Trudeau accuses Harper of sowing fear against Muslims
OTTAWA — Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau has accused Prime Minister Stephen Harper of deliberately sowing fear and prejudice against Muslims in Canada.
The charge came in a strongly-worded speech Trudeau delivered in Toronto on Monday night to highlight his views on the importance of liberty in Canadian society.
“These are troubling times,” Trudeau told a gathering organized by the McGill Institute for the Study of Canada. “Across Canada, and especially in my home province, Canadians are being encouraged by their government to be fearful of one another.
“Fear is a dangerous thing. Once it is sanctioned by the state, there is no telling where it might lead. It is always a short path to walk from being suspicious of our fellow citizens to taking actions to restrict their liberty.”
In his speech, Trudeau castigated the prime minister for his comments last month in the wake of a court ruling that struck down the government’s policy that forbid Muslim women to wear the niqab, a religious garment, over the face during citizenship ceremonies.
At the time, Harper said his government would appeal the ruling because wearing a niqab is “offensive” and it’s “not how we do things here.”
In subsequent days, the Conservative party reinforced that message to its supporters and financial donors, as the Tories gear up for an election campaign.
“We all know what is going on here,” Trudeau said of Harper and the Tories. “It is nothing less than an attempt to play on people’s fears and foster prejudice, directly toward the Muslim faith.”
Trudeau said people can dislike the niqab and refer to it as a symbol of oppression.
“This is a free country. Those are your rights. But those who would use the state’s power to restrict women’s religious freedom and freedom of expression indulge the very same repressive impulse that they profess to condemn.
“It is a cruel joke to claim you are liberating people from oppression by dictating in law what they can and cannot choose to wear.”
Trudeau said Canada is a land of a million Muslims who should be allowed to thrive in a free and open secular democracy.
“Keeping these freedoms safe from those who would undermine them through violence is a vital national responsibility.
“What we cannot ever do is blur the line between a real security threat and simple prejudice, as this government has done. I believe they have done it deliberately, and I believe what they have done is deeply wrong.”
Trudeau noted that after Harper publicly spoke out against the niqab, a Quebec judge prevented a woman from wearing a hijab — a head scarf that still keeps the face visible — in the courtroom.
He said the judge’s decision is part of a “troubling trend that Mr. Harper seems keen to accelerate and exploit.”
“Fear is a dangerous thing. Once stoked, whether by a judge from the bench or a prime minister with a dogwhistle, there is no way to predict where it will end.”
Trudeau said the prime minister’s campaign of fear is unconscionable and a real threat to Canadian liberties.
He said that under Harper, the Conservatives have changed from previous decades and their strategy is dangerous.
“Their approach to politics might work in the short term, but it is corrosive over time. Especially in a diverse country like Canada. It stokes anxiety and foments fear. Instead of encouraging Canadians to fight for one another’s liberty, it tells us to be suspicious of each other’s choices.”
“IT IS ALWAYS A SHORT PATH TO WALK
FROM BEING SUSPICIOUS OF OUR FELLOW CITIZENS TO TAKING ACTIONS
TO RESTRICT THEIR LIBERTY.”
JUSTIN TRUDEAU