Tory leader in damage control mode on immigration remarks,
BB But well before all this, an ob- scure little blogon Squarespace from 2007 offers a gem of insight into her thinking. “Doctors as terrorists,” reads the title, ww written soon after two bungled car c bombings in the U. K., after ww which eight people said to be linked l to Al Qaeda, seven of ww whom were physicians, were arrested. a
“In Canada,” she writes, “we may want to be looking at how mm much surveillance of foreign medical graduates will cost and if the potential benefit outweighs ww the potential harm … because the potential for harm now seems to be very real.”
Here’s a more apt title for the blog: 7 Muslim doctors ( at one point in time) = all foreign doctors ( forever).
Kanata- Carleton, the riding FF Fullerton is running in, has a about 5,000 Muslim residents.
“This whole community has a gg great deal of respect for Merri- lee. We appreciate her running,” Ford said on Wednesday at a campaign stop. Anewly formed group named the Canadian Muslim Public AA Affairs Committee is asking FF Ford to denounce Fullerton’s apparent a bigotry.
Another PC candidate in London West, Andrew Lawton, a former Rebel Media host hand- picked by Ford, had social media posts that ranged from “Apparently women at the department store don’t aa appreciate unsolicited bra recommendations” to “I left the Anglican church when they made the decision to allow gay marriage.”
He mocked burkas as Halloween costumes. In another tweet, he wrote: “Covered in wires from a portable heart monitor. The Muslim gents nearby seem to think I’m one of them.”
Last week, Lawton released a statement saying he doesn’t support those views he stated between 2005 and 2013 and blamed those posts ( which have now been deleted) on — you guessed it — mental illness.
Ford was recently forced to oustTanya Granic Allen as a PC candidate after the Liberal party released a video of her making inflammatory statements on same- sex marriage.
It’s not just the openly stated views of his supporters, such as KK Kevin Johnston of Mississau- gg ga, charged with a hate crime last year, that suggest the racial indifference of the Progressive Conservative party.
Ford himself has said he ww would overturn police over- sight rules by reining in parts of Bill 175, including bits that ff focus on de- escalation, which is critical in the context of racial profiling, institutional racism and race- based police violence.
Last month, Ford declined to participate in a provincial leaders debate organized by the Black community.
The most optimistic assessment of his comments during FF Friday’s northern debate about “taking care of our own first t ” ww would suggest a misinformed suspicion of outsiders, especially given declining populations in Ontario’s rural north.
None of this will deter Ford’s base, of course.
But those who sneeringly distance themselves from that base, the ones who are done ww with Liberals but won’t consid- er NDP, don’t get to claim racial innocence.
Not after all this. If he wins, this will be on them.
Shree Paradkar writes about discrimination and identity. You can follow her@ shreeparadkar