Racism Is Colour Blind And Is A Cottage Industry

Dialogue needed to fight racism and radicalism

Christine Williams

27 November 2009 05:08

With news of the Fort Hood rampage in Texas and the revamped Canadian citizenship guide warning newcomers that “barbaric cultural practices” will not be tolerated, conflicting debates about terrorism and our expectations in the West are once again active and will continue to be until we collectively confront the two menacing forces of radicalism and racism.

Both of these variables are alive and well and should invoke a deep horror. Yet those who persistently deny the reality of any one of these insidious evils do so to the peril of our society as a whole.

So let’s start with racism. Labelling and stigmatizing people leads to deep divisions within a society and facilitate a hostile environment not conducive to the positive growth of an increasingly diverse civilization.

Many Muslims have been on the receiving end of stigmatization. We need to be clear that the vast majority of Muslims in the West are peace loving. Muslims who regularly attend mosque and read the Qur’an should not automatically translate into our minds as enemies of our democracy. Although there are Qur’anic texts that call for jihad by the sword, most Muslims in our society do not adhere to this strict, literal interpretation.

In fact, moderate Muslims are referred to as apostates by radical groups and they understand the threat of extremist zeal even more than non-Muslims. The Muslim Canadian Congress has frequently stood up in defence of our democratic values, while renouncing all attempts to conceal the nature of extremism. It continues to do so even in the face of death threats. So we need to think twice before exercising discrimination on all people of the Muslim faith.

It is those Muslims who embrace a militant and extreme ideology rooted in Salafism that we need to be concerned about. Salafism is often used interchangeably with Wahabbism and, in its most extreme form, calls for jihad by the sword against all perceived enemies of Islam — particularly the West — and includes the subjugation of women, sometimes brutal.

We cannot afford to import this irrational zeal, which is accepted and encouraged in many parts of the world. We have every right to challenge such ideologies.

It is time for us to make clear distinctions between peace-loving Muslims from those who are radicals. Suppressing open discussion and dialogue only serves to drive the evils of racism and radicalism underground where both can flourish to the detriment of all us all.

Only In Canada You Say

Cockroaches Could End Up Taking Their Case To HRC

Either cut cigarette taxes or ban smoking altogether

View profile Posted by gordiecanuk 1 day 4 hours ago (http://feedproxy.google.com)

You've probably heard the old saw...'when the law breaks the people, the people break the law'. Such certainly appears to be the case with cigarettes and the taxes placed on them. Legally purchasing cigarettes in the province of Ontario m read more »

Know Your Rights

Employees should be wary of the hazards in contracts

Daniel Lublin

05 August 2009 05:31

It’s possibly the worst fraud in workplace law – corporations, with expensive lawyers and deeper pockets, requiring their employees to sign one-sided employment contracts that reduce their legal rights. And employees, without bargaining power or an understanding of the law, often don't realize their interests have been undermined.

What most people don’t understand is that a written employment contract is not a requirement of employment. This is because the law implies a number of essential terms and conditions, such as termination, fair treatment and duration, and it does so whether or not they are written down.

However, because many of those implied terms are considered too employee-generous, most companies insist that employees sign contracts that reduce those implied rights. Employees then unknowingly agree to be eliminated with minimum notice, demoted, see their salary slashed and prevented from competition following their departure – all with legal impunity.

Don’t misunderstand. Employees are not entirely without recourse. The Supreme Court has recognized the unique nature of the employment contract and the inherent power imbalance when negotiating terms. As a result, judges have created various devices to prevent unfairness. If the contract is ambiguous, illegal, provides less than employment standards legislation or is entered into under duress or coercion, it may be set aside.

While these devices provide a level of protection, they still ignore some fundamental truths.

First, employees seldom negotiate contracts, and if they do it’s rarely on equal footing. Either they fear the job offer will be withdrawn and offered to a competitor or they are simply told the language will not be changed. In today’s job market, their fears are not unfounded. Employers, then, usually have their way.

As well, the legal doctrine of freedom contract, which provides employers the right to offer employment on their own terms, is still recognized today, regardless if it is in conflict with practical workplace reality. Therefore, if a contract has been reviewed and executed before employment begins, an employee is often held to the deal that was made, whether fair or not and sometimes many years later.

How do these contracts affect workers? In a file my law firm is handling, the employee had been recruited away from a large American technology firm where he worked for eight years, to join a Canadian competitor. Before he began, he signed what he was told was a “standard form” contract. Six months later he was fired.

It was a simple win – or so he thought. He had a strong claim to make his new employer responsible for the severance he was owed from his old job. But the contract he signed specifically prevents him from making that claim and worse, limits his damages to only one week’s pay. Although the conclusion to his case will probably be based on other factors that are involved, there is one certainty: without that contract, his case would be stronger.

What should employees do? Challenge the enforceability of these contracts, where the facts present them with that argument. I have won in court by raising the inference that a signed contract was without proper consent – such findings are not exceptions. Have any new contract reviewed with a lawyer and don’t be reluctant to renegotiate terms.

Daniel A. Lublin is an employment lawyer focusing on the law of dismissal. He can be reached at dan@toronto-employmentlawyer.com

Leon Russell-A Tribute

The Best Never Known
by: Mike Benhaim

Did Banning Corporal Punishment Contribute To Increase In Youth Crime

Unconvinced by 'modesty' argument TheStar.com - Opinion - Unconvinced by 'modesty' argument

July 25, 2009

Re: Modesty not misogyny at root of practice, Letter July 22

Letter writer Mohamed S. Ibrahim may be right that it was not misogyny but her own lack of modesty for which the woman in Sudan was being punished. What he fails to understand is that we in Canada (except perhaps Ibrahim and his fellow believers) consider physical punishment in all its forms inhumane and have banned it for all crimes. Using passages from the Qur`an, or any other holy book, is a cop-out for those who practise this kind of inhumanity.

James Thompson, Thornhill

You cannot compare a nude woman being arrested in Canada and a woman being flogged in Sudan for wearing trousers. A nude male would also be arrested in Canada. However, a man wearing trousers would not be publicly flogged in Sudan. This inconsistency – the fact that woman are treated more harshly than men and have to adhere to a totally different set of rules – is the basis behind the statement of the original letter writer Garry Burke that many Islamic laws are misogynistic.

Lerryn Pitcher, Markham

First, various courts in Canada have addressed the issue of nudity, often ruling that it does not cause a "risk of harm" and is not a criminal act. And demonstrations and events involving public nudity are not particularly rare in Canada, either (see the Naked World Bike Ride as one example).

More to the point, however, the Canadian nudity laws that he references apply (when enforced) to men and women equally. By contrast, in Sudan it is against the law for women to wear trousers, but not, apparently, for men to do so. This double standard is why the Sudanese law in question is aptly described as misogynistic.

If the world is indeed "wobbly like drunken rats," as Mr. Ibrahim writes, then I would humbly suggest that it is because people continue to defend public flogging as a reasonable response to a woman's decision to wear a pair of pants.

Jeff Kelly, Kitchener

........or nonsensical attitudes like this:

In teen slaying, don't sentence M.T. as an adult

Who we are at 15 going on 16, is not who we will be at 25. If M.T. serves a mandatory life sentence in an adult prison, she will less likely become a better person, one who ultimately feels true remorse

Garbage Strike A Walk In Park Compared To H1N1 Pandemic

H1N1 virus could be our Katrina

By LORRIE GOLDSTEIN, TORONTO SUN

If you want to know whether Toronto is prepared for the resurgence of the swine flu (H1N1) pandemic this fall, think of New Orleans just before Hurricane Katrina hit.

Gearing up for swine flu

By CHRISTINA BLIZZARD, SUN MEDIA

An article soon to be published in the British medical journal The Lancet suggests that delaying traditional September back-to-school dates in some jurisdictions might help control the spread of swine flu.

I Am One Of Them.........

Canadians mostly like their health care

Poll shows we have more access to health care, longer waiting times
To discuss click here - 4 Comments

The U.S. health-care debate is dominated by dark warnings about the flaws of the nationalized Canadian system. But apparently somebody forgot to tell Canadians that their system is a socialistic nightmare. A new Ipsos-McClatchy online poll shows that Canadians, overall, are happier with their health-care than Americans are with theirs, at least when it comes to access: almost two-thirds of Canadian respondents say that they have access to the care they need at a price they can afford, compared to less than half of U.S. respondents. One U.S. warning, however, may be true — most Canadians say they have to wait a long time to see a specialist, and they’re often kept waiting for appointments. On the other hand, of course, it’s easier to have shorter waiting times if nobody gets treated.

Source

Goodbye Walter

Lax Custom Officers - In Isreal

Great hiding place “He was here because he thought this was the last place they would look for him.” – Sabine Haddad, a spokeswoman for Israel’s Interior Ministry, on the arrest of American neo-Nazi Mickey Mayon, who hid in the Jewish state for nearly two years

Are We Waiting For The Pandemic

The In Thing To Do.........

Welcome to the social network, where your privacy has to be flexible

The uncomfortable reality of our online world is that privacy is a much more fluid notion than it used to be ......

• Profit vs. privacy: Ottawa takes on social media giant for violating Canada's law
• Video: Privacy commissioner raises Facebook concerns

Not Welcome In Leslieville But......

Smart shoppers

On The Menu

Written by Mark

Monday, 13 July 2009 06:02

Indians know value when the see it; but the target customers are, er, different: India's First Wal-Mart Draws Excitement, Not Protest The wide, clean aisles of India's first Wal-Mart are nothing like Kavita Gopal's usual shopping haunts. There are no bicycle rickshaws careering past her as she buys sacks of rice, no humor-filled haggling over the price of an egg and no demanding neighbors yelling down from their windows for shopping favors. "It's so relaxing and bright in here. It's like a really enjoyable day trip," cooed Gopal, a 22-year-old housewife... ...Wal-Mart officials say that India's middle and upper classes, particularly those in "joint," or extended, families, could benefit from the bulk products that it is selling. Along with Bharti, Wal-Mart plans to open 10 to 15 stores across the country in the next three years... Mark Ottawa

Adjust Your Calender

ROY MacGREGOR

Watch out for a case of the Wednesdays

Maybe Not But We Do Have To Deal With Mi??er!

Toronto isn't quite the Naples of the north — yet

The largest city in Canada's garbage strike is no picnic, but at least we don’t have to deal with the Ma?a

Joe Puts A Face To Panhandler BUT...

....for every Patrick there are anunknown number who have turned panhandling into a cottage industry.
Patrick, a panhandler with champagne tastes

by Joe Fiorito

69 min. ago

On a hot day with a soda, I was working on the crossword when she, a couple of minutes late, came in with a smile, set her things down on a chair, and...

Girl On The Right About Canadian Cynic

An Evening with the Godless
July 4th, 2009

Did you smell the brimstone in Toronto on Friday night? Probably not, over the ineptitude of Toronto City Hall in dealing with the garbage strike. The city reeks, so you’d never notice the stench of hate and misogyny that swept through on Friday.

Everyone’s favorite “progressive” blogger, Canadian Cynic - AKA Robert PJ Day - came to town to talk intelligent design, creationism and evolution at the Centre for Inquiry on Beverly Street.

Someone taped the show last night - not sure who - but Robert didn’t much care for the free publicity. Whatever his reasons for wanting to suddenly stay private, he wound up chasing a guy with a camera halfway down the street back from O’Grady’s pub to tell the guy not to post the footage. Maybe he’s Amish at heart, and doesn’t want his image captured. Whatever his reasons, he muttered something about “not what I signed up for, no videos…”

Robert Day spent much of his two hour speaking engagement reliving past glories, in a debate he had with a creationist back in 1990 - almost 20 years ago.

MORE.......

Tolerance Not On The Menu

Steven Edwards: The new jihadi menu -- eat your kill

Posted: July 02, 2009, 11:45 AM by NP Editor

If anyone ever doubted the West faces sheer insanity in the fight against the most extreme of the Muslim extremists, consider a discussion that recently erupted on a jihadist Web site based on the writings of one of al Qaeda's leading theorists. The thrust of the debate was that Muslim fighters may be justified in cannibalizing U.S. soldiers if they find themselves with nothing else to eat.

The jihadist leading the exchange even said that, in a bid to instill fear into U.S. servicemen, Americans should be told Muslim fighters "smack their lips to eat the flesh of ... the eaters of hamburgers and Pepsi."

The chilling message refers to parts of a recently published book by Muhammad al-Maqdisi, who is best known as the spiritual mentor of Jordanian terrorist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the first al Qaeda leader in Iraq, whom U.S. forces killed in 2006. In one section of the work, Maqdisi discusses the idea of having to do something that is otherwise forbidden, like "murder or eating food sacrificed for an idol," according Washington-based SITE Intelligence Group, which translates jihadist "chat" sites.

Click here to read more...

A Hyphenated Canadian?

Hates Canada, loves school

'Ashamed' of nation but won't leave without degree

By JOE WARMINGTON

"When the country I was born in shames me with its colonial mindset, I refuse to celebrate it, and will not apologize for refusing to do so"

-- Former Canadian Arab Federation VP Omar Shaban

He still seems to hate this country.

But Omar Shaban won't be leaving anytime soon.

"I still have to finish my school," he said in an interview yesterday, when I asked that if he doesn't like it here why doesn't he head back to Lebanon where he grew up. "I am still studying."

Oh sure, of course! So much for "F... Canada," eh -- at least until his top-notch education is completed.

Although born here but raised in Lebanon, this Canadian calls Canada a "genocidal state" that he's "ashamed of," but says he'll hang around long enough to get a grubby university degree in international relations from Vancouver's Kwantlen Polytechnic University in B.C. that'll be accepted the world over.

"I am idealistic," he tells me.

But not idealistic enough it seems to walk out on a country he despises until he takes maximum benefit from it.

Opportunistic might be a better word -- although Shaban is hardly the only one. Even the 23-year-old sees the irony of it.

"I do understand Canada does have liberties," he said, adding this is why he feels comfortable expressing his free speech for those who he says don't.

"I am not angry, I am simply conscious," he said. "I heard the natives speak and I saw their suffering and I cannot in good conscience celebrate a day that they mourn."

This position, he said, led to him posting "F--- Canada Day" on his Facebook page.

"I will celebrate Canada Day only when it is accepted as legitimate by the indigenous people ...

"Some consider taking this position is disgraceful and shameful, but I disagree," he said. "First of all, my statement clearly did not reflect CAF's position; it was my own personal opinion."

That opinion led to his forced resignation from the Canadian Arab Federation of which he was an executive vice-president for western Canada.

"There was a big outcry from our member organizations and it was felt that he had to correct that," said national president Khaled Mouammar. "He decided that the best thing for him to do was to resign."

But on his blog yesterday, Shaban wrote: "I did not resign from CAF because it was felt that I had to correct that ... I resigned from CAF because I do not want to be part of an organization that openly refuses to acknowledge Canada's colonial and shameful history."

And he continued to stir more mud by writing: "I apologize to the indigenous people of Canada because their feelings are not taken into consideration at Canada Day celebrations ... and because they had to be slaughtered, killed, massacred, diseased and dispossessed to establish Canada."

All day yesterday Tarek Fatah, founder of the Muslim Canadian Congress, was saying that "to suggest that this expression of hate against Canada is due to Canada's ill-treatment of the First Nations is a very convenient excuse.

'DISGRACEFUL'

"CAF has turned from being an advocacy group of Arab Canadians to an advocacy group for Hamas, Hezbollah and the dictatorial regime of Iran. To hide behind aboriginal issues to push their agenda is disgraceful and disingenuous."

Fatah added: "Shaban spent most of his life in Lebanon and has never once uttered a single word of outrage at the ill-treatment of the Kurdish people by Arabs or the genocide of the darfuris Muslims by Arab Janjaweed militia or the role of the Arabs of al-Qaida in the massacres of innocent Pakistanis."

Even Shaban, who would not discuss his religious beliefs but said he's "non-secular," acknowledges his grievances go beyond our borders.

"I apologize for being a citizen of a country that imposed sanctions on the Palestinian people," he said, adding he draws parallels between the plight of Canada's aboriginals with "displaced" Palestinians.

"My grandparents were the victims of the ethnic cleansing of Palestine," he explains, although he didn't provide their names.

His approach may be crass but it must be said he was a pleasant kid to talk with. I offer him the view that Canada isn't the problem because here he can express himself without repercussions.

It comes down to manners and respect and saying "F--- Canada" on its birthday is just plain rude.

But lucky for him, in Canada he can express himself without fear of being stoned.

Comments like his test us to see if we really mean it when we say we have freedom of speech. People like Shaban prove that we do. I don't like what he said but also realize he isn't Osama Bin Laden but nothing more than a smart-ass university kid with some technology and brass, who admits he hasn't even been to Gaza or the West Bank.

He makes no bones about being anti-Canada -- except, of course, when it comes to bettering his own situation.

Arab group disavows Canada Day diatribe

by John Goddard

74 min. ago

The head of the Canadian Arab Foundation has distanced himself from an anti-Canadian rant posted on a Facebook site by an official of the group.

The Star Backed McGinty And Miller So....

Welcome, to the newest kitten-eating Conservative

Once again, the Toronto Star farms out a hit piece on the new Ontario Conservative leader, Tim Hudak. Only this time, they take a ribbing in the comments from readers who, like me, are sick to death of the bitchy old buzz words being trotted out any time someone slightly more conservative than Chairman Mao dares to show his face on the Canadian political landscape.

Congratulations to Tim Hudak for winning the leadership. Now let's hope he can win the election. Personally, I like the prospect of a Mike-lite. Actually...I'm more apt to cheer for Mike-heavy, if he's of a mind to get things back on track in this province.

Previous Hudak hits from the "red" Star.

Wonder Woman on June 30, 2009