True North

By: Lindsay Shepherd

It took less than 24 hours for Liberal Party candidate Karen Wang to resign from the Burnaby South by-election race after Wang was reported to be posting ethnicity-based comments on the Chinese social media app WeChat to mobilize voter support.

The English translation of what Wang wrote on WeChat reads, “If we can increase the voting rate, as the only Chinese candidate in this riding, if I can garner 16,000 votes I will easily win the by-election…My opponent in this by-election is the NDP candidate Singh of Indian descent!”

In her quickly-released statement of resignation, Wang said “I made comments online that also referenced Jagmeet Singh’s cultural background. My choice of words wasn’t well-considered and didn’t reflect my intent.”

Many denounced Wang as a one-off race-baiter who most certainly should have resigned. Conservative MP Michelle Rempel referred to Wang as a “racist”, and pundit Warren Kinsella said about the case “Suggesting that your race is superior to your opponent’s race should disqualify you from running for Parliament.”

Wang, however, was simply doing the expected political move of appealing to people with whom she shares a common language and background, and pointed out that her main competitor doesn’t share their language and background.

That is not suggestive of racial superiority or malignant racism.

NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh, the most important person Wang would’ve needed to beat in the by-election, is indeed of Indian descent – why is it ill-considered to state that?

Jagmeet Singh said at a press conference Wednesday that he did not expect race to be an issue in the February 25 by-election. But is it not rather disingenuous for Singh to suggest that the by-election was going to be colour-blind in a riding where 68% of residents identify as a visible minority?

Particularly when articles such as this one in The Georgia Straight are published, which hardly mention any of Singh’s policies, but rave about how “Canada is ready for a brown prime minister” and how “it’s exhilarating for many of Indian origin to consider the possibility that [Singh] could be prime minister.”

Or this article in Flare titled “As a Person of Colour, Here’s Why I’m Celebrating Jagmeet Singh’s Win” which again largely bypasses Singh’s policies, but gushes about how he represents “the promise of multiculturalism.”

Some are not shy about the allure of ethnicity-based voting: Burnaby South resident Jesse Dhillon said to the National Post in October he doesn’t know much about Singh, but will likely vote for him “because he’s Indian.”

While Wang probably assumed her WeChat post would be no big deal, many Canadians suddenly decided they want to pretend ethnic-based voting is an aberration, and Jagmeet Singh has decided to act as if he had no idea ethnicity would be brought up in a majority-minority riding.

I, for one, feel sympathetic that Wang had to depart on these terms.

Wang was caught in a too-obvious act of appealing to her community – yet it is not uncommon to see politicians in the Metro Vancouver region translate campaign literature into Chinese. There is, after all, a large Chinese demographic in the Vancouver area.

And because we have not focused adequately on integration efforts, many of these voters communicate primarily in a language other than English. We should be honest with ourselves about the implications this has on voting, rather than performing a sort of collective outrage.

The Department of Finance is looking to seize unclaimed bank accounts, according to a recent proposal.

The plan from the government is to convert unclaimed accounts into a holding entity where the funds would be held for a period much shorter than the current grace period, then convert into revenue for the government.

The government claims the administrative costs of alerting people that they may have money in idle bank accounts may be more than the amount in those accounts, and therefore, many people with small claims may not be given the chance to have their money returned.

According to CBC, the Bank of Canada had $742 million in accounts waiting to be claimed in 2017 — money the federal government is itching to get its hands on.

The current laws make banks hand over unclaimed accounts to the Bank of Canada for safekeeping after a period of years.

Owners have 30 years to claim smaller bank accounts (less than $1,000) and 100 years to claim larger accounts (over $1,000).

But the proposal suggests new rules that would seriously limit Canadians’ right to recover assets that have gone idle in the past.

The Bank of Canada currently has a database for claiming these accounts, which allows Canadians to locate their hard-earned money. But the federal government is now signalling it wants to close these accounts and take the money for themselves. So, what will happen to the money?

According to the MaRS Centre for Impact Investing, an organization partially funded by the government who were interviewed by the CBC, Canada should invest the unclaimed money into “socially responsible funds that support the public good.”

If this approach was taken, the government may spend the money they seize from people’s idle bank accounts in whatever way they deem to be “socially responsible” — without consent.

For now, however, the money will be shown as “revenue” for the government.

In order to deal with massive debt accumulated over the last 3 years, the government is looking for another cash grab wherever they can find it.

One accountant interviewed by the CBC condemned the government for not doing more to help Canadians collect on forgotten money.

“It’s very un-Canadian for us not to help Canadians find unclaimed property balances when nobody loses their money on purpose,” said Brenda Potter Phelan, an Ontario-based accountant.

“It’s usually the result of an accident, a death. Increased longevity brings forgetfulness.”

Which raises the question, does the government try to locate the owners of these accounts?

The proposal does not give any details about the process.

One reason accounts might go unclaimed is that the owner has died and the next of kin is not aware of the account.

When the new rules come into place, many beneficiaries may find that the government took their inheritance without their knowledge and without making efforts to notify the family of the bank account.

This is theft, by any other name.

The proposal has now passed the consultation stage and is in the hands of the Department of Finance for the final decision.

A convicted terrorist currently in an American prison will be brought to Canada after his sentence is complete, thanks to a Canadian law introduced in 2016.

Tahawwur Hussain Rana, a convicted terrorist with dual Pakistani and Canadian citizenship, is currently serving his sentence in the U.S. until 2021.

Rana was charged in 2009 for plotting to kill a Danish journalist that published a cartoon of the Muslim Prophet Mohammed.

He was also convicted of giving information to the Pakistani terrorist group that committed the 2008 Mumbai attacks — an atrocity that left 166 people dead.

After his sentence is complete, he will be extradited to Canada — as per American law.

In 2015, Canada was going through the process of revoking his citizenship, under a newly passed law that allowed the government to strip citizenship from dual citizens convicted of terrorism.

Rana was one of ten convicted terrorists who were set to have their Canadian citizenship revoked. Had his citizenship been revoked, Rana would have been Pakistan’s problem, not Canada’s.

Fast forward to 2019, however, and Rana still has Canadian citizenship. He could be on Canadian soil as early as 2021.

What happened?

In 2016, the Trudeau government enacted Bill C-6, a bill that protects dual-citizen terrorists from having their citizenship revoked.

Not only did this bill protect Rana, it also restored citizenship to other terrorists who had it stripped under the previous government.This includes Zakaria Amara, the Toronto 18 mastermind who was convicted of plotting terrorist attacks against Canadians.

Canada might catch a break, and not have to welcome Rana back at all. The government of India reportedly wants Rana extradited to their country to face charges related to his involvement in the 2008 Mumbai attacks.

The Trump administration has shown willingness to help India bring Rana to justice, but his extradition to India is not guaranteed.

Both the American and Indian governments have complicated extradition procedures, and they are “unwilling to cut down or speed up their own process when it comes to extradition.”

If the process is not sorted out by the time of his release, Rana will be deported to Canada.

One more convicted terrorist to “reintegrate” into Canadian society.

According to its official Twitter account, the Syrian Democratic Forces claimed they arrested “an ISIS member of Ethiopian origin who holds Canadian citizenship.”

They posted a 40-second video of the man, who identified himself as Mohamed Abdullah Mohamed — a Saudi Arabian-born Ethiopian man who was raised in Canada and became a Canadian citizen.

There are at least 14 individuals with Canadian citizenship — seven adults and seven children — being held in a Syrian jail for their involvement with the Islamist death cult ISIS.

Meanwhile, a UN official has told Canada that we must repatriate people who left to fight for ISIS.

According to Agnes Callamard, the UN special rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, Canada is legally required to do so.

When CBC Radio asked if she believes Canada has a duty to bring ISIS fighters back to Canada, this was her response:

“I believe it has a legal obligation to do so, if those foreign fighters are currently held in Syria by a non-state actor in this case a Kurdish group. That group has currently no international legitimacy, and probably neither does it have the capacity to undertake fair trials. That’s one reason as to why those individuals should be sent back to Canada.”

Part of the reason the UN is advocating for Canada to take back these ISIS terrorists is to save their lives.

Iraq has the death penalty, and the UN opposes the idea of ISIS fighters — including militants who ruthlessly killed civilians and committed genocide against Yazidis and Christians — being put to death.

The UN official was dismayed that no one, including Canada, has worked to bring back their radicalized citizens imprisoned abroad.

“So far every government, for the last four or five years, have brandished ISIS as enemy number one around the world. None of those governments are now prepared to take their responsibilities and put IS to trial. None of them.”

Gee. Is it any wonder why?

One such ISIS militant is Muhammed Ali, a Pakistan and Canadian dual citizen that joined ISIS and used his social media accounts to spread beheading photos, threats and bigotry.

He openly called for terrorist attacks against Canada, and renounced his Canadian citizenship on Twitter.

The government of Canada has done little to bring these fighters back.

A concern held by terrorism scholars and practitioners is that Canada’s courts are too lenient to properly and successfully prosecute these fighters. There is widespread concern that, like many other terrorists, these ISIS fighters would get off scot-free.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau suggested that while he will punish ex-ISIS fighters, he will also try toreintegrate them into Canadian society.

“We are also there to help them to let go of that terrorist ideology,” said the Prime Minister in question period last year.

The Prime Minister also said returning ISIS fighters could be “powerful voices” against violent radicalization within Canada.

Despite the Prime Minister’s hopes, his own government isn’t too sure.

Minister of Public Safety Ralph Goodale suggested that the chances of reintegrating Canadian ISIS fighters is “pretty remote.”

Despite the risks, the UN Official remains certain that Canada must eventually repatriate ISIS terrorists.

“My strong recommendations is that governments, including Canada, must do the right thing legally, and must do the right thing in front of historians.”

What is right to the UN may be very different than what is right for Canadians.

What exactly is Sharia? It’s a set of guidelines and religious rules, stemming from the Islamic Qur’an and Hadith, that guide Muslims and command an overall way of life. It’s more than just a legal system; Sharia dictates both the private moral teachings of the Islamic faith as well as strict public rules that all Muslims are commanded to live by.

While there are different ways to interpret Sharia, and different Islamic countries impose the law in different ways, there are several core principles that are always evident in Sharia law.

First, women are second-class citizens according to Sharia.

Second, there is no separation of religion and politics — or mosque and state — in Sharia.

Third, our Western fundamental freedoms — freedom of conscience, freedom of religion, freedom of speech, freedom of association and so on — are contrary to fundamental Sharia concepts.

While most Muslims in Canada reject Sharia (many fled Islamist countries because of Sharia), there have been repeated attempts by Islamist fundamentalist to impose Sharia, both directly and covertly.

Here is a short history of attempts to push Sharia law in Canada.

Sharia attempts to enter Ontario through the Liberal legislature (1991)

The Arbitration Act of Ontario was passed in 1991 under the Premiership of Bob Rae (NDP) allowing faith-based arbitration in provincial family courts. Under the new legislation, religious officials would be allowed to meditate on decisions involving family disputes including divorce and inheritance disputes.

• The act enabled groups to use the guiding principles of faith to help settle disputes over divorce, inheritance and custody
• Technically had to abide by Canadian law, but no third-party oversight, no duty to report
• In 2003, Islamic Institute of Civil Justice was established for the purpose of starting tribunals based on Sharia law for Muslims in Ontario.
  • 2004 – Islamic Institute of Civil Justice announces it will begin arbitrating family matters on the basis of Sharia law, warned that those who don’t submit cases were not “good Muslims”
• June 25, 2004 – Ontario government officials asked Maryon Boyd (former NDP Minister of Women’s Issues) to conduct a review of arbitration in family and inheritance cases and the impacts it has on vulnerable people
• September 2005 – Dalton McGuinty announces an end to all forms of religious arbitration saying: “I’ve come to the conclusion that the debate has gone on long enough. There will be no sharia law in Ontario. There will be no religious arbitration in Ontario. There will be one law for all Ontarians.”
• 2006 – Ontario legislature passes bill that puts an end to religious arbitration

Quebec National Assembly gives thumb down to push for Sharia law and Islamic courts (2005)

• The motion put forward by Liberal MPL Fatima Houda-Pepin was passed across party lines to reject the use of Islamic tribunals in Quebec

Environics Focus Canada report shows majority of Canadian Muslims want Sharia recognized (2006)

• Question: Do you believe that Sharia law – that is, traditional Islamic law – should, or should not, be recognized by Canadian governments as a legal basis for Muslims to settle family disputes, such as those involving divorce, custody and inheritance?
• 53% of Canadian Muslims responded that Sharia law should be recognized in Canada

Muslim elementary school in Toronto segregates boys and girls in classrooms, sports and prayer (2007)

• First organized Islamic elementary school in Canada
• Private Islamic school ISNA Elementary segregates boys and girls
• Learn to recite the Qur’an and learn Arabic

Macdonald-Laurier Institute reports high support for Sharia among Canadian Muslims (2011)

• 47% of Muslims wanted Ontario to allow Muslims the choice of being ruled by Sharia courts in the case of divorce or family matters

North Vancouver mosque admits to practicing Sharia (2013)

• North Shore News profile of Ar-Rahman Mosque
• Imam Abu Abdus-Salaam admits that the Mosque arbitrates marriages and disputes on Islamic law
• “Learning takes place here, problems are solved here, conflicts are resolved in this place, people are getting married here, people will be divorced here if they have to according to Islamic law, I mean the Shariah”
• Mosque tells the Vancouver Sun that the Imam had misspoken

Canadian adoption ban on children from Pakistan (2013)

• Canadian officials bar adoption from Pakistan in accordance with Sharia law (which prohibits adoption)
• Federal Canadian government extended the restriction to virtually all Muslim countries
• Government documents from federal officials to the provinces obtained by the Fifth Estate from June 2013 claim that “a change in the child’s parentage is strictly prohibited under Shariah law.”

Calgary “non-denominational” private school fined $26,000 by the Alberta Human Rights Commission for not facilitating Muslim prayer (2015)

• Webber Academy was fined for discriminating against two Muslim students for not accommodating their prayers
• Webber Academy maintains that it is a non-denominational school and there is no space in the school for praying, regardless of religion.

A disabled man is told he can’t occupy publicly subsidized housing because he’s not Muslim (2015)

• Austin Lewis (21) was denied access to taxpayer funded housing because he was not a member of the Muslim community
• According to Toronto City Councillor Joe Cressy the decision was not unfair after Toronto City Council entered a five-year agreement to restrict residency to “members of the Muslim Jama’at [congregation]”
• Lewis was removed from the tenant waiting list at the Ahmadiyya Abode of Peace on Finch Ave W. in North York because he wasn’t Muslim

Fredericton High School teachers make plans for segregated prayer room (2016)

• Reports surface of Syrian refugees harassing other students and teachers at the highschool
• High school staff create plans for Muslim prayer rooms in the school
• David McTimoney the superintendent of the school district confirms that a prayer room has been created at Fredericton High School

University of Regina summer camp runs segregated swimming times for refugee kids (2016)

• Children were segregated by University of Regina staff during summer camp swimming time
• Staff were asked by parents to impose the measure for their summer camp for “religious reasons”

Muslim accountant plans Islamic housing project (2016)

• Nabil Warda made a proposal to build 80 homes for Muslims so that they can avoid paying interest on loans
• Claimed non-Muslims who moved there would have to share Muslim values
• “There must be some modesty in the way you dress. We don’t want women living there going half-naked down the streets. We don’t like that,” he said. “If they want to do that, let them go and live in downtown Montreal.”
• Quebec legislature unanimously adopts a motion to inform municipalities “no real-estate development can be based on religious or ethnic segregation.”
• Nabil Warda’s plans were put on hold after he was told by the mosque where he planned an information session tells him “We never supported the project.”

Anti-Islamophobia Bill M-103 introduced by Liberal MP Iqra Khalid and passes in the House of Commons (2017)

• Fails to define “Islamophobia”
• Rejected a compromise with opposition MPs who asked the Liberal government to change the language away from “Islamophobia” to condemn “anti-Muslim bigotry” instead
• Calls for a “whole-of-government approach” to eliminating “Islamophobia”
• Many critics, including many Muslims, claim it could lead to blasphemy laws
• Calls for the collection of data on citizens, specifically stating: “the government should…collect data to contextualize hate crime reports and to conduct needs assessments for impacted communities.”

Refugee hotel imposes segregated “all-girls swimming time” (2018)

• Federal government documents reveal that the immigration department suggested an “all-girls swimming time” to accommodate Muslim refugees

A group butchers cow “halal way” by skinning it alive in Milton (2018)

• Police investigated a video purporting to show a cow being skinned alive, Ontario Minister of Agriculture replies with disgust

Prominent Canadians gets notified by Twitter that they are violating Pakistani Sharia law (Nov & Dec 2018)

• Twitter legal team notifies Saudi dissident and activist Ensaf Haidar that her tweet broke Pakistani law for a tweet saying “Retweet if you’re against the Niqab”
• Anthony Furey posted a collage of Mohammed cartoons and was notified by Twitter legal that his account has been reported for breaking a section of Pakistan’s criminal code

Islamic Party of Ontario reserves a name with Elections Ontario (2018)

• Provincial party founded on the teachings of the Qur’an
• Believes the native religion of Canada is Islam
• Policy states a desire to outlaw alcohol, drugs, gambling, gay marriage, interest on loans and religious blasphemy based on Sharia