Stepping deeper into cesspool of race politics
If there was any doubt Canada’s political discourse has become hostage to small, but highly effective, ethno-religious groups, it was evident in how the Opposition Conservative Party buckled under the pressure of Sikh organizations that advocate a breakup of India and the creation of a new religious state for Sikhs called Khalistan.
Until Feb. 27, Conservative foreign affairs critic Erin O’Toole and Manitoba MP Candice Bergen were expected to move a motion in the Commons asking the House to “value the contributions of Canadian Sikhs and Canadians of Indian origin in our national life,” but also to condemn all forms of terrorism, “including Khalistani extremism and the glorification of any individuals who have committed acts of violence to advance the cause of an independent Khalistani state in India.”
Then, on Wednesday evening, I received (as part of a WhatsApp message) the following: “Tomorrow, the Conservative Party of Canada is planning to use precious time in the House of Commons to force a debate on condemning ‘Khalistani terrorism.’ Instead of using House of Commons time for things that will actually help people’s lives, they are targeting the Sikh community and tarnishing us as extremists.”
Of course, the Conservative motion was doing no such thing. On the contrary, the motion called on the House to “value the contributions of Canadian Sikhs and Canadians of Indian origin in our national life.”
Over the night hundreds of members of these Sikh groups bombarded Conservative Party Leader Andrew Scheer with phone calls and emails, threatening to bar Conservative politicians from entering Sikh temples if the motion was introduced.
Early Thursday, the Tories’ resolve had dissolved. They decided not to proceed with the motion. The Canadian Sikh Association took credit for the Tory surrender.
“Throughout the whole night, the Sikh Community has been working aggressively to refute the frivolous allegations of labelling our community as terrorists at the request of foreign and corrupt entities,” said a Facebook post quoted by The National Post.
Khalistani Sikhs in Canada were overjoyed as other Indo-Canadians shook their heads in bewilderment. Considering the fact that the so-called Sikh vote is securely parked with the Trudeau Liberals and Jagmeet Singh’s NDP, the Tory tumble was beyond comprehension.
In his defence, O’Toole said the party had decided not to go ahead Thursday because “the story’s still evolving.” The motion is still on the notice paper.
Ordinary Canadians, the vast majority of us who don’t belong to specific race-based advocacy groups, have witnessed with alarm the slow decline of standards in our political discourse.
In 2006, I attended the Liberal Party leadership convention in Montreal and observed a shocking display of ethno-racial bigotry and racebased horse-trading of delegates. At the convention, Islamists and Khalistanis joined hands to defeat Bob Rae and paint him and his wife Arlene as supporters of ‘Israeli apartheid,’ labelling them anti-Sikh and anti-Muslim.
Writing in The Globe and Mail at the time, I referred to two Peel-Region, Ont., rookie MPs, Omar Alghabra, a Muslim, and, Navdeep Bains, a Sikh, who made common cause against Rae and held the strings of as many as 400 delegates corralled in a room while the two bargained with the leadership contenders.
The Canadian Islamic Congress sent out a mass email to its members with the subject line: “More Canadian Muslims than ever before will help determine Liberal leadership outcome.”
That was 10 years ago. Today, we have stepped even deeper into the cesspool of race and religion-based politics that run contrary to the values we embraced after the Second World War and the U.S. civil-rights movement against racism. In fact, we have turned those values upside down and back to the days of the Orange Order and segregated beaches and washrooms of our parents’ time.
Oh, Canada, who stands on guard for thee?
Tarek Fatah is a columnist with The Toronto Sun, where this column first appeared.