Is Canada Racist?

Can we believe this trio that Canada in not racist? It is disturbing how Canada has handled some immigration cases.

Maher Arar, a citizen of Canada, was deported to Syria (with full knowledge and approval of Canadian authorities) when he was in the US. He suffered in the jails of Syria as he was tortured there. It became an international case and after a lot of pressure Canada gave in and admitted him back into Canada.

Then there is Omar Khadr's case, Canadian-born who has been confined at Gitmo from a very young age. At worst he was a child soldier, otherwise he was an exploited young man indoctrinated by a certain environment. Even US authorities have given indications that he should go to Canada but the Harper government has fought back tooth and nail and now the Harper government is taking the case to the Supreme Court to stop Khadr's deportation to Canada. Does that not show a great amount of racism on the part of the Harper government?

The more recent case is that of Suaad Haji Mohamud who was detained in Kenya and imprisoned. The Harper government will not move on her case. She had a young son in Canada. Canadian immigration authorities asked for DNA tests before agreeing to let her back in. She languished in Kenya for over a year.

There are many other similar cases and all such cases involve a minority, mostly Muslims. What is happening to Canada, a country of multiculturalism? It is shameful.

More recently a white man from South Africa, Brandon Huntley, applied for refugee status claiming that he would be prosecuted by blacks in South Africa and that he was attacked by blacks in Africa when he was there. Jason Kenney and officials wasted no time to take him in their arms to welcome him to Canada (true the decision was made by the Immigration and Refugee Board, but the buck stops with the government and one can have little doubt that the Board have been taking cues from Stephen Harper and his cronies). South African officials are crying racism and probably rightly so. After all, one of Harper's MPs, Rob Anders, called Nelson Mandela a terrorist and asked that he not be given honorary Canadian citizenship. Shame.

As a Canadian, I feel ashamed about the actions of Harper and his cronies.

To read the Brandon Huntley story, you can click here.

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Stephen Harper: “I do not accept candies from strangers”?

Harper is playing an interesting game of banishing Brian Mulroney from the Conservative Party, as he is afraid of the Mulroney/Schreiber case outcome. Mulroney is the face of conservatives and how Harper can disown his own face in a way. Mulroney is a kind of iconic figure for Conservatives as he had two back to back majorities as being the only Conservative Prime Minister since Robert Borden in 1917 (who actually led a coalition government) to do so.

Whatever Mulroney's personal failings may be, he was a much better Prime Minister than Stephen Harper. Mulroney was the architect of free trade, which Harper chimes praises of. Mulroney also stood for Human Rights and multiculturalism. On South Africa, Mulroney stood steadfastly against apartheid when his fellow international leaders like Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher wanted to relax sanctions on the apartheid regime. One of Harper's caucus member, Rob Anders, called Nelson Mandela "a communist and terrorist" and asked that he be banned from entering Canada in June of 2001. Also, Mulroney probably would not have banned George Galloway, British MP. So why is Harper throwing Mulroney under the bus? It is apparent that Stephen Harper only cares for Stephen Harper.

If Harper can do this to Mulroney, a fellow Conservative, then does he really care for Canada and its interests? All that matters to him is his own personal glory.

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