Zach LarkinsONE FOR QUEBEC
People who have read me in the past know that I am certainly not a flag waving Quebec fan. However, I do have to give credit where credit is due. They are finally on the verge of doing something right.
Tell me if the following sounds ridiculous to you:
- Men banned from pre-natal classes at a Montreal community health centre so as not to offend Muslim, Sikh or Hindu women.
- The windows at a community gym obscured so that boys at the Orthodox synagogue across the street couldn't see the Spandex-clad women inside.
- Most recently, a suggestion that it's time to remove a large wooden crucifix from the Quebec national assembly.
Politicians, minority advocates and regular residents are debating just what is ‘reasonable' accommodation of ethnic, racial and religious minorities in an increasingly diverse culture. Mario Dumont, leader of the Action democratique du Quebec, says that Quebec should stop bending over backwards to accommodate minorities and set out in law a reasonable compromise to be granted to religious and ethnic groups. He says that gestures must be made which protect the national identity and the values we hold so dear. Naturally, Mr. Dumont is not very popular with his political opponents. Yet, quite a few ordinary man-on-the-street Quebeckers agree with him.
Parti Quebecois Leader Andre Boisclair added his two cents into the argument by saying it might be time to remove a cross that has hung in the National Assembly since 1936. In a diverse society, "religious symbols have no place in public space," Boisclair said. Sorry, but if the cross has been there that long, don't get your knickers in a knot and say it offends you. Quebec is predominantly Catholic and the cross if the cross is not offensive to Protestants or Jews who sit in the Assembly, it shouldn't be offensive to anyone else.
Dene Moore of the Canadian Press writes, "-A Montreal elementary school had to hire guards last April after a Filipino mother alleged that her son was chided by a lunch hall monitor for the way he ate. The school said the reprimand had nothing to do with the traditional Filipino manner of eating, but bad manners. The mother said it did and made a complaint to the Quebec Human Rights Commission. The school received threats and the incident prompted a small demonstration outside the Canadian embassy in Manila. -A few months ago, an internal Montreal police magazine suggested female officers step aside to let male colleagues deal with Hasidic Jews. The police union was furious while a Hasidic Jewish leader wondered why the article was written at all. He said there had never been any complaint about dealing with female officers. - Last fall, some members of a Montreal YMCA were upset that windows in their exercise room were frosted at the request of the Orthodox synagogue across the street." How far do we have to bend over?
Mr. Dumont makes a real good point and has the guts to say it outright. The pendulum has swung so far one way, it's about time it started swinging back. And it seems that Mr. Dumont is not alone in his feelings. "Al-Yassini Ayman, executive director of the Canadian Race Relations Foundation, said the rights of minorities should be accommodated "as long as that doesn't infringe on the rights of the majority," writes Mr. Moore. He goes further to quote Randall Hansen, Canada Research Chair in Immigration and Governance at the University of Toronto, who said people have the right to religious freedom but not to force their religious precepts on others.
I say hooray for these people. They have taken a stand and should be congratulated for it. In this world of political correctness run amok, they are a voice in the wilderness that needs to be heard. And the sooner we listen, the sooner all of us can learn to really get along with each other.
Tell me if the following sounds ridiculous to you:
- Men banned from pre-natal classes at a Montreal community health centre so as not to offend Muslim, Sikh or Hindu women.
- The windows at a community gym obscured so that boys at the Orthodox synagogue across the street couldn't see the Spandex-clad women inside.
- Most recently, a suggestion that it's time to remove a large wooden crucifix from the Quebec national assembly.
Parti Quebecois Leader Andre Boisclair added his two cents into the argument by saying it might be time to remove a cross that has hung in the National Assembly since 1936. In a diverse society, "religious symbols have no place in public space," Boisclair said. Sorry, but if the cross has been there that long, don't get your knickers in a knot and say it offends you. Quebec is predominantly Catholic and the cross if the cross is not offensive to Protestants or Jews who sit in the Assembly, it shouldn't be offensive to anyone else.
Mr. Dumont makes a real good point and has the guts to say it outright. The pendulum has swung so far one way, it's about time it started swinging back. And it seems that Mr. Dumont is not alone in his feelings. "Al-Yassini Ayman, executive director of the Canadian Race Relations Foundation, said the rights of minorities should be accommodated "as long as that doesn't infringe on the rights of the majority," writes Mr. Moore. He goes further to quote Randall Hansen, Canada Research Chair in Immigration and Governance at the University of Toronto, who said people have the right to religious freedom but not to force their religious precepts on others.
I say hooray for these people. They have taken a stand and should be congratulated for it. In this world of political correctness run amok, they are a voice in the wilderness that needs to be heard. And the sooner we listen, the sooner all of us can learn to really get along with each other.
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