WATCH: The hearings for the Parti Quebecois’ Charter of Values
For those that missed it, last week Quebec was back in the pages of the New York Times. A cross section of academics, politicians and individual citizens (myself included) put pen to paper with the hopes of letting the world know what is taking place behind the official narrative the Parti Quebecois is deploying to justify taking away long established individual rights under the proposed Quebec “Charter of Values.”
What sparked this heated exchange of ideas in the pages of the world’s most respected newspaper? It was in response to the op-ed, “Quebec’s Latest Stand” published in the New York Times on January 10, by Quebec’s provincial minister for international affairs and the city of Montreal.
The author, Jean-Francois Lisée, told the world that his minority government’s plan to ban ostentatious religious symbols “sets out a vision of government that breaks sharply with Canada’s broader multicultural ethos.”
Lisée tried to make a causal link between Canadian multiculturalism and the rise of radical Islam. While every society should be concerned about religious extremism, it would seem that Lisée purposely obfuscated fiction for fact.
He failed to mention that it is not the federal Canadian government, but the province of Quebec that pretty much controls its own immigration policies, which are designed to give priority entry to French-speaking immigrants. This is why so many new Canadian citizens living in Quebec hail from northern Africa.
Lisée also failed to mention that many prominent voices in Quebec, francophone and non-francophone alike, as well as the province’s very own Human Rights Commission and the Quebec Bar Association, are critical of his government’s “Charter of Values.”
Why? Because it has nothing to with human rights or the legacy of Thomas Jefferson and everything to do with exploiting the politics of identity for electoral gain.
The sad part is that it is working.
On Monday, a poll was released that showed the Parti Quebecois is verging on majority territory.
It appears that mobilizing ethnic nationalism does work.
Whether it is ethically and morally right is another story altogether.
- ‘Shock and disbelief’ after Manitoba school trustee’s Indigenous comments
- Canadian man dies during Texas Ironman event. His widow wants answers as to why
- Several baby products have been recalled by Health Canada. Here’s the list
- ‘Sciatica was gone’: hospital performs robot-assisted spinal surgery in Canadian first
Comments