Rats in the Belfry

As part of this month's Xenophobia celebrations, the Quebec National (sic) Assembly adopted a motion supporting the decision by security workers to bar the four Sikh men from entering the building where the Assembly meets.

The motion passed, by a vote of 113-0.
It was unanimous.

***

The men who were turned away were members of the World Sikh Organization of Canada. They had been invited there by a legislative committee to speak to Bill 94 - the so-called niqab law - but that never happened.

“It’s a bit ironic. We were here to speak on the issue of accommodation and we weren’t accommodated,” said the group’s legal counsel, Balpreet Singh.

***

The motion supporting the decision to bar them entrance to the building was made by Louise Beaudoin, the Parti Quebecois member for Montreal Rosemont.

"Are we going to allow the Supreme Court of Canada to dictate to us?" Poirier asked.

She was referring to a 2006 decision, where the Supreme Court of Canada ruled that the kirpan, which Sikhs carry wrapped in fabric under their clothing, is not a weapon but a religious symbol, like a crucifix.

She reminded legislators and reporters that multiculturalism is a Canadian value, not a
Quebec value.

According to Ms. Beaudoin, multiculturalism is "divisive", and part of a larger plot by former Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau to marginalize French-Canadians.

She thought the men from the World Sikh Organization had behaved badly.

"Frankly" she said later "they could have made an effort to respect our institutions and our values".

Apparently, irony too is a Canadian value,
not a Quebec value.

***

Carole Poirier, PQ MNA for Hochelaga-Maisonneuve, said banning the kirpan was justified by the May 8, 1984, shooting spree, when Cpl. Denis Lortie, armed with two machine guns, burst into the assembly building, killing three people and wounding 13 others.

There is no record of anyone telling her that her analogy is ridiculous, or that inviting members of a global organization to speak and then fucking them off might be seen as an incredibly ignorant thing
to do...

but to be fair, perhaps good manners, or even sincerity, are just Canadian values too.

***

The move by Quebec politicians might have shocked or disturbed or troubled people in other parts of Canada, Sikhs around the world and who knows how many others, the people at White News Now think it was a right-on thing to do...

Happy Xenophobia Month, y'all.

***

The Parti Quebecois allegedly wants the government to adopt a law banning all ostentatious religious signs. Well, not really. Not all of them.

Not the crucifix that hangs over the Speakers chair in the National (sic) Assembly chamber - the very one mentioned by cab driver Arieh Perecowicz in part one. It was placed there in 1936, by Quebec Premier Maurice Duplessis, who used to say that he led the “only Catholic government in North America.”

It may look like a religious artifact, but it's not!

Ceci n'est pas un crucifix.

In 2008, Premier Jean Charest put forth a formal motion that changed it from a Catholic religious thing to part of Quebec's "historic heritage."

Hokus pokus! The motion was passed. Unanimously.

...and I don't think the PQ would include the giant cross that lights up at night on the mountain (sic) that overlooks downtown Montreal either.

A giant cross on top of a mountain that lights up in the dark?

Nothing ostentatious about that...

***

..and just when you think the irony can't go on- this just in!

OTTAWA – The World Sikh Organization of Canada (WSO) applauded MPs of all three national parties who opposed the Bloc Quebecois motion to ban a Sikh article of faith, the kirpan, from the House of Commons.

“We want to thank Conservative house leader John Baird, Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff and NDP leader Jack Layton for reaffirming Canada’s commitment to personal and religious freedom,” said Prem Singh Vinning, WSO President.”

The BQ’s February 15 motion, proposing that the House of Commons ban kirpans, was the federal party’s strategy to show support for the Quebec National Assembly’s decision to bar kirpan-wearing Sikhs from government buildings in Quebec.

la bete goes on- more Xenophobic follies!

http://www.montrealgazette.com/life/Quebec+National+Assembly+supports+Sikhs+wearing+kirpans/4253741/story.html#ixzz1ERqShAX6

http://www.montrealgazette.com/life/Crucifix+stays+Assembly/

4288014/story.html#ixzz1ERsZDu9E