Quebec separatists stir fears, division Last updated: Thursday, September 19, 2013 4:24 PM Mohammed Azhar Ali Khan PQ project of Charter! When a mosque was vandalized recently in Saguenay Quebec and was splattered with blood, local Muslims, the police and Saguenay’s Mayor Jean Tremblay were shocked. But they agreed that it was an isolated act that appalled the people in the region. But it reflects the Quebec elite’s suspicion of those not French. Former Quebec leader Jacques Parizeau blamed "ethnic voters" after the separatists lost the 1995 referendum. When writer Mordecai Richler wrote about anti-Semitism in Quebec in the New Yorker magazine Quebec’s elite savaged him. Former Quebec Liberal premier Jean Charest banned women wearing the niqab from receiving government services. The Quebec Soccer Federation this year banned turban-wearing Sikh boys. Another Quebec club barred a school girl wearing hijab from playing soccer. Such incidents reinforce the view that many Quebecers would like to keep Quebec "pure laine" - or pure French Canadian - and that those not French are outside the family. Now Quebec Premier Pauline Marois is introducing a Charter of Values that violates freedom of religion, is likely to be challenged in court, has created divisions in Quebec and is being criticized widely in Canada. The ostensible aim is to ensure that the state remains secular and religions do not divide society. But Canadians are not divided and it seems that tough medicine, or surgery, is being prescribed for someone who is quite healthy. For the moment, the move has bolstered the separatist Parti Quebecois, which had been losing popularity among French Canadians, which is probably why Marois is pushing it so forcefully. But it could backfire in Quebec too, where separatism has been fading. The values charter aims to ban religious dress or headwear - such as turbans, hijabs and yarmulkes - by provincial civil servants. Ironically it would not require the removal of the Christian crucifix on the walls in the provincial legislature. Quebec separatists won just five seats in Canada’s Parliament in the 2011 federal election. Maria Mourani was the only MP to win a seat from Montreal. She criticized the proposed charter and was ousted from the caucus of the Bloc Quebecois. But Mourani is getting support from Quebecers who also see the charter as being unnecessary and divisive. The charter seems to take Canada back to the dark ages when Canada discriminated against Asians, Jews, Africans and non-Christians. As Prime Minister John A. Macdonald told the House of Commons in 1885, Canada rejected "Asiatic principles" which it found "abhorrent to the Aryan race and Aryan principles." Canada has come a long way since then. But Quebec is still struggling with "ethnic" immigrants who settled in the province. The French got a cosy deal when Canada was formed. Though they had lost to the British, the French and the British became the founders of the new country. The Aboriginals, the First Nations who had lived in the area before the European settlers arrived, were relegated to reserves, poverty, deprivation and obscurity. But though the French constituted the majority in Quebec, it was only one of Canada’s many and growing number of provinces. Its birth rate was lower than even that of English Canadians. Both relied on immigration to boost their economy and population. But many immigrants who settled in Quebec chose to speak English, the language of commerce in the province. Some Quebecers concluded that they could only preserve their language and culture if they separated from Canada but remained associated with it. Quebec voters, however, have rejected separation from Canada in two referendums. Canada sought to placate Quebec by declaring itself to be a bilingual, bicultural country. The French language attained equality with English in all federal institutions and French Canadians won the right to be served in the language of their choice. To strengthen French in the province, Quebec enacted rules requiring immigrants to send their children to French schools. Today the French language is flourishing in Quebec and is also spoken by many Canadians all across the country. But while Canadians embraced bilingualism they expressed unease about biculturalism. How could Canada embrace only English and French cultures when the First Nations and others who built Canada, such as Ukrainians, Germans, Poles, Italians, blacks and Asians, have their own rich traditions? Are they to jettison their culture and become English or French? These concerns led to Canada’s recognition as bilingual and multicultural. Multiculturalism acknowledged that all Canadians could celebrate their traditions and share those with other Canadians on a basis of equality. This has worked well throughout Canada but not always in Quebec, especially when it comes to the hijab, the kirpan and the turban. Some of Quebec’s politicians expect the non-French to subjugate their traditions in order to conform. But others feel that it is a basic right of Canadians to practice their faith as long as they do not intrude on the rights of others. It’s distressing that the charter seeks to divide Canadians on the basis of race and religion. The good thing is that Canadians are saying they find the charter totally unacceptable. — Mohammed Azhar Ali Khan is a retired Canadian journalist, civil servant and refugee judge.
Posted on: Tue, 01 Oct 2013 06:02:54 +0000
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