Harper’s ugly end game

Conservative Leader Stephen Harper is playing what he hopes will be a winning trump card as this wretched federal election campaign draws to an ugly end. It’s the card of antipathy, directed against the Muslim world.

Of course the Conservatives are happy to get what votes they can from the million Muslims who have made their home here. Harper even broke the Ramadan fast with supporters, for a photo op. But that public courtship hasn’t prevented the Tories from relentlessly fanning hostility toward Muslims, targeting them and pandering to nativist sentiments.

The Conservatives have campaigned hard on three toxic themes in recent weeks, doubling down on a poll-driven strategy designed to make trouble for the opposition Liberals and New Democrats, and to resonate with small-c conservative voters who might otherwise feel tempted to vote for change. The veil: On the biggest non-issue of the campaign, Harper has been pushing to bar the few Muslim women who wish to cover their faces at citizenship ceremonies from doing so. The Conservatives claim that people shouldn’t “hide their identity” on joining the Canadian family, when they know full well that the law explicitly requires people to be properly identified before the ceremony gets underway. As Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi rightly noted, this is “an issue that is relevant to exactly no one.”

But the Tories know that most Canadians find the niqab offensive. So they are prepared to deny a few modest Muslim women their religious freedom, whipping up this phoney issue to pander for votes. Both Justin Trudeau’s Liberals and Thomas Mulcair’s New Democrats have been courageous enough to stand up for a woman’s right to choose what she wears, and for basic religious freedom. Citizenship: Harper’s drive to strip citizenship from Canadians with dual nationality who are convicted of terrorism (even those who are born in this country) is an extension of his campaign to exaggerate the threat to Canada of Islamist extremism, and to exploit public fears for political gain. Once again, it chiefly targets Muslims. Rightly, Mulcair and Trudeau have vowed to repeal this practice. Refugees: After displaying callous indifference for years to the plight of millions of Syrian Muslims fleeing Bashar Assad’s barrel bombs and Islamic State’s butchery, the Harper government grudgingly agreed to open Canada’s doors to more refugees. But it intends to prioritize “persecuted . . . minorities.” That would put Christians, Yazidis and other minority groups ahead of mainstream Muslims. Trudeau and Mulcair would bring in more refugees, on the basis of genuine need.

The Tories were at it again on Friday, cynically vowing to crack down on “barbaric cultural practices” such as forced marriage.

There’s no denying that this resonates with much of the public. Most Canadians (including most Muslims) have little time for the niqab, no time for terrorists and feel that we have a credible record of welcoming refugees. The Tories are playing to the crowd.

In that vein, these spiteful Conservative policies — hound Muslim women, strip Muslim wrongdoers of basic human rights, shove Muslim refugees to the back of the line — have hijacked and distorted this election. They have blotted out the sun when Canadians face important choices on the economy, jobs, accountable government, social investment, fair taxation and the environment.

The relentless, divisive harping on largely fabricated “Muslim problems” may help the Conservatives get re-elected. But it is unworthy of the Government of Canada, it is socially corrosive and it confirms the Tories’ unfitness to govern.

Unlike Harper, Trudeau and Mulcair have stood up honourably for religious freedom, respect for constitutional rights and generous treatment of refugees. However the campaign plays out, they have affirmed our better values.