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Do we have “extreme multiculturalism” in Canada?
8-22-2018
Do we have “extreme multiculturalism” in Canada? The answer is an unequivocal NO! Therefore, do not pay any heed to Conservative MP from Quebec, Mr. Maxime Bernier’s rant on Twitter last week. No one else in Canada is cheering him on, not even his own party. He is after all a failed and rejected politician, even by his own party. He is the Rodney Dangerfield of the Conservatives, no matter what he does he never gets any respect.
However, his rants should not be taken lightly. It is a clear evidence that today’s Conservative’s are nothing more than the “Repackaged Reform Party of Canada” – a threat to the harmonious multicultural fabric of Canada.
Some background to the debate. On August 14th, 2018, on Pakistan’s 71 Independence Day, the City of Winnipeg, dedicated a park – Jinnah Park – named after the founding father of Pakistan, Mohammed Ali Jinnah.
The event included politicians from all walks of life, including a Pakistani-Canadian Liberal MP, Ms. Iqra Khalid.
This was also the week when City of Victoria removed the statue of Sir John A McDonald, the founding father of Canada, from the city hall’s entrance, that was previously approved by the Victoria City Council.
This was also just a week before the Conservative Party’s annual convention. All ingredients present to rouse the perfect storm of populist supporters to demonstrate that the values held by the “Old Stock Canadians” are under threat to Liberal’s “Extreme Multiculturalism.” A bogus notion perpetuated to fuel the Trump style divisive debate to trigger the politics of us versus them. A populist politics which seems to be thriving nowadays.
This was the golden opportunity not only for Mr. Bernier but also for the far-right. So Mr. Bernier did exactly, what he is good – or for the lack of better words, not good at, he Tweeted: “Canada under extreme Libera extreme multiculturalism While a statue of our country’s founder is being removed in one city, a park was recently named after Pakistan’s founder in another, in the presence of M103 Liberal MP sponsor.
Pakistan independence from India led to 1M deaths.”
Don’t think this was just Mr. Bernier’s own rant as the Conservatives distanced themselves from him. This was a calculative tweet to test the waters to see if the populist support on federal level is on the rise or not. Being one year away from the next federal elections, Conservatives are scrambling to gauge which way the wind is blowing as Trudeau’s Liberals popularity just does not seem to be dimming. They need to come up with the strategy – and they need to come up with it soon.
First, lets get some straight facts. The Liberals neither initiated nor responsible for the two different decisions made by the respective city councils, Victoria and Winnipeg. The Liberal MP M103, Iqra Khalid attended the event, performing her duties, just like any other invited MP is obligated to do. Therefore, to call it “Liberal Extreme Multiculturalism” is little over the top.
Second, blatantly misleading information, about the death toll, 1M, during India Pakistan separation to be included in the same Tweet insinuating somehow, Mr. Jinnah was responsible the deaths are way out of line. The civil unrest which followed British haphazard departure from the sub-continent and the largest human migration in human history since Moses did lead to over 1 Million deaths. However, no one has ever attributed it to Mr. Jinnah. Mr. Jinnah to this day is revered and honoured internationally as one of the great statesman of the history – who lead a peaceful, diplomatic, non-confrontational, non-violent movement resulting in creation of Pakistan. Most importantly, he was the champion of minority rights, and it is reflected in his speech, his work, and his actions.
So, what exactly is to make of over the top rant by Mr. Bernier. Well to start, if Mr. Bernier is good at anything, it is to fail and making a complete fool of himself in doing it. He is a Quebec separatist, who in 1995 Quebec referendum voted for separation. Under Stephen Harper, he was the Foreign Affairs Minister, but was forced to resign after he left sensitive and confidential documents at his girl friend’s home. He successfully failed to clinch the leadership of the Conservatives during the last leadership race. He then decided to write a book about his failure to lead the Conservatives which has been halted. The current Conservative leader, Mr. Andrew Scheer has quietly removed him from the shadow cabinet. Poor guy, what does he really have to do to get some respect?
The reaction by Canadians in response to Mr. Bernier’s Tweet has been swift in denouncing such racist ideology and politics of divide. If anything, his Tweet not only strengthened our PM, Mr. Justine Trudeau’s views on Canadian diversity, “Our diversity is our strength,” but it also boosted Liberal Party’s membership along with funds.
CBC reported, “The Liberals say a fundraising campaign based on Bernier's controversial comments has raised 77 per cent more money than any of their previous issue-based efforts. Party spokesperson Braeden Caley said online donations have doubled and social media engagement has quadrupled since Monday. And he said the Bernier controversy has also helped boost the rolls of registered Liberal supporters, with 1,000 new sign-ups this week.”
Lets look at Mr. Bernier’s rant as a blessings in disguise not only for the Canadian-Muslims but for all Canadians who disagree with Stephen Harper’s divisive and discriminatory politics to realize that, Mr. Harper may not be at the helm of the Conservatives, but his legacy of hate-motivated politics is still thriving – alive and kicking – and all Canadians have an obligation to stomp its ugly head whenever it rises.
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