Category Archives: Canada

Marois defends multiculturalism comments

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Pauline Marois (2)Quebec Premier Pauline Marois says she didn’t mean to offend anyone with comments blaming multiculturalism for social unrest and bombs in Britain.

She said her comments were made in the context of a discussion about different models of integration around the world. Marois added that she didn’t intend to interfere with United Kingdom policies. “It’s up to Quebec to develop its own model, according to its own values and history,” Marois said Saturday in a statement posted to the Parti Québécois website.

The statement is Marois’ first on the subject since an interview published Friday with Montreal’s Le Devoir, which set off a flurry of criticism.

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Quebec premier says multiculturalism led to bombings in England

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Pauline Marois PQPauline Marois has marked her first year in power by claiming multiculturalism is to blame for violence and “bomb throwing” in England as she seeks to push ahead with her controversial Charter of Quebec Values.

The Quebec premier, who says she is proud of her first year in power even though she admits it’s been difficult, told Montreal’s Le Devoir that secularism measures will be phased in over a few years.

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Witness sought in Saguenay mosque vandalism

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Saguenay mosque CCTV image

The Saguenay police department is looking for a person of interest in the attack against a mosque in Chicoutimi, after a Radio-Canada surveillance camera captured video of a man dropping off a letter that could be linked to the attack.

Spokesman for the Saguenay police department, Bruno Cormier, says the man is an important witness, but is not considered a suspect at this time.

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Quebec teachers’ union calls for freedom to wear hijabs, kippas

Posted on by Bob Pitt

FAETeachers in Quebec say the Parti Quebecois proposal to prevent people from wearing religious icons and symbols is extremist – and not truly secular.

The Autonomous Teachers Federation (FAE) approves, in principle, of secular values and the separation of religion from the business of the state, but says that is not what the PQ is actually proposing.

“The right of our members to work is at stake,” said FAE president Sylvain Mallette, pointing out that many teachers wear religious icons, being they crosses, kippas, hijabs, or something else which reflects their faith.

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Quebec mosque vandalised with pig’s blood

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Saguenay mosque blood

Police in Quebec’s Saguenay region have been called in after a local mosque was vandalized over the weekend – splattered with what could be pig blood.

Representatives of the area’s small Muslim community say they believe it to be an isolated incident, and Saguenay Mayor Jean Tremblay agrees. Contacted by The Canadian Press Sunday, Tremblay said he was shocked by what he termed an “isolated and stupid” act of intolerance against a place of worship.

The mayor insisted that most local residents would also be appalled by the attack. “That’s not the mentality people in the region have… All it takes is one or two stupid people for something like this to happen,” he said in an interview. He said the incident undermines the community’s efforts to welcome diversity. “This isn’t the way to show we have an open mind,” he said.

A letter was also sent to the mosque and to the local Radio-Canada station spouting anti-Islamic rhetoric.

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Islamic conference cancelled by Montreal convention centre

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Entre Ciel et Terre conferenceA Muslim youth conference in Montreal, which drew criticism from the Parti Québécois government, has been cancelled by the convention centre where it was supposed to be held.

The Palais des congrès, the city’s largest convention centre, announced Saturday it won’t hold next weekend’s event due to security reasons. The decision was made after a “security review,” the Palais des congrès said in a statement.

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Muslim groups say Quebec unfairly targeting conference speakers

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Muslim organizations in Quebec are criticizing Agnès Maltais, the provincial minister responsible for the Status of Women, for asking the Canadian government to bar some invited guests from entering the country as speakers at a Muslim youth conference. Maltais wrote a letter to her federal counterpart, Kellie Leitch, calling the speakers “radical Islamists” who don’t respect equality between men and women.

On its website, the conference organizers – a group calling itself Collectif 1ndépendance – says that it will invite international speakers to “share knowledge on religious affairs with young Quebec Muslims.” The event is set to take place at Montreal’s Palais des congrès Sept. 7-8.

President of the Muslim Council of Montreal, Salam Elmenyawi, says Maltais should have contacted conference organizers before going to the federal government. “They jumped to conclusions before listening to both sides,” said Elmenyawi. “I think [Maltais] should have tried to have a meeting with them, and try to get an explanation to what she has read, and the concerns that she has about the treatment of women and the fact about education of women.”

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Quebec’s proposed ban of religious symbols in public buildings provokes defiant reaction

Posted on by Bob Pitt

The Quebec government could have a difficult time trying to impose its proposed ban on religious symbols in provincially funded facilities, angry citizens tell QMI Agency.

At a daycare centre near Montreal, close to half of the centre’s 15 workers wear a hijab. They said they will defy any future hijab ban. “When I came to Quebec, 10 years ago, I thought I was settling in a free country,” Zakia Maali said. “I feel like the government is telling to stop everything I am doing and return home.”

QMI Agency learned on Monday that the Parti Quebecois is crafting legislation that would take away the right of citizens to wear religious signs and symbols such as visible crosses, yarmulkes and hijabs in public institutions such as hospitals, schools and daycares.

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‘Gammongate’ fraud exposed

Posted on by Bob Pitt

The right-wing press spent several days last week whipping up indignation over the sacking of school dinner lady Alison Waldock, allegedly because she accidentally served pork to a 7-year-old Muslim pupil.

Having initially been broken by the Sun, the story was then taken up by the Express and the Mail. Never one to miss an opportunity for a spot of self-promotion and engage in a bit of immigrant-bashing, Nigel Farage of the UK Independence Party spelled out the message that the press coverage was intended to convey: “The reason that Alison’s been sacked is that we’re so terrified in this country of causing offence to anybody, particularly the Muslim religion.”

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Montreal amusement park ends ‘special privileges for halal and kosher food’ amid uproar

Posted on by Bob Pitt

LAROND 11189 Logo EnlgishFor the boys at Camp Gan Israel in the Laurentians, the trip to the La Ronde amusement park in Montreal is one of the highlights of the summer. Because the camp is kosher, and La Ronde does not sell kosher food, the children have always been allowed to bring in their own snacks.

But after a newspaper went undercover last week to reveal that Muslims and Jews with dietary restrictions were exempt from the ban on bringing food into the park, La Ronde announced an end to the religious accommodation Monday.

“After hearing feedback from our guests, La Ronde would like to clarify that only guests with special medical dietary needs will be considered to bring outside food with them as they enter the park,” communications manager Catherine Tremblay said in a statement.

The “feedback” included a 19,000-name Internet petition and a stream of intolerant reader comments on media web sites after the Journal de Montréal broke the news last week. The paper’s reporter had donned a headscarf and received a sticker allowing her to bring her sandwich into the park. “Special privileges for halal and kosher food,” the front-page headline read. “Lunches forbidden at La Ronde except for Jews and Muslims,” the paper reported on its website.

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