is illegal to be gay. But it's not a slam-dunk.
Read all of David Graham's article.
To win a refugee case involving homosexuals, immigration lawyers have to establish two things: that their client is in fact gay, and that there is a risk of persecution in the client's country of origin. Immigration lawyer Max Berger, who has handled many refugee claims based on sexual orientation, acknowledges that there are false claims.
But, he counters, "the system is full of bogus refugee claimants, whether they are citing political or religious discrimination. There is a core of genuine cases and a cluster of copycat cases."
Berger even predicts false refugee claimants will attend today's Pride parade to get photos they can present at their hearings. And he recalls an initial interview with one man who claimed refugee status based on his sexual orientation, then asked, "If this is successful can I sponsor my fiancée?"
The answer was no.
Proving homosexuality can be difficult. Often it comes down to the decision maker's intuition, a sort of professional gaydar.
"It's a real roll of the dice," says Battista. "The same decision maker dealing with a claimant from Indonesia, where there are no laws against homosexuality, went positive on that claim, then with another one from Singapore (where male homosexuality is illegal), she went negative.
"It makes it easier if the claimant is from a country where it is illegal to be gay. But it's not a slam-dunk.
Read all of David Graham's article.
Woman victim of Cuban marriage scam. Still on the hook for immigrant husband who has already sponsored his 'former' girlfriend.
From the Toronto Sun (Bride left broke by alien husband, June 25):
Approved at last, Eduardo arrived here March 10, and was promptly given a Canadian social insurance number, a health card and permanent residency.
Less than three months later, he was gone.
Three weeks ago, he pulled Cindy back into bed to cuddle before she left for work. It had not been an easy adjustment, she admits. He seemed cold and distant and constantly demanding. Why hadn't she completed his resume? Why was he finding it so difficult to get a job? Why wasn't she sending more money home to his mother in Cuba?
[. . .]
Cindy called her loving mother-in-law in Havana. "She was as cold as hell. They got what they wanted. Now he can sponsor his mom and whoever else he wants," she says bitterly. "I'm positive it was all planned from the start."
That became even more clear after she checked his cellphone records and discovered that Eduardo had been calling a Toronto number three times a day. It belongs to his "former" Cuban girlfriend who was recently sponsored here by her husband. "He played his game very well."
She has since met many women scammed by foreigners looking for a ticket to Canada. After all, we make it so easy. Unlike many other countries that require that the marriage last three years before they will hand over a permanent residents' card, Canada gives the sponsored spouse immediate permanent status.
[. . .]
Every sympathetic government official offered the same reminder: she is still financially responsible for him.
Because the betrayal and the heartache are just initial blows. In the fine print of her sponsorship application, Cindy agreed that if he turns to any social assistance in the next three years, she is on the hook to repay the government in full -- even if they have to garnish her wages.
Read all of Michele Mandel's column Last October the Vancouver Province and Calgary Herald ran a series about Indo-Canadian women who have been abandoned by immigrant husbands they sponsored. See here
Approved at last, Eduardo arrived here March 10, and was promptly given a Canadian social insurance number, a health card and permanent residency.
Less than three months later, he was gone.
Three weeks ago, he pulled Cindy back into bed to cuddle before she left for work. It had not been an easy adjustment, she admits. He seemed cold and distant and constantly demanding. Why hadn't she completed his resume? Why was he finding it so difficult to get a job? Why wasn't she sending more money home to his mother in Cuba?
[. . .]
Cindy called her loving mother-in-law in Havana. "She was as cold as hell. They got what they wanted. Now he can sponsor his mom and whoever else he wants," she says bitterly. "I'm positive it was all planned from the start."
That became even more clear after she checked his cellphone records and discovered that Eduardo had been calling a Toronto number three times a day. It belongs to his "former" Cuban girlfriend who was recently sponsored here by her husband. "He played his game very well."
She has since met many women scammed by foreigners looking for a ticket to Canada. After all, we make it so easy. Unlike many other countries that require that the marriage last three years before they will hand over a permanent residents' card, Canada gives the sponsored spouse immediate permanent status.
[. . .]
Every sympathetic government official offered the same reminder: she is still financially responsible for him.
Because the betrayal and the heartache are just initial blows. In the fine print of her sponsorship application, Cindy agreed that if he turns to any social assistance in the next three years, she is on the hook to repay the government in full -- even if they have to garnish her wages.
Read all of Michele Mandel's column Last October the Vancouver Province and Calgary Herald ran a series about Indo-Canadian women who have been abandoned by immigrant husbands they sponsored. See here
Saturday, June 24, 2006
Canada's racial balance. Is it important or not?
The proportion of whites in the population is rapidly declining. Is this important? If it's not important, why do newspapers like the Toronto Star make such a fuss about it? If, on the other hand, it does matter, why is this change occurring without any public debate? Why are all the major federal parties united in their determination to transform Canada? What is so terrible about a white-majority Canada that it needs to be changed? Why this mad rush to obliterate Canada's European culture and identity?
Canada's changing demography: 'ethnic groups' vs. the 'non-diverse population'
I've been trying to make sense of the Star's special report on "diversity." (For some reason a report on cultural change that features a large colour photo of a 'Canadian' wearing a niqab doesn't reassure me.) In an article about how immigration is changing consumer demand, I came across this sentence:
Looking ahead 10 years, ethnic groups are expected to grow by 76 per cent in Canada, versus 3 per cent for the non-diverse population.
What is this supposed to mean? Some people belong to ethnic groups and others don't? Some people are "diverse" and others aren't? I'm pretty sure the reporter is using "ethnic groups" to mean non-whites and "non-diverse population" to mean whites, but this is an odd use of language.
As far as I know, 'ethnic group' first became widely used among the general public when Canada adopted official multiculturalism. At that time, the country was much more Caucasian than it is now. White ethnic groups such as Ukrainians and Italians were still considered exotic in certain quarters. Sometimes people referred to white ethnic groups simply as "ethnics" implying that Anglo-Saxons or Anglo-Celts were non-ethnic. In other words, in the view of some Anglo-Saxons, ethnicity was seen as something those other people had, but not them.
I remember once having an argument with someone after I said everyone belonged to an ethnic group. My friend who was Anglo-Saxon insisted she didn't. When I pointed out her Anglo-Saxon heritage, she responded "I'm Canadian." I said, "Fine, then Canadian is your ethnicity."
Some people would object to the idea that 'Canadian' is an ethnic category. They would say you can be a Canadian citizen but there is no such thing as Canadian ethnicity. This disagreement became an issue when the Toronto Sun started its "Count me Canadian" campaign in response to Statistics Canada's refusal to list Canadian as a possible response in the census question on ethnicity. People whose families had been here for centuries were still expected to list themselves as English or British. Many people objected, insisting they were simply Canadian. The Sun's campaign was successful and Canadian is now accepted by StatsCan as an ethnic category.
What to make of all of this? I'm not sure there is a right or wrong answer, because there doesn't seem to be much agreement on what is meant by ethnicity.
Once while writing an essay about nationalism, I spent a lot of time looking for definitions of 'ethnicity' and 'ethnic group'. I discovered that even academic writers, who might be expected to be precise in their use of language, employed these terms to mean different things. Some people view ethnicity in terms of ancestry. They say ethnicity is a biological category similar to race. In fact, people used to commonly refer to the British and French as races. Today however, many people view ethnicity solely in terms of culture and identity. They would say ethnicity is completely independent of race so that people of European, Asian and African descent can share a common ethnicity if they have the same culture and identity.
I don't think it's that simple. Yes, ethnicity involves culture and identity, but in my opinion, there is also a biological or racial component.
Historically, Canada has been a white country. Up until fairly recently, most Canadians outside of Quebec were of British descent while a substantial minority had roots in other parts of Europe. Over the years, groups like Ukrainians and Germans have been slowly assimilating into English Canada's mainstream Anglo-Saxon culture. After a couple of generations the only thing Ukrainian about many Ukrainian-Canadians is their names. I've met a lot of quite WASPish people with Ukrainian surnames. When this first happened I found it odd, because I grew up surrounded by Ukrainians from the old country who were decidedly not WASPs. It takes time, but many Ukrainians, Germans, Italians, Poles, etc. do lose their ethnic identities and become simply Canadian. But is that the case for non-whites?
I'm not saying you have to be white to feel Canadian, but since Canada is still a white majority society, I suspect most non-whites can't help but have a dual identity. Yes, they are Canadian, but they can't escape the fact that they are also black, Asian, etc. Race is such a powerful force in human affairs that racial minorities are constantly reminded that they are in some ways different from the majority even if any differences outside of physical appearance can't be pinpointed.
It seems to me racial cleavages are permanent in a way that cultural and linguistic differences aren't. The Ukrainians who arrived in the 1890s, the so-called men in sheepskin coats, were culturally quite distinct from the descendants of Canada's British settlers, but after a couple of generations of acculturation and intermarriage, they lost most of that distinctiveness. Asian and African immigrants, on the other hand, can also lose their language and culture, but they can't change their physical appearance. They can't change their phenotype. They remain physically different and that difference can't help but affect their perception of themselves and their relationship to the broader society. It doesn't necessarily stop them from feeling Canadian, but even if they are well-integrated, they may still feel a psychological distance between themselves and the whites around him. If the number of people feeling this way is large and growing, it's bound to have social and political implications that we need to consider before we change Canada's racial demography even further.
Looking ahead 10 years, ethnic groups are expected to grow by 76 per cent in Canada, versus 3 per cent for the non-diverse population.
What is this supposed to mean? Some people belong to ethnic groups and others don't? Some people are "diverse" and others aren't? I'm pretty sure the reporter is using "ethnic groups" to mean non-whites and "non-diverse population" to mean whites, but this is an odd use of language.
As far as I know, 'ethnic group' first became widely used among the general public when Canada adopted official multiculturalism. At that time, the country was much more Caucasian than it is now. White ethnic groups such as Ukrainians and Italians were still considered exotic in certain quarters. Sometimes people referred to white ethnic groups simply as "ethnics" implying that Anglo-Saxons or Anglo-Celts were non-ethnic. In other words, in the view of some Anglo-Saxons, ethnicity was seen as something those other people had, but not them.
I remember once having an argument with someone after I said everyone belonged to an ethnic group. My friend who was Anglo-Saxon insisted she didn't. When I pointed out her Anglo-Saxon heritage, she responded "I'm Canadian." I said, "Fine, then Canadian is your ethnicity."
Some people would object to the idea that 'Canadian' is an ethnic category. They would say you can be a Canadian citizen but there is no such thing as Canadian ethnicity. This disagreement became an issue when the Toronto Sun started its "Count me Canadian" campaign in response to Statistics Canada's refusal to list Canadian as a possible response in the census question on ethnicity. People whose families had been here for centuries were still expected to list themselves as English or British. Many people objected, insisting they were simply Canadian. The Sun's campaign was successful and Canadian is now accepted by StatsCan as an ethnic category.
What to make of all of this? I'm not sure there is a right or wrong answer, because there doesn't seem to be much agreement on what is meant by ethnicity.
Once while writing an essay about nationalism, I spent a lot of time looking for definitions of 'ethnicity' and 'ethnic group'. I discovered that even academic writers, who might be expected to be precise in their use of language, employed these terms to mean different things. Some people view ethnicity in terms of ancestry. They say ethnicity is a biological category similar to race. In fact, people used to commonly refer to the British and French as races. Today however, many people view ethnicity solely in terms of culture and identity. They would say ethnicity is completely independent of race so that people of European, Asian and African descent can share a common ethnicity if they have the same culture and identity.
I don't think it's that simple. Yes, ethnicity involves culture and identity, but in my opinion, there is also a biological or racial component.
Historically, Canada has been a white country. Up until fairly recently, most Canadians outside of Quebec were of British descent while a substantial minority had roots in other parts of Europe. Over the years, groups like Ukrainians and Germans have been slowly assimilating into English Canada's mainstream Anglo-Saxon culture. After a couple of generations the only thing Ukrainian about many Ukrainian-Canadians is their names. I've met a lot of quite WASPish people with Ukrainian surnames. When this first happened I found it odd, because I grew up surrounded by Ukrainians from the old country who were decidedly not WASPs. It takes time, but many Ukrainians, Germans, Italians, Poles, etc. do lose their ethnic identities and become simply Canadian. But is that the case for non-whites?
I'm not saying you have to be white to feel Canadian, but since Canada is still a white majority society, I suspect most non-whites can't help but have a dual identity. Yes, they are Canadian, but they can't escape the fact that they are also black, Asian, etc. Race is such a powerful force in human affairs that racial minorities are constantly reminded that they are in some ways different from the majority even if any differences outside of physical appearance can't be pinpointed.
It seems to me racial cleavages are permanent in a way that cultural and linguistic differences aren't. The Ukrainians who arrived in the 1890s, the so-called men in sheepskin coats, were culturally quite distinct from the descendants of Canada's British settlers, but after a couple of generations of acculturation and intermarriage, they lost most of that distinctiveness. Asian and African immigrants, on the other hand, can also lose their language and culture, but they can't change their physical appearance. They can't change their phenotype. They remain physically different and that difference can't help but affect their perception of themselves and their relationship to the broader society. It doesn't necessarily stop them from feeling Canadian, but even if they are well-integrated, they may still feel a psychological distance between themselves and the whites around him. If the number of people feeling this way is large and growing, it's bound to have social and political implications that we need to consider before we change Canada's racial demography even further.
Jeffrey Reodica inquiry: family lashes out at Belanger
From the Toronto Sun ('I would have shot more,' says cop by Brian Gray, June 24):
The family of Jeffrey Reodica lashed out yesterday after a Toronto Police officer testified he fired three times and would have continued shooting until the teen was no longer standing.
Det.-Const. Dan Belanger testified at the coroner's inquest into the death Reodica on May 21, 2004, that he believed both his life and the life of his partner were in jeopardy because the 17-year-old was wielding a knife.
[. . .]
Outside the coroner's building on Grosvenor St. the Reodica family were angered at the testimony that didn't fit with their image of their son and conflicted with other eyewitness testimony. Willie Reodica yelled several times that the officer murdered his son.
"You're murderers," he said.
Through tears, Flora Reodica, Jeffrey's mom said: "He didn't have to kill my son."
Referring to Belanger's testimony, Jeffrey's brother, Joel, said to the officer's partner, Det.-Const. Allan Love: "Tell your fat friend he's doing a great job."
[. . .]
Read all of Brian Gray's Sun article. The Star also has articles about the inquiry. Rosie DiManno's column is worth a look.
Today's edition of the Toronto Star is dedicated to celebrating Toronto's growing cultural diversity. This demographic transformation is presented as a good thing. We are told that multiculturalism is 'working' (whatever that means), but I think the racial tension at the Reodica inquiry tells us more about where Toronto is really headed. The province's Special Investigations Unit has already cleared Det.-Const. Belanger, but that doesn't satisfy political militants. In the eyes of some people, the cops are presumed guilty and the fact that Belanger has been cleared only serves as more proof that the system is racially biased. Years from now this case will be trotted out as an example of police "racism". There will be more of these racially-charged cases. There will be more demands that the police force "look like Toronto".
The family of Jeffrey Reodica lashed out yesterday after a Toronto Police officer testified he fired three times and would have continued shooting until the teen was no longer standing.
Det.-Const. Dan Belanger testified at the coroner's inquest into the death Reodica on May 21, 2004, that he believed both his life and the life of his partner were in jeopardy because the 17-year-old was wielding a knife.
[. . .]
Outside the coroner's building on Grosvenor St. the Reodica family were angered at the testimony that didn't fit with their image of their son and conflicted with other eyewitness testimony. Willie Reodica yelled several times that the officer murdered his son.
"You're murderers," he said.
Through tears, Flora Reodica, Jeffrey's mom said: "He didn't have to kill my son."
Referring to Belanger's testimony, Jeffrey's brother, Joel, said to the officer's partner, Det.-Const. Allan Love: "Tell your fat friend he's doing a great job."
[. . .]
Read all of Brian Gray's Sun article. The Star also has articles about the inquiry. Rosie DiManno's column is worth a look.
Today's edition of the Toronto Star is dedicated to celebrating Toronto's growing cultural diversity. This demographic transformation is presented as a good thing. We are told that multiculturalism is 'working' (whatever that means), but I think the racial tension at the Reodica inquiry tells us more about where Toronto is really headed. The province's Special Investigations Unit has already cleared Det.-Const. Belanger, but that doesn't satisfy political militants. In the eyes of some people, the cops are presumed guilty and the fact that Belanger has been cleared only serves as more proof that the system is racially biased. Years from now this case will be trotted out as an example of police "racism". There will be more of these racially-charged cases. There will be more demands that the police force "look like Toronto".
Harper on whether Quebec is a nation: it's a "semantic debate that doesn't serve any purpose."
From CanWest News Service via the National Post (Harper celebrates Fete nationale, but don't ask him to call Quebec a nation by Allan Wood, June 23)
June 24 is St-Jean Baptiste Day in the province, also know as la fete nationale, and the prime minister acknowledged this after brief comments to reporters.
"Bonne fete nationale," he said Friday after emerging from the Citadelle, a 175-year-old base built by the British army.
But asked whether Quebecers constitute a "nation" as do Canada’s Acadians and aboriginals, Harper was less indulgent.
"It just seems to me to be a semantic debate that doesn’t serve any purpose," Harper said in response to one of seven such questions.
[. . .]
"I recognize that the Quebec national assembly has adopted that position. I don’t know, quite frankly, what it’s legal significance is, but I think the important thing for the prime minister of Canada is to defend the unity of Canada. That’s what I’m here to do at all times."
[. . .]
Read the whole article
During the debates over Meech Lake and Charlottetown, I used to wonder about the legal significance of recognizing Quebec as a distinct society. Would this recognition only be symbolic or would it affect the way the courts interpreted the constitution? My memory is a bit hazy, but there was once an article in the Star that quoted a Supreme Court justice who said the court already treats Quebec as distinct. Regardless, symbolism is important. Nationalism is as much about pride and identity as it is about law and economics. Even if either the Meech Lake or Charlottetown accords had been adopted, Quebec nationalism would still be a problem. There's no magic constitutional formula that will satisfy Quebec once and for all. There's a simple reason for that. Quebec is a nation. Harper thinks he can control Quebec nationalism with a more open federalism but he's wrong. As long as Quebec is part of Canada, it will be a chronic source of instability.
June 24 is St-Jean Baptiste Day in the province, also know as la fete nationale, and the prime minister acknowledged this after brief comments to reporters.
"Bonne fete nationale," he said Friday after emerging from the Citadelle, a 175-year-old base built by the British army.
But asked whether Quebecers constitute a "nation" as do Canada’s Acadians and aboriginals, Harper was less indulgent.
"It just seems to me to be a semantic debate that doesn’t serve any purpose," Harper said in response to one of seven such questions.
[. . .]
"I recognize that the Quebec national assembly has adopted that position. I don’t know, quite frankly, what it’s legal significance is, but I think the important thing for the prime minister of Canada is to defend the unity of Canada. That’s what I’m here to do at all times."
[. . .]
Read the whole article
During the debates over Meech Lake and Charlottetown, I used to wonder about the legal significance of recognizing Quebec as a distinct society. Would this recognition only be symbolic or would it affect the way the courts interpreted the constitution? My memory is a bit hazy, but there was once an article in the Star that quoted a Supreme Court justice who said the court already treats Quebec as distinct. Regardless, symbolism is important. Nationalism is as much about pride and identity as it is about law and economics. Even if either the Meech Lake or Charlottetown accords had been adopted, Quebec nationalism would still be a problem. There's no magic constitutional formula that will satisfy Quebec once and for all. There's a simple reason for that. Quebec is a nation. Harper thinks he can control Quebec nationalism with a more open federalism but he's wrong. As long as Quebec is part of Canada, it will be a chronic source of instability.
Friday, June 23, 2006
Ukrainians want more money to commemorate World War I internment
From CBC News (Ukrainian Canadians seek more money to mark mistreatment, June 23):
Ukrainian Canadians say they need increased funding from the federal government to acknowledge and chronicle their mistreatment in Canada during the First World War.
An estimated 6,000 Ukrainians were imprisoned in Canada during the war. In addition, tens of thousands more were obliged to register as enemy aliens.
The government did offer money last year for memorials and education programs about the internment, but no apology has been issued in the House of Commons.
[. . .]
On Thursday, Prime Minister Stephen Harper called Canada's treatment of Chinese Canadians a "great injustice" particularly the requirement, between 1885 and 1923, to have Chinese immigrants pay a head tax to enter the country.
[. . .]
On Thursday, the daughter of the last surviving Ukrainian internee questioned the government's motives when it comes to financial redress.
"I think decisions are made a little bit as to the votes they're going to get from certain decisions," said Fran Haskett, whose mother Mary, 97, is "one of many who suffered injustices and rough treatment."
[. . .]
Read the whole CBC article
Ukrainian Canadians say they need increased funding from the federal government to acknowledge and chronicle their mistreatment in Canada during the First World War.
An estimated 6,000 Ukrainians were imprisoned in Canada during the war. In addition, tens of thousands more were obliged to register as enemy aliens.
The government did offer money last year for memorials and education programs about the internment, but no apology has been issued in the House of Commons.
[. . .]
On Thursday, Prime Minister Stephen Harper called Canada's treatment of Chinese Canadians a "great injustice" particularly the requirement, between 1885 and 1923, to have Chinese immigrants pay a head tax to enter the country.
[. . .]
On Thursday, the daughter of the last surviving Ukrainian internee questioned the government's motives when it comes to financial redress.
"I think decisions are made a little bit as to the votes they're going to get from certain decisions," said Fran Haskett, whose mother Mary, 97, is "one of many who suffered injustices and rough treatment."
[. . .]
Read the whole CBC article
Toronto high school students who speak Portuguese, Spanish or Somali drop out at higher rates
From the Toronto Star (Dropout, failure rates linked to language by Louise Brown, June 23):
Toronto teens born in the Caribbean, Central or South America and east Africa are twice as likely to drop out of school as their peers from China, Korea and Japan, new research shows.
The first study to track Toronto high school students through Ontario's new four-year curriculum also shows that students who speak Spanish, Portuguese or Somali are at higher risk than kids who speak any other of the city's most common languages.
And they are more likely to fail Grade 9 math and flunk the Grade 10 literacy test, and are less likely to apply to college or university.
"We live in an unequal society where education is supposed to be the great equalizer, so if it's not doing that, we have to figure out why," said education professor Daniel Schugurensky, adding he is the only Hispanic professor at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE) at the University of Toronto.
He is one of about 20 members of the new Spanish Speaking Education Network, formed by parents and educators, that gathered this week to discuss the alarming new data about Toronto's 5,300 Spanish-speaking students. The network was created to figure out why the community's children fare so poorly, and it has called an emergency conference in September to brainstorm solutions.
[. . .]
Read all of Louise Brown's Star article. The study mentioned in the story can be downloaded in pdf format by going to the Star website. The link is next to the article.
Toronto teens born in the Caribbean, Central or South America and east Africa are twice as likely to drop out of school as their peers from China, Korea and Japan, new research shows.
The first study to track Toronto high school students through Ontario's new four-year curriculum also shows that students who speak Spanish, Portuguese or Somali are at higher risk than kids who speak any other of the city's most common languages.
And they are more likely to fail Grade 9 math and flunk the Grade 10 literacy test, and are less likely to apply to college or university.
"We live in an unequal society where education is supposed to be the great equalizer, so if it's not doing that, we have to figure out why," said education professor Daniel Schugurensky, adding he is the only Hispanic professor at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE) at the University of Toronto.
He is one of about 20 members of the new Spanish Speaking Education Network, formed by parents and educators, that gathered this week to discuss the alarming new data about Toronto's 5,300 Spanish-speaking students. The network was created to figure out why the community's children fare so poorly, and it has called an emergency conference in September to brainstorm solutions.
[. . .]
Read all of Louise Brown's Star article. The study mentioned in the story can be downloaded in pdf format by going to the Star website. The link is next to the article.
Jewish man confesses to distributing "Death to Muslims" posters at Ryerson University
From the Toronto Sun (Jew admits hate crime 'as bad as theirs' by Sam Pazzano, June 23):
A Toronto man admitted yesterday he committed hate crimes by spreading anti-Muslim posters and graffiti on the Ryerson University campus in a misguided form of revenge.
Kevin Haas, 23, confessed to police that he committed the crimes two years ago as retaliation for anti-Semitic incidents involving graffiti and the toppling of tombstones at a Jewish cemetery.
Haas was caught by campus police putting up "Death to Muslims" posters and other derogatory signs around the campus on Oct. 18, 2004.
[. . .]
A Toronto man admitted yesterday he committed hate crimes by spreading anti-Muslim posters and graffiti on the Ryerson University campus in a misguided form of revenge.
Kevin Haas, 23, confessed to police that he committed the crimes two years ago as retaliation for anti-Semitic incidents involving graffiti and the toppling of tombstones at a Jewish cemetery.
Haas was caught by campus police putting up "Death to Muslims" posters and other derogatory signs around the campus on Oct. 18, 2004.
[. . .]
Toronto Sun: Punjabi newspapers accuse provincial cabinet minister of trying to shut them down
From the Toronto Sun (Grit MPP accused of targeting papers by Tom Godfrey, June 23):
The publishers of two top GTA Punjabi weeklies are accusing Ontario Minister of Small Business Harinder Takhar of trying to shut them down for "unfavourable" coverage.
Darshan Singh, CEO of Ajit, billed as the world's largest Punjabi weekly, and Balraj Deol, of Khabarnama, said advertising revenue from the provincial government fell from about $30,000 a year ago for both papers to zero today.
[. . .]
Singh and Deol said the ads were awarded to five competing Punjabi weeklies. The ads include warnings about HIV and the West Nile virus as well as the government student loan program.
Deol, whose seven-year paper has a circulation of about 10,000, said a community member warned him twice about his coverage of Takhar's job performance.
[. . .]
Read all of Tom Godfrey's Sun article
Leaving aside the allegations against Takhar who was once reprimanded by Ontario's integrity commissioner for not staying away from his family transport business which had been placed in a blind trust to avoid any conflict of interest, there is another issue. Why is the provincial government subsidizing ethnic newspapers in the first place? How does keeping alive foreign-language newspapers promote the integration of immigrants into Canadian society? Does the government know what is inside those newspapers? Is it possible some of these ethnic papers are promoting hatred against other groups? Is anyone checking?
A while back I attended a meeting of a local community group. We were discussing ways to get our Portuguese neighbours interested in our projects. A representative of a city councillor was there. He told us that many Portuguese get all their information from Portuguese media. He said a story could splashed on the front page of the Toronto Star and his Portuguese constituents wouldn't hear about it unless it was mentioned in one of their own papers. How can you have a sense of community and a functioning democracy when people don't speak the same language and are getting their information from media their neighbours can't access? When voters don't speak the same language, politicians can say one thing to one group and something completely different to another.
The publishers of two top GTA Punjabi weeklies are accusing Ontario Minister of Small Business Harinder Takhar of trying to shut them down for "unfavourable" coverage.
Darshan Singh, CEO of Ajit, billed as the world's largest Punjabi weekly, and Balraj Deol, of Khabarnama, said advertising revenue from the provincial government fell from about $30,000 a year ago for both papers to zero today.
[. . .]
Singh and Deol said the ads were awarded to five competing Punjabi weeklies. The ads include warnings about HIV and the West Nile virus as well as the government student loan program.
Deol, whose seven-year paper has a circulation of about 10,000, said a community member warned him twice about his coverage of Takhar's job performance.
[. . .]
Read all of Tom Godfrey's Sun article
Leaving aside the allegations against Takhar who was once reprimanded by Ontario's integrity commissioner for not staying away from his family transport business which had been placed in a blind trust to avoid any conflict of interest, there is another issue. Why is the provincial government subsidizing ethnic newspapers in the first place? How does keeping alive foreign-language newspapers promote the integration of immigrants into Canadian society? Does the government know what is inside those newspapers? Is it possible some of these ethnic papers are promoting hatred against other groups? Is anyone checking?
A while back I attended a meeting of a local community group. We were discussing ways to get our Portuguese neighbours interested in our projects. A representative of a city councillor was there. He told us that many Portuguese get all their information from Portuguese media. He said a story could splashed on the front page of the Toronto Star and his Portuguese constituents wouldn't hear about it unless it was mentioned in one of their own papers. How can you have a sense of community and a functioning democracy when people don't speak the same language and are getting their information from media their neighbours can't access? When voters don't speak the same language, politicians can say one thing to one group and something completely different to another.
Man stabbed to death at Downsview World Cup celebration for wearing Crips blue in a Bloods neighbourhood.
From the Toronto Sun (Stabbing stuns party by Chris Doucette, June 23):
A young man was stabbed to death in a Downsview parking lot yesterday as he and about 500 soccer fans celebrated Ghana's stunning defeat of the U.S. in the World Cup.
Witnesses said they believe the slaying had nothing to do with the game and that the man may have been wearing the wrong colours in a gang neighbourhood.
Salomey Obenewaa, 20, said the victim, in his late teens or early 20s, was wearing a blue bandanna, which angered his attackers.
Blue is the colour of the Crips gang and the neighbourhood is dominated by the rival Bloods gang, who wear red, she said. There was no indication the victim was a gang member.
"I guess you're not allowed to wear blue (around here)," said Obenewaa.
[. . .]
Read all of Chris Doucette's Sun article
I guess you're not allowed to wear blue (around here).
I guess not.
A young man was stabbed to death in a Downsview parking lot yesterday as he and about 500 soccer fans celebrated Ghana's stunning defeat of the U.S. in the World Cup.
Witnesses said they believe the slaying had nothing to do with the game and that the man may have been wearing the wrong colours in a gang neighbourhood.
Salomey Obenewaa, 20, said the victim, in his late teens or early 20s, was wearing a blue bandanna, which angered his attackers.
Blue is the colour of the Crips gang and the neighbourhood is dominated by the rival Bloods gang, who wear red, she said. There was no indication the victim was a gang member.
"I guess you're not allowed to wear blue (around here)," said Obenewaa.
[. . .]
Read all of Chris Doucette's Sun article
I guess you're not allowed to wear blue (around here).
I guess not.
Terrorism suspect Harkat released on bail
From CBC News (Terrorism suspect Harkat released on bail, June 22):
Mohamed Harkat, the Algerian terrorism suspect who spent more than three years in a Canadian prison without ever being charged, was released on bail Wednesday afternoon.
In December 2002, Canadian authorities arrested the Ottawa man on a security certificate that cited his alleged ties with terrorists.
The Canadian Security Intelligence Service accused him of being an al-Qaeda "sleeper agent," and alleged that Harkat trained under Osama bin Laden's top lieutenants in Afghanistan.
He has denied the allegations.
Harkat is one of several men detained under security certificates, which allow the federal government to hold people indefinitely, without charge, if it suspects them of posing a threat to national security.
Read all of the CBC article
The constitutionality of the national security certificate used to detain Harkat is now being reviewed by the Supreme Court. News outlets and human rights activists make a big fuss over the fact that Harkat is being held without being charged. They make it seem like Canada is a police state where anyone can be arrested and held indefinitely. This is misleading. Harkat is not a Canadian citizen. He is free to go home any time he wants. He was imprisoned because the agencies responsible for our national security deemed him to be a danger. Ottawa wants to deport him, but he refuses to go. This all goes back to the Supreme Court's Singh decision, in which the court ruled that section 7 of the Charter of Rights applied to anyone present in Canada regardless of whether they were a citizen or not. Thanks to another Supreme Court decision, Canada can only deport foreigners who fear being tortured under "exceptional" cases of "extraordinary circumstances." This creates a huge problem, because most terrorists come from countries such as Egypt and Pakistan where governments do sometimes torture prisoners. A foreigner suspected of being a terrorist can delay deportation for years by claiming he will be tortured. That's the reason Tamil Tiger fundraiser Manickavasagam Suresh has been able to delay his deportation for more than a decade. These court cases cost a fortune.
Mohamed Harkat, the Algerian terrorism suspect who spent more than three years in a Canadian prison without ever being charged, was released on bail Wednesday afternoon.
In December 2002, Canadian authorities arrested the Ottawa man on a security certificate that cited his alleged ties with terrorists.
The Canadian Security Intelligence Service accused him of being an al-Qaeda "sleeper agent," and alleged that Harkat trained under Osama bin Laden's top lieutenants in Afghanistan.
He has denied the allegations.
Harkat is one of several men detained under security certificates, which allow the federal government to hold people indefinitely, without charge, if it suspects them of posing a threat to national security.
Read all of the CBC article
The constitutionality of the national security certificate used to detain Harkat is now being reviewed by the Supreme Court. News outlets and human rights activists make a big fuss over the fact that Harkat is being held without being charged. They make it seem like Canada is a police state where anyone can be arrested and held indefinitely. This is misleading. Harkat is not a Canadian citizen. He is free to go home any time he wants. He was imprisoned because the agencies responsible for our national security deemed him to be a danger. Ottawa wants to deport him, but he refuses to go. This all goes back to the Supreme Court's Singh decision, in which the court ruled that section 7 of the Charter of Rights applied to anyone present in Canada regardless of whether they were a citizen or not. Thanks to another Supreme Court decision, Canada can only deport foreigners who fear being tortured under "exceptional" cases of "extraordinary circumstances." This creates a huge problem, because most terrorists come from countries such as Egypt and Pakistan where governments do sometimes torture prisoners. A foreigner suspected of being a terrorist can delay deportation for years by claiming he will be tortured. That's the reason Tamil Tiger fundraiser Manickavasagam Suresh has been able to delay his deportation for more than a decade. These court cases cost a fortune.
Thursday, June 22, 2006
Terrorism in Canada: "The public does not need calming. The public needs the truth." - Senator Colin Kenny
Martin Collacott, a senior fellow at the Fraser Institute and an expert on Canadian immigration policy, has written an opinion piece for the National Post in which he warns the Conservatives not to repeat the previous Liberal government's pattern of falling into denial about the extent of terrorism in Canada. Collacott is the author of a recent report about terrorism in Canada: Canada's Inadequate Response to Terrorism
Collacott writes in the National Post (Let's be frank about terrorism in Canada, June 22):
One of the most persistent and knowledgeable critics of Canada's inadequate response to the threat of terrorism has been Colin Kenny, chairman of the Senate Committee on National Security. Although a Liberal appointee, Kenny has never hesitated to tell whatever government is in office just how much remains to be done to protect Canadians.
In recent weeks, Kenny and his committee have heard no lack of evidence that Canada and its borders are far from secure. On May 29, for example, a senior CSIS official told them in response to a question about the number of terrorist threats CSIS has identified that there were basically 350 high-level targets and around 50 to 60 organizational targets. These figures hardly suggest that we should feel unduly confident about the current situation being fully under control; nor should the admission by the same official that his organization did not have sufficient resources to carry out adequate security screening of the tens of thousands of immigrants who have come to Canada since 2001 from Afghanistan and Pakistan, both hotbeds for Islamic fundamentalism.
Commenting in the Post last Thursday on Ottawa's reaction to the arrests of 17 terrorist suspects in Toronto, Kenny observed that "the essence of responses from the top was that the fact that arrests were made should reassure Canadians that everything is under control -- so calm down." He went on to state: "The public does not need calming. The public needs the truth. The truth is that it is probably going to take a decade to get up to speed on monitoring and countering the potential threats at our airports and sea ports, along our borders, and in the neighbourhoods likely to incubate terrorist threats."
Read all of Martin Collacott's op-ed (H/T: Mark C at Daimnation!) Collacott's report on terrorism can be downloaded free of charge in pdf format: Canada's Inadequate Response to Terrorism Collacott is also the author of an important analysis of Canadian immigration policy. It can be downloaded at the Fraser Institute website
Collacott writes in the National Post (Let's be frank about terrorism in Canada, June 22):
One of the most persistent and knowledgeable critics of Canada's inadequate response to the threat of terrorism has been Colin Kenny, chairman of the Senate Committee on National Security. Although a Liberal appointee, Kenny has never hesitated to tell whatever government is in office just how much remains to be done to protect Canadians.
In recent weeks, Kenny and his committee have heard no lack of evidence that Canada and its borders are far from secure. On May 29, for example, a senior CSIS official told them in response to a question about the number of terrorist threats CSIS has identified that there were basically 350 high-level targets and around 50 to 60 organizational targets. These figures hardly suggest that we should feel unduly confident about the current situation being fully under control; nor should the admission by the same official that his organization did not have sufficient resources to carry out adequate security screening of the tens of thousands of immigrants who have come to Canada since 2001 from Afghanistan and Pakistan, both hotbeds for Islamic fundamentalism.
Commenting in the Post last Thursday on Ottawa's reaction to the arrests of 17 terrorist suspects in Toronto, Kenny observed that "the essence of responses from the top was that the fact that arrests were made should reassure Canadians that everything is under control -- so calm down." He went on to state: "The public does not need calming. The public needs the truth. The truth is that it is probably going to take a decade to get up to speed on monitoring and countering the potential threats at our airports and sea ports, along our borders, and in the neighbourhoods likely to incubate terrorist threats."
Read all of Martin Collacott's op-ed (H/T: Mark C at Daimnation!) Collacott's report on terrorism can be downloaded free of charge in pdf format: Canada's Inadequate Response to Terrorism Collacott is also the author of an important analysis of Canadian immigration policy. It can be downloaded at the Fraser Institute website
Immigration industry using head tax issue to promote further opening of Canada's borders
From an April 5 press release issued by Immigration Watch Canada:
Although the Chinese Head Tax and Chinese Exclusion laws may seem like old matters, they are very definitely related to modern immigration issues. Although a number of people involved in the advocacy are honest and well-intentioned, they are clearly being used by Canada's immigration industry for other purposes. The resurrection of these two issues is intended to evoke guilt in Canada's host population and to put Canadians on the never-ending road to that place called Absolution. The motive is blunt: to maintain or increase current immigration levels and to promote further opening of Canada's borders. Under the guise of justice and restitution, Canada's immigration industry seeks to legitimize the idea that there are no economic, environmental, or cultural limits to Canada. This will be an unmitigated disaster for the country.
Visit Immigration Watch Canada's homepage
More on the head tax issue: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4
Although the Chinese Head Tax and Chinese Exclusion laws may seem like old matters, they are very definitely related to modern immigration issues. Although a number of people involved in the advocacy are honest and well-intentioned, they are clearly being used by Canada's immigration industry for other purposes. The resurrection of these two issues is intended to evoke guilt in Canada's host population and to put Canadians on the never-ending road to that place called Absolution. The motive is blunt: to maintain or increase current immigration levels and to promote further opening of Canada's borders. Under the guise of justice and restitution, Canada's immigration industry seeks to legitimize the idea that there are no economic, environmental, or cultural limits to Canada. This will be an unmitigated disaster for the country.
Visit Immigration Watch Canada's homepage
More on the head tax issue: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4
Supreme Court ruling: one day in jail enough for aboriginal youth who beat refugee to death
From CanWest News Service via the National Post (One day jail enough for youth who beat man to death: SCOC by Jim Brown, June 22):
OTTAWA -- The Supreme Court of Canada, in a judgment sure to spark controversy, has refused to boost a sentence of one day in jail for a Winnipeg teenager who beat a man to death with a billiard ball wrapped in a sock.
In a 7-0 ruling Thursday, the court said the Youth Criminal Justice Act, as currently written, doesn't allow for increasing a sentence just to send a get-tough message to the public.
Reaction from the Conservative government was swift, but was aimed at the previous Liberal administration rather than the judiciary.
[. . .]
The case arose from a 2001 incident in which an aboriginal youth, who was 15 at the time and cannot be identified, pleaded guilty to manslaughter in the death of Chya Saleh, a 22-year-old Kurdish refugee from Iraq.
[. . .]
Read the whole article: One day jail enough for youth
OTTAWA -- The Supreme Court of Canada, in a judgment sure to spark controversy, has refused to boost a sentence of one day in jail for a Winnipeg teenager who beat a man to death with a billiard ball wrapped in a sock.
In a 7-0 ruling Thursday, the court said the Youth Criminal Justice Act, as currently written, doesn't allow for increasing a sentence just to send a get-tough message to the public.
Reaction from the Conservative government was swift, but was aimed at the previous Liberal administration rather than the judiciary.
[. . .]
The case arose from a 2001 incident in which an aboriginal youth, who was 15 at the time and cannot be identified, pleaded guilty to manslaughter in the death of Chya Saleh, a 22-year-old Kurdish refugee from Iraq.
[. . .]
Read the whole article: One day jail enough for youth
Harper chases ethnic vote. Air India inquiry opens
When Harper announced the Air India inquiry in May, Jeffrey Simpson wrote a column accusing Harper of playing ethnic politics: Harper chasing ethnic vote with Air-India inquiry
From the Toronto Star (Air-India inquiry aims to fix security shortfalls by Bruce Campion-Smith, June 22):
Some of the security and intelligence shortfalls that led to the bombing of an Air-India jumbo jet 21 years ago may still exist today, Justice John Major suggested as he launched a judicial probe into Canada's deadliest act of terrorism.
He said the criminal justice system has failed not only families of the 329 passengers and crew of the downed flight but all Canadians.
"This inquiry will provide recommendations to continue repairing the systems that allowed such horrific acts to take place," Major said in his opening address yesterday.
"This massive murder was the most insidious episode of cowardice and inhumanity in our history," the retired Supreme Court judge said.
For the some 80 relatives of the victims on hand yesterday, it was a day they'd long been waiting for and they greeted the probe with a mix of relief, frustration and heart-breaking grief over the losses they suffered 21 years ago.
[. . .]
Read the whole article
From the Toronto Star (Air-India inquiry aims to fix security shortfalls by Bruce Campion-Smith, June 22):
Some of the security and intelligence shortfalls that led to the bombing of an Air-India jumbo jet 21 years ago may still exist today, Justice John Major suggested as he launched a judicial probe into Canada's deadliest act of terrorism.
He said the criminal justice system has failed not only families of the 329 passengers and crew of the downed flight but all Canadians.
"This inquiry will provide recommendations to continue repairing the systems that allowed such horrific acts to take place," Major said in his opening address yesterday.
"This massive murder was the most insidious episode of cowardice and inhumanity in our history," the retired Supreme Court judge said.
For the some 80 relatives of the victims on hand yesterday, it was a day they'd long been waiting for and they greeted the probe with a mix of relief, frustration and heart-breaking grief over the losses they suffered 21 years ago.
[. . .]
Read the whole article
Province and city will subsidize renamed Caribana
From the Toronto Sun (New name, same party by Mary Gaze, June 22):
The world-renowned festival attracts an estimated 1 million tourists each year to the explosion of live music, parades, dancing, colours and Caribbean dishes.
The Ontario Ministry of Tourism announced yesterday it would infuse $400,000 into parade production, boosting the $400,000 already allocated by the city, to help alleviate the financial problems that have plagued the organizers in past years.
The festival, which in the past has been called Caribana, was renamed Toronto Caribbean Carnival (Caribana) after internal battles.
Read the whole article
The world-renowned festival attracts an estimated 1 million tourists each year to the explosion of live music, parades, dancing, colours and Caribbean dishes.
The Ontario Ministry of Tourism announced yesterday it would infuse $400,000 into parade production, boosting the $400,000 already allocated by the city, to help alleviate the financial problems that have plagued the organizers in past years.
The festival, which in the past has been called Caribana, was renamed Toronto Caribbean Carnival (Caribana) after internal battles.
Read the whole article
A sign of the times: security shields for TTC drivers
From the Toronto Sun (Security shields get a test run by Rob Granatstein, June 22):
The TTC endorsed a plan yesterday to try shields for drivers and security cameras in buses and streetcars.
The shields --the prototype is a metal and plexiglass combination drivers can choose to have in place or not -- will be tested starting June 26 and, if approved, they could be installed on all TTC vehicles by the end of 2007.
TTC drivers say one of the biggest problems they face is riders spitting on them. Putting shields on all the vehicles will cost up to $2 million.
[. . .]
The TTC endorsed a plan yesterday to try shields for drivers and security cameras in buses and streetcars.
The shields --the prototype is a metal and plexiglass combination drivers can choose to have in place or not -- will be tested starting June 26 and, if approved, they could be installed on all TTC vehicles by the end of 2007.
TTC drivers say one of the biggest problems they face is riders spitting on them. Putting shields on all the vehicles will cost up to $2 million.
[. . .]
Operation Cleopatra: drug arrests on Kanesatake Mohawk reserve
From CBC News (Quebec woman charged as leader of drug ring, June 21):
A 48-year-old woman who is the alleged leader of a cross-border drug ring was among dozens charged Wednesday in early-morning raids in the Montreal area.
In all, 36 people have been charged, including Sharon Simon, of the Mohawk reserve of Kanesatake, who allegedly has ties with the Hells Angels.
"We are looking at an organization that was distributing and producing marijuana and ecstasy to be exported to the U.S.," says RCMP Cpl. Sylvain L'Heureux.
Police allege they discovered several guns in Simon's vehicle, including an AK-47.
The drugs were shipped to the U.S. through Quebec's Eastern Townships, they say.
The police raids began just after sunrise in what is being called Operation Cleopatra.
[. . .]
Read the whole CBC article.
Kanesatake, of course, was the scene of the 1990 Oka crisis, in which the Mohawk Warriors played a big role. The Warriors are heavily involved in organized crime. See the MacKenzie Institute essay: The Long Fall of the Mohawk Warriors
A 48-year-old woman who is the alleged leader of a cross-border drug ring was among dozens charged Wednesday in early-morning raids in the Montreal area.
In all, 36 people have been charged, including Sharon Simon, of the Mohawk reserve of Kanesatake, who allegedly has ties with the Hells Angels.
"We are looking at an organization that was distributing and producing marijuana and ecstasy to be exported to the U.S.," says RCMP Cpl. Sylvain L'Heureux.
Police allege they discovered several guns in Simon's vehicle, including an AK-47.
The drugs were shipped to the U.S. through Quebec's Eastern Townships, they say.
The police raids began just after sunrise in what is being called Operation Cleopatra.
[. . .]
Read the whole CBC article.
Kanesatake, of course, was the scene of the 1990 Oka crisis, in which the Mohawk Warriors played a big role. The Warriors are heavily involved in organized crime. See the MacKenzie Institute essay: The Long Fall of the Mohawk Warriors
Harper's head tax apology: too much pandering might alienate the Conservative base
From the Globe and Mail (PM offers $20,000, apology for head tax by Brian Laghi, June 22):
Prime Minister Stephen Harper will close a controversial chapter in Canadian history today by offering up to $20,000 to each of the people forced to pay the Chinese head tax who are still living.
[. . .]
One Conservative Party source said the government was paying as much as it could afford without incurring the anger of its conservative base of supporters, many of whom don't believe redress should be paid beyond those who were directly affected.
[. . .]
Read the whole Globe article
Harper shouldn't be apologizing at all. The apology implies Canada didn't have the right to restrict Chinese immigration. Harper is apologizing for the fact that Canada exercised its right to control its borders.
While I'm sure Harper believes the head tax was wrong, he is also pandering to Chinese voters. During the last federal election, the Conservatives were virtually shut out of Toronto and Vancouver, the two cities where the vast majority of immigrants settle.
After the election there was a lot of talk in the media about a supposed urban/rural split in the electorate with smug journalists implying urban voters were too sophisticated to vote Conservative unlike those hicks in the countryside.
Leaving aside the media's prejudice against rural Canadians (and Albertans who are falsely viewed as rural), the analysis was wrong because it ignored the fact that Conservatives did win urban seats outside of Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal. (Although Montreal has its share of immigrants, its French-speaking population makes the city different from Toronto and Vancouver.)
It wasn't so much a urban/rural divide as a split between immigrants and native-born Canadians. Harper is pandering because he needs immigrant votes to make a breakthrough in Toronto and Vancouver, but if he overdoes it, he risks alienating his Conservative base.
Of course, by apologizing to the Chinese, Harper invites other groups such as Indo-Canadians to make similar demands. Sukh Dhaliwal, who is an influential Liberal MP, has already said Canada should apologize for the 1914 Komagata Maru affair, where Canadian officials wouldn't allow Sikh passengers to disembark and settle in Canada. Dhaliwal said in an interview:
"If the government is going to apologize to one group of Canadians, they should also have a similar line for other groups of Canadians who have suffered discrimination,"
[. . .]
"I think the case for the Komagata Maru is as good as it is for those who paid the head tax,"
Prime Minister Stephen Harper will close a controversial chapter in Canadian history today by offering up to $20,000 to each of the people forced to pay the Chinese head tax who are still living.
[. . .]
One Conservative Party source said the government was paying as much as it could afford without incurring the anger of its conservative base of supporters, many of whom don't believe redress should be paid beyond those who were directly affected.
[. . .]
Read the whole Globe article
Harper shouldn't be apologizing at all. The apology implies Canada didn't have the right to restrict Chinese immigration. Harper is apologizing for the fact that Canada exercised its right to control its borders.
While I'm sure Harper believes the head tax was wrong, he is also pandering to Chinese voters. During the last federal election, the Conservatives were virtually shut out of Toronto and Vancouver, the two cities where the vast majority of immigrants settle.
After the election there was a lot of talk in the media about a supposed urban/rural split in the electorate with smug journalists implying urban voters were too sophisticated to vote Conservative unlike those hicks in the countryside.
Leaving aside the media's prejudice against rural Canadians (and Albertans who are falsely viewed as rural), the analysis was wrong because it ignored the fact that Conservatives did win urban seats outside of Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal. (Although Montreal has its share of immigrants, its French-speaking population makes the city different from Toronto and Vancouver.)
It wasn't so much a urban/rural divide as a split between immigrants and native-born Canadians. Harper is pandering because he needs immigrant votes to make a breakthrough in Toronto and Vancouver, but if he overdoes it, he risks alienating his Conservative base.
Of course, by apologizing to the Chinese, Harper invites other groups such as Indo-Canadians to make similar demands. Sukh Dhaliwal, who is an influential Liberal MP, has already said Canada should apologize for the 1914 Komagata Maru affair, where Canadian officials wouldn't allow Sikh passengers to disembark and settle in Canada. Dhaliwal said in an interview:
"If the government is going to apologize to one group of Canadians, they should also have a similar line for other groups of Canadians who have suffered discrimination,"
[. . .]
"I think the case for the Komagata Maru is as good as it is for those who paid the head tax,"
Wednesday, June 21, 2006
Soccer violence. Is Toronto one out-of-control celebration away from a major riot?
Yesterday I blogged about the dangerous behaviour of soccer fans in Toronto. I linked to a Toronto Sun article which quoted a police officer who said some fans have "been violent and hostile and confrontational." Then I made this prediction:
Sooner or later Toronto is going to have a soccer riot. Someone will wave the wrong flag in the wrong neighbourhood and all hell will break loose.
Today, Martin Kelly, who runs a first-rate blog from Glasgow, linked to a BBC report about a seven-year-old-boy and 41-year-old man who were assaulted in Edinburgh because they were wearing English shirts on Scottish territory. This is the kind of thing I'm worried about. Emotions in Toronto are running high and the city is divided in its loyalties. This is a recipe for violence.
I don't mean to pick on soccer. I actually like the game. What I don't like is aggressive people waving foreign flags on the streets of a Canadian city. I know for a fact that I'm not the only person in my neighbourhood who resents having the Portuguese flag shoved in his face everyday. I have nothing against Portugal. I've been there. It's a lovely country, but I don't want to live there and my neighbours are making me feel like I am.
Any sports celebration can get out of hand. Police in Edmonton made nearly 400 arrests during a post-game hockey celebration on Whyte Ave. That's what happens when people get drunk. However, ethnic divisions symbolized by flags add another volatile element to the situation. When the Oilers win, Edmonton celebrates together, but when Portugal or Brazil or Italy, etc. wins, one part of Toronto celebrates, another part mourns. All it takes to start a fight is for someone on the winning side to taunt someone on the losing side.
Our politicians and civic leaders love to praise diversity, but there is plenty of ethnic tension in Toronto. Just the other day, I blogged about a 14-year-old girl who was arrested for possessing a loaded .44 Magnum in her Dora the Explorer backpack. The arrest was connected to a fight at Thistletown Collegiate between rival Jamaican and Somali girl gangs. I've also been blogging about the inquiry into the police shooting of Jeffrey Reodica. Reodica was part of a Filipino mob that was chasing a group of white boys after an altercation on a basketball court. Then there's Andrew Stewart, a white teen, who was stabbed to death in East York after being chased by a mob of South Asians. Racial tensions were evident during the killer's trial. A boy died in Woodbridge because of a clash between Italians and East Indians. There are tensions on St. Clair Avenue between Italians and more recent immigrants. There also are ethnic divisions in Toronto's Catholic schools. Some of the schools are said to be out of control.
How real is the potential for a major riot in Toronto? I can't say for sure. I know you have to be careful about judging a whole city by what you read in the newspaper. The media focuses on the dramatic, not the humdrum. There are plenty of low-key examples of people from different backgrounds living and working together in peace, but at the same time, the tensions are there. This becomes more evident during the World Cup when people feel freer to let their emotions out. Maybe I'm being alarmist, but I can't shake the feeling that Toronto is one out-of-control soccer celebration away from a major riot.
Sooner or later Toronto is going to have a soccer riot. Someone will wave the wrong flag in the wrong neighbourhood and all hell will break loose.
Today, Martin Kelly, who runs a first-rate blog from Glasgow, linked to a BBC report about a seven-year-old-boy and 41-year-old man who were assaulted in Edinburgh because they were wearing English shirts on Scottish territory. This is the kind of thing I'm worried about. Emotions in Toronto are running high and the city is divided in its loyalties. This is a recipe for violence.
I don't mean to pick on soccer. I actually like the game. What I don't like is aggressive people waving foreign flags on the streets of a Canadian city. I know for a fact that I'm not the only person in my neighbourhood who resents having the Portuguese flag shoved in his face everyday. I have nothing against Portugal. I've been there. It's a lovely country, but I don't want to live there and my neighbours are making me feel like I am.
Any sports celebration can get out of hand. Police in Edmonton made nearly 400 arrests during a post-game hockey celebration on Whyte Ave. That's what happens when people get drunk. However, ethnic divisions symbolized by flags add another volatile element to the situation. When the Oilers win, Edmonton celebrates together, but when Portugal or Brazil or Italy, etc. wins, one part of Toronto celebrates, another part mourns. All it takes to start a fight is for someone on the winning side to taunt someone on the losing side.
Our politicians and civic leaders love to praise diversity, but there is plenty of ethnic tension in Toronto. Just the other day, I blogged about a 14-year-old girl who was arrested for possessing a loaded .44 Magnum in her Dora the Explorer backpack. The arrest was connected to a fight at Thistletown Collegiate between rival Jamaican and Somali girl gangs. I've also been blogging about the inquiry into the police shooting of Jeffrey Reodica. Reodica was part of a Filipino mob that was chasing a group of white boys after an altercation on a basketball court. Then there's Andrew Stewart, a white teen, who was stabbed to death in East York after being chased by a mob of South Asians. Racial tensions were evident during the killer's trial. A boy died in Woodbridge because of a clash between Italians and East Indians. There are tensions on St. Clair Avenue between Italians and more recent immigrants. There also are ethnic divisions in Toronto's Catholic schools. Some of the schools are said to be out of control.
How real is the potential for a major riot in Toronto? I can't say for sure. I know you have to be careful about judging a whole city by what you read in the newspaper. The media focuses on the dramatic, not the humdrum. There are plenty of low-key examples of people from different backgrounds living and working together in peace, but at the same time, the tensions are there. This becomes more evident during the World Cup when people feel freer to let their emotions out. Maybe I'm being alarmist, but I can't shake the feeling that Toronto is one out-of-control soccer celebration away from a major riot.
Alberta ain't what she used to be
In this Saturday's Star there was an interesting article about cultural change in Alberta: Not your dad's Alberta:
"It's a cliché," says University of Calgary political science professor Doreen Barrie, who says that Alberta's public image is being held hostage by Calgary's world-famous stampede, "when the entire city is transformed into a Wild West theme park."
Barrie tries to set the record straight in her controversial new book The Other Alberta: Decoding a Political Enigma.
The stereotype that Alberta, as Barrie puts it, is "a parochial province peopled with right-wing rednecks who wear cowboy boots and hold attitudes to match," is crumbling like a Rocky Mountains avalanche.
In a trendy coffee shop near her home in Calgary's northwest, Barrie has a laugh at her province's expense: "Most Albertans wouldn't know the difference between a branding iron and a curling iron."
The majority of Albertans simply don't fit the cowboy mould and all that that connotes, she says. At its most derogatory, "cowboy" is used "to describe someone who acts without thinking and has fallen on his head too often."
Barrie is convinced that this explains why most Canadians don't understand Alberta, a province that's come to be known as the new Quebec because of threats by some here to separate. What's more, Barrie argues that the bigger-than-life personality associated with the Calgary Stampede is so pervasive that the hootenanny not only dominates the city throughout the year, it actually unfairly colours the whole province.
Read all of David Graham's Star article
"It's a cliché," says University of Calgary political science professor Doreen Barrie, who says that Alberta's public image is being held hostage by Calgary's world-famous stampede, "when the entire city is transformed into a Wild West theme park."
Barrie tries to set the record straight in her controversial new book The Other Alberta: Decoding a Political Enigma.
The stereotype that Alberta, as Barrie puts it, is "a parochial province peopled with right-wing rednecks who wear cowboy boots and hold attitudes to match," is crumbling like a Rocky Mountains avalanche.
In a trendy coffee shop near her home in Calgary's northwest, Barrie has a laugh at her province's expense: "Most Albertans wouldn't know the difference between a branding iron and a curling iron."
The majority of Albertans simply don't fit the cowboy mould and all that that connotes, she says. At its most derogatory, "cowboy" is used "to describe someone who acts without thinking and has fallen on his head too often."
Barrie is convinced that this explains why most Canadians don't understand Alberta, a province that's come to be known as the new Quebec because of threats by some here to separate. What's more, Barrie argues that the bigger-than-life personality associated with the Calgary Stampede is so pervasive that the hootenanny not only dominates the city throughout the year, it actually unfairly colours the whole province.
Read all of David Graham's Star article
Video distributed outside Toronto mosque glorifies 9-11 attacks
From CBC News (Jihadist video aimed at Muslim youth, June 21):
CBC News has obtained a copy of the video allegedly handed out by one of the Toronto bomb-plot suspects in the parking lot of a local mosque.
Muhammad Robert Heft, a Canadian convert to Islam, said he was given a copy of the video by Fahim Ahmed, one of 17 people arrested on June 2.
[. . .]
The Sept. 11 attacks are a central theme in the video, appearing again and again, not as a nightmare but as an inspiration. "America was struck within its homeland … and the youths of Islam invaded it on that great day. So the whole world was totally changed as a result of this blessed invasion."
[. . .]
Heft's allegation that he obtained the video from Ahmed fits with a synopsis of the prosecution's case obtained by CBC News. The synopsis also alleges that Ahmed handed out copies of a video glorifying jihad.
Aly Hindy, the imam of the Salaheddin mosque, says he knew nothing of the matter, adding that he has no control over what people hand out in the parking lot.
[. . .]
Read all of the CBC article A video report in RealPlayer format includes portions of the tape.
CBC News has obtained a copy of the video allegedly handed out by one of the Toronto bomb-plot suspects in the parking lot of a local mosque.
Muhammad Robert Heft, a Canadian convert to Islam, said he was given a copy of the video by Fahim Ahmed, one of 17 people arrested on June 2.
[. . .]
The Sept. 11 attacks are a central theme in the video, appearing again and again, not as a nightmare but as an inspiration. "America was struck within its homeland … and the youths of Islam invaded it on that great day. So the whole world was totally changed as a result of this blessed invasion."
[. . .]
Heft's allegation that he obtained the video from Ahmed fits with a synopsis of the prosecution's case obtained by CBC News. The synopsis also alleges that Ahmed handed out copies of a video glorifying jihad.
Aly Hindy, the imam of the Salaheddin mosque, says he knew nothing of the matter, adding that he has no control over what people hand out in the parking lot.
[. . .]
Read all of the CBC article A video report in RealPlayer format includes portions of the tape.
Toronto gun violence: "We don't see it getting better any time soon."
From the Toronto Sun (City braces for a violent summer by Michele Henry, June 21):
With six shootings in four days, Toronto appears to be staring down the barrel of a second edition of the summer of the gun and residents are bracing for violence.
[. . .]
Since Friday police have investigated six separate incidents of gunfire and three people, including 13- and 17-year-old boys, have been sent to hospital with bullet wounds.
Officials say the number of gun-related homicides are down compared to this time last year, but they acknowledge there is still a problem.
Police sources say that from January to June there have been 120 shootings.
"Officers feel the city's getting worse for gun related incidents," said the source, who would only speak on condition of anonymity. "We don't see it getting better any time soon."
[. . .]
Read all of Michele Henry's article
With six shootings in four days, Toronto appears to be staring down the barrel of a second edition of the summer of the gun and residents are bracing for violence.
[. . .]
Since Friday police have investigated six separate incidents of gunfire and three people, including 13- and 17-year-old boys, have been sent to hospital with bullet wounds.
Officials say the number of gun-related homicides are down compared to this time last year, but they acknowledge there is still a problem.
Police sources say that from January to June there have been 120 shootings.
"Officers feel the city's getting worse for gun related incidents," said the source, who would only speak on condition of anonymity. "We don't see it getting better any time soon."
[. . .]
Read all of Michele Henry's article
Toronto is a "target-rich environment" for terrorists
From Canadian Press via the National Post (Counterterrorism expert says Canada needs to 'wake up', June 21):
A British counterterrorism expert says Canada needs to wake up to the reality of a world where terrorism is "inevitable.''
Keith Weston told delegates at a disaster management conference in Toronto today that the city's low security levels make it a "target-rich environment'' in the eyes of terrorists.
Weston says business professionals also need to put counterterrorism on the agenda and make it the "underpinning'' of everything they do.
He says it's critical for Canada to develop a national counterterrorist strategy and for everyone to know how they're integrated within it.
[. . .]
Read the whole Canadian Press article
A British counterterrorism expert says Canada needs to wake up to the reality of a world where terrorism is "inevitable.''
Keith Weston told delegates at a disaster management conference in Toronto today that the city's low security levels make it a "target-rich environment'' in the eyes of terrorists.
Weston says business professionals also need to put counterterrorism on the agenda and make it the "underpinning'' of everything they do.
He says it's critical for Canada to develop a national counterterrorist strategy and for everyone to know how they're integrated within it.
[. . .]
Read the whole Canadian Press article
Are you a man looking for a wife? Here's a tip. Become a born-again Christian.
From Christianity Today (30 and Single? It's Your Own Fault by Cameron Courtney, June 19):
Seriousness isn't the problem for me and most of my single sisters. A large part of the problem is found in two statistics: According to Barna research, there are between 11 and 13 million more born-again women than born-again men, and according to 2000 U.S. Census findings, there are 86 unmarried men for every 100 unmarried women. Meaning? As a single Christian woman, there are less marital options out there for me to get serious about. I have a feeling the new growing demographic of still-single women is more due to those realities than to our viewing singleness as an amazing gift or to any lack of seriousness about marriage. As such, Getting Serious About Getting Married feels like140 pages extolling the virtues of food to hungry people, then 30 pages of unrelatable and unrealistic advice on where to find this fabulous sustenance.
Read the whole Christianity Today article
Who is considered a born-again Christian for statistical purposes? Does the label apply to all evangelical Christians? Does it include groups like the Pentecostals? I know what the phrase born-again means. I had a co-worker who was a born-again Christian. He described to me his born-again experience where he said he came to know the Lord. He went to a Baptist church. He told me his parents went to church but they weren't really Christians because they hadn't been born again. Not all Christians have that experience, so I'm not sure what the statistic cited in the article actually means. Are born-again Christian women not allowed to marry men who haven't had the born-again experience?
Seriousness isn't the problem for me and most of my single sisters. A large part of the problem is found in two statistics: According to Barna research, there are between 11 and 13 million more born-again women than born-again men, and according to 2000 U.S. Census findings, there are 86 unmarried men for every 100 unmarried women. Meaning? As a single Christian woman, there are less marital options out there for me to get serious about. I have a feeling the new growing demographic of still-single women is more due to those realities than to our viewing singleness as an amazing gift or to any lack of seriousness about marriage. As such, Getting Serious About Getting Married feels like140 pages extolling the virtues of food to hungry people, then 30 pages of unrelatable and unrealistic advice on where to find this fabulous sustenance.
Read the whole Christianity Today article
Who is considered a born-again Christian for statistical purposes? Does the label apply to all evangelical Christians? Does it include groups like the Pentecostals? I know what the phrase born-again means. I had a co-worker who was a born-again Christian. He described to me his born-again experience where he said he came to know the Lord. He went to a Baptist church. He told me his parents went to church but they weren't really Christians because they hadn't been born again. Not all Christians have that experience, so I'm not sure what the statistic cited in the article actually means. Are born-again Christian women not allowed to marry men who haven't had the born-again experience?
Civic leader says working poor a "smouldering crisis"
From the Toronto Star (Working poor a 'smouldering crisis' by Vanessa Lu, June 21):
Successful business leaders must not ignore the plight of Canada's working poor who toil as an invisible group, often unable to get ahead in this rich country, says a prominent civic leader.
"I think what we're facing here is a smouldering crisis. It's not burning out there," David Pecaut, chair of the Toronto City Summit Alliance told a Canadian Club luncheon yesterday. "But in the next recession, it will burst into flames. There is no doubt about that.
"Toronto and the GTA will be one of the hardest-hit places in the country."
Pecaut, who is a senior partner at the Boston Consulting Group, is warning about growing income disparity in Canada — where the working poor and those on welfare lag far behind.
[. . .]
Pecaut co-chaired a report, released last month, with Susan Pigott of St. Christopher House, called Time for a Fair Deal, Modernizing Income Security for Working-age Adults. (Hyphenated Canadian - report can be downloaded in pdf format from this page)
[. . .]
Pecaut notes there should never be a repeat of the late 1990s when the minimum wage did not rise for a decade, meaning in real terms that the working poor took an 18 per cent wage cut.
He pointed to the fact that one-third of adults who work full time, earning the minimum wage ( $7.75 in Ontario) live below the poverty line. Many who earn minimum wage cannot get enough hours, and at an average of 32 hours a week, it translates to $12,200 a year.
[. . .]
Read all of Vanessa Lu's article
Raising the minimum wage won't do much good as long as employers have the option of hiring illegal immigrants willing to work for less. Wage rates are subject to the law of supply and demand. If you flood a city like Toronto with immigrants, wages will fall. It doesn't make sense to bring all these people here. It isn't fair to the immigrants who can't use their skills and it isn't fair to Canadian workers who have to compete with those immigrants.
Successful business leaders must not ignore the plight of Canada's working poor who toil as an invisible group, often unable to get ahead in this rich country, says a prominent civic leader.
"I think what we're facing here is a smouldering crisis. It's not burning out there," David Pecaut, chair of the Toronto City Summit Alliance told a Canadian Club luncheon yesterday. "But in the next recession, it will burst into flames. There is no doubt about that.
"Toronto and the GTA will be one of the hardest-hit places in the country."
Pecaut, who is a senior partner at the Boston Consulting Group, is warning about growing income disparity in Canada — where the working poor and those on welfare lag far behind.
[. . .]
Pecaut co-chaired a report, released last month, with Susan Pigott of St. Christopher House, called Time for a Fair Deal, Modernizing Income Security for Working-age Adults. (Hyphenated Canadian - report can be downloaded in pdf format from this page)
[. . .]
Pecaut notes there should never be a repeat of the late 1990s when the minimum wage did not rise for a decade, meaning in real terms that the working poor took an 18 per cent wage cut.
He pointed to the fact that one-third of adults who work full time, earning the minimum wage ( $7.75 in Ontario) live below the poverty line. Many who earn minimum wage cannot get enough hours, and at an average of 32 hours a week, it translates to $12,200 a year.
[. . .]
Read all of Vanessa Lu's article
Raising the minimum wage won't do much good as long as employers have the option of hiring illegal immigrants willing to work for less. Wage rates are subject to the law of supply and demand. If you flood a city like Toronto with immigrants, wages will fall. It doesn't make sense to bring all these people here. It isn't fair to the immigrants who can't use their skills and it isn't fair to Canadian workers who have to compete with those immigrants.
Officer testifies Reodica had knife
From the Toronto Star (Reodica had knife: Officer by Isabel Teotonio, June 21):
A Toronto police officer testified yesterday at a coroner's inquest that Jeffrey Reodica swung at him with a knife and was just inches from his face and neck when his quick-thinking partner fatally shot the 17-year-old.
Det.-Const. Allen Love told the jury that he and Det.-Const. Dan Belanger were struggling with Reodica on the ground and attempting to handcuff the teen when he broke free of their grip.
Reodica swung his left arm in a "roundhouse motion" toward Belanger, and appeared to have struck the officer in the stomach or leg, said Love, recalling the events of May 21, 2004.
Love said he then spotted a "flash of light" and heard his partner yell, "Knife, knife," or "He has a knife." Love said he immediately pushed himself off the teen, who was rising from the ground in a spinning motion while swinging his arm at him.
[. . .]
Read all of Isabel Teotonio's article
The provinces Special Investigations Unit determined Reodica had a knife and that Det.-Const. Belanger was justified in shooting the teenager. Read the SIU press release.
A detailed if somewhat biased account of the circumstances surrounding Reodica's shooting can be found here: Why did Jeffrey die?
A Toronto police officer testified yesterday at a coroner's inquest that Jeffrey Reodica swung at him with a knife and was just inches from his face and neck when his quick-thinking partner fatally shot the 17-year-old.
Det.-Const. Allen Love told the jury that he and Det.-Const. Dan Belanger were struggling with Reodica on the ground and attempting to handcuff the teen when he broke free of their grip.
Reodica swung his left arm in a "roundhouse motion" toward Belanger, and appeared to have struck the officer in the stomach or leg, said Love, recalling the events of May 21, 2004.
Love said he then spotted a "flash of light" and heard his partner yell, "Knife, knife," or "He has a knife." Love said he immediately pushed himself off the teen, who was rising from the ground in a spinning motion while swinging his arm at him.
[. . .]
Read all of Isabel Teotonio's article
The provinces Special Investigations Unit determined Reodica had a knife and that Det.-Const. Belanger was justified in shooting the teenager. Read the SIU press release.
A detailed if somewhat biased account of the circumstances surrounding Reodica's shooting can be found here: Why did Jeffrey die?
Tuesday, June 20, 2006
Harper defends multiculturalism and wide-open immigration
From the Globe and Mail (Harper defends Canadian diversity by Rod Mickleburgh, June 20):
Some commentators have blamed Canada's open, multicultural society for spawning the alleged terrorist network, Mr. Harper added. "They have said it makes us a more vulnerable target for terrorist activity."
But rather than shutting out those from other countries with different ethnic backgrounds and religions, Canada should maintain its long-standing, open-door policy, he said.
"It is true that somewhere, in some communities, we will find . . . apostles of terror, who use the symbols of culture and faith to justify crimes of violence.
"They hate open, diverse, democratic societies like ours, because they want the exact opposite," Mr. Harper declared.
"[They want] societies that are closed, homogeneous and dogmatic."
Yet the terrorists and their vision will be rejected "by men and women of good will and generosity in all communities," Mr. Harper affirmed to loud applause.
[. . .]
"We've largely avoided ghettoization . . . and the impoverished, crime-ridden, ethnically polarized no-go zones."
[. . .]
Read all of Rod Mickleburgh's article.
This is ridiculous. Can anyone seriously argue that immigration from Muslim countries hasn't made Canada more vulnerable to terrorism?
Some commentators have blamed Canada's open, multicultural society for spawning the alleged terrorist network, Mr. Harper added. "They have said it makes us a more vulnerable target for terrorist activity."
But rather than shutting out those from other countries with different ethnic backgrounds and religions, Canada should maintain its long-standing, open-door policy, he said.
"It is true that somewhere, in some communities, we will find . . . apostles of terror, who use the symbols of culture and faith to justify crimes of violence.
"They hate open, diverse, democratic societies like ours, because they want the exact opposite," Mr. Harper declared.
"[They want] societies that are closed, homogeneous and dogmatic."
Yet the terrorists and their vision will be rejected "by men and women of good will and generosity in all communities," Mr. Harper affirmed to loud applause.
[. . .]
"We've largely avoided ghettoization . . . and the impoverished, crime-ridden, ethnically polarized no-go zones."
[. . .]
Read all of Rod Mickleburgh's article.
This is ridiculous. Can anyone seriously argue that immigration from Muslim countries hasn't made Canada more vulnerable to terrorism?
Police officer says soccer fans have "been violent and hostile and confrontational."
From the Toronto Sun (Soccer fans behaving badly by Jonathan Jenkins, June 20):
World Cup fever is causing more crazy and even dangerous behaviour far earlier than police anticipated, a veteran cop working the celebrations along St. Clair Ave. said yesterday.
"Right from word one we've noticed people have been taking to the streets in large masses and they've not always been happy and joyous," Staff-Sgt. Bruce Johnston said.
"On some occasions, they've been violent and hostile and confrontational."
Johnston, a 27-year veteran, has seen Toronto's passion for the World Cup many times before but he said such aggressive partying would not usually be expected until later in the competition.
[. . .]
Read all of the Sun article
Sooner or later Toronto is going to have a soccer riot. Someone will wave the wrong flag in the wrong neighbourhood and all hell will break loose. One year there was a big fight on St. Clair between Argentinian and Italian fans. All these soccer street parties are already tying up the police. When one of my neighbours called to report drug dealing on the street, she was told police were busy keeping a handle on the World Cup celebrations.
World Cup fever is causing more crazy and even dangerous behaviour far earlier than police anticipated, a veteran cop working the celebrations along St. Clair Ave. said yesterday.
"Right from word one we've noticed people have been taking to the streets in large masses and they've not always been happy and joyous," Staff-Sgt. Bruce Johnston said.
"On some occasions, they've been violent and hostile and confrontational."
Johnston, a 27-year veteran, has seen Toronto's passion for the World Cup many times before but he said such aggressive partying would not usually be expected until later in the competition.
[. . .]
Read all of the Sun article
Sooner or later Toronto is going to have a soccer riot. Someone will wave the wrong flag in the wrong neighbourhood and all hell will break loose. One year there was a big fight on St. Clair between Argentinian and Italian fans. All these soccer street parties are already tying up the police. When one of my neighbours called to report drug dealing on the street, she was told police were busy keeping a handle on the World Cup celebrations.
Toronto Sun: Teenage boy wounded by gunfire in East York
From the Toronto Sun (Gunfire wounds another teenage boy by Chris Doucette, June 20):
Gunfire erupted outside an East York McDonald's last night, injuring an innocent bystander and another teenaged boy.
The shots rang out around 7:15 p.m. on the southeast corner of Pape and Cosburn Aves. But when Toronto police arrived in the parking lot of the fast food restaurant moments later, neither the gunman nor the teen victim were there.
"The guy who got shot left," said a woman, who didn't want to be named. "He was bleeding and limping."
An officer at the scene said a man standing in the parking lot when the shooting occurred was hit in the arm by a bullet fragment and "fell to the ground.
[. . .]
Read the whole Sun article
East York is another part of Toronto that has gang problems.
Could this be the reason? From the Wikipedia article on East York:
Over the last thirty years East York has become a major arrival point for immigrants, many of whom have established their first Canadian residence in the apartments that are plentiful in Thorncliffe Park and Crescent Town. Most of these groups include Bengalis,Indians, Pakistanis, Filipinos and Sri Lankans. East York also has a very well established Greek population and a developing Chinese community. The area is full of middle class homes.
Andrew Stewart might think so if he were still alive.
Gunfire erupted outside an East York McDonald's last night, injuring an innocent bystander and another teenaged boy.
The shots rang out around 7:15 p.m. on the southeast corner of Pape and Cosburn Aves. But when Toronto police arrived in the parking lot of the fast food restaurant moments later, neither the gunman nor the teen victim were there.
"The guy who got shot left," said a woman, who didn't want to be named. "He was bleeding and limping."
An officer at the scene said a man standing in the parking lot when the shooting occurred was hit in the arm by a bullet fragment and "fell to the ground.
[. . .]
Read the whole Sun article
East York is another part of Toronto that has gang problems.
Could this be the reason? From the Wikipedia article on East York:
Over the last thirty years East York has become a major arrival point for immigrants, many of whom have established their first Canadian residence in the apartments that are plentiful in Thorncliffe Park and Crescent Town. Most of these groups include Bengalis,Indians, Pakistanis, Filipinos and Sri Lankans. East York also has a very well established Greek population and a developing Chinese community. The area is full of middle class homes.
Andrew Stewart might think so if he were still alive.
Toronto Star: 15-year-old shot dead by Toronto police
From the Toronto Star (Teen shot dead by police by Steve Rennie, June 20):
While investigating a report of a stolen van, a Toronto police constable shot the 15-year-old driver to death as the vehicle bore down on his partner just before dawn today, police sources said.
Two officers patrolling the Scarborough Golf Club Rd. area spotted the stolen white Dodge Caravan shortly before 5 a.m. and chased it into the parking lot of the Royaltown apartment building at the corner of Lawrence Ave. and Scarborough Golf Club Rd., the sources said. Then they tried to box it in.
When the two officers got out of their cruiser, the van sped toward police. Five shots were fired through the van’s passenger side, striking the driver in the arm and chest.
[. . .]
Read all of the Star article
While investigating a report of a stolen van, a Toronto police constable shot the 15-year-old driver to death as the vehicle bore down on his partner just before dawn today, police sources said.
Two officers patrolling the Scarborough Golf Club Rd. area spotted the stolen white Dodge Caravan shortly before 5 a.m. and chased it into the parking lot of the Royaltown apartment building at the corner of Lawrence Ave. and Scarborough Golf Club Rd., the sources said. Then they tried to box it in.
When the two officers got out of their cruiser, the van sped toward police. Five shots were fired through the van’s passenger side, striking the driver in the arm and chest.
[. . .]
Read all of the Star article
Globe and Mail: British police arrest four men said to be connected to 17 Canadians accused of terrorism offences
From the Globe and Mail (British police arrest four men with reported ties to Canadian terror suspects by Scott Deveau, June 20):
Four more terror suspects have been arrested in England, reportedly with ties the 17 suspects arrested in southern Ontario earlier this month.
West Yorkshire Police said Tuesday they had arrested three men in East and South-East London and another in Northern England with connections to two other terror suspects detained earlier this month in that country.
Abed Khan, a 21-year-old resident of the northern English city of Bradford, was arrested at Manchester airport on June 6 upon his return from Pakistan. The following day, a 16-year-old was arrested in Dewsbury, outside of Leeds.
[. . .]
According to the Globe, the London Times reported that Khan had ties to the 17 Canadians arrested in June on terrorism-related offences. The connection has not been confirmed.
Read all of the Globe article
Four more terror suspects have been arrested in England, reportedly with ties the 17 suspects arrested in southern Ontario earlier this month.
West Yorkshire Police said Tuesday they had arrested three men in East and South-East London and another in Northern England with connections to two other terror suspects detained earlier this month in that country.
Abed Khan, a 21-year-old resident of the northern English city of Bradford, was arrested at Manchester airport on June 6 upon his return from Pakistan. The following day, a 16-year-old was arrested in Dewsbury, outside of Leeds.
[. . .]
According to the Globe, the London Times reported that Khan had ties to the 17 Canadians arrested in June on terrorism-related offences. The connection has not been confirmed.
Read all of the Globe article
Monday, June 19, 2006
Maybe Saunders was right after all
Maybe Saunders was right when he said Canada needed to import a million poor Africans. I'm sure they could all find employment in Canada's nuclear industry where there is a looming labour shortage. The industry is too white anyway. A little diversity would do it good.
Security expert discusses "coming to grips with our disastrous immigration and refugee system"
Canada's Supreme Court is reviewing the constitutionality of the national security certificate which can be used to detain indefinitely non-citizens the government wants to deport. The certificate is issued when the person fighting deportation is considered dangerous. It is considered controversial because people are not allowed to see the evidence used to justify their detention. Last Thursday, the Globe and Mail invited security expert David Harris to participate in an online discussion on the certificates. Harris, who once worked for CSIS, recently caused a stir when he told a US congressional subcommittee that Canada should place a moratorium on immigration. Below is Harris' reply to a hostile question about his testimony to the subcommittee:
I'll spare you a detailed appraisal of your portrayal of my House Judiciary Subcommittee testimony. This can be read at the congressional website. The United States has severe security problems of a sort demonstrated by the very fact that it sustained a mass attack on 9/11. Its immigration and visa system can be charitably viewed as a mess. And we can go on in extent about turf wars and associated US bureaucratic-political weaknesses. My overriding interest, however, is Canada's security, and ensuring that Canadians and their government take it seriously. So what can we do?
First, know who is in Canada. This involves coming to grips with our disastrous immigration and refugee system. In the face of an imposed war upon liberal-pluralist societies like Canada's, I can't see how we can credibly screen 230,000 immigrants per year. Nor do I understand how it has been in our safety interest to see refugee numbers skyrocket from 500 in 1977 to between 29,000 and 35,000 per annum. We must figure this out, especially when a small but significant strain of newcomer is entering from areas where liberalism, pluralism and, indeed, multiculturalism, is anathema. Our minority communities have paid a terrible price in the form of the infiltration they've faced as radicalism destabilizes and intimidates them; the mainstream is now only beginning to understand the adverse possibilities of all this.
Upshot: we must deal with appropriate numbers of newcomers, and ensure that those entering Canada are conditioned to welcome the live-and-let-live principles of our Charter.
We must ensure that government — especially politicians — take the threat seriously. No more ministers meeting Tamil Tigers front groups. No more politicians and bureaucrats meeting any and all self-styled Islamic representative groups, without checking out their backgrounds and holding them to the same security standards as an other ethno-cultural or religious groups vying for government attention. This latter, incidentally, will reinforce the genuine moderates, and pull the rug from under the radical Wahhabi front groups now said by some to be circulating in corridors of power in Ottawa and Washington.
This is, of course, only the beginning.
Read the entire transcript of the online discussion. David Harris' testimony to the judiciary subcommitte is available in pdf format somewhere on the committee website but I couldn't find it.
I'll spare you a detailed appraisal of your portrayal of my House Judiciary Subcommittee testimony. This can be read at the congressional website. The United States has severe security problems of a sort demonstrated by the very fact that it sustained a mass attack on 9/11. Its immigration and visa system can be charitably viewed as a mess. And we can go on in extent about turf wars and associated US bureaucratic-political weaknesses. My overriding interest, however, is Canada's security, and ensuring that Canadians and their government take it seriously. So what can we do?
First, know who is in Canada. This involves coming to grips with our disastrous immigration and refugee system. In the face of an imposed war upon liberal-pluralist societies like Canada's, I can't see how we can credibly screen 230,000 immigrants per year. Nor do I understand how it has been in our safety interest to see refugee numbers skyrocket from 500 in 1977 to between 29,000 and 35,000 per annum. We must figure this out, especially when a small but significant strain of newcomer is entering from areas where liberalism, pluralism and, indeed, multiculturalism, is anathema. Our minority communities have paid a terrible price in the form of the infiltration they've faced as radicalism destabilizes and intimidates them; the mainstream is now only beginning to understand the adverse possibilities of all this.
Upshot: we must deal with appropriate numbers of newcomers, and ensure that those entering Canada are conditioned to welcome the live-and-let-live principles of our Charter.
We must ensure that government — especially politicians — take the threat seriously. No more ministers meeting Tamil Tigers front groups. No more politicians and bureaucrats meeting any and all self-styled Islamic representative groups, without checking out their backgrounds and holding them to the same security standards as an other ethno-cultural or religious groups vying for government attention. This latter, incidentally, will reinforce the genuine moderates, and pull the rug from under the radical Wahhabi front groups now said by some to be circulating in corridors of power in Ottawa and Washington.
This is, of course, only the beginning.
Read the entire transcript of the online discussion. David Harris' testimony to the judiciary subcommitte is available in pdf format somewhere on the committee website but I couldn't find it.
Margaret Somerville controversy: gay activists want freedom for themselves, but would deny it to others
From the Toronto Star (Ryerson degree dispute simmers by Daniel Girard, June 19):
From the pulpit of the same church where he performed Canada's first gay wedding ceremony, Rev. Brent Hawkes called on the Father's Day congregation to join him in a protest this morning as Ryerson University awards an honorary degree to a Montreal ethicist opposed to same-sex marriage.
Moments later, he extended an olive branch to Ryerson president Sheldon Levy, thanking him for accepting an invitation to attend Metropolitan Community Church on the eve of honouring Margaret Somerville. It offered proof, the pastor said, that the school and gay community can "continue to dialogue despite our differences."
[. . .]
Levy received a prolonged round of applause after Hawkes acknowledged him to the congregation. It was a rare moment of warmth and humour in an increasingly nasty dispute. Protests and counter-protests are expected at the downtown Toronto campus today as Somerville, a well-known ethicist at McGill University, receives the honorary degree — her fifth — for her work in medical and research ethics.
Many Ryerson students and members of Toronto's gay community are angry the university is giving one of its highest honours to Somerville, someone they brand "homophobic" and "hateful." They launched an unsuccessful petition to get the award rescinded and vow to voice their displeasure outside the ceremony, which is on the same day the rainbow flag will be raised at City Hall to launch annual Pride Week festivities.
Supporters of Somerville's views and those who say the award is about free speech and academic freedom have told Ryerson's student union and university officials they will also be on hand.
Somerville has widely written and spoken out in the national debate on same-sex marriage. Insisting that she's not anti-gay and her opinions are not borne of religious or political beliefs, she argued marriage is primarily about having children and respecting their right to both a biological mother and father.
[. . .]
Read the whole Star article.
As noted in the article, today marked the beginning of Gay Pride Week in Toronto and as is usual at this time of year, they were talking about the celebrations on the radio. One of the event's organizers described how controversial the first Gay Pride parades were and said that gay rights have come a long way in this city. How ironic, therefore, that some of the same gay rights activists who fought for greater freedom for themselves would now deny it to others. Nowadays, it's not enough to respect gay rights. Anything less than complete approval of every aspect of the gay rights agenda is considered homophobia. What makes this so Orwellian is that the suppression of dissent is done in the name of "tolerance" and "diversity".
I tried to make a point the other day about the contradictions inherent in all this talk about tolerance and diversity. I don't know if I was clear enough, so let me see if I can say it better. Some of the same people who insist we need to celebrate "gay pride" are also quick to defend Islam whenever anyone suggests there might be a connection between Islamic theology and terrorism. We are even told that burkas on the streets of Toronto are part of this city's marvellous, wonderful, remarkable, etc. diversity. The point I want to make is this. Gay rights and Islamic theology are in conflict. Muslims, including many moderate believers, don't have a live-and-let-live attitude towards homosexual behaviour. There even are Muslim leaders who say gays should be killed. Yet, for some reason, some of the same people now attacking Margaret Somerville because of her tempered opposition to "gay marriage" also react vehemently to any criticism of Islam. That's the reason I wonder whether there would be a controversy if Margaret Somerville were Muslim. If gay activists said Ryerson shouldn't give an award to a Muslim because that Muslim opposed gay marriage, Muslim groups would cry "Islamophobia". In that situation, what would the advocates of "tolerance" and "diversity" think was more important, the award recipient's status as a Muslim, that is, as a member of a protected minority group, or her status as a "homophobe"? Which would the activists find more objectionable, "Islamophobia" or "homophobia"?
Pim Fortuyn, who was not in any way a conservative, understood the contradiction. He realized that the Netherlands' tolerant attitude towards homosexuals was jeopardized by Muslim immigration. Sooner or later, Canadian multiculturalists will come to a similar realization.
From the pulpit of the same church where he performed Canada's first gay wedding ceremony, Rev. Brent Hawkes called on the Father's Day congregation to join him in a protest this morning as Ryerson University awards an honorary degree to a Montreal ethicist opposed to same-sex marriage.
Moments later, he extended an olive branch to Ryerson president Sheldon Levy, thanking him for accepting an invitation to attend Metropolitan Community Church on the eve of honouring Margaret Somerville. It offered proof, the pastor said, that the school and gay community can "continue to dialogue despite our differences."
[. . .]
Levy received a prolonged round of applause after Hawkes acknowledged him to the congregation. It was a rare moment of warmth and humour in an increasingly nasty dispute. Protests and counter-protests are expected at the downtown Toronto campus today as Somerville, a well-known ethicist at McGill University, receives the honorary degree — her fifth — for her work in medical and research ethics.
Many Ryerson students and members of Toronto's gay community are angry the university is giving one of its highest honours to Somerville, someone they brand "homophobic" and "hateful." They launched an unsuccessful petition to get the award rescinded and vow to voice their displeasure outside the ceremony, which is on the same day the rainbow flag will be raised at City Hall to launch annual Pride Week festivities.
Supporters of Somerville's views and those who say the award is about free speech and academic freedom have told Ryerson's student union and university officials they will also be on hand.
Somerville has widely written and spoken out in the national debate on same-sex marriage. Insisting that she's not anti-gay and her opinions are not borne of religious or political beliefs, she argued marriage is primarily about having children and respecting their right to both a biological mother and father.
[. . .]
Read the whole Star article.
As noted in the article, today marked the beginning of Gay Pride Week in Toronto and as is usual at this time of year, they were talking about the celebrations on the radio. One of the event's organizers described how controversial the first Gay Pride parades were and said that gay rights have come a long way in this city. How ironic, therefore, that some of the same gay rights activists who fought for greater freedom for themselves would now deny it to others. Nowadays, it's not enough to respect gay rights. Anything less than complete approval of every aspect of the gay rights agenda is considered homophobia. What makes this so Orwellian is that the suppression of dissent is done in the name of "tolerance" and "diversity".
I tried to make a point the other day about the contradictions inherent in all this talk about tolerance and diversity. I don't know if I was clear enough, so let me see if I can say it better. Some of the same people who insist we need to celebrate "gay pride" are also quick to defend Islam whenever anyone suggests there might be a connection between Islamic theology and terrorism. We are even told that burkas on the streets of Toronto are part of this city's marvellous, wonderful, remarkable, etc. diversity. The point I want to make is this. Gay rights and Islamic theology are in conflict. Muslims, including many moderate believers, don't have a live-and-let-live attitude towards homosexual behaviour. There even are Muslim leaders who say gays should be killed. Yet, for some reason, some of the same people now attacking Margaret Somerville because of her tempered opposition to "gay marriage" also react vehemently to any criticism of Islam. That's the reason I wonder whether there would be a controversy if Margaret Somerville were Muslim. If gay activists said Ryerson shouldn't give an award to a Muslim because that Muslim opposed gay marriage, Muslim groups would cry "Islamophobia". In that situation, what would the advocates of "tolerance" and "diversity" think was more important, the award recipient's status as a Muslim, that is, as a member of a protected minority group, or her status as a "homophobe"? Which would the activists find more objectionable, "Islamophobia" or "homophobia"?
Pim Fortuyn, who was not in any way a conservative, understood the contradiction. He realized that the Netherlands' tolerant attitude towards homosexuals was jeopardized by Muslim immigration. Sooner or later, Canadian multiculturalists will come to a similar realization.
Stop the Violence walk marred by shootings
From the Toronto Star (Shootings mar anti-gun walk by Paul Moloney, June 19):
Just as yesterday's Stop the Violence walk was getting underway downtown, a man in his early twenties was shot with a handgun three times in the right arm and once in the upper chest in the Sheppard Ave. E. and Neilson Rd. area.
A police spokesman said that about 3:15 p.m. a young man was shot several times at a bus stop and taken to Sunnybrook hospital with non-life threatening injuries.
Sixteen hours before yesterday's inaugural walk, a 13-year-old boy walked into Etobicoke General Hospital suffering from a gunshot wound to the abdomen.
The boy, who was talking to friends in Emmett Park near Eglinton Ave. W. and Scarlett Rd., was hit when shots rang out from a white van that drove by.
The shootings, and the gunshot wounding of a 17-year-old boy early Saturday, were a grim reminder of the seriousness of the mission of Stop the Violence, organized by the Toronto Argonauts in partnership with the Toronto Police Association and corporate sponsors, including the Toronto Star.
Several hundred people assembled at Nathan Phillips Square for the two-kilometre walk through downtown Toronto,
[. . .]
Read all of the Star article
Just as yesterday's Stop the Violence walk was getting underway downtown, a man in his early twenties was shot with a handgun three times in the right arm and once in the upper chest in the Sheppard Ave. E. and Neilson Rd. area.
A police spokesman said that about 3:15 p.m. a young man was shot several times at a bus stop and taken to Sunnybrook hospital with non-life threatening injuries.
Sixteen hours before yesterday's inaugural walk, a 13-year-old boy walked into Etobicoke General Hospital suffering from a gunshot wound to the abdomen.
The boy, who was talking to friends in Emmett Park near Eglinton Ave. W. and Scarlett Rd., was hit when shots rang out from a white van that drove by.
The shootings, and the gunshot wounding of a 17-year-old boy early Saturday, were a grim reminder of the seriousness of the mission of Stop the Violence, organized by the Toronto Argonauts in partnership with the Toronto Police Association and corporate sponsors, including the Toronto Star.
Several hundred people assembled at Nathan Phillips Square for the two-kilometre walk through downtown Toronto,
[. . .]
Read all of the Star article
Inquiry into the the 1985 Air India bombings
From CanWest News Service via the National Post (Air India inquiry begins this week by Kim Bolan, June 19):
The judicial inquiry into the Air-India bombing will have done its job if victims' families feel like they are real Canadians despite the fact that many immigrated to Canada from India, retired Supreme Court Justice John Major says.
Close to 80 relatives are expected in Ottawa on Wednesday when Judge Major officially opens the long-awaited inquiry into the June, 1985, terrorist bombings with a brief statement outlining the terms of reference.
[. . .]
Judge Major has held meetings across the country with victims' families -- many of whom have lobbied for 20 years for a public inquiry into Canada's worst mass murder.
Their lobby only picked up steam when two B.C. Sikh separatists -- Ripudaman Singh Malik and Ajaib Singh Bagri -- were acquitted in March, 2005, of all charges related to the bombings after a 19-month trial.
[. . .]
Lata Pada, a Mississauga, Ont. dancer, who lost her husband and two teenage daughters in the 1985 terrorist attack, will be in Ottawa as the inquiry is officially launched. It is the same day the only man convicted in the bombing -- Inderjit Singh Reyat -- is to make another court appearance after being charged with perjury for his testimony at the Air-India trial.
Ms. Pada said she thinks the inquiry is particularly timely given the recent arrests in Ontario of suspected Islamic terrorists.
"I think the Air-India inquiry can certainly be a watershed moment in assessing Canada's preparedness for terrorist attacks," she said. "Air-India was really the precursor to everything we are seeing today with terrorism."
[. . .]
Read the whole CanWest article
The Air India bombings were a clear indication that foreign extremists were immigrating to Canada. The attacks should have served as a warning that Canada was importing other people's quarrels. Yet, despite the bombings, Ottawa allowed the Tamil Tigers to establish themselves here and it wasn't until this year that the Tigers were outlawed. And the Tigers are only one of many terrorist groups who have made Canada home. Ottawa's failure to learn from Air India allowed Ahmed Ressam to make bombs in Canada. Politicians have been more interested in pandering to ethnic votes than in protecting Canadians from foreign terrorists.
The judicial inquiry into the Air-India bombing will have done its job if victims' families feel like they are real Canadians despite the fact that many immigrated to Canada from India, retired Supreme Court Justice John Major says.
Close to 80 relatives are expected in Ottawa on Wednesday when Judge Major officially opens the long-awaited inquiry into the June, 1985, terrorist bombings with a brief statement outlining the terms of reference.
[. . .]
Judge Major has held meetings across the country with victims' families -- many of whom have lobbied for 20 years for a public inquiry into Canada's worst mass murder.
Their lobby only picked up steam when two B.C. Sikh separatists -- Ripudaman Singh Malik and Ajaib Singh Bagri -- were acquitted in March, 2005, of all charges related to the bombings after a 19-month trial.
[. . .]
Lata Pada, a Mississauga, Ont. dancer, who lost her husband and two teenage daughters in the 1985 terrorist attack, will be in Ottawa as the inquiry is officially launched. It is the same day the only man convicted in the bombing -- Inderjit Singh Reyat -- is to make another court appearance after being charged with perjury for his testimony at the Air-India trial.
Ms. Pada said she thinks the inquiry is particularly timely given the recent arrests in Ontario of suspected Islamic terrorists.
"I think the Air-India inquiry can certainly be a watershed moment in assessing Canada's preparedness for terrorist attacks," she said. "Air-India was really the precursor to everything we are seeing today with terrorism."
[. . .]
Read the whole CanWest article
The Air India bombings were a clear indication that foreign extremists were immigrating to Canada. The attacks should have served as a warning that Canada was importing other people's quarrels. Yet, despite the bombings, Ottawa allowed the Tamil Tigers to establish themselves here and it wasn't until this year that the Tigers were outlawed. And the Tigers are only one of many terrorist groups who have made Canada home. Ottawa's failure to learn from Air India allowed Ahmed Ressam to make bombs in Canada. Politicians have been more interested in pandering to ethnic votes than in protecting Canadians from foreign terrorists.
Doug Saunders says Canada needs a million poor Africans. Sadly, this isn't satire.
From a column by Doug Saunders in the Globe and Mail (What Canada needs now: a million poor Africans, June 17) (subscribers only):
Here's what we need to do: Make it a little more difficult for educated, well-off people to get into Canada. And make it much, much easier for unskilled, poor people, especially from sub-Saharan Africa, to immigrate in great numbers, and soon.
That may not sound like the obvious solution to Canada's problems, to put it mildly.
A million poor Africans? Yes. A million poor Africans. Almost anyone who has studied the realities of modern immigration and economics understands that this is exactly what countries like Canada need. It would solve our country's immediate economic problems. It would provide a remedy for the future economic and demographic troubles that threaten Canada's current wave of prosperity.
And it would vastly improve the worst-off corners of the world, and eliminate threats to our security and global prosperity, in ways that no level of foreign-aid spending or peacekeeping could accomplish.
[. . .]
I can't believe this drivel was actually published in a major Canadian newspaper. Saunders makes John Ibbitson look like a moderate on immigration.
Where to begin? First, Canada already receives a large number of poor, uneducated immigrants. In addition to poor refugees, many immigrants fall under the family class and are able to come here because they're related to someone not because they're well-educated.
Second, we don't have the resources to screen the immigrants we are taking in now. The deputy director of operations for CSIS recently told the Senate national security committee that CSIS only had the resources to conduct a security check on 10 percent of recent immigrants from the "Afghanistan/Pakistan region". (I'm not sure, but I think this refers to the Afghanistan/Pakistan border region inhabited by ethnic Pashtuns, not to all of Afghanistan and Pakistan.)
Third, last year when then immigration minister Joe Volpe proposed raising the annual number of immigrants from the current 255,000 to over 300,000, some people in the immigration department leaked documents to the Star's James Travers that showed, despite Volpe's claims to the contrary, recent immigrants were not doing well economically. See here and here. Last October, a Princeton sociologist told an audience at the University of Toronto that "there are troubling indicators Toronto is moving in the direction of segregation and a concentration of poverty."
We already have a big problem with black gangs. It's ludicrous to think we could absorb a million poor African immigrants. Saunders is an idiot. Honestly, a columnist who writes something this stupid should be fired.
Here's what we need to do: Make it a little more difficult for educated, well-off people to get into Canada. And make it much, much easier for unskilled, poor people, especially from sub-Saharan Africa, to immigrate in great numbers, and soon.
That may not sound like the obvious solution to Canada's problems, to put it mildly.
A million poor Africans? Yes. A million poor Africans. Almost anyone who has studied the realities of modern immigration and economics understands that this is exactly what countries like Canada need. It would solve our country's immediate economic problems. It would provide a remedy for the future economic and demographic troubles that threaten Canada's current wave of prosperity.
And it would vastly improve the worst-off corners of the world, and eliminate threats to our security and global prosperity, in ways that no level of foreign-aid spending or peacekeeping could accomplish.
[. . .]
I can't believe this drivel was actually published in a major Canadian newspaper. Saunders makes John Ibbitson look like a moderate on immigration.
Where to begin? First, Canada already receives a large number of poor, uneducated immigrants. In addition to poor refugees, many immigrants fall under the family class and are able to come here because they're related to someone not because they're well-educated.
Second, we don't have the resources to screen the immigrants we are taking in now. The deputy director of operations for CSIS recently told the Senate national security committee that CSIS only had the resources to conduct a security check on 10 percent of recent immigrants from the "Afghanistan/Pakistan region". (I'm not sure, but I think this refers to the Afghanistan/Pakistan border region inhabited by ethnic Pashtuns, not to all of Afghanistan and Pakistan.)
Third, last year when then immigration minister Joe Volpe proposed raising the annual number of immigrants from the current 255,000 to over 300,000, some people in the immigration department leaked documents to the Star's James Travers that showed, despite Volpe's claims to the contrary, recent immigrants were not doing well economically. See here and here. Last October, a Princeton sociologist told an audience at the University of Toronto that "there are troubling indicators Toronto is moving in the direction of segregation and a concentration of poverty."
We already have a big problem with black gangs. It's ludicrous to think we could absorb a million poor African immigrants. Saunders is an idiot. Honestly, a columnist who writes something this stupid should be fired.
Sunday, June 18, 2006
Ukrainian-Canadians and the invention of official multiculturalism
From a Robert Fulford column about multiculturalism in the National Post (How we became a land of ghettos, June 12):
How did we get to this point?
A good starting point is the recent autobiography of Manoly R. Lupul, The Politics of Multiculturalism: A Ukrainian-Canadian Memoir.
In the 1960s, after Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson assigned the Royal Commission on Bilingualism and Biculturalism to design a fresh approach to English-French relations, citizens whose origins were neither British nor French began to fear they were being excluded from a new version of citizenship.
Ukrainian-Canadians, in particular, feared the extinction of Ukrainian uniqueness.
Their homeland, part of the Soviet Union, was dominated from Moscow. Lupul, visiting Ukraine in the late 1960s, saw Moscow's Russification policy destroying the old way of life. (He had no idea that the Soviet Union would fall apart in the 1990s and leave Ukraine to its own devices.) He and others dreamt of helping Ukraine survive in Canada.
The founder of the University of Alberta's Institute of Ukrainian Studies, Lupul in 1971 helped draft Alberta's first legislation allowing for the teaching of Ukrainian and other desired "third languages." By 1972, Ottawa had a minister responsible for multiculturalism and in 1973 a Multiculturalism Directorate. Other groups were involved, but Ukrainians remained influential. It is a little known fact, even among multiculturalism's loudest boosters: Lupul helped shape constitutional change.
The crucial year was 1982, when, after much lobbying, multiculturalism made its way into the Charter of Rights and Freedoms through Section 27, which states: "This Charter shall be interpreted in a manner consistent with the preservation and enhancement of the multicultural heritage of Canadians."
That was the multicultural movement's greatest political victory. It meant that multiculturalism could be a factor at all levels of government and the courts. In the 1950s, Prime Minister John Diefenbaker (whose own background was partly German) claimed all Canadians should be treated alike and denounced the idea of "hyphenated Canadians." Less than 30 years later, the government of Canada provided millions of citizens with their own hyphens.
Read all of Fulford's column
How did we get to this point?
A good starting point is the recent autobiography of Manoly R. Lupul, The Politics of Multiculturalism: A Ukrainian-Canadian Memoir.
In the 1960s, after Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson assigned the Royal Commission on Bilingualism and Biculturalism to design a fresh approach to English-French relations, citizens whose origins were neither British nor French began to fear they were being excluded from a new version of citizenship.
Ukrainian-Canadians, in particular, feared the extinction of Ukrainian uniqueness.
Their homeland, part of the Soviet Union, was dominated from Moscow. Lupul, visiting Ukraine in the late 1960s, saw Moscow's Russification policy destroying the old way of life. (He had no idea that the Soviet Union would fall apart in the 1990s and leave Ukraine to its own devices.) He and others dreamt of helping Ukraine survive in Canada.
The founder of the University of Alberta's Institute of Ukrainian Studies, Lupul in 1971 helped draft Alberta's first legislation allowing for the teaching of Ukrainian and other desired "third languages." By 1972, Ottawa had a minister responsible for multiculturalism and in 1973 a Multiculturalism Directorate. Other groups were involved, but Ukrainians remained influential. It is a little known fact, even among multiculturalism's loudest boosters: Lupul helped shape constitutional change.
The crucial year was 1982, when, after much lobbying, multiculturalism made its way into the Charter of Rights and Freedoms through Section 27, which states: "This Charter shall be interpreted in a manner consistent with the preservation and enhancement of the multicultural heritage of Canadians."
That was the multicultural movement's greatest political victory. It meant that multiculturalism could be a factor at all levels of government and the courts. In the 1950s, Prime Minister John Diefenbaker (whose own background was partly German) claimed all Canadians should be treated alike and denounced the idea of "hyphenated Canadians." Less than 30 years later, the government of Canada provided millions of citizens with their own hyphens.
Read all of Fulford's column
90 percent of pupils in Mississauga school come from non-English-speaking homes
Saturday's Toronto Star has a long article (Culture + learning = success by Tess Kalinowski, June 17) about a school in Peel region where 90 percent of the students come from homes where English isn't the first language. According to the article 145 languages and dialects are spoken in Mississauga's Floradale Public School. In her piece, the reporter, Tess Kalinowski, focuses on the challenges faced by teachers and pupils and on the lengths the school goes to accommodate cultural diversity:
All Toronto-area schools preach the benefits of diversity but at Floradale, the value is embedded at a deeper level. Here pupils are encouraged to speak up, in their first language, as well as English. Teachers, students and visitors take pains to correctly pronounce names. Families' languages — spoken and written — are brought into the classroom and hallways at every opportunity. The school is one of 10 in Peel with a readiness centre to help new mothers and pre-schoolers navigate social services and teach early literacy and math readiness skills.
Nowhere in the article is there any suggestion that the immigration policy that made this school the way it is ought to be questioned. The author simply takes it for granted that Toronto-area schools should be full of immigrants. That the difficulty of teaching these pupils could be avoided by not bringing them here in the first place is never mentioned. This is a common pattern in media reports about immigration. The emphasis is almost always on the challenges faced by newcomers and the ways in which schools and other public institutions are meeting their needs. Left out of these stories is the impact of immigration on native-born Canadians. For example, the article points out:
Even with a generous complement of five full-time ESL teachers, demand is so great support is assigned on a triage basis. Every Floradale class is an ESL class and all the teachers have helped newcomers, who frequently arrive at school within three days of stepping off an airplane, navigate those first, often traumatic weeks.
ESL, of course, is short for English as a Second Language. The salary of these ESL teachers is paid for with tax money. Having schools full of students who don't speak English is a burden on Ontario taxpayers, but that isn't mentioned in the article. The article also doesn't mention white flight. How many whites have left the neighbourhood served by this school, because they don't feel at home in an area that has become dominated by immigrants?
What benefit do Canadians get from having all these newcomers in their country? The consensus among a majority of economic studies (see Martin Collacott's report) is that immigration has a neutral effect on the economy. It does, however, lower wages which benefits employers. Basically what immigration does is transfer wealth from those at the bottom to those at the top. So much for the social justice the Star prattles endlessly about.
Finally, what about the ten percent of pupils at Floradale Public School who come from English-speaking homes? How does going to a school where most of their fellow pupils are still learning English affect their education? Does anyone care? Time the teacher spends helping an immigrant child with English is time she doesn't spend helping the English-speaking child master the subjects he came to school to learn.
All Toronto-area schools preach the benefits of diversity but at Floradale, the value is embedded at a deeper level. Here pupils are encouraged to speak up, in their first language, as well as English. Teachers, students and visitors take pains to correctly pronounce names. Families' languages — spoken and written — are brought into the classroom and hallways at every opportunity. The school is one of 10 in Peel with a readiness centre to help new mothers and pre-schoolers navigate social services and teach early literacy and math readiness skills.
Nowhere in the article is there any suggestion that the immigration policy that made this school the way it is ought to be questioned. The author simply takes it for granted that Toronto-area schools should be full of immigrants. That the difficulty of teaching these pupils could be avoided by not bringing them here in the first place is never mentioned. This is a common pattern in media reports about immigration. The emphasis is almost always on the challenges faced by newcomers and the ways in which schools and other public institutions are meeting their needs. Left out of these stories is the impact of immigration on native-born Canadians. For example, the article points out:
Even with a generous complement of five full-time ESL teachers, demand is so great support is assigned on a triage basis. Every Floradale class is an ESL class and all the teachers have helped newcomers, who frequently arrive at school within three days of stepping off an airplane, navigate those first, often traumatic weeks.
ESL, of course, is short for English as a Second Language. The salary of these ESL teachers is paid for with tax money. Having schools full of students who don't speak English is a burden on Ontario taxpayers, but that isn't mentioned in the article. The article also doesn't mention white flight. How many whites have left the neighbourhood served by this school, because they don't feel at home in an area that has become dominated by immigrants?
What benefit do Canadians get from having all these newcomers in their country? The consensus among a majority of economic studies (see Martin Collacott's report) is that immigration has a neutral effect on the economy. It does, however, lower wages which benefits employers. Basically what immigration does is transfer wealth from those at the bottom to those at the top. So much for the social justice the Star prattles endlessly about.
Finally, what about the ten percent of pupils at Floradale Public School who come from English-speaking homes? How does going to a school where most of their fellow pupils are still learning English affect their education? Does anyone care? Time the teacher spends helping an immigrant child with English is time she doesn't spend helping the English-speaking child master the subjects he came to school to learn.
Immigrant seniors face rampant abuse by families
From Canadian Press via CBC News (Immigrant seniors face 'rampant' abuse by families, B.C. advocate says, June 15):
It's a myth that all members of ethnic communities take good care of their elderly parents, the head a multicultural group says, adding that governments need to intervene in a serious problem that has caused at least one man to commit suicide.
Shashi Assanand, executive director of the Vancouver and Lower Mainland Multicultural Family Support Services Society, said Thursday some seniors face emotional, physical and financial abuse from their children who have sponsored them to Canada.
[. . .]
Indo-Canadian, Chinese, African and Eastern European families are among the groups Assanand's organization represents.
The worst problem is that seniors are isolated in a country where they can't speak English, even to their Canadian-born grandchildren who may not speak their parents' language, she said.
Such seniors become so lonely that they often become depressed.
[. . .]
She said it's important to acknowledge the population is aging rapidly and that many future seniors will be from immigrant families whose needs must be met.
"In 25 years or less there are going to be more people in the major urban centres of Canada, like Vancouver and Toronto, who were the visible minorities and they're going to be in the majority," Baird said.
[. . .]
Read the whole CP article
"future seniors will be from immigrant families whose needs must be met"
How can this be? John Ibbitson says we need more immigrants to offset the problems caused by an aging population. He writes for the Globe and Mail, "Canada's national newspaper". He knows what he's talking about, doesn't he?
It's a myth that all members of ethnic communities take good care of their elderly parents, the head a multicultural group says, adding that governments need to intervene in a serious problem that has caused at least one man to commit suicide.
Shashi Assanand, executive director of the Vancouver and Lower Mainland Multicultural Family Support Services Society, said Thursday some seniors face emotional, physical and financial abuse from their children who have sponsored them to Canada.
[. . .]
Indo-Canadian, Chinese, African and Eastern European families are among the groups Assanand's organization represents.
The worst problem is that seniors are isolated in a country where they can't speak English, even to their Canadian-born grandchildren who may not speak their parents' language, she said.
Such seniors become so lonely that they often become depressed.
[. . .]
She said it's important to acknowledge the population is aging rapidly and that many future seniors will be from immigrant families whose needs must be met.
"In 25 years or less there are going to be more people in the major urban centres of Canada, like Vancouver and Toronto, who were the visible minorities and they're going to be in the majority," Baird said.
[. . .]
Read the whole CP article
"future seniors will be from immigrant families whose needs must be met"
How can this be? John Ibbitson says we need more immigrants to offset the problems caused by an aging population. He writes for the Globe and Mail, "Canada's national newspaper". He knows what he's talking about, doesn't he?
Acadians criticize Liberal candidates for their poor French
From CBC News (Liberal candidates draw fire for poor French in Acadie debate, June 17):
Several Liberal leadership hopefuls will have to improve their French if they hope to lead the party back to power, said observers at an all-candidates debate on Saturday.
More than 500 people turned out for the party's second leadership debate in Moncton, N.B., at the francophone Université de Moncton.
And, given the setting in the heart of Acadie, it was only natural that the candidates gave their French skills a healthy workout. Most of the questions were asked in French, and Jonna Brewer of CBC News said many of the candidates had to struggle to answer.
[. . .]
"We are not respected, the French," Eva Turcotte said, adding that only two candidates were fluently bilingual in her opinion: former federal cabinet minister Stéphane Dion and Ontario's former NDP premier Bob Rae.
Dion tried to defend his fellow candidates.
"The criterion is not to be perfectly bilingual," Dion said later. "The criterion is: Are you able to win a TV debate in both official languages? If you're not, you should not become the Liberal leader because you cannot win an election without that."
[ . . .]
Read all of the CBC article
If Sir John A. MacDonald were alive today, the CBC would say he was ineligible to be prime minister. Demanding that national leaders be able to speak French automatically disqualifies the vast majority of English Canadians. While most people don't have what it takes to lead a country, many of those who do are unilingual English-speakers.
Quebec has a disproportionate amount of political influence, because English Canada is divided. English-Canadian politicians are so preoccupied with keeping Quebec in Canada that they're willing to sacrifice the interests of English Canadians. That's how Canada ended up with a policy of official bilingualism that discriminates against English-speakers who want to work for the civil service. English Canada would be better off without Quebec.
Several Liberal leadership hopefuls will have to improve their French if they hope to lead the party back to power, said observers at an all-candidates debate on Saturday.
More than 500 people turned out for the party's second leadership debate in Moncton, N.B., at the francophone Université de Moncton.
And, given the setting in the heart of Acadie, it was only natural that the candidates gave their French skills a healthy workout. Most of the questions were asked in French, and Jonna Brewer of CBC News said many of the candidates had to struggle to answer.
[. . .]
"We are not respected, the French," Eva Turcotte said, adding that only two candidates were fluently bilingual in her opinion: former federal cabinet minister Stéphane Dion and Ontario's former NDP premier Bob Rae.
Dion tried to defend his fellow candidates.
"The criterion is not to be perfectly bilingual," Dion said later. "The criterion is: Are you able to win a TV debate in both official languages? If you're not, you should not become the Liberal leader because you cannot win an election without that."
[ . . .]
Read all of the CBC article
If Sir John A. MacDonald were alive today, the CBC would say he was ineligible to be prime minister. Demanding that national leaders be able to speak French automatically disqualifies the vast majority of English Canadians. While most people don't have what it takes to lead a country, many of those who do are unilingual English-speakers.
Quebec has a disproportionate amount of political influence, because English Canada is divided. English-Canadian politicians are so preoccupied with keeping Quebec in Canada that they're willing to sacrifice the interests of English Canadians. That's how Canada ended up with a policy of official bilingualism that discriminates against English-speakers who want to work for the civil service. English Canada would be better off without Quebec.
Quebec City's Chinatown - gone but not forgotten
From the Globe and Mail ('Chinatown is gone, gone to heaven' by Ingrid Peritz, June 17):
The Chinese laundries have vanished, along with the fragrant smells wafting from the kitchens of restaurants like the Canton and Yangtze. Gone too are the dragon dancers and firecrackers that lit up the city streets on Chinese New Year.
The sounds and sights of a thriving Chinatown, and the hundreds of Chinese-Canadians who called it home, have vanished from Quebec City. Only the memories live on -- in a dwindling number of people.
"It was like New York: not as large, but almost as busy," recalls Benoit Woo, 53. He and his brother Napoleon are the only survivors of Quebec City's original Chinatown still to live in the district.
"Chinatown is gone, gone to heaven."
Now, steps are being taken to commemorate the neighbourhood and the people who created it. Decades after urban renewal destroyed the Chinatown in Quebec's provincial capital and scattered its residents to the suburbs and beyond, local officials say they want to mark the site of the old neighbourhood with a Chinese garden.
[. . .]
Quebec City isn't the only place in Canada to lose its Chinatown.
In the 1930s and 1940s, when Chinatowns served as enclaves for a persecuted minority, about 25 Chinese districts sprung up across Canada, in places such as Sudbury, Hamilton, Moose Jaw and Regina.
Today, fewer than a dozen survive, all in Canada's biggest cities, said David Lai, professor emeritus of geography at the University of Victoria. Chinatowns came under merciless pressure from urban development, and Chinese-Canadians became upwardly mobile and moved on.
[. . .]
Read all of the Globe article
The Chinese laundries have vanished, along with the fragrant smells wafting from the kitchens of restaurants like the Canton and Yangtze. Gone too are the dragon dancers and firecrackers that lit up the city streets on Chinese New Year.
The sounds and sights of a thriving Chinatown, and the hundreds of Chinese-Canadians who called it home, have vanished from Quebec City. Only the memories live on -- in a dwindling number of people.
"It was like New York: not as large, but almost as busy," recalls Benoit Woo, 53. He and his brother Napoleon are the only survivors of Quebec City's original Chinatown still to live in the district.
"Chinatown is gone, gone to heaven."
Now, steps are being taken to commemorate the neighbourhood and the people who created it. Decades after urban renewal destroyed the Chinatown in Quebec's provincial capital and scattered its residents to the suburbs and beyond, local officials say they want to mark the site of the old neighbourhood with a Chinese garden.
[. . .]
Quebec City isn't the only place in Canada to lose its Chinatown.
In the 1930s and 1940s, when Chinatowns served as enclaves for a persecuted minority, about 25 Chinese districts sprung up across Canada, in places such as Sudbury, Hamilton, Moose Jaw and Regina.
Today, fewer than a dozen survive, all in Canada's biggest cities, said David Lai, professor emeritus of geography at the University of Victoria. Chinatowns came under merciless pressure from urban development, and Chinese-Canadians became upwardly mobile and moved on.
[. . .]
Read all of the Globe article
Saturday, June 17, 2006
Urban sprawl: another problem that could be solved by a moratorium on immigration
From the National Post (Ontario plan aims to curb urban sprawl by Zosia Bielski, June 17):
The provincial government yesterday announced "the end of sprawl as we know it'' in a plan that nonetheless leaves 60% of prime agricultural land unprotected from developers throughout the Greater Golden Horseshoe Area.
The 25-year Places to Grow plan promises to create a regional city for up to 11 million people, while promoting a culture of conservation, "vibrant livable communities" and reduced fuel emissions.
In a separate announcement yesterday, Transportation Minister Donna Cansfield announced the province's five-year plan to expand six busy highways in southern Ontario by 130 kilometres.
Both plans, as well as the Greenbelt legislation, anticipate a massive population influx of 3.7 million new residents to the Greater Golden Horseshoe, the third-fastest-growing area in North America behind Dallas-Fort Worth and Atlanta. Two million new jobs are to be created, mainly in 25 areas designated as "urban growth centres" -- such places as Midtown Oakville and Uptown Waterloo.
Without a growth plan, the Greater Golden Horseshoe is likely to deteriorate into "a car-dependent community, a suburban monoculture with little diversity," said David Caplan, the Minister of Public Infrastructure Renewal.
[. . .]
Read the entire National Post article. See also articles in the Toronto Star. Click here, here and here. Also read the province's press release. The plan itself, as well as related documents, can be downloaded in pdf format from this page.
Canada has a low birthrate. Toronto and the Golden Horseshoe are growing so rapidly because about half of the 250,000 or more immigrants who come to Canada each year settle in Ontario. The Greater Toronto Area alone gets roughly 100,000 immigrants a year, which adds up to a million new people a decade. This unnecessary growth is already having a negative impact on Toronto's quality of life. It's the reason for the smog and the long commutes. It's the reason for the traffic gridlock that drains $2 billion a year from the economy. It's also the reason Ontario will be building new nuclear generating plants.
In the middle of one of the Star's articles about the province's new growth plan, which involves encouraging higher residential densities, is this passage:
Many municipal politicians are onside with the overall idea of using their space more efficiently and giving residents options other than the car to get around, but they'll still face battles from residents when specific neighbourhoods are targeted for more growth.
But whether residents — living in neighbourhoods that are perfect just the way they are, thank you very much — want it or not, growth is coming.
Whether you want it or not! That's the political establishment's response to every proposal to reduce immigration. They're coming here whether you like it or not. We don't care if this means skyscrapers in residential neighbourhoods or if urban growth swallows up small communities, changing their way of life forever. They're coming here whether you like it or not was exactly the response Ontario's environment commissioner received from the Toronto Star when he warned about the ecological impact of unnecessary population growth. Here's what the paper said in an editorial reply to his concerns:
Population growth is coming whether Miller likes it or not. The federal government has raised its target for immigration in 2006 to 255,000. The cap is likely to go over 300,000 in subsequent years. If the past is any indicator, the lion's share of immigrants will come to southern Ontario.
Lost in all these projections of future population growth is the fact that this increase is the result of political decisions. Immigration is not a force of nature. It can be stopped if Canadians want it to stop. We have a choice, but we need a political leader who will present us with that option. What we don't need is a "conservative" leader who is as gung-ho about immigration as any Liberal.
The provincial government yesterday announced "the end of sprawl as we know it'' in a plan that nonetheless leaves 60% of prime agricultural land unprotected from developers throughout the Greater Golden Horseshoe Area.
The 25-year Places to Grow plan promises to create a regional city for up to 11 million people, while promoting a culture of conservation, "vibrant livable communities" and reduced fuel emissions.
In a separate announcement yesterday, Transportation Minister Donna Cansfield announced the province's five-year plan to expand six busy highways in southern Ontario by 130 kilometres.
Both plans, as well as the Greenbelt legislation, anticipate a massive population influx of 3.7 million new residents to the Greater Golden Horseshoe, the third-fastest-growing area in North America behind Dallas-Fort Worth and Atlanta. Two million new jobs are to be created, mainly in 25 areas designated as "urban growth centres" -- such places as Midtown Oakville and Uptown Waterloo.
Without a growth plan, the Greater Golden Horseshoe is likely to deteriorate into "a car-dependent community, a suburban monoculture with little diversity," said David Caplan, the Minister of Public Infrastructure Renewal.
[. . .]
Read the entire National Post article. See also articles in the Toronto Star. Click here, here and here. Also read the province's press release. The plan itself, as well as related documents, can be downloaded in pdf format from this page.
Canada has a low birthrate. Toronto and the Golden Horseshoe are growing so rapidly because about half of the 250,000 or more immigrants who come to Canada each year settle in Ontario. The Greater Toronto Area alone gets roughly 100,000 immigrants a year, which adds up to a million new people a decade. This unnecessary growth is already having a negative impact on Toronto's quality of life. It's the reason for the smog and the long commutes. It's the reason for the traffic gridlock that drains $2 billion a year from the economy. It's also the reason Ontario will be building new nuclear generating plants.
In the middle of one of the Star's articles about the province's new growth plan, which involves encouraging higher residential densities, is this passage:
Many municipal politicians are onside with the overall idea of using their space more efficiently and giving residents options other than the car to get around, but they'll still face battles from residents when specific neighbourhoods are targeted for more growth.
But whether residents — living in neighbourhoods that are perfect just the way they are, thank you very much — want it or not, growth is coming.
Whether you want it or not! That's the political establishment's response to every proposal to reduce immigration. They're coming here whether you like it or not. We don't care if this means skyscrapers in residential neighbourhoods or if urban growth swallows up small communities, changing their way of life forever. They're coming here whether you like it or not was exactly the response Ontario's environment commissioner received from the Toronto Star when he warned about the ecological impact of unnecessary population growth. Here's what the paper said in an editorial reply to his concerns:
Population growth is coming whether Miller likes it or not. The federal government has raised its target for immigration in 2006 to 255,000. The cap is likely to go over 300,000 in subsequent years. If the past is any indicator, the lion's share of immigrants will come to southern Ontario.
Lost in all these projections of future population growth is the fact that this increase is the result of political decisions. Immigration is not a force of nature. It can be stopped if Canadians want it to stop. We have a choice, but we need a political leader who will present us with that option. What we don't need is a "conservative" leader who is as gung-ho about immigration as any Liberal.
Friday, June 16, 2006
Immigration won't solve the problems caused by an aging population
John Ibbitson of the Globe and Mail was on CBC Newsworld this evening touting the wonders of immigration and multiculturalism. The man is impervious to facts. Once again he repeated the myth that Canada needs high levels of immigration to compensate for an aging population. How does a professional journalist get away with spouting this nonsense over and over again? I can only surmise he has an ideological, indeed religious, commitment to multiculturalism that won't be swayed by new information.
Below is an excerpt from the 2002 immigration report that Martin Collacott wrote for the Fraser Institute. In this passage, Collacott effectively refutes the aging population argument put forth by Ibbitson and others. (The 2nd edition of the study is available as a free download in pdf format. Click here)
From pp. 11-2 of the report:
To be sure, Canadians are indeed getting older as people are living longer and women are having fewer babies. According to a Statistics Canada projection last year, without any net immigration and no change in the current fertility rate, our population will continue to grow for another dozen years and begin to fall below the current level in the late 2020s (Statistics Canada, 2001, p. 64) In the circumstances, unless we specifically want a larger population, we won't require any net immigration for the next quarter of a century. It is also true that we will have to contend with an increasing number of retired persons in relation to those still working. Current projections are that by 2025 the number of retirees for every hundred workers will increase from the present 18 to 35. There is, however, abundant evidence that only immigration at overwhelmingly high levels would have any significant effect on population aging. A 1989 report on demographics released by Health and Welfare Canada and based on 167 studies concluded, for example, that increased immigration would have little or no impact on either the aging of the population (Charting Canada's Future, p. 24) or the dependency ratio. (Charting Canada’s Future, p. 26). The Economic Council study similarly declared two years later that the reduction of the tax burden of dependency through immigration was quite insignificant (Economic and Social Impacts, 1991, p. 51), while in 1997 Statistics Canada concluded from census data that "immigration cannot erase the dilemma of growing old, which the entire population must face" (Statistics Canada, 1997, p. 96). A United Nations report (Replacement Migration) issued in March 2000 spelled out just how much immigration would be required to keep the age of the population and therefore the dependencey ratio at current levels. While Canada was not one of the countries covered in the study, the United States (with an age profile relatively close to our own but slightly younger) was included and its projections were roughly similar to what we would have to expect here. In the case of the US, the United Nations found that it would have to raise its population to 1.1 billion by 2050 to maintain current dependency ratios. To achieve this, 73 percent of the people in the US in 2050 would be immigrants or offspring of those who arrived after 2000. And it would not stop there since, after a generation or two, most immigrants take on the same aging and family-size characteristics as those of native-born North Americans and we would have to continue quadrupling our population every 50 years to maintain current dependency ratios.
Below is an excerpt from the 2002 immigration report that Martin Collacott wrote for the Fraser Institute. In this passage, Collacott effectively refutes the aging population argument put forth by Ibbitson and others. (The 2nd edition of the study is available as a free download in pdf format. Click here)
From pp. 11-2 of the report:
To be sure, Canadians are indeed getting older as people are living longer and women are having fewer babies. According to a Statistics Canada projection last year, without any net immigration and no change in the current fertility rate, our population will continue to grow for another dozen years and begin to fall below the current level in the late 2020s (Statistics Canada, 2001, p. 64) In the circumstances, unless we specifically want a larger population, we won't require any net immigration for the next quarter of a century. It is also true that we will have to contend with an increasing number of retired persons in relation to those still working. Current projections are that by 2025 the number of retirees for every hundred workers will increase from the present 18 to 35. There is, however, abundant evidence that only immigration at overwhelmingly high levels would have any significant effect on population aging. A 1989 report on demographics released by Health and Welfare Canada and based on 167 studies concluded, for example, that increased immigration would have little or no impact on either the aging of the population (Charting Canada's Future, p. 24) or the dependency ratio. (Charting Canada’s Future, p. 26). The Economic Council study similarly declared two years later that the reduction of the tax burden of dependency through immigration was quite insignificant (Economic and Social Impacts, 1991, p. 51), while in 1997 Statistics Canada concluded from census data that "immigration cannot erase the dilemma of growing old, which the entire population must face" (Statistics Canada, 1997, p. 96). A United Nations report (Replacement Migration) issued in March 2000 spelled out just how much immigration would be required to keep the age of the population and therefore the dependencey ratio at current levels. While Canada was not one of the countries covered in the study, the United States (with an age profile relatively close to our own but slightly younger) was included and its projections were roughly similar to what we would have to expect here. In the case of the US, the United Nations found that it would have to raise its population to 1.1 billion by 2050 to maintain current dependency ratios. To achieve this, 73 percent of the people in the US in 2050 would be immigrants or offspring of those who arrived after 2000. And it would not stop there since, after a generation or two, most immigrants take on the same aging and family-size characteristics as those of native-born North Americans and we would have to continue quadrupling our population every 50 years to maintain current dependency ratios.
Ottawa to spend millions on transit security
From the Globe and Mail (Ottawa plans $254-million for transit security by Terry Weber, June 16):
Ottawa will spend $254-million over the two years on anti-terrorism measures aimed at bolstering the security of Canada's air, rail and marine transport systems.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper made the announcement in Toronto, saying that Canada “can choose to ignore terrorism and suffer the consequences, or we can take action.”
The money for the programs was earmarked in last winter's budget as part of $1.4-billion set aside to enhance national security overall.
“This is how the fight against terrorism will be won – modernizing equipment and procedures, plugging the holes, filling the gaps, thinking one step ahead of the agents of hate,” Mr. Harper said.
[. . .]
Read the entire Globe article
The best anti-terrorism measure would be a moratorium on immigration.
Ottawa will spend $254-million over the two years on anti-terrorism measures aimed at bolstering the security of Canada's air, rail and marine transport systems.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper made the announcement in Toronto, saying that Canada “can choose to ignore terrorism and suffer the consequences, or we can take action.”
The money for the programs was earmarked in last winter's budget as part of $1.4-billion set aside to enhance national security overall.
“This is how the fight against terrorism will be won – modernizing equipment and procedures, plugging the holes, filling the gaps, thinking one step ahead of the agents of hate,” Mr. Harper said.
[. . .]
Read the entire Globe article
The best anti-terrorism measure would be a moratorium on immigration.
Globe and Mail: Afghans blame Canadians for carnage
From the Globe and Mail (Taking blame for Afghan carnage by Graeme Smith, June 16):
In the aftermath of the bloodiest attack on civilians that Kandahar city has endured since the renewed insurgency this year, victims' relatives voiced anger at the Taliban but vented even more fury at the Canadian soldiers and other foreigners who promised to improve their lives.
"For 30 years, we've had this problem: Foreign troops come here and start fights," said Abdul Zahir, 49, gesturing at three of his young relatives as they sweated and moaned in a crowded hospital ward.
The backlash was the opposite of what the Canadian military expected, after a bomb planted on a minibus killed 10 people and injured 17 others. Insurgent bombings in this city usually target Canadian, U.S. or Afghan soldiers; major strikes against civilian targets are unusual because the Taliban portray themselves as defenders of the people against foreign invaders.
[. . .]
Read all of the Globe article
In the aftermath of the bloodiest attack on civilians that Kandahar city has endured since the renewed insurgency this year, victims' relatives voiced anger at the Taliban but vented even more fury at the Canadian soldiers and other foreigners who promised to improve their lives.
"For 30 years, we've had this problem: Foreign troops come here and start fights," said Abdul Zahir, 49, gesturing at three of his young relatives as they sweated and moaned in a crowded hospital ward.
The backlash was the opposite of what the Canadian military expected, after a bomb planted on a minibus killed 10 people and injured 17 others. Insurgent bombings in this city usually target Canadian, U.S. or Afghan soldiers; major strikes against civilian targets are unusual because the Taliban portray themselves as defenders of the people against foreign invaders.
[. . .]
Read all of the Globe article
If Margaret Somerville were Muslim would there still be a controversy?
Imagine for a moment that Margaret Somerville was a devout Muslim. Would her stance against gay marriage still cause an uproar? Can you imagine the reaction if Ryerson ever withdrew an award it had planned to give a Muslim and the reason for the withdrawal was that she was against gay marriage? What do the advocates of "tolerance" dislike more, "homophobia" or "Islamophobia"? It's all well and good to celebrate diversity, but what do you do when the objects of that celebration hate each other's guts?
How much will it cost to try Toronto's terror suspects?
From CanWest News Service via the National Post ('Group of 17' trial to test Canada's new terror act by Richard Foot, June 16, 2006):
The terrorism trials of the 17 people arrested in Ontario this month promise to be the longest, largest and most complicated criminal cases in Canadian history, says David Paciocco, a criminal law and constitutional expert.
''It's going to be massive,''he said a legal spectacle unlike Canada's criminal justice system has ever seen.
[. . .]
Mountain of evidence: The logistical challenge alone is likely to tax Ontario's court system to the limit, not to mention the pressure that the sheer size of the case will place on defence lawyers.
''If there's been (police or spy-agency)surveillance for months and months, you're going to have hundreds of thousands of pages of material,''says Paciocco. ''Prosecutors are going to have to disclose evidence to the defence via computers, rather than on paper, or you're going to have trucks going up to lawyers' offices delivering loads of documents.''
There have been large cases in Canada beforewhere evidence was handled digitally rather than on paper. There have also been cases, including the Air India case, where the government helped pay the costs of the defence in the interests of a fair trial.
[. . .]
Read the whole CanWest article
The trial of the Air India bombing suspects, which resulted in acquittals, cost $100 million. The investigation cost an additional $30 million. On top of that Harper ordered an inquiry which will also cost millions. The defendants in the Air India case were represented by a government-funded legal team. There was an uproar when it was learned that defence had put the children of one of the defendants on the payroll. The head of the legal team was later suspended and ordered to pay a fine.
The terrorism trials of the 17 people arrested in Ontario this month promise to be the longest, largest and most complicated criminal cases in Canadian history, says David Paciocco, a criminal law and constitutional expert.
''It's going to be massive,''he said a legal spectacle unlike Canada's criminal justice system has ever seen.
[. . .]
Mountain of evidence: The logistical challenge alone is likely to tax Ontario's court system to the limit, not to mention the pressure that the sheer size of the case will place on defence lawyers.
''If there's been (police or spy-agency)surveillance for months and months, you're going to have hundreds of thousands of pages of material,''says Paciocco. ''Prosecutors are going to have to disclose evidence to the defence via computers, rather than on paper, or you're going to have trucks going up to lawyers' offices delivering loads of documents.''
There have been large cases in Canada beforewhere evidence was handled digitally rather than on paper. There have also been cases, including the Air India case, where the government helped pay the costs of the defence in the interests of a fair trial.
[. . .]
Read the whole CanWest article
The trial of the Air India bombing suspects, which resulted in acquittals, cost $100 million. The investigation cost an additional $30 million. On top of that Harper ordered an inquiry which will also cost millions. The defendants in the Air India case were represented by a government-funded legal team. There was an uproar when it was learned that defence had put the children of one of the defendants on the payroll. The head of the legal team was later suspended and ordered to pay a fine.
Group wants radical Muslim cleric barred from Canada
From the National Post (Cleric should be kept out, Immigration Minister told by Mary Vallis, June 16, 2006):
A lobby group is urging the Immigration Minister to refuse a controversial Muslim cleric entry to Canada.
Sheik Riyadh ul-Haq, a former cleric at one of Britain's biggest mosques, is scheduled to speak to Muslim groups in Toronto and Montreal in June and July. Critics in Canada say Mr. Haq's hardline views are not welcome here, especially so soon after the arrest of 17 young men on terrorism charges.
David Oulette, director of the Canadian Coalition for Democracies (CCD), said Immigration Minister Monte Solberg should refuse Mr. Haq entry on security grounds if the federal government is serious about ending the radicalization of young Muslims.
"The problem is that this sheik has a history of radical discourses that incite hatred toward non-Muslims, speaking of plots by non-Muslims against Islam and the Muslim world in general [and] glorifying martyrdom in the way of Allah, which could be interpreted as an incitation to violence," he said.
The CCD yesterday released clips from Mr. Haq's speeches that the group claims demonstrate he glorifies jihad and preaches hatred of Hindus and Jews.
"Of the peoples of the Earth, the ones that hate Muslims the most, the ones who are bitterest of their enmity towards Muslims, the most unrelenting, unforgiving, are the Jews and the mushrikin, idolaters in all their forms," Mr. Haq is quoted as saying.
He has also been criticized in the United Kingdom for appearing to support suicide bombers.
"He's is a nasty piece of work," said Tarek Fatah, host of the weekly television program The Muslim Chronicle. He warned that such conferences as the ones where Mr. Haq is scheduled to speak are dangerous because they often mix politics and religion.
[. . .]
Read all of the Post article
A lobby group is urging the Immigration Minister to refuse a controversial Muslim cleric entry to Canada.
Sheik Riyadh ul-Haq, a former cleric at one of Britain's biggest mosques, is scheduled to speak to Muslim groups in Toronto and Montreal in June and July. Critics in Canada say Mr. Haq's hardline views are not welcome here, especially so soon after the arrest of 17 young men on terrorism charges.
David Oulette, director of the Canadian Coalition for Democracies (CCD), said Immigration Minister Monte Solberg should refuse Mr. Haq entry on security grounds if the federal government is serious about ending the radicalization of young Muslims.
"The problem is that this sheik has a history of radical discourses that incite hatred toward non-Muslims, speaking of plots by non-Muslims against Islam and the Muslim world in general [and] glorifying martyrdom in the way of Allah, which could be interpreted as an incitation to violence," he said.
The CCD yesterday released clips from Mr. Haq's speeches that the group claims demonstrate he glorifies jihad and preaches hatred of Hindus and Jews.
"Of the peoples of the Earth, the ones that hate Muslims the most, the ones who are bitterest of their enmity towards Muslims, the most unrelenting, unforgiving, are the Jews and the mushrikin, idolaters in all their forms," Mr. Haq is quoted as saying.
He has also been criticized in the United Kingdom for appearing to support suicide bombers.
"He's is a nasty piece of work," said Tarek Fatah, host of the weekly television program The Muslim Chronicle. He warned that such conferences as the ones where Mr. Haq is scheduled to speak are dangerous because they often mix politics and religion.
[. . .]
Read all of the Post article
Police probe 12 violent Toronto girl gangs after teen arrested for possessing loaded Magnum
From the Toronto Sun ('Chick gangs' on rise: Cops by Tom Godfrey, June 16, 2006):
At least 12 violent Toronto girl gangs, including one whose teen member was busted with a loaded magnum in a Dora the Explorer backpack, are being probed by police, officers say.
Schoolgirls from 13 to 17 are lured by their peers and quick money to join the so-called "chick gangs," who can be just as violent as the boys, police said.
The girl gangs surfaced this week after a 14-year-old girl was arrested at Thistletown Collegiate with a .44-calibre pistol and two large knives in the backpack. A third knife was found up her sleeve, police said.
The teen is an alleged member of the Killer Squad gang, made up mostly of girls of Jamaican descent, community and police officials said.
She and about 60 others were fighting a rival Somali group when police were called.
[. . .]
Read the whole Sun article
Thistletown Collegiate is located in Rexdale - a part of Toronto that has been plagued by gang violence. Rexdale is home to the infamous Jamestown Crew.
At least 12 violent Toronto girl gangs, including one whose teen member was busted with a loaded magnum in a Dora the Explorer backpack, are being probed by police, officers say.
Schoolgirls from 13 to 17 are lured by their peers and quick money to join the so-called "chick gangs," who can be just as violent as the boys, police said.
The girl gangs surfaced this week after a 14-year-old girl was arrested at Thistletown Collegiate with a .44-calibre pistol and two large knives in the backpack. A third knife was found up her sleeve, police said.
The teen is an alleged member of the Killer Squad gang, made up mostly of girls of Jamaican descent, community and police officials said.
She and about 60 others were fighting a rival Somali group when police were called.
[. . .]
Read the whole Sun article
Thistletown Collegiate is located in Rexdale - a part of Toronto that has been plagued by gang violence. Rexdale is home to the infamous Jamestown Crew.
Thursday, June 15, 2006
Caledonia land claim talks resume. Situation still very tense
From Canadian Press via the Toronto Star (Caledonia talks resume amid tension, June 15, 2006):
Talks resumed Thursday in a bid to settle the land-claim stalemate in Caledonia but observers close to both aboriginal protesters and local residents fear there could be more violent outbursts if a resolution doesn’t come soon.
Premier Dalton McGuinty had called off talks after several confrontations broke out last Friday near the occupied land, saying the protesters had “just about exhausted our goodwill and our patience.”
The violent setback was symptomatic of what’s been a stressful and exhausting ordeal for everyone involved, and tensions could easily explode again, said Cynthia Wesley-Esquimaux, an instructor in aboriginal studies at the University of Toronto.
The majority of the aboriginal population is under the age of 25, and the potential exists for another violent incident triggered by frayed nerves, said Wesley-Esquimaux, who keeps in contact with many people in the occupied zone and the community.
[. . .]
Read all of the Star article
Talks resumed Thursday in a bid to settle the land-claim stalemate in Caledonia but observers close to both aboriginal protesters and local residents fear there could be more violent outbursts if a resolution doesn’t come soon.
Premier Dalton McGuinty had called off talks after several confrontations broke out last Friday near the occupied land, saying the protesters had “just about exhausted our goodwill and our patience.”
The violent setback was symptomatic of what’s been a stressful and exhausting ordeal for everyone involved, and tensions could easily explode again, said Cynthia Wesley-Esquimaux, an instructor in aboriginal studies at the University of Toronto.
The majority of the aboriginal population is under the age of 25, and the potential exists for another violent incident triggered by frayed nerves, said Wesley-Esquimaux, who keeps in contact with many people in the occupied zone and the community.
[. . .]
Read all of the Star article
Jihad Watch has more about the Sistani fatwa
Jihad Watch has more about Iraqi Shiite leader Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani's call for Muslims to obey Canadian law.
Hugh Fitzgerald writes on Jihad Watch (Obey those Infidel laws, June 15):
What is most telling, what is most amazing, what must never be forgotten, about the Sistani fatwa is that Muslims living in the West are being told, in the view of uncomprehending and misreporting Infidels, by a cleric living in Iraq, that they may, that they should, obey the laws of Canada if they live in Canada, but only insofar as Muslim values are "not ridiculed." This is really a milder, clever version of the statement to be found every day at Muslim websites in answer to queries from Muslims Who Want to Know: "You may obey the laws of the Infidel land in which you happen to live [seldom is the particular country specified -- why should it be? What does that distinction matter to Muslims?] as long as those laws do not contradict Islam in any way." Al-Sistani's formulation -- you should obey the local laws of the local Infidels [in this case those of Canada] "insofar as Islamic values are not ridiculed" is softer in expression, with possibly just a little leeway in that phrase "Islamic values" rather than the flat-out appeal to the Shari'a.
Read all of Hugh Fitzgerald's article
Hugh Fitzgerald writes on Jihad Watch (Obey those Infidel laws, June 15):
What is most telling, what is most amazing, what must never be forgotten, about the Sistani fatwa is that Muslims living in the West are being told, in the view of uncomprehending and misreporting Infidels, by a cleric living in Iraq, that they may, that they should, obey the laws of Canada if they live in Canada, but only insofar as Muslim values are "not ridiculed." This is really a milder, clever version of the statement to be found every day at Muslim websites in answer to queries from Muslims Who Want to Know: "You may obey the laws of the Infidel land in which you happen to live [seldom is the particular country specified -- why should it be? What does that distinction matter to Muslims?] as long as those laws do not contradict Islam in any way." Al-Sistani's formulation -- you should obey the local laws of the local Infidels [in this case those of Canada] "insofar as Islamic values are not ridiculed" is softer in expression, with possibly just a little leeway in that phrase "Islamic values" rather than the flat-out appeal to the Shari'a.
Read all of Hugh Fitzgerald's article
Iraqi Shiite leader tells Muslims to obey Canadian law, but his website said gays and lesbians should be killed
From the Toronto Star (Obey laws of Canada: Iraqi cleric by Sean Gordon, June 15):
Keen to portray their faith as one of peace and tolerance, a group of Canadian Muslim leaders held up a religious edict from an influential Iraqi cleric that directs all followers of Islam living in Canada to protect the country and to respect its laws.
The North American representative for Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani — the spiritual leader of Iraq's Shiite Muslims — met with the media to read the fatwa, which is a legal opinion drafted by Islamic scholars.
However, not everyone is impressed:
Muslim Canadian Congress spokesman Tarek Fatah dismissed the fatwa as "utter nonsense" and a relic of "medieval" religious doctrine, adding that while he's happy to hear anybody denounce violence and extremism, yesterday's news conference was a disservice to Canada's Muslims.
Fatah also pointed out that al-Sistani, who has offered limited co-operation with U.S. forces in Iraq, recently issued another fatwa calling for all gays and lesbians to be put to death. The decree has since been removed from al-Sistani's website, but Fatah said several people have died or fled the country as a result of its publication.
Read the whole Star article
From the BBC (Gay Iraqis fear for their lives, April 17, 2006):
Islam considers homosexuality sinful. A website published in the Iranian city of Qom in the name of Ayatollah Sistani, Iraq's most revered Shia cleric, says: "Those who commit sodomy must be killed in the harshest way".
Ayatollah Sistani
Sistani's official website calls for gay men to be executed
The statement appears in Arabic section of the website, in a section dealing with questions of morality, but not in the English-language equivalent.
The BBC asked Mr Sistani's representative, Seyed Kashmiri, to explain the ruling.
"Homosexuals and lesbians are not killed for practising their inclinations for the first time," Mr Kashmiri said in a response sent via email.
"There are certain conditions drawn out by jurists before this punishment can be implemented, which is perhaps similar to the punishment meted out by other heavenly religions."
Mr Kashmiri added: "Some rulings that are drawn out by jurists are done so on a theoretical basis. Not everything that is said is implemented."
Read the whole BBC article
Keen to portray their faith as one of peace and tolerance, a group of Canadian Muslim leaders held up a religious edict from an influential Iraqi cleric that directs all followers of Islam living in Canada to protect the country and to respect its laws.
The North American representative for Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani — the spiritual leader of Iraq's Shiite Muslims — met with the media to read the fatwa, which is a legal opinion drafted by Islamic scholars.
However, not everyone is impressed:
Muslim Canadian Congress spokesman Tarek Fatah dismissed the fatwa as "utter nonsense" and a relic of "medieval" religious doctrine, adding that while he's happy to hear anybody denounce violence and extremism, yesterday's news conference was a disservice to Canada's Muslims.
Fatah also pointed out that al-Sistani, who has offered limited co-operation with U.S. forces in Iraq, recently issued another fatwa calling for all gays and lesbians to be put to death. The decree has since been removed from al-Sistani's website, but Fatah said several people have died or fled the country as a result of its publication.
Read the whole Star article
From the BBC (Gay Iraqis fear for their lives, April 17, 2006):
Islam considers homosexuality sinful. A website published in the Iranian city of Qom in the name of Ayatollah Sistani, Iraq's most revered Shia cleric, says: "Those who commit sodomy must be killed in the harshest way".
Ayatollah Sistani
Sistani's official website calls for gay men to be executed
The statement appears in Arabic section of the website, in a section dealing with questions of morality, but not in the English-language equivalent.
The BBC asked Mr Sistani's representative, Seyed Kashmiri, to explain the ruling.
"Homosexuals and lesbians are not killed for practising their inclinations for the first time," Mr Kashmiri said in a response sent via email.
"There are certain conditions drawn out by jurists before this punishment can be implemented, which is perhaps similar to the punishment meted out by other heavenly religions."
Mr Kashmiri added: "Some rulings that are drawn out by jurists are done so on a theoretical basis. Not everything that is said is implemented."
Read the whole BBC article
Accused in Jane Creba murder case make court appearance
From the Toronto Star (Chaos erupts at Creba case by Betsy Powell and Tracy Huffman, June 15):
Some of the two dozen supporters of Tyshaun Barnett, one of three people charged with the killing of Jane Creba on Boxing Day, waved and mouthed words to the 19-year-old when he entered the prisoner's box at Old City Hall yesterday.
His court appearance was brief, as was that of co-accused Louis Woodcock, also 19, and charged with second-degree murder, and both were remanded in custody and ordered to appear again next week via video link from jail. The third person charged with second-degree murder is a 17-year-old boy whose identity is protected by the Youth Criminal Justice Act. He returns to youth court next week.
The trio also face six counts of attempted murder in connection with the dusk gun battle that also wounded six people on Yonge St. crowded with bargain hunters. Five others charged with manslaughter were ordered held in custody yesterday. A 17-year-old also charged with manslaughter surrendered to police Tuesday night.
[. . .]
Read the whole article
Some of the two dozen supporters of Tyshaun Barnett, one of three people charged with the killing of Jane Creba on Boxing Day, waved and mouthed words to the 19-year-old when he entered the prisoner's box at Old City Hall yesterday.
His court appearance was brief, as was that of co-accused Louis Woodcock, also 19, and charged with second-degree murder, and both were remanded in custody and ordered to appear again next week via video link from jail. The third person charged with second-degree murder is a 17-year-old boy whose identity is protected by the Youth Criminal Justice Act. He returns to youth court next week.
The trio also face six counts of attempted murder in connection with the dusk gun battle that also wounded six people on Yonge St. crowded with bargain hunters. Five others charged with manslaughter were ordered held in custody yesterday. A 17-year-old also charged with manslaughter surrendered to police Tuesday night.
[. . .]
Read the whole article
Toronto Star: Supreme Court cool to anti-terror law
From the Toronto Star (Supreme Court cool to anti-terror law by Tonda MacCharles, June 15):
The Supreme Court of Canada is clearly signalling its displeasure at the prospect of indefinitely jailing national security risks who do not get to know the case against them.
Despite a warning from the federal government that national security is at stake, the justices speculated that Parliament could better accommodate an individual's right to know and answer allegations against him.
It may not have been Parliament's purpose when it designed "security certificates," but indefinite detention is a reality the court cannot ignore, the chief justice said.
"Parliament doesn't just get off by saying, `Well, we had a different purpose, so let the effect be much broader than our purpose,'" said Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin.
Her comments came as the court was hearing a request from three Muslim men arrested under security certificates for the court to strike down as unconstitutional the ministerial orders that target them for deportation. The cases of two others also hinge on this challenge.
The justices reserved judgment after two days of proceedings and are not expected to deliver a ruling for several months.
[. . .]
Read the whole article
The Supreme Court of Canada is clearly signalling its displeasure at the prospect of indefinitely jailing national security risks who do not get to know the case against them.
Despite a warning from the federal government that national security is at stake, the justices speculated that Parliament could better accommodate an individual's right to know and answer allegations against him.
It may not have been Parliament's purpose when it designed "security certificates," but indefinite detention is a reality the court cannot ignore, the chief justice said.
"Parliament doesn't just get off by saying, `Well, we had a different purpose, so let the effect be much broader than our purpose,'" said Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin.
Her comments came as the court was hearing a request from three Muslim men arrested under security certificates for the court to strike down as unconstitutional the ministerial orders that target them for deportation. The cases of two others also hinge on this challenge.
The justices reserved judgment after two days of proceedings and are not expected to deliver a ruling for several months.
[. . .]
Read the whole article
Thank you Vdare for the mention
James Fulford was kind enough to mention this blog in an article at Vdare yesterday. A lot of the people who visit Dispatches from the Hogtown Front already know about Vdare, but some of my Canadian readers don't. Vdare is the most important immigration reform website in the United States. While many people and groups share the credit for making immigration a central issue in American politics, I believe Vdare's role has been especially important. Although Vdare's main focus is the United States, it has also published articles about Canada's immigration problem.
Vdare was founded by Peter Brimelow, a prominent American journalist, who has written a number of important books including Alien Nation about American immigration and The Patriot Game, a classic analysis of Canadian politics. Brimelow, born in Britain, had worked in Canada before moving to the US. The Patriot Game made a number of predictions which proved to be prophetic. Among other things, the book predicted the rise of regionally-based federal political parties. The prediction came true with the rise of the western-based Reform Party and Quebec-based Bloc Quebecois.
Vdare was founded by Peter Brimelow, a prominent American journalist, who has written a number of important books including Alien Nation about American immigration and The Patriot Game, a classic analysis of Canadian politics. Brimelow, born in Britain, had worked in Canada before moving to the US. The Patriot Game made a number of predictions which proved to be prophetic. Among other things, the book predicted the rise of regionally-based federal political parties. The prediction came true with the rise of the western-based Reform Party and Quebec-based Bloc Quebecois.
Rival Somali and Jamaican girl gangs connected to seizure of .44 Magnum at Thistletown Collegiate
From the Toronto Sun (Girl gangs probed by Tom Godfrey, June 15):
A fight by two girl gangs --including one called Killer Squad -- led to Toronto cops seizing a loaded magnum and knives from a 14-year-old's Dora the Explorer backpack, police say.
Police sources said as many as 60 Killer Squad members were fighting with a rival girl gang when cops were called to break up the fracas at Thistletown Collegiate Tuesday.
The groups -- one made up of girls from the Somali community and the other girls of Jamaican descent -- have been feuding for months in Rexdale schoolyards, detectives said.
[. . .]
Read the whole article
60 girls!?! How many little race riots are there in Canada? The incident that led to the police shooting of Jeffrey Reodica involved an armed mob of Filipinos chasing a small group of white boys. A white teenager, Andrew Stewart, was brutally stabbed to death in East York after being chased by a mob of "South Asians" who had been looking to rumble with some "Albanians". Before I started this blog last October, I read about a violent clash between Italians and East Indians in Woodbridge a Toronto suburb located in York Region. I also blogged about racial violence at a Hamilton high school. I also linked to articles about a racially motivated murder of a Filipino boy by Indo-Canadians in Vancouver.
A fight by two girl gangs --including one called Killer Squad -- led to Toronto cops seizing a loaded magnum and knives from a 14-year-old's Dora the Explorer backpack, police say.
Police sources said as many as 60 Killer Squad members were fighting with a rival girl gang when cops were called to break up the fracas at Thistletown Collegiate Tuesday.
The groups -- one made up of girls from the Somali community and the other girls of Jamaican descent -- have been feuding for months in Rexdale schoolyards, detectives said.
[. . .]
Read the whole article
60 girls!?! How many little race riots are there in Canada? The incident that led to the police shooting of Jeffrey Reodica involved an armed mob of Filipinos chasing a small group of white boys. A white teenager, Andrew Stewart, was brutally stabbed to death in East York after being chased by a mob of "South Asians" who had been looking to rumble with some "Albanians". Before I started this blog last October, I read about a violent clash between Italians and East Indians in Woodbridge a Toronto suburb located in York Region. I also blogged about racial violence at a Hamilton high school. I also linked to articles about a racially motivated murder of a Filipino boy by Indo-Canadians in Vancouver.
Liberal MP Sukh Dhaliwal says his name was forged on visa letter
From Chandigarh Newsline:
Indo-Canadian MP Sukh Dhaliwal today brought to light a case of forgery in his name for securing a visa from the Canadian consulate in Chandigarh and asked Citizenship and Immigration Minister Monte Solberg to investigate ‘‘what amounts to forgery, bribery and corruption”, during question period in the House of Commons.
Speaking to The Indian Express, Dhaliwal, who represents the Newton-North Delta constituency of British Columbia in the House, said this Sunday he was called by immigration authorities at Vancouver airport when they detained a man coming from India. ‘‘They found his visa suspicious and detained him. When they checked his file, they found there was a letter from me recommending a visa for him to attend a funeral in Vancouver. But we saw that my signature was forged. The customs officials also recovered some phone numbers in his pocket. He had acquired this visa in Chandigarh. He also told authorities that he paid Rs 1 lakh to get the visa. This looks like an organised racket in immigration,” he said.
[. . .]
Sukh Dhaliwal was the MP who said if Ottawa was going to apologize to Chinese-Canadians for the head-tax, it should also apologize to Indo-Canadians for the 1914 Komagata Maru affair, in which Canadian authorities wouldn't allow Sikh passengers to disembark and settle in Canada. Up until recently Dhaliwal supported former immigration minister Joe Volpe in his bid to become Liberal leader. However, Dhaliwal withdrew from the campaign when it was revealed Volpe was receiving large donations from the children of corporate executives.
Indo-Canadian MP Sukh Dhaliwal today brought to light a case of forgery in his name for securing a visa from the Canadian consulate in Chandigarh and asked Citizenship and Immigration Minister Monte Solberg to investigate ‘‘what amounts to forgery, bribery and corruption”, during question period in the House of Commons.
Speaking to The Indian Express, Dhaliwal, who represents the Newton-North Delta constituency of British Columbia in the House, said this Sunday he was called by immigration authorities at Vancouver airport when they detained a man coming from India. ‘‘They found his visa suspicious and detained him. When they checked his file, they found there was a letter from me recommending a visa for him to attend a funeral in Vancouver. But we saw that my signature was forged. The customs officials also recovered some phone numbers in his pocket. He had acquired this visa in Chandigarh. He also told authorities that he paid Rs 1 lakh to get the visa. This looks like an organised racket in immigration,” he said.
[. . .]
Sukh Dhaliwal was the MP who said if Ottawa was going to apologize to Chinese-Canadians for the head-tax, it should also apologize to Indo-Canadians for the 1914 Komagata Maru affair, in which Canadian authorities wouldn't allow Sikh passengers to disembark and settle in Canada. Up until recently Dhaliwal supported former immigration minister Joe Volpe in his bid to become Liberal leader. However, Dhaliwal withdrew from the campaign when it was revealed Volpe was receiving large donations from the children of corporate executives.
Wednesday, June 14, 2006
Another day, another refugee rapist. Today's knife-wielding advertisement for immigration reform hails from Somalia.
[Updated July 17: replaced expired story link with a new link that works]
From CBC News (Sex offender ordered deported, June 14):
A convicted rapist with a long history of violence in Canada has been ordered deported once he finishes serving a prison sentence.
Mohamed Hagi Mohamud had previously been convicted of serious crimes that could have led to his deportation. But the system failed to catch up with him until he was arrested for a third time.
Last year, the Somali-born refugee was handed a 4½-year sentence for brutally raping and beating Erika Martyn in Surrey.
[. . .]
She notes she wasn't Mohamud's first victim, that he was convicted in 2002 of assault with a weapon and in 1997 with assault causing bodily harm — both deportable offences.
Instead he was on the streets, and simply failed to show up to immigration hearings.
[. . .]
Read the whole article.
Failed to show up for immigration hearings, eh? Where have we heard that before? Oh yeah, millenium bomber Ahmed Ressam also failed to show up for his hearing. A 2003 report by Canada's auditor general found that Ottawa lost track of 36,000 failed refugee claimants.
Of course, Mohamed Hagi Mohamud, isn't the only refugee rapist I've blogged about. Earlier I posted entries about Fernando Zola an Angolan psychopath who raped two teenage girls - one of them seven times. Then there's Charles Kembo who is accused of murdering his wife, daughter-in-law, girlfriend and business partner. This what you get when the government acts as if no one is illegal.
From CBC News (Sex offender ordered deported, June 14):
A convicted rapist with a long history of violence in Canada has been ordered deported once he finishes serving a prison sentence.
Mohamed Hagi Mohamud had previously been convicted of serious crimes that could have led to his deportation. But the system failed to catch up with him until he was arrested for a third time.
Last year, the Somali-born refugee was handed a 4½-year sentence for brutally raping and beating Erika Martyn in Surrey.
[. . .]
She notes she wasn't Mohamud's first victim, that he was convicted in 2002 of assault with a weapon and in 1997 with assault causing bodily harm — both deportable offences.
Instead he was on the streets, and simply failed to show up to immigration hearings.
[. . .]
Read the whole article.
Failed to show up for immigration hearings, eh? Where have we heard that before? Oh yeah, millenium bomber Ahmed Ressam also failed to show up for his hearing. A 2003 report by Canada's auditor general found that Ottawa lost track of 36,000 failed refugee claimants.
Of course, Mohamed Hagi Mohamud, isn't the only refugee rapist I've blogged about. Earlier I posted entries about Fernando Zola an Angolan psychopath who raped two teenage girls - one of them seven times. Then there's Charles Kembo who is accused of murdering his wife, daughter-in-law, girlfriend and business partner. This what you get when the government acts as if no one is illegal.
Caledonia residents preparing to sue
From Canadian Press via the Toronto Star (Caledonia business owners say they'll sue, June 14):
Businesses and homeowners that have suffered the consequences of an aboriginal blockade in Caledonia have no choice but to file a class-action lawsuit to recoup “tens of millions” of dollars in losses, their lawyer said Wednesday.
The province of Ontario, the corporation of Haldimand County, Ontario Provincial Police commissioner Gwen Boniface and Cayuga detachment commander Insp. Brian Haggith are named as defendants in the suit, lawyer John Findlay said.
Findlay was hired by a local Dairy Queen franchise and the St. George Arms, a pub-style restaurant, to help local business owners in the town south of Hamilton recover some of the losses they’ve suffered since the blockade went up in April.
[. . .]
Read the whole article
Businesses and homeowners that have suffered the consequences of an aboriginal blockade in Caledonia have no choice but to file a class-action lawsuit to recoup “tens of millions” of dollars in losses, their lawyer said Wednesday.
The province of Ontario, the corporation of Haldimand County, Ontario Provincial Police commissioner Gwen Boniface and Cayuga detachment commander Insp. Brian Haggith are named as defendants in the suit, lawyer John Findlay said.
Findlay was hired by a local Dairy Queen franchise and the St. George Arms, a pub-style restaurant, to help local business owners in the town south of Hamilton recover some of the losses they’ve suffered since the blockade went up in April.
[. . .]
Read the whole article
What do Mohawks have to do with Jane Creba's murder?
Buried inside a Toronto Star story about the Jane Creba investigation is this sentence:
The Ontario Provincial Police also joined in the task force, along with officers from the Tyendinaga police service, on the Mohawk reserve near Napanee.
From a second Star story about the case:
Blair said the probe also led police to the Tyendinaga Mohawk territory near Belleville. Two men were charged with firearms and drug offences.
Last month, as part of Project XXX, members of the Jamestown Crew were linked to a gun-smuggling pipeline run by a man with ties to the Six Nations reserve near Brantford.
This isn't the first time I've blogged about gangs and Indians. Earlier I posted about the Jamestown Crew buying guns from a Six Nations Indian. I also blogged about Toronto gangs spreading to Brantford. The city is located near the Six Nations reserve which is involved in the violent Caledonia land dispute. The Mackenzie Institute has an interesting article about the Mohawk Warriors - a militant political group that turned into a criminal organization. Note, I have no evidence the Warriors have anything to do with the Creba case. However, their history tells us something about the problem of aboriginal crime.
The Ontario Provincial Police also joined in the task force, along with officers from the Tyendinaga police service, on the Mohawk reserve near Napanee.
From a second Star story about the case:
Blair said the probe also led police to the Tyendinaga Mohawk territory near Belleville. Two men were charged with firearms and drug offences.
Last month, as part of Project XXX, members of the Jamestown Crew were linked to a gun-smuggling pipeline run by a man with ties to the Six Nations reserve near Brantford.
This isn't the first time I've blogged about gangs and Indians. Earlier I posted about the Jamestown Crew buying guns from a Six Nations Indian. I also blogged about Toronto gangs spreading to Brantford. The city is located near the Six Nations reserve which is involved in the violent Caledonia land dispute. The Mackenzie Institute has an interesting article about the Mohawk Warriors - a militant political group that turned into a criminal organization. Note, I have no evidence the Warriors have anything to do with the Creba case. However, their history tells us something about the problem of aboriginal crime.
14-year-old girl arrested for possessing loaded .44 Magnum. Possible 'ethnic clash'
From the Toronto Star (Girl, 14, arrested for possessing handgun by Meghan Hurley, June 14):
A 14-year-old girl has been arrested after a loaded .44 Magnum handgun was found in her knapsack when police broke up a fight at a high school.
Toronto police were called to Thistletown Collegiate near Islington Ave. and Albion Rd. around 2 p.m. Monday for a minor fight. While they were investigating, a second fight involving weapons broke out, police said.
[. . .]
"A fight at school earlier that day broke out and this group was returning to school to seek retribution," Toronto police Det. John Rossano said.
[. . .]
"It may have been a clash between two different groups of ethnicity," Rossano said.
[. . .]
Read the whole article
The Toronto Sun adds these details:
A Dora the Explorer backpack taken from a 14-year-old Rexdale girl was packing a loaded magnum handgun and two 25-cm knives, Toronto Police said yesterday.
The Grade 8 student with the backpack from the bilingual English-Spanish TV show for kids was arrested at a north Rexdale high school, which police refused to identify.
Thistletown Collegiate is located in Rexdale, an area of Toronto plagued by gang violence. The infamous Jamestown Crew also known as the Jamestown Crips and the Doomstown Crips takes its name from a Rexdale neighbourhood.
A 14-year-old girl has been arrested after a loaded .44 Magnum handgun was found in her knapsack when police broke up a fight at a high school.
Toronto police were called to Thistletown Collegiate near Islington Ave. and Albion Rd. around 2 p.m. Monday for a minor fight. While they were investigating, a second fight involving weapons broke out, police said.
[. . .]
"A fight at school earlier that day broke out and this group was returning to school to seek retribution," Toronto police Det. John Rossano said.
[. . .]
"It may have been a clash between two different groups of ethnicity," Rossano said.
[. . .]
Read the whole article
The Toronto Sun adds these details:
A Dora the Explorer backpack taken from a 14-year-old Rexdale girl was packing a loaded magnum handgun and two 25-cm knives, Toronto Police said yesterday.
The Grade 8 student with the backpack from the bilingual English-Spanish TV show for kids was arrested at a north Rexdale high school, which police refused to identify.
Thistletown Collegiate is located in Rexdale, an area of Toronto plagued by gang violence. The infamous Jamestown Crew also known as the Jamestown Crips and the Doomstown Crips takes its name from a Rexdale neighbourhood.
Some of those Nigerian scam letters come from Canada
From the Toronto Sun (Slick scammers jailed by Ian McDougall, June 14):
Two slick, sophisticated fraud artists were handed prison terms yesterday for their role in the type of international scam that has become known as a "Nigerian letter."
Richard Brewster, 38, and Anthony Drakes, 39, were both convicted of fraud and money laundering in January. They were sentenced yesterday by Justice Gloria Epstein.
Drakes was sentenced to five years on five counts of fraud, one count of attempted fraud and money laundering.
[. . .]
Read the whole article
The article doesn't say these men are actually Nigerian. The names Brewster and Drakes suggest they're not. But never fear. If authentic Nigerian fraud artists are what you want, Canada does have them. From an old CBC News story (Two sent to prison for Nigerian letter scam, March 18, 2002):
Two men have been sentenced to prison terms in Ontario for operating what police have dubbed the "Nigerian letter scam."
A judge in Ontario's Superior Court has sentenced David Iheukwu to two years and 10 months and Samuel Osunkwo to two years and two months in prison.
A third man will serve one month because he played a minor role. All the men are from Nigeria.
The men will serve their terms in Canada and will likely be deported to Nigeria afterwards. The third man is returning to England where he was living before arriving in Canada.
[. . .]
They will likely be deported? How likely? These men were convicted in 2002. They should be out of prison by now. It wouldn't surprise me if they're still in Canada. Canada doesn't have a good record of deporting people who shouldn't be here.
Two slick, sophisticated fraud artists were handed prison terms yesterday for their role in the type of international scam that has become known as a "Nigerian letter."
Richard Brewster, 38, and Anthony Drakes, 39, were both convicted of fraud and money laundering in January. They were sentenced yesterday by Justice Gloria Epstein.
Drakes was sentenced to five years on five counts of fraud, one count of attempted fraud and money laundering.
[. . .]
Read the whole article
The article doesn't say these men are actually Nigerian. The names Brewster and Drakes suggest they're not. But never fear. If authentic Nigerian fraud artists are what you want, Canada does have them. From an old CBC News story (Two sent to prison for Nigerian letter scam, March 18, 2002):
Two men have been sentenced to prison terms in Ontario for operating what police have dubbed the "Nigerian letter scam."
A judge in Ontario's Superior Court has sentenced David Iheukwu to two years and 10 months and Samuel Osunkwo to two years and two months in prison.
A third man will serve one month because he played a minor role. All the men are from Nigeria.
The men will serve their terms in Canada and will likely be deported to Nigeria afterwards. The third man is returning to England where he was living before arriving in Canada.
[. . .]
They will likely be deported? How likely? These men were convicted in 2002. They should be out of prison by now. It wouldn't surprise me if they're still in Canada. Canada doesn't have a good record of deporting people who shouldn't be here.
Hindu lobby group opposes quotas in INDIA. What about in CANADA?
The previous item about an alleged anti-Muslim backlash affecting Toronto Hindus mentions an organization called the Hindu Conference of Canada. If you go the group's website you will find this statement:
The Hindu Conference of Canada is aggressively opposing the imposition of ruinous caste-based quotas in India. Our campaign began with the publication of the editorial ‘Dark Clouds Descend on India’, and will continue with petitions and lobbying.
This raises a number of issues. First, why is a nominally CANADIAN organization involving itself in the internal affairs of India? Obviously, this organization, though based in Canada, is Indian in spirit and identity. Second, if this group is opposed to affirmative action for lower caste Indians in India, does this mean it would oppose race-based quotas in Canada? I don't know, but in the absence of specific affirmation, I would guess they would be in favour of Canadian affirmative action. Third, the organization's opposition to caste-based quotas suggests the group's members are upper caste Hindus. Do upper caste Hindus believe in human equality?
The Hindu Conference of Canada is aggressively opposing the imposition of ruinous caste-based quotas in India. Our campaign began with the publication of the editorial ‘Dark Clouds Descend on India’, and will continue with petitions and lobbying.
This raises a number of issues. First, why is a nominally CANADIAN organization involving itself in the internal affairs of India? Obviously, this organization, though based in Canada, is Indian in spirit and identity. Second, if this group is opposed to affirmative action for lower caste Indians in India, does this mean it would oppose race-based quotas in Canada? I don't know, but in the absence of specific affirmation, I would guess they would be in favour of Canadian affirmative action. Third, the organization's opposition to caste-based quotas suggests the group's members are upper caste Hindus. Do upper caste Hindus believe in human equality?
Toronto Hindus say they're victims of anti-Muslim backlash
From the Toronto Sun (Hindus become targets of backlash by Tom Godfrey, June 14):
Members of the GTA's Hindu community say they are victims of the anti-Muslim backlash following the smashing of an alleged Islamic terror cell.
Community leaders yesterday called for more police protection for 12 temples and six community centres after rocks were thrown at their places of worship and Hindus were verbally assaulted.
None of the 17 suspected terrorists arrested were Hindu, police said.
"In the past, Hindus have suffered more than Muslims in these types of incidents," said Ron Banerjee, a director of the Hindu Conference of Canada. "This has to be nipped right at the bud.
[. . .]
Read the whole article
Members of the GTA's Hindu community say they are victims of the anti-Muslim backlash following the smashing of an alleged Islamic terror cell.
Community leaders yesterday called for more police protection for 12 temples and six community centres after rocks were thrown at their places of worship and Hindus were verbally assaulted.
None of the 17 suspected terrorists arrested were Hindu, police said.
"In the past, Hindus have suffered more than Muslims in these types of incidents," said Ron Banerjee, a director of the Hindu Conference of Canada. "This has to be nipped right at the bud.
[. . .]
Read the whole article
Tuesday, June 13, 2006
Vancouver Sun: Harper will apologize for Chinese head tax on June 22
From CanWest News via the Vancouver Sun (Harper to apologize June 22 for Chinese head tax by Mike De Souza, June 13, 2006):
[. . .]
The Conservative government announced Tuesday it would formally apologize in Parliament on June 22 for a head tax which forced thousands of Chinese immigrants to pay millions of dollars to enter Canada.
The apology was a Conservative election campaign promise.
“We have kept our word by holding an unprecedented series of grassroots national consultations on redress,” said Heritage Minister Bev Oda on Tuesday in the House of Commons. “I am pleased to announce that the prime minister will keep his word by righting this historical wrong when he makes the formal apology in this House.”
The head tax was introduced in 1885 after Chinese immigrants helped complete the Canadian Pacific Railway.
“It’s almost closing the loop,” said Susan Eng, co-chair of the Ontario coalition of head tax payers and families. “People, generations ago, who actually gave their lives to building the railroad that brought B.C. into Confederation are now going to ride those rails, all the way to Ottawa to witness the ceremony."
Eng estimates there are about 300 families who should each get compensation of about $20,000 for the head tax, and the subsequent Chinese Exclusion Act which followed in 1923.
[. . .]
Read the whole article
What is Harper apologizing for? Canada is a sovereign state. It had, and still has, the right to discourage Chinese immigration. Some people today may think the head tax was bad policy, but that's not a reason to apologize to all Chinese-Canadians, most of whom arrived here long after the tax was abolished. By apologizing Harper implies Canada doesn't have the right to control its demographic destiny. Apparently, he doesn't mind if white Canadians become a minority. This is a conservative?
For some background on the head tax and Chinese Exclusion Laws click here, here, here, here and ESPECIALLY HERE
[. . .]
The Conservative government announced Tuesday it would formally apologize in Parliament on June 22 for a head tax which forced thousands of Chinese immigrants to pay millions of dollars to enter Canada.
The apology was a Conservative election campaign promise.
“We have kept our word by holding an unprecedented series of grassroots national consultations on redress,” said Heritage Minister Bev Oda on Tuesday in the House of Commons. “I am pleased to announce that the prime minister will keep his word by righting this historical wrong when he makes the formal apology in this House.”
The head tax was introduced in 1885 after Chinese immigrants helped complete the Canadian Pacific Railway.
“It’s almost closing the loop,” said Susan Eng, co-chair of the Ontario coalition of head tax payers and families. “People, generations ago, who actually gave their lives to building the railroad that brought B.C. into Confederation are now going to ride those rails, all the way to Ottawa to witness the ceremony."
Eng estimates there are about 300 families who should each get compensation of about $20,000 for the head tax, and the subsequent Chinese Exclusion Act which followed in 1923.
[. . .]
Read the whole article
What is Harper apologizing for? Canada is a sovereign state. It had, and still has, the right to discourage Chinese immigration. Some people today may think the head tax was bad policy, but that's not a reason to apologize to all Chinese-Canadians, most of whom arrived here long after the tax was abolished. By apologizing Harper implies Canada doesn't have the right to control its demographic destiny. Apparently, he doesn't mind if white Canadians become a minority. This is a conservative?
For some background on the head tax and Chinese Exclusion Laws click here, here, here, here and ESPECIALLY HERE
Conservatives may broaden terrorist definition
From the Toronto Star (Tories might revise legal definition of `terrorist' by Tonda MacCharles, June 13):
The Conservative government says it is not seeking any stronger investigative or enforcement powers under the Anti-Terrorism Act.
Yet Justice Minister Vic Toews said yesterday the federal government would consider loosening the definition of "terrorist" under the law to drop any reference to "political, religious or ideological" motives in connection with suspected terrorist activity.
Toews said it is hard for prosecutors to prove an act was committed "for political, religious or ideological purpose, objective or cause," as criminal law now demands for "terrorism" offences.
[. . .]
Toews said he would be open to changes if they came from the Senate committee studying the 2001 Anti-Terrorism Act.
[. . .]
Read the whole article.
The Conservative government says it is not seeking any stronger investigative or enforcement powers under the Anti-Terrorism Act.
Yet Justice Minister Vic Toews said yesterday the federal government would consider loosening the definition of "terrorist" under the law to drop any reference to "political, religious or ideological" motives in connection with suspected terrorist activity.
Toews said it is hard for prosecutors to prove an act was committed "for political, religious or ideological purpose, objective or cause," as criminal law now demands for "terrorism" offences.
[. . .]
Toews said he would be open to changes if they came from the Senate committee studying the 2001 Anti-Terrorism Act.
[. . .]
Read the whole article.
Jeffrey Reodica inquiry - friend identifies knife
From the Toronto Star (Reodica's knife at scene: Friend by Isabel Teotonio, June 13, 2006):
A knife found at the scene where Jeffrey Reodica was fatally shot by an undercover police officer belonged to the slain teen, a friend of the 17-year-old told a coroner's court yesterday.
Joseph, a school friend who was with Reodica when he was gunned down May 21, 2004, identified a knife with a black handle and distinctive pattern on the blade as belonging to Reodica.
The 18-year-old witness, who by law can only be identified by his first name, told the five-person jury that Reodica had once shown him the knife with a "pullout" blade, a couple of months before his death.
[. . .]
Read the entire article
The province's Special Investigation Unit concluded Reodica had a knife. See their news release. Click here
A detailed, if somewhat biased, account of the case can be found in this article: Why did Jeffrey die?
A knife found at the scene where Jeffrey Reodica was fatally shot by an undercover police officer belonged to the slain teen, a friend of the 17-year-old told a coroner's court yesterday.
Joseph, a school friend who was with Reodica when he was gunned down May 21, 2004, identified a knife with a black handle and distinctive pattern on the blade as belonging to Reodica.
The 18-year-old witness, who by law can only be identified by his first name, told the five-person jury that Reodica had once shown him the knife with a "pullout" blade, a couple of months before his death.
[. . .]
Read the entire article
The province's Special Investigation Unit concluded Reodica had a knife. See their news release. Click here
A detailed, if somewhat biased, account of the case can be found in this article: Why did Jeffrey die?
McGuinty discovers his backbone. Queen's Park takes tough stand with Six Nations Indians
From Canadian Press via the Toronto Star (Arrests before talks, Ontario tells Indians, June 13):
The removal of a highway barricade was heralded Tuesday as a positive step in resolving an aboriginal land standoff but Ontario's premier warned that negotiations won't resume until Indian leaders help apprehend several aboriginals facing criminal charges.
Protesters worked overnight to remove a barricade of tires and tangled metal that blocked a highway bypass in this southern Ontario community, less than 24 hours after Premier Dalton McGuinty suspended talks with Six Nations leaders because of recent violence.
[. . .]
However, another barrier remained at the Douglas Creek Estates housing development, the site of the disputed land.
And Jamieson was adamant that Six Nations leaders would not hand over any suspects to provincial police.
[. . .]
Read the whole article
Does McGuinty read Ian Urquhart's Star column? On Monday, Urquhart suggested McGuinty's approach to the situation in Caledonia was making him look 'wimpish' in comparison to Mike Harris who had a reputation for being decisive.
The removal of a highway barricade was heralded Tuesday as a positive step in resolving an aboriginal land standoff but Ontario's premier warned that negotiations won't resume until Indian leaders help apprehend several aboriginals facing criminal charges.
Protesters worked overnight to remove a barricade of tires and tangled metal that blocked a highway bypass in this southern Ontario community, less than 24 hours after Premier Dalton McGuinty suspended talks with Six Nations leaders because of recent violence.
[. . .]
However, another barrier remained at the Douglas Creek Estates housing development, the site of the disputed land.
And Jamieson was adamant that Six Nations leaders would not hand over any suspects to provincial police.
[. . .]
Read the whole article
Does McGuinty read Ian Urquhart's Star column? On Monday, Urquhart suggested McGuinty's approach to the situation in Caledonia was making him look 'wimpish' in comparison to Mike Harris who had a reputation for being decisive.
Six Nations thugs steal confidential police documents
From CBC News (Confidential police documents taken in Caledonia fracas, June 13):
Ontario Provincial Police are trying to recover copies of internal documents that were taken during an altercation with native protesters at Caledonia late last week.
The documents contain classified police information about the OPP operation to deal with the native-led occupation at a housing development near Caledonia as well as confidential information from informants and the identity of undercover officers, including names and home phone numbers.
The documents were taken from a vehicle carrying U.S. Border Patrol officers who were visiting the area to observe how provincial police were handling the standoff. The car was swarmed by a group of protesters who pulled the Border Patrol officers from the car, then drove off with it.
The original documents were later returned to police, but not before photocopies had been made, police believe.
[. . .]
Read the whole article.
The swarming of the US Border Patrol car has been noted by the New York Times
A local view of the standoff can be found at the Citizens of Caledonia website.
Ontario Provincial Police are trying to recover copies of internal documents that were taken during an altercation with native protesters at Caledonia late last week.
The documents contain classified police information about the OPP operation to deal with the native-led occupation at a housing development near Caledonia as well as confidential information from informants and the identity of undercover officers, including names and home phone numbers.
The documents were taken from a vehicle carrying U.S. Border Patrol officers who were visiting the area to observe how provincial police were handling the standoff. The car was swarmed by a group of protesters who pulled the Border Patrol officers from the car, then drove off with it.
The original documents were later returned to police, but not before photocopies had been made, police believe.
[. . .]
Read the whole article.
The swarming of the US Border Patrol car has been noted by the New York Times
A local view of the standoff can be found at the Citizens of Caledonia website.
Religion and politics are intertwined
From a letter to the editor in the Toronto Star:
We need to recognize, however, that politics cannot be taken out of our mosques. First of all, politics by itself is not an evil thing. Second, our mosques, like other places of worship, are the primary meeting places for many, both religiously and socially. It is not reasonable to expect that worshippers will suddenly stop talking politics. Religion and politics are intertwined, whether we like it or not. Every analysis of every election in every secular society supports the point.
Read the whole letter
We need to recognize, however, that politics cannot be taken out of our mosques. First of all, politics by itself is not an evil thing. Second, our mosques, like other places of worship, are the primary meeting places for many, both religiously and socially. It is not reasonable to expect that worshippers will suddenly stop talking politics. Religion and politics are intertwined, whether we like it or not. Every analysis of every election in every secular society supports the point.
Read the whole letter
They like us! They like us! They really do!
Congress to Canada: Thank you.
The U.S. House of Representatives has passed a resolution commending Canada for its commitment to Afghanistan.
Indiana Republican Dan Burton introduced the resolution saying he wanted U.S. legislators to recognize Canada's vote last month to extend the Afghan mission by two years into 2009.
The resolution passed by a vote of 409 to 0.
The U.S. House of Representatives has passed a resolution commending Canada for its commitment to Afghanistan.
Indiana Republican Dan Burton introduced the resolution saying he wanted U.S. legislators to recognize Canada's vote last month to extend the Afghan mission by two years into 2009.
The resolution passed by a vote of 409 to 0.
8 arrested in Jane Creba shooting death
From CBC News:
Eight people were charged Tuesday morning in connection with the Boxing Day shooting that killed 15-year-old Jane Creba and injured six other bystanders in downtown Toronto.
Two adults and one teenager are charged with second-degree murder and six counts of attempted murder, Toronto Police Chief Bill Blair told a news conference.
Four other adults and one teen are charged with manslaughter.
The shooting made international headlines because Creba and others were out holiday shopping when they were caught in the crossfire of what investigators believe was a gang-related turf war.
Blair said a warrant has been issued for a man who is out of the country and police will seek his extradition from England. A warrant has also been issued for a male teenager.
The police chief said investigators allege all of the suspects were members or associates of street gangs in Toronto.
[. . .]
Read the whole article.
Eight people were charged Tuesday morning in connection with the Boxing Day shooting that killed 15-year-old Jane Creba and injured six other bystanders in downtown Toronto.
Two adults and one teenager are charged with second-degree murder and six counts of attempted murder, Toronto Police Chief Bill Blair told a news conference.
Four other adults and one teen are charged with manslaughter.
The shooting made international headlines because Creba and others were out holiday shopping when they were caught in the crossfire of what investigators believe was a gang-related turf war.
Blair said a warrant has been issued for a man who is out of the country and police will seek his extradition from England. A warrant has also been issued for a male teenager.
The police chief said investigators allege all of the suspects were members or associates of street gangs in Toronto.
[. . .]
Read the whole article.
Celebrating the demise of a homogeneous Canada
From a government website:
The changes set in motion by the abolition of Canada's racist immigration policy and the introduction of the points system did not take long to become apparent. In 1966, 87 percent of Canada's immigrants had been of European origin, while only four years later 50 percent came from quite different regions of the world: the West Indies, Guyana, Haiti, Hong Kong, India, the Philippines, and Indochina. Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, newcomers would more often than not have emigrated from Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, or Latin America; and they would settle in disproportionate numbers in the lower Fraser Valley (the heavily populated area extending from Hope, British Columbia, to Vancouver), the Toronto area, and the greater Montréal region. To even the casual observer, it was obvious that visible ethnic and racial minorities were becoming a significant part of Canada's social fabric. By contrast, other parts of the country, such as the four Atlantic provinces, remained virtually untouched by this immigration.
The changes set in motion by the abolition of Canada's racist immigration policy and the introduction of the points system did not take long to become apparent. In 1966, 87 percent of Canada's immigrants had been of European origin, while only four years later 50 percent came from quite different regions of the world: the West Indies, Guyana, Haiti, Hong Kong, India, the Philippines, and Indochina. Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, newcomers would more often than not have emigrated from Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, or Latin America; and they would settle in disproportionate numbers in the lower Fraser Valley (the heavily populated area extending from Hope, British Columbia, to Vancouver), the Toronto area, and the greater Montréal region. To even the casual observer, it was obvious that visible ethnic and racial minorities were becoming a significant part of Canada's social fabric. By contrast, other parts of the country, such as the four Atlantic provinces, remained virtually untouched by this immigration.
The 1985 Singh decision
From The Making of the Mosaic: a history of Canadian immigration policy by Ninette Kelley and Michael Trebilock (pp. 413-4):
The procedural fairness of the inland refugee-determination process was the central focus of the Supreme Court of Canada's landmark decision in Singh v. Minister of Employment and Immigration. Two concurring judgments by Mr Justice Beetz (Estey and McIntyre concurring) and Madame Justice Wilson (Dickson and Lamer concurring), held that denying claimants access to an oral hearing did not meet the standard of procedural fairness required by section 7 of Charter. Wilson J. found that the word 'everyone' in section 7 protected all human beings 'physically present' in Canada, and that security of the person encompassed 'freedom from the threat of physical punishment or suffering, as well as freedom from such punishment itself.' Wilson J also rejected the government's argument that administrative considerations, such as the costs and delays of a more elaborate process, are relevant to the constitional calculus. 'Certainly the guarantees of the Charter would be illusory if they could be ignored because it was administratively convenient to do so.'
The procedural fairness of the inland refugee-determination process was the central focus of the Supreme Court of Canada's landmark decision in Singh v. Minister of Employment and Immigration. Two concurring judgments by Mr Justice Beetz (Estey and McIntyre concurring) and Madame Justice Wilson (Dickson and Lamer concurring), held that denying claimants access to an oral hearing did not meet the standard of procedural fairness required by section 7 of Charter. Wilson J. found that the word 'everyone' in section 7 protected all human beings 'physically present' in Canada, and that security of the person encompassed 'freedom from the threat of physical punishment or suffering, as well as freedom from such punishment itself.' Wilson J also rejected the government's argument that administrative considerations, such as the costs and delays of a more elaborate process, are relevant to the constitional calculus. 'Certainly the guarantees of the Charter would be illusory if they could be ignored because it was administratively convenient to do so.'
Political correctness
Political correctness is evil because it makes us afraid of our own thoughts. If that isn't totalitarianism, what is?
Enoch Powell was right
Well, he was, but this post was only meant to be a draft. More to come I hope. While you're waiting read John Derbyshire's Vdare article Thinking About 7/7: Enoch Powell’s Revenge?
Monday, June 12, 2006
New law to help immigrants gain professional accreditation
From the Toronto Star (Law targets barriers for skilled immigrants by Nicholas Keung, June 9):
Thousands of skilled immigrants who struggle to be licensed by Ontario's regulatory bodies could be helped by a new law that would target unfair barriers to employment.
The province's 34 regulated professions would face scrutiny by a new fairness commissioner, who would make the regulatory bodies accountable for how they treat immigrants and ensure their admission procedures are clear, open and fair to all. Those that don't comply fully could face court-imposed fines of up to $100,000.
The Fair Access to Regulated Professions Act, tabled by Immigration Minister Mike Colle in the Legislature yesterday, aims to clear a path for many of the 13,000 foreign-trained professionals — such as doctors, accountants and engineers — who arrive in Ontario annually and are frustrated by the mass of red tape and delay they face getting back into their professions.
The closed nature of the process means that in many professions, it's not even known how many immigrants make it through the screening system.
[. . .]
Read the whole article.
This issue has been discussed for years. Canada's immigrant selection process includes a point system that favours educated applicants. Many immigrants come to Canada only to discover their degrees aren't recognized and end up doing low-paying work outside their field. People have been known to quip that Toronto has the world's best educated cab drivers. Some immigrants become so frustrated they leave
However, no one seems to care about the impact highly educated immigrants will have on Canadian workers. I have friends who had a tough time finding their first job after graduating with an engineering or science degree. I'm sure they aren't the only ones.
Obviously, I agree if Canada invites educated immigrants to settle here, it should recognize their degrees provided those degrees really are equivalent. It's not fair to let someone come here and then deny him the chance to use his education and skills. At the same time, the government has an obligation to protect the interests of local graduates. Young Canadians also need opportunities. Immigrants have advocates, many of whom are funded by the government. Who speaks for Canadian workers? Who speaks for the Canadian graduates struggling to find their first jobs?
Thousands of skilled immigrants who struggle to be licensed by Ontario's regulatory bodies could be helped by a new law that would target unfair barriers to employment.
The province's 34 regulated professions would face scrutiny by a new fairness commissioner, who would make the regulatory bodies accountable for how they treat immigrants and ensure their admission procedures are clear, open and fair to all. Those that don't comply fully could face court-imposed fines of up to $100,000.
The Fair Access to Regulated Professions Act, tabled by Immigration Minister Mike Colle in the Legislature yesterday, aims to clear a path for many of the 13,000 foreign-trained professionals — such as doctors, accountants and engineers — who arrive in Ontario annually and are frustrated by the mass of red tape and delay they face getting back into their professions.
The closed nature of the process means that in many professions, it's not even known how many immigrants make it through the screening system.
[. . .]
Read the whole article.
This issue has been discussed for years. Canada's immigrant selection process includes a point system that favours educated applicants. Many immigrants come to Canada only to discover their degrees aren't recognized and end up doing low-paying work outside their field. People have been known to quip that Toronto has the world's best educated cab drivers. Some immigrants become so frustrated they leave
However, no one seems to care about the impact highly educated immigrants will have on Canadian workers. I have friends who had a tough time finding their first job after graduating with an engineering or science degree. I'm sure they aren't the only ones.
Obviously, I agree if Canada invites educated immigrants to settle here, it should recognize their degrees provided those degrees really are equivalent. It's not fair to let someone come here and then deny him the chance to use his education and skills. At the same time, the government has an obligation to protect the interests of local graduates. Young Canadians also need opportunities. Immigrants have advocates, many of whom are funded by the government. Who speaks for Canadian workers? Who speaks for the Canadian graduates struggling to find their first jobs?
Asian gangs in Alberta
From the Calgary Herald (Boom lures gangs: report by Jason van Rassel, June 8):
Sophisticated organized crime groups are putting down deeper roots and entering several illegal -- and legal -- businesses to capitalize on Alberta's booming economy, the province's law enforcement agencies say in an intelligence report released Wednesday.
Outlaw biker gangs are establishing puppet clubs to expand their influence over the drug trade throughout the province while two Calgary street gangs, FOB and FK, continue to wage a bloody feud for power and prestige that has already claimed at least four lives since 2002.
Amid the violence and the shifting alliances documented by the Criminal Intelligence Service Alberta in its annual report, there is also new evidence a large Asian crime syndicate in Calgary has quietly spread its tentacles into many illegal rackets while resisting attempts by police to shut them down.
"Another Asian-based organized crime group has been a significant enforcement priority, having connections to virtually every organized crime group in the Calgary area," the report says. "A large number of legitimate holdings facilitate the laundering of money from several diverse activities such as marihuana cultivation, distribution and exportation, loan sharking, methamphetamine production and distribution."
[. . .]
Read the whole article
Thanks to the reader who pointed this article out to me.
Sophisticated organized crime groups are putting down deeper roots and entering several illegal -- and legal -- businesses to capitalize on Alberta's booming economy, the province's law enforcement agencies say in an intelligence report released Wednesday.
Outlaw biker gangs are establishing puppet clubs to expand their influence over the drug trade throughout the province while two Calgary street gangs, FOB and FK, continue to wage a bloody feud for power and prestige that has already claimed at least four lives since 2002.
Amid the violence and the shifting alliances documented by the Criminal Intelligence Service Alberta in its annual report, there is also new evidence a large Asian crime syndicate in Calgary has quietly spread its tentacles into many illegal rackets while resisting attempts by police to shut them down.
"Another Asian-based organized crime group has been a significant enforcement priority, having connections to virtually every organized crime group in the Calgary area," the report says. "A large number of legitimate holdings facilitate the laundering of money from several diverse activities such as marihuana cultivation, distribution and exportation, loan sharking, methamphetamine production and distribution."
[. . .]
Read the whole article
Thanks to the reader who pointed this article out to me.
Premier losing patience with Six Nations protesters
From Canadian Press via the Toronto Star (Caledonia protest has `exhausted' my patience: McGuinty, June 12):
Ontario's premier says he's running out of patience with an increasingly violent native land claims demonstration near Hamilton, calling on protesters to remove a barricade at the disputed site or face uncertain consequences.
"We have just about exhausted our goodwill and our patience," Dalton McGuinty said Monday as police continued to search for seven men in connection with recent skirmishes at Caledonia, Ont., southwest of Hamilton.
"We're asking the leadership of the First Nations community involved to please remove those barricades as evidence of goodwill on their part."
[. . .]
Read the whole article. Click here
Also today, Star columnist Ian Urquhart suggested that the violence in Caledonia was making McGuinty look weak in comparison to his predecessor Mike Harris:
Last week in the Legislature, the Liberal government suffered the embarrassment of losing a vote on a non-binding Conservative resolution deploring Premier Dalton McGuinty's "procrastination and failure to show leadership" on the issue and calling for a public inquiry.
The resolution passed because only seven Liberal MPPs bothered to show up for the voice vote.
The next day McGuinty accused the Conservatives of "mischief-making." To guffaws from the opposition benches, McGuinty also downplayed the Caledonia crisis by describing it as being "largely without incident."
Given that the Caledonia standoff has featured barricades, tire fires, various brawls, a car burning, and a blackout caused by the sabotaging of a transformer station, McGuinty later acknowledged he was wrong and added: "I guess I could have categorized it more appropriately as being without real physical harm," he said.
[. . .]
But linking Tory to Harris and to Ipperwash is a two-edged sword for McGuinty. Yes, Harris was unpopular by the end of his seven years as premier, but he was also viewed as a decisive leader. McGuinty, on the other hand, has had to struggle to overcome a "wimpish" image.
[. . .]
Read all of Urquhart's column
Ontario's premier says he's running out of patience with an increasingly violent native land claims demonstration near Hamilton, calling on protesters to remove a barricade at the disputed site or face uncertain consequences.
"We have just about exhausted our goodwill and our patience," Dalton McGuinty said Monday as police continued to search for seven men in connection with recent skirmishes at Caledonia, Ont., southwest of Hamilton.
"We're asking the leadership of the First Nations community involved to please remove those barricades as evidence of goodwill on their part."
[. . .]
Read the whole article. Click here
Also today, Star columnist Ian Urquhart suggested that the violence in Caledonia was making McGuinty look weak in comparison to his predecessor Mike Harris:
Last week in the Legislature, the Liberal government suffered the embarrassment of losing a vote on a non-binding Conservative resolution deploring Premier Dalton McGuinty's "procrastination and failure to show leadership" on the issue and calling for a public inquiry.
The resolution passed because only seven Liberal MPPs bothered to show up for the voice vote.
The next day McGuinty accused the Conservatives of "mischief-making." To guffaws from the opposition benches, McGuinty also downplayed the Caledonia crisis by describing it as being "largely without incident."
Given that the Caledonia standoff has featured barricades, tire fires, various brawls, a car burning, and a blackout caused by the sabotaging of a transformer station, McGuinty later acknowledged he was wrong and added: "I guess I could have categorized it more appropriately as being without real physical harm," he said.
[. . .]
But linking Tory to Harris and to Ipperwash is a two-edged sword for McGuinty. Yes, Harris was unpopular by the end of his seven years as premier, but he was also viewed as a decisive leader. McGuinty, on the other hand, has had to struggle to overcome a "wimpish" image.
[. . .]
Read all of Urquhart's column
Uh oh. Muslim extremists have really done it now. Never mind the bomb plot. They're, gasp, homophobes!
From Gay.com (Wife Of Accused Terrorist Linked To Anti-Gay Islamic Group, June 7, 2006):
The wife of one of 10 men accused of plotting terrorist attacks in Ontario has been outspoken in opposing LGBT rights in Canada.
Cheryfa Jamal appeared in court in a burka, the traditional Muslim garb for women that covers them from head to toe, as her husband, Qayyum Jamal, 43, and the others made a brief court appearance.
[. . .]
In 2003 she and other Muslim women from the Toronto area joined thousands of Catholic and evangelical Christians to demonstrate against same-sex marriage on Parliament Hill, he said.
The year before she appeared on behalf of the Toronto District Muslim Education Assembly to denounce a plan by the Toronto District School Board to teach a course on human sexuality that included lessons on LGBT diversity.
[. . .]
Read the whole article. Click here
Isn't "anti-gay Islamic group" redundant? Are there any "gay positive" Islamic groups? Is there a Muslim version of the Episcopalians out there somewhere? One of the problems with promoting "diversity" is that cultural values conflict. Despite what Antonia Zerbisias and Sheila Copps seem to think, a burka is not a fashion statement. It is an expression of fundamental religious and cultural values. A society like ours, that for better or worse, promotes sexual licence is in conflict with cultures that say women need to cover up lest they entice men. Lumping together Gay Pride and Deobandi Islam under the rubric of "diversity" is bound to bring conflict.
Kathy Shaidle at Relapsed Catholic put it well when she wrote this after reading another insipid pro-immigration column by the Globe and Mail's chief twit John Ibbitson:
Flash forward to 2015. John's doctor was trained in some half-assed med school overseas and has an accent so thick John can't understand his advice. And John's not sure that nurse understands him. He calls 911 and hears, "Que?"
[. . .]
John took early retirement. The Globe's circulation plummeted in the face of dozens of small, foreign language community papers. There isn't much for John to do with his free time. Who did he think would put on the Stratford Festival -- Portuguese drywallers? Did he envision an all-black Toronto Maple Leafs or something? Who did he think would organize Remembrance Day ceremonies -- a bunch of Chinese teenagers? The CN Tower is still closed after the bomb scare, but they're hoping to reopen it in time for Cinqo de Mayo. Maybe this year they'll finally have Gay Pride again, after that horrible Muslim riot, er, "misunderstanding" back in '11...
Kathy Shaidle is a good writer. Read the whole blog entry. Click here
The wife of one of 10 men accused of plotting terrorist attacks in Ontario has been outspoken in opposing LGBT rights in Canada.
Cheryfa Jamal appeared in court in a burka, the traditional Muslim garb for women that covers them from head to toe, as her husband, Qayyum Jamal, 43, and the others made a brief court appearance.
[. . .]
In 2003 she and other Muslim women from the Toronto area joined thousands of Catholic and evangelical Christians to demonstrate against same-sex marriage on Parliament Hill, he said.
The year before she appeared on behalf of the Toronto District Muslim Education Assembly to denounce a plan by the Toronto District School Board to teach a course on human sexuality that included lessons on LGBT diversity.
[. . .]
Read the whole article. Click here
Isn't "anti-gay Islamic group" redundant? Are there any "gay positive" Islamic groups? Is there a Muslim version of the Episcopalians out there somewhere? One of the problems with promoting "diversity" is that cultural values conflict. Despite what Antonia Zerbisias and Sheila Copps seem to think, a burka is not a fashion statement. It is an expression of fundamental religious and cultural values. A society like ours, that for better or worse, promotes sexual licence is in conflict with cultures that say women need to cover up lest they entice men. Lumping together Gay Pride and Deobandi Islam under the rubric of "diversity" is bound to bring conflict.
Kathy Shaidle at Relapsed Catholic put it well when she wrote this after reading another insipid pro-immigration column by the Globe and Mail's chief twit John Ibbitson:
Flash forward to 2015. John's doctor was trained in some half-assed med school overseas and has an accent so thick John can't understand his advice. And John's not sure that nurse understands him. He calls 911 and hears, "Que?"
[. . .]
John took early retirement. The Globe's circulation plummeted in the face of dozens of small, foreign language community papers. There isn't much for John to do with his free time. Who did he think would put on the Stratford Festival -- Portuguese drywallers? Did he envision an all-black Toronto Maple Leafs or something? Who did he think would organize Remembrance Day ceremonies -- a bunch of Chinese teenagers? The CN Tower is still closed after the bomb scare, but they're hoping to reopen it in time for Cinqo de Mayo. Maybe this year they'll finally have Gay Pride again, after that horrible Muslim riot, er, "misunderstanding" back in '11...
Kathy Shaidle is a good writer. Read the whole blog entry. Click here
School secretary fed up with Toronto board's don't ask don't tell policy on illegal immigrants
In May, I blogged about the Toronto District School Board's decision to block immigration officials from interviewing students about the immgration status of their parents. This followed an earlier move by the police board to adopt a similar policy.
Yesterday the Toronto Sun reported (Schools mum on illegals by Brett Clarkson, June 11, 2006):
A Toronto school secretary is "fed up" with a Toronto District School Board policy that forbids her from reporting illegal immigrants to the authorities.
The secretary, who didn't want to be identified for fear of losing her job, has been faced with situations in which parents registering their kids have admitted they were in the country illegally.
Now, with heightened security concerns, the secretary feels it's her moral obligation to report the illegals, even if it could lead to their deportation.
"I'm just really fed up with this board and the policies they come up with," said the 15-year secretary,
[. . .]
Read the whole article. Click here
Yesterday the Toronto Sun reported (Schools mum on illegals by Brett Clarkson, June 11, 2006):
A Toronto school secretary is "fed up" with a Toronto District School Board policy that forbids her from reporting illegal immigrants to the authorities.
The secretary, who didn't want to be identified for fear of losing her job, has been faced with situations in which parents registering their kids have admitted they were in the country illegally.
Now, with heightened security concerns, the secretary feels it's her moral obligation to report the illegals, even if it could lead to their deportation.
"I'm just really fed up with this board and the policies they come up with," said the 15-year secretary,
[. . .]
Read the whole article. Click here
Monte Solberg's remarks on language - Liberal outrage a sign of desperation, says National Post
Earlier I blogged about the outrage expressed by some opposition MPs after immigration minister Monte Solberg said immigrants from Asia have a tougher time learning English and French than did earlier immigrants who mostly came from Europe.
Today, the National Post comments on the incident in an editorial (The saddest sign yet of Liberal desperation, June 12, 2006):
The feigned rage over allegedly insensitive comments by Monte Solberg, Federal Citizenship and Immigration Minister, illustrate the absurd lengths increasingly desperate opposition MPs will go to in order to try to paint the popular Conservative government as intolerant.
At a hearing over his department's spending estimates on Wednesday, Mr. Solberg explained the need to spend more money on language courses, noting that the origins of immigrants have changed in recent years. He then made the following statement: "The source countries in the past tended to be countries with Latin alphabets where it was easier for people to learn language skills. Today we have a lot of people come from Asia who may not have had the benefit of a Latin-based alphabet, so it's more difficult for them to pick up the language skills."
Mr. Solberg's statement was utterly innocuous and had the added advantage of being a fact. Who would doubt for a minute that it's harder to learn English or French if a person's mother tongue is Cantonese, than it if is Italian or German? As any English speaker who's tried to learn Japanese or Arabic can attest, it's much easier to learn a language that has common roots and alphabet to your native tongue. It's such an obvious point that a four-year-old could understand it -- in any language.
[. . .]
Read the whole editorial. Click here.
Today, the National Post comments on the incident in an editorial (The saddest sign yet of Liberal desperation, June 12, 2006):
The feigned rage over allegedly insensitive comments by Monte Solberg, Federal Citizenship and Immigration Minister, illustrate the absurd lengths increasingly desperate opposition MPs will go to in order to try to paint the popular Conservative government as intolerant.
At a hearing over his department's spending estimates on Wednesday, Mr. Solberg explained the need to spend more money on language courses, noting that the origins of immigrants have changed in recent years. He then made the following statement: "The source countries in the past tended to be countries with Latin alphabets where it was easier for people to learn language skills. Today we have a lot of people come from Asia who may not have had the benefit of a Latin-based alphabet, so it's more difficult for them to pick up the language skills."
Mr. Solberg's statement was utterly innocuous and had the added advantage of being a fact. Who would doubt for a minute that it's harder to learn English or French if a person's mother tongue is Cantonese, than it if is Italian or German? As any English speaker who's tried to learn Japanese or Arabic can attest, it's much easier to learn a language that has common roots and alphabet to your native tongue. It's such an obvious point that a four-year-old could understand it -- in any language.
[. . .]
Read the whole editorial. Click here.
World Cup celebations: Bloody street brawl in Little Portugal
From the Toronto Sun (Hooligans mar soccer celebration by Brett Clarkson, June 12, 2006):
A huge, booze-fuelled, bloody street brawl in the middle of Dundas St. that left three people badly cut by broken beer bottles marred the celebrations after Portugal's first victory in the World Cup yesterday.
An estimated 40 people started fighting on Dundas St. at Grove Ave., in the heart of Little Portugal near Dovercourt Rd., after Portugal's 1-0 win over Angola around 5 p.m.
Two young men said to be in their early 20s were hospitalized with non-life -threatening injuries.
Marcelo Torres Barreras said one man, who was shirtless and clutching a Portuguese flag, appeared to be bleeding from the right lower back, and the other, wearing an England soccer shirt, was bleeding from the left arm.
[. . .]
Read the whole article. Click here
A huge, booze-fuelled, bloody street brawl in the middle of Dundas St. that left three people badly cut by broken beer bottles marred the celebrations after Portugal's first victory in the World Cup yesterday.
An estimated 40 people started fighting on Dundas St. at Grove Ave., in the heart of Little Portugal near Dovercourt Rd., after Portugal's 1-0 win over Angola around 5 p.m.
Two young men said to be in their early 20s were hospitalized with non-life -threatening injuries.
Marcelo Torres Barreras said one man, who was shirtless and clutching a Portuguese flag, appeared to be bleeding from the right lower back, and the other, wearing an England soccer shirt, was bleeding from the left arm.
[. . .]
Read the whole article. Click here
The antidote to Muslim alienation - restore the western canon
From the Ottawa Citizen (Rethinking multiculturalism by Robert Sibley, June 10, 2006):
But to think that is all there is to the West is the height of ignorance. In this regard, the Islamists' deficiency of knowledge betrays not only their ignorance, but their failure to learn the first lesson of war -- Know your enemy.
Not only will this failing eventually prove to be the undoing of worldwide Islamism, but it suggests how Canadians can respond to the presence of homegrown second-generation Islamists: It is time to abandon the cultural relativism of multiculturalism, time to restore the western canon to our education system, time to teach those who come here what this country, and the West as whole, is all about. Multiculturalism cannot be used to promote intolerance. As Matthew Arnold might say, Canada needs to insist that immigrants learn the best that has been thought and said in western culture.
[. . .]
Canadians have every reason to be concerned that a dozen second-generation Muslims have turned their backs on the country that took in their parents. We -- and that includes Muslim communities -- must do a better job of educating such young men, a better job of guiding their spirits to see reason.
A place to start would be Plato and Cicero, followed by Montesquieu, Locke, Hegel . . .
Robert Sibley's article starts here. The cited paragraphs come from the end of the essay
Hat tip: Relapsed Catholic
But to think that is all there is to the West is the height of ignorance. In this regard, the Islamists' deficiency of knowledge betrays not only their ignorance, but their failure to learn the first lesson of war -- Know your enemy.
Not only will this failing eventually prove to be the undoing of worldwide Islamism, but it suggests how Canadians can respond to the presence of homegrown second-generation Islamists: It is time to abandon the cultural relativism of multiculturalism, time to restore the western canon to our education system, time to teach those who come here what this country, and the West as whole, is all about. Multiculturalism cannot be used to promote intolerance. As Matthew Arnold might say, Canada needs to insist that immigrants learn the best that has been thought and said in western culture.
[. . .]
Canadians have every reason to be concerned that a dozen second-generation Muslims have turned their backs on the country that took in their parents. We -- and that includes Muslim communities -- must do a better job of educating such young men, a better job of guiding their spirits to see reason.
A place to start would be Plato and Cicero, followed by Montesquieu, Locke, Hegel . . .
Robert Sibley's article starts here. The cited paragraphs come from the end of the essay
Hat tip: Relapsed Catholic
Sunday, June 11, 2006
Six Nations Indian blockade: Warrants issued in Caledonia
From the Toronto Star:
Provincial police have issued arrest warrants for seven people facing a host of charges — including the attempted murder of a police officer — after a series of violent clashes at a long-standing aboriginal blockade on a disputed tract of land.
The incidents at Caledonia, Ont., on Friday involved the swarming of an elderly couple’s vehicle and assaults on two CH-TV news cameramen who filmed the clash.
The Six Nations protesters also swarmed an unmarked U.S. Border Patrol vehicle and dragged out its three occupants — two provincial police officers and an American border agent.
Officers from the U.S. Border Patrol were in the area to observe how provincial police were handling the standoff.
[. . . ]
For a local perspective of Six Nations blockade, visit the Citizens of Caledonia website. I haven't looked at the site recently and can't comment on its content one way or other.
Provincial police have issued arrest warrants for seven people facing a host of charges — including the attempted murder of a police officer — after a series of violent clashes at a long-standing aboriginal blockade on a disputed tract of land.
The incidents at Caledonia, Ont., on Friday involved the swarming of an elderly couple’s vehicle and assaults on two CH-TV news cameramen who filmed the clash.
The Six Nations protesters also swarmed an unmarked U.S. Border Patrol vehicle and dragged out its three occupants — two provincial police officers and an American border agent.
Officers from the U.S. Border Patrol were in the area to observe how provincial police were handling the standoff.
[. . . ]
For a local perspective of Six Nations blockade, visit the Citizens of Caledonia website. I haven't looked at the site recently and can't comment on its content one way or other.
Let the games begin! Two stabbed after World Cup soccer match
From the Toronto Star:
Two brothers were stabbed and slashed with beer bottles following a street brawl during celebrations of Portugal’s World Cup soccer victory today.
[. . .]
Police said the pair had been arguing with a group of men, all who were fans of Portugal, when the fight broke out involving about a dozen people.
[. . .]
The Portuguese in my neighbourhood were tearing up and down Dufferin St today. They were waving flags and honking car horns. They were very aggressive as usual. The newspapers portray this as good clean fun, but when you're not Portuguese, it can feel like you're in a foreign country. I can't speak for anyone else but I don't I'm think alone in feeling this way. Maybe it was my imagination, but I saw a lot of glum-looking non-Portuguese people standing around. I counted seven large Portuguese flags on my small section of the street alone. That's on houses. I couldn't count the number on cars.
Who would my neighbours be cheering for if Canada were playing Portugal? The CBC recently did a report showing how people in Toronto were all cheering for teams representing the old country because, the reporter said, Canada didn't have a team in the tournament. Yeah, right. My neighbours would be cheering for Portural regardless. Several years ago, Croatian fans booed the Canadian basketball team when it was playing Croatia.
Many of my neighbours are not Canadian. They don't want to be Canadian. They came here to make money. Period. They have made no effort to learn English or to integrate into Canadian society. I live in an ethnically-mixed neighbourhood, but my Portuguese neighbours live in their own little world. It's not just the Portuguese, but they happen to be a prominent group in my part of the city.
What about the children? They are bilingual, but generally speak English better than Portuguese. I say that, because I hear them answer in English when their parents talk to them in Portuguese. But those English-speaking children are waving Portuguese flags.
A while back the Toronto Star published a sob article about some illegal immigrants who had been deported to Portugal after living for years in Canada. In the article, the children complained that they didn't feel at home in Portugal. Maybe not, but I bet you, if they were still in Toronto, they would be waving a Portuguese flag, even if Portugal were playing Canada.
Two brothers were stabbed and slashed with beer bottles following a street brawl during celebrations of Portugal’s World Cup soccer victory today.
[. . .]
Police said the pair had been arguing with a group of men, all who were fans of Portugal, when the fight broke out involving about a dozen people.
[. . .]
The Portuguese in my neighbourhood were tearing up and down Dufferin St today. They were waving flags and honking car horns. They were very aggressive as usual. The newspapers portray this as good clean fun, but when you're not Portuguese, it can feel like you're in a foreign country. I can't speak for anyone else but I don't I'm think alone in feeling this way. Maybe it was my imagination, but I saw a lot of glum-looking non-Portuguese people standing around. I counted seven large Portuguese flags on my small section of the street alone. That's on houses. I couldn't count the number on cars.
Who would my neighbours be cheering for if Canada were playing Portugal? The CBC recently did a report showing how people in Toronto were all cheering for teams representing the old country because, the reporter said, Canada didn't have a team in the tournament. Yeah, right. My neighbours would be cheering for Portural regardless. Several years ago, Croatian fans booed the Canadian basketball team when it was playing Croatia.
Many of my neighbours are not Canadian. They don't want to be Canadian. They came here to make money. Period. They have made no effort to learn English or to integrate into Canadian society. I live in an ethnically-mixed neighbourhood, but my Portuguese neighbours live in their own little world. It's not just the Portuguese, but they happen to be a prominent group in my part of the city.
What about the children? They are bilingual, but generally speak English better than Portuguese. I say that, because I hear them answer in English when their parents talk to them in Portuguese. But those English-speaking children are waving Portuguese flags.
A while back the Toronto Star published a sob article about some illegal immigrants who had been deported to Portugal after living for years in Canada. In the article, the children complained that they didn't feel at home in Portugal. Maybe not, but I bet you, if they were still in Toronto, they would be waving a Portuguese flag, even if Portugal were playing Canada.
The influence of Indian immigrants on American foreign policy
From the New York Times (Indian-Americans Test Their Clout on Atom Pact by Mike McIntire, June 5, 2006):
Indian-Americans have mounted an intensive drive to support President Bush's plan to aid India's civilian nuclear program, spending heavily on lobbying, campaign contributions and public relations to persuade Congress to approve the deal.
Officials in Washington and New Delhi have called the agreement historic, a centerpiece of American-Indian relations. But to many Indian-Americans, the plan is something more personal: a confirmation of India's emergence as a global power. And they see the increasingly contentious battle in Congress as a unique opportunity to demonstrate their budding political influence in their adopted homeland.
Indian-Americans, a small but fast-growing, affluent and well-educated group, are not new to lobbying in Washington. But the proposed nuclear pact has energized them like nothing before. In recent months, Indian-Americans, as well as the Indian government in some cases, have invested heavily in proven political tools that have helped previous immigrant groups break into American politics — hiring lobbyists, organizing fund-raisers and blanketing Capitol Hill with briefings, phone calls and petitions.
"This is the chance to show that the community has matured and can translate that into political effectiveness," said Sanjay Puri, an information technology executive who is chairman of the U.S.-India Political Action Committee, or Usinpac, one of several Indian-American political groups that are working on the issue.
[. . .]
Read the whole article. Click here
Indian-Americans have mounted an intensive drive to support President Bush's plan to aid India's civilian nuclear program, spending heavily on lobbying, campaign contributions and public relations to persuade Congress to approve the deal.
Officials in Washington and New Delhi have called the agreement historic, a centerpiece of American-Indian relations. But to many Indian-Americans, the plan is something more personal: a confirmation of India's emergence as a global power. And they see the increasingly contentious battle in Congress as a unique opportunity to demonstrate their budding political influence in their adopted homeland.
Indian-Americans, a small but fast-growing, affluent and well-educated group, are not new to lobbying in Washington. But the proposed nuclear pact has energized them like nothing before. In recent months, Indian-Americans, as well as the Indian government in some cases, have invested heavily in proven political tools that have helped previous immigrant groups break into American politics — hiring lobbyists, organizing fund-raisers and blanketing Capitol Hill with briefings, phone calls and petitions.
"This is the chance to show that the community has matured and can translate that into political effectiveness," said Sanjay Puri, an information technology executive who is chairman of the U.S.-India Political Action Committee, or Usinpac, one of several Indian-American political groups that are working on the issue.
[. . .]
Read the whole article. Click here
Terrorism, civil liberties and ethnic profiling
From the New York Times (Lessons From Canada: Snooping Works by Eric Lipton, June 11, 2006):
THE roundup of 17 terror suspects in the Toronto area — all residents of Canada — has inspired a flurry of calls in Washington for new protections against home-grown attacks.
[. . .]
But the case has also raised a broader debate about the United States' counterterrorism techniques. If radical Islamic terrorists emerge from within, border agents and port inspectors are unlikely to catch them. Better to use, some security experts say, a controversial tool in the war on terror: domestic intelligence and snooping.
Broad-brush surveillance — using informants or high-tech snooping tools to indiscriminately watch Muslim or Arab groups — is improper and ineffective, said Kareem Shora, legal director at the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee in Washington. Escalating such efforts now would surely create waves of protest similar to those that washed over the National Security Agency for eavesdropping on domestic telephone calls without warrants.
[. . .]
While he and others argue that domestic terrorism can be prevented through other means, others see an inevitable conflict brewing.
"It will be very difficult to detect homegrown terrorists without running into this direct clash," said Carl W. Tobias, a law professor at University of Richmond who studies terrorism cases.
[. . .]
Read the whole article. Click here
Muslim immigration has created a serious security problem and the authorities will be tempted to curtail some of our liberties to control the threat. Muslims won't be the only ones affected. If the government can restrict the rights of Muslims, it can restrict the rights of anyone.
The problem of Muslim terrorism clearly shows the recklessness of our immigration policy. We should have discussed the impact of Muslim immigration on national security BEFORE we decided to allow Muslims to settle here. The public had a right to consider how Muslim immigration would affect national security and civil rights. We never had that discussion because our leaders were too busy congratulating themselves on their enlightened attitude towards other cultures. Anyone who dared to raise an objection was dismissed as a racist.
I once read an article in Maclean's that basically said political correctness was annoying but the people who enforced it had good intentions and really, there's no harm in being respectful to other people. What a load of BS. Political correctness prevents us from confronting reality. It distorts our thinking. It distorts public policy, because it prevents people from uttering important truths that might offend one group or another.
I can't get past the fact that even after the horrors of 9-11, we still haven't had a debate in Canada about the wisdom of allowing Muslims to settle here. The refusal of people with power and influence to even look at this issue is an indication there is something seriously wrong with Canadian society. Sooner or later we're going to have debate Muslim immigration and if we wait too long, that discussion won't be civil. If mainstream politicians like Stephen Harper continue to indulge in mindless rhetoric about Islamic terrorism having nothing to do with religion, extremists will fill the vacuum with their own solutions.
THE roundup of 17 terror suspects in the Toronto area — all residents of Canada — has inspired a flurry of calls in Washington for new protections against home-grown attacks.
[. . .]
But the case has also raised a broader debate about the United States' counterterrorism techniques. If radical Islamic terrorists emerge from within, border agents and port inspectors are unlikely to catch them. Better to use, some security experts say, a controversial tool in the war on terror: domestic intelligence and snooping.
Broad-brush surveillance — using informants or high-tech snooping tools to indiscriminately watch Muslim or Arab groups — is improper and ineffective, said Kareem Shora, legal director at the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee in Washington. Escalating such efforts now would surely create waves of protest similar to those that washed over the National Security Agency for eavesdropping on domestic telephone calls without warrants.
[. . .]
While he and others argue that domestic terrorism can be prevented through other means, others see an inevitable conflict brewing.
"It will be very difficult to detect homegrown terrorists without running into this direct clash," said Carl W. Tobias, a law professor at University of Richmond who studies terrorism cases.
[. . .]
Read the whole article. Click here
Muslim immigration has created a serious security problem and the authorities will be tempted to curtail some of our liberties to control the threat. Muslims won't be the only ones affected. If the government can restrict the rights of Muslims, it can restrict the rights of anyone.
The problem of Muslim terrorism clearly shows the recklessness of our immigration policy. We should have discussed the impact of Muslim immigration on national security BEFORE we decided to allow Muslims to settle here. The public had a right to consider how Muslim immigration would affect national security and civil rights. We never had that discussion because our leaders were too busy congratulating themselves on their enlightened attitude towards other cultures. Anyone who dared to raise an objection was dismissed as a racist.
I once read an article in Maclean's that basically said political correctness was annoying but the people who enforced it had good intentions and really, there's no harm in being respectful to other people. What a load of BS. Political correctness prevents us from confronting reality. It distorts our thinking. It distorts public policy, because it prevents people from uttering important truths that might offend one group or another.
I can't get past the fact that even after the horrors of 9-11, we still haven't had a debate in Canada about the wisdom of allowing Muslims to settle here. The refusal of people with power and influence to even look at this issue is an indication there is something seriously wrong with Canadian society. Sooner or later we're going to have debate Muslim immigration and if we wait too long, that discussion won't be civil. If mainstream politicians like Stephen Harper continue to indulge in mindless rhetoric about Islamic terrorism having nothing to do with religion, extremists will fill the vacuum with their own solutions.
A free trade agreement between Canada and India?
Prime Minister Stephen Harper addressed the Indo-Canadian Chamber of Commerce yesterday. Buried at the end of the National Post account (Harper celebrates 'diverse' Canada at dinner by Peter Brieger, June 11, 2006) of the event is this:
On the trade front, Harper said Canada and India are working on a free trade agreement, which he said he hopes will be hammered out later this year.
I haven't heard much about a possible free trade pact with India. Maybe I haven't been paying enough attention. What impact would such an agreement have on Canadian businesses and workers? Is this really a good idea?
On the trade front, Harper said Canada and India are working on a free trade agreement, which he said he hopes will be hammered out later this year.
I haven't heard much about a possible free trade pact with India. Maybe I haven't been paying enough attention. What impact would such an agreement have on Canadian businesses and workers? Is this really a good idea?
Toronto Star profile of Barbara Jackman, the 'go-to lawyer' for terrorist suspects
On the front page of today's Toronto Star is a very sympathetic portrait (Counsel for the untouchables by Michelle Shepherd, June 11, 2006) of Barbara Jackman, the "go-to lawyer" for alleged terrorists fighting deportation. The article paints her as a courageous advocate who isn't afraid to defend unpopular clients.
While I don't doubt her courage and commitment, I also see something else. Lawyers like her have helped establish the legal precedents that make it hard for Canada to deport terrorists. Her work is one of the reasons Manickavasagam Suresh, a fundraiser for the terrorist Tamil Tigers, is still living in Canada more than ten years after a judge ruled he should be removed as quickly as possible. I'm not faulting her for representing clients like Suresh. That's what defence lawyers do. However, she has advanced constitutional arguments that led to decisions that make it hard to deport dangerous people:
The Suresh case, as it's known, was a landmark Supreme Court case. Also involved in the hearing was Mansour Ahani, a suspected Iranian secret service assassin.
The court ruled that Canada could deport in the face of torture only in "exceptional" cases of "extraordinary circumstances."
This gave a reprieve to Suresh, but sent Ahani to Iran because he was not considered to be at a great risk of torture.
Jackman at the time called it a "political sawoff." There was some ambiguity left by the ruling, most notably what defines "exceptional." When applied now, with the advent of the so-called war on terror, the courts must grapple with whether this constitutes "extraordinary circumstances."
Terrorists, unfortunately, tend to come from places like Egypt and Sri Lanka, where torture is sometimes used. If Ottawa is prevented from deporting suspects to countries like that, we would be sending an open invitation for terrorists to come here and claim refugee status. The situation is bad enough as it is. If people like Jackman have their way, Canada's well-deserved reputation as a haven for terrorists will grow. I'm sure Jackman is a good person whose heart is in the right place, but whether she realizes it or not, she is fighting for policies that would put Canadians in danger. I don't like the idea of anyone, even terrorists, being tortured, but I also don't like the idea of Canadians being blown up.
While I don't doubt her courage and commitment, I also see something else. Lawyers like her have helped establish the legal precedents that make it hard for Canada to deport terrorists. Her work is one of the reasons Manickavasagam Suresh, a fundraiser for the terrorist Tamil Tigers, is still living in Canada more than ten years after a judge ruled he should be removed as quickly as possible. I'm not faulting her for representing clients like Suresh. That's what defence lawyers do. However, she has advanced constitutional arguments that led to decisions that make it hard to deport dangerous people:
The Suresh case, as it's known, was a landmark Supreme Court case. Also involved in the hearing was Mansour Ahani, a suspected Iranian secret service assassin.
The court ruled that Canada could deport in the face of torture only in "exceptional" cases of "extraordinary circumstances."
This gave a reprieve to Suresh, but sent Ahani to Iran because he was not considered to be at a great risk of torture.
Jackman at the time called it a "political sawoff." There was some ambiguity left by the ruling, most notably what defines "exceptional." When applied now, with the advent of the so-called war on terror, the courts must grapple with whether this constitutes "extraordinary circumstances."
Terrorists, unfortunately, tend to come from places like Egypt and Sri Lanka, where torture is sometimes used. If Ottawa is prevented from deporting suspects to countries like that, we would be sending an open invitation for terrorists to come here and claim refugee status. The situation is bad enough as it is. If people like Jackman have their way, Canada's well-deserved reputation as a haven for terrorists will grow. I'm sure Jackman is a good person whose heart is in the right place, but whether she realizes it or not, she is fighting for policies that would put Canadians in danger. I don't like the idea of anyone, even terrorists, being tortured, but I also don't like the idea of Canadians being blown up.