Most assuredly, Stephen Harper has been listening to Lynton Crosby -- who has a long record of calling forth bigots. Jeff Sallot writes:
A Federal Court of Appeal ruling Monday cleared the way for Ishaq to obtain her citizenship papers in time to vote on Oct. 19.
You wouldn’t blame her if she doesn’t vote Conservative. Harper isn’t worried about losing votes in the Muslim community, of course. Instead, he’s appealing to the prejudices of a small slice of the Canadian population who can be riled up by irrational fear.
Harper made a cynical political calculation to elevate the niqab to the level of a national political issue. He had polls (paid for by us, of course) that showed that a niqab ban would be popular. He doubled down when his government lost the first judicial go-round and went ahead last week with an appeal of the Ishaq case.
So that’s where we are in late 2015 — submitting the legal rights of Canadian citizens to public opinion polls. But why stop at trashing the rights of Muslim women? Why not take polls on other civil rights — say, French language rights? There was a time in Canada when language rights might not have survived the test of popular opinion.
Conservatives once used to be guided by their better angels:
That was also a time when Canadian political leaders, including Conservatives, weren’t afraid to actually lead. Bob Stanfield, to his great credit, sacked a Tory candidate in New Brunswick in the 1974 election for refusing to support bilingualism. Stanfield didn’t need to find his political courage in a printout of polling data.
That was a time when women wore religious garments without controversy. Like Sallot, I was taught by nuns:
The most exotic people in my neighbourhood were the Catholic Ursuline nuns who taught me in elementary school. They wore long black gowns and headwear from the Middle Ages. It fully covered their hair. But you could see their faces. And you knew if you were in trouble before they spoke a word.
Harper is calculating that bigots will keep him in office. And so he is calling them out from under every rock and away from every hill and mole hill.
10 comments:
And now CBCNN is running promotional spots within the context of general news coverage for the broadcast of an interview of Harper by Rosemary Barton that's available on its website. The interview may have already been shown on a regular network broadcast. In one of the featured extracts, when Barton poses a short series of questions regarding the Niqab controversy, Harper uses the opportunity to claim that the opposition leaders have turned it into an election issue. I wasn't able to discern from content whether Barton allowed him to get away with such an outrageous insult.
I commented on Sallots post Owen with a bit of trivia.I'll repeat it. Harper talks about Muslims as if their recent immigrants to Canada, but they have been coming here for over 100 yrs. The first mosque in North America was built in Edmonton. Christians helped to build it.
There are over 1Million Muslims in Canada. Most leading peaceful productive lives.I feel horrible about them being subjected to this vile racism, instigated by the highest office holder in the land, Canada's PM. Harper has no culture. He lives in a kind of modern day dark age.It was the Arab Muslims who preserved some of the works of Aristotle, otherwise all of the writings of "The Master of them that knows" would have been lost.Harper is a very, very ignorant man and I'm ashamed that he is our Prime Minister.
If Harper gets in again, we will have a government of the bigots, for the bigots, by the bigots.
This is worth watching if you have not seen it yet. Here is someone who had already seen who Harper was years ago, had told us so and is telling us yet again: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-xNWjCmDLgw
It should be very telling that Danny is appealing to Harper supporters to stay home if they cannot accept voting for another party. Good luck to Trudeau if he really believes that these people will ever vote for any of the opposition parties.
It is also very telling that Danny is clearly saying that Trudeau, Mulcair or May would be a much better choice than the bigot we now have.
The power of darkness, Owen. Harper is in word and in deed the Prince of Darkness. He constantly trawls the bottom of the barrel for votes and it always pays off. He's ugly right to the core.
Some lower life forms are toxic, Mound.
I've seen the interview with Williams, Anon. Obviously, the people of Newfoundland have taken his advice to heart. The question now is, "Will Canadians in other provinces do the same?"
They sound like "old stock Canadians" to me, Pam.
He has no conscience, John -- but you knew that already.
Owen it never ceases to amaze me $hit Harper does. Okay on the Niqab it was a 'policy' Jason Kenney then Immigration Minister put in place. A policy is not 'Law' from this Canadian Press in this Huff-Po article 09-15/16-2015:
"Earlier Tuesday, Justice Department lawyer Peter Southey told court that the government never meant to make it mandatory for women to remove their face coverings for citizenship ceremonies — a position that left both the judge and Ishaq's lawyers scratching their heads."
http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2015/09/15/federal-government-appealing-federal-court-decision-on-niqabs-citizenship_n_8140786.html
This during the day of the ruling against the Harper Government's appeal of the earlier decision allowing the Niqab they [Harper Government] knew their 'regulation' or 'policy' was unenforceable but were going to enforce it anyways according to Harper and Chris Alexander to prevent one woman from voting and to disturb a hornets nest all at the same time.
Had Harper been serious while parliament was in session with his 'cherished majority' he could have easily passed a law and effectively legitimized the 'policy' and circumvented the courts. But his theater of the absurd was just what he needed to change his slumping fortunes in the election race. It would have become a constitutional challenge at some point down the line to see if this Jason/Steve policy/law violated the constitution. So it is obvious that this was a well planned well executed political maneuver. This way of Steve's and his entire goon squad of cons is what makes me ill about him being our PM. They cheated in 2006, 2008 & 2011 the worst is still to come.
It's JT v SH now and if Justin Trudeau v Patrick Brazeau Charity Boxing Match is any indication of Libs v Cons looks like its PM Trudeau. At this point it would be a 'just dessert' moment if the son of the man Steve hates and the party he despises gains the most number of seats putting Harper back across the floor into humiliation and JT becoming the 23rd Prime Minister of Canada. And the best part this is very possible and likely.
Go Justin go!
They're shameless, Mogs. They reverse or contradict themselves -- and they never blush.
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