A call for that most scarce of items, sanity in Canada. From the International Herald Tribune, with thanks to Ricky Poole:
TORONTO Jurisprudence in Canada, a country that prides itself for its progressive human rights positions, took a hit in December when former Attorney General Marion Boyd released her long-awaited report on the permissibility of Sharia law under the Arbitration Act of the Province of Ontario. To the astonishment of almost everyone involved in the debate, Boyd ruled in favor of the patriarchal religious code that governs the lives of Muslims.It's hard to fathom what Boyd was thinking when she opened this Pandora's box. In spite of evidence that Sharia law isn't working as it is supposed to in a single country around the world today, she makes 45 recommendations that further complicate the already flawed Arbitration Act she was asked to examine.
The report drew opposition from women's groups and many others across the country. The Canadian Council of Muslim Women said, "Sanctioning the use of religious laws under the Arbitration Act will provide legitimacy to practices that are abhorred by fair-minded Canadians, including Muslim women."....
Boyd's report is now in the hands of the premier of the province, Dalton McGuinty. Throw it out, Mr. Premier, throw it out.
There are many Marion Boyds all over the land. Is she not a sister under the skin to Diane Eck of the "Pluralism Project" or of Karen Armstrong (an honored guest at the Eck wedding last summer), who describes Muhammad as a "peacemaker" and ignores his life as a warmaker preaching that "war is deception" and "Islam is to dominate and not to be dominated." They are, out of self-righteous assumptions about the essential sameness of all "religions" (or those organized belief-systems that happen to have been successful enough, and long-lasting enough, to be called "religions" rather than "sects"), determined to make the Lands of the Infidels safe as safe can be for Islam -- and in so doing, whether inadvertently or deliberately (for many of these same people seem impelled by distaste for the Western world, and their philo-islamism is based on the implciit recognition that Islam is now the vehicle for anti-Western, and especially anti-American, impulses of every dark kind), make our lives, we Infidels who did nothing to deserve the slow spreading of Islam in our own countries, and who, the more we learn about Islam, the more we dislike it, dislike it for the totaliarian system that, when it is fully embraced, it naturally becomes, dislike it for its hostility to individual freedom, dislike it for the way it limits artistic expression, the way it inhibits skeptical inquiry, the way it is so dour, so humorless, so cruelly inhibiting of mental development. It makes us all slaves of Allah; some of us do not wish to be slaves of anyone, even Allah. All the Marion Boyds are a danger; just like the stupid Mayor Menino of Boston (whose stupidity is so evident in his face, in his speech), who has grandly sold for a song land smack in the middle of the area that will be most susceptible to Da'wa (right across from Roxbury Community College) in all of Boston. Spare us meninos, boyds, sellses, ernsts (as in "michael sells" and "cark ernst") akinses (as in "James Akins"), e tutti quanti. They are, some bought-and-paid-for, some stupid, some simply gone native, harmful to our continued security as Infidels -- of whatever belief or unbelief. They are as varied as the cast of characters in John Roy Carlson's World War II-era "Under Cover." But their effect is the same.
These are the kind of things that happen when liberals are elected.The muslim minority in Canada will soon become an effective voting Bloc for them and no-one will be able to stop it. If new political parties are formed, they will make it easier for the liberals to win by splitting the vote. All the liberals do in this country is cater to special interest groups like the muslims.
I don't know what to say about the Ontario Liberal party's intention on this issue. The premier Dalton McGuinty has given all the appearances of a very weak leader who surrenders easily.
Re: Umma
The Muslims may be a voting block but at less than 2% of the population I question how effective they will be - unless the politically correct crowd lets them. Muslims have a way of pissing off every other religious group. Hindu Tamils, Sikhs from India, Chinese of varying religions (Bhuddists, Christians, etc.), Catholics from Latin America all can get along and have no philosophical differences with each other's religion. The only odd group out in this mix are the Muslims.
Re : Comment by Johnb
2 percent is a small number. At the rate their population is growing it could be 5-10% in 20 years. This is enough to be an influential voting block. Remember, a party in Canada can form a majority government with less than 38% of popular vote.
JohnB:
Don't underestimate the significance of Muslims as a voting block in Ontario. While there were only 352,530 Muslims in Ontario in the 201 census making up 3.1 per cent of the population. That represented a 142.2 per cent increase from the 145,560 or 1.5 per cent of the population in 1991. Ontario Muslims tend to be concentrated in Toronto and Ottawa where they make a substantial voting block. In six urban ridings, the Muslim share of the population was in excess of 10 per cent and in twelve ridings more than 8 per cent according to a report prepared by The Canadian Islamic Congress before the 2004 election. This same report attempted to influence the Muslim vote in that election by rating the performance of incumbant Members of Parliament. From an examination of the grades given to various MPs, the issues considered to be most important to Muslims were support for the Palestinians, opposition to the Afghanistan and Iraq War, and concern that Muslim rights were being infringed by the war on terror. Many of the same ridings that were identified as having significant Muslim blocks in the Federal election would also have significant Muslim blocks in the corresponding provincial ridings. These are ridings that presumably support Shariah and that the faltering Provincial Liberal Government will need to win in the next provincial election.
Sorry my link for the CIC report didn't get correctly incorporated.
http://canadianislamiccongress.com/election2004/Election2004.pdf
Patrick:
You seem to have forgotten. Aside from the fact that the Wahhabis believe that voting is "haram", they tend not to vote in larger numbers than the rest of the population, possibly because a lot of the more recent arrivals have language issues, if not a cultural disconnect.
So, yes they did help elect Colleen Parrish and her Mississauga soul sister, but Parrish has self-destructed, and the Liberal machine will likely take better control of things going forward.
Waterdragon52:
Maybe you're right, but maybe not. We need more information to be sure. It would be interesting to see a study of voter participation among Muslims. Other factors that need to be borne in mind are that most Canadian Muslims probably aren't Wahhabis. And how do you explain the fact that candidates actually went to Mosques for the Islamic equivalent of all-candidates meeting in some of the ridings with high concentrations of Muslims? Also why did Jack Layton go out of the way to cultivate the Muslim vote by picking Maher Arar's wife Monia Azigh as their "star" candidate in Ottawa South?
Patrick:
Recalling my days as a participating member of the NDP, all candidates' meetings tend to get held wherever the candidates are invited, based on availability. So, that some meetings are held in mosques isn't much more surprising than if they are held in schools or churches.
As for Jack Layton playing up to the Muslim community -- yes, he does, but I'd have to concede that Monia Azigh was not a poor choice. For the time being it does seem her husband was badly treated and she is quite an articulate person.
On the other hand, seeing that she and her husband received the support that they did from then Liberal backbencher and very Jewish human rights activist Irwin Cotler (for non-Cdn bloggers, he's now Canada's Minister of Justice), I'd say Monia could have done better running under another banner.
I note that the Reform/Conservative/Alliance member, Muslim Rahim Jaffer has no sympathies for Islamists.
waterdragon52:
Yasmin Ratanzi was elected as a Liberal and
her being a Muslim shocked me when she refused to denounce the comment by Dr.Muhammed Elmasry when he stated on public TV three times and on the re-airing of the show to prove he said "All Israelis over 18 are valid targets for murder by suicide bombers because of the Army draft by the State".
Ratanzi claimed she never actually heard the comment and believed it was taken out of context.
As for the NDP candidate,Muslims and Arabs supported the Anti-American Carolyn Parrish
and had no interest in a female Muslim that
tackled social issues.
Also the fact that her husband launched a 400,000,000 law suit against Canadians for his ALLEGED torture didn't sit well with the voters,or maybe the problem started when Jack layton's photo-op in Ottawa included greeting local candidates and Azigh was caught on camera
refusing to shake Jacks hand because of her beliefs or fears from other Muslims.
Just a few facts about Arar,he returned from the middle east alone ahead of his wife and children,he was deported to Jordan and not Syria
as CAIR and others love to report,he still held a Syrian Citizenship even though he claimed to flee to Canada from Syria since it was so terrible there,Arar's press conference just weeks after returning from Syria is on the CBC website and any Doctor seeing his well-scripted tale of adventure and abuse would not see one sign of
mental trauma or long term abuse.
As for Jack Layton,the NDP likes to play both sides of the issue,his wife Olivia Chow brags about her efforts to help children and youth,yet each year she and jack ride in the "Pride" parade
knowing that there is overt nudity in front of children while the Police are told to ignore this borderline Pedophilia. Olivia helped kill the Toronto Island airport bridge on the pollution and noise platform,yet she and Jack always endorsed the Indy Race during the hot summer days
and the CNE Airshow that spewed soot into the air and was extremely noisey.
At least a broken watch can be right twice a day,the NDP flip-flops and campaigns on clean air
and health care for everyone,then they support the Auto industry and accept the generous Health benefits within Governemnt that nobody else gets.
BTW,did you see how fast he got in and out of the hospital for his sickness,and I bet you he didn't feel the least bit guilty.
NDP....we work so you don't have to!