Canada and the barbarians - a new twist

MOHAMMED AZHAR ALI KHAN

November 20, 2014
Canada and the barbarians - a new twist
Canada and the barbarians - a new twist

Mohammed Azhar Ali Khan

 


Mohammed Azhar Ali Khan

 


 


Canadians will go to the polls next year to elect a new Parliament and the electioneering has begun, analysts state. Some believe the government’s assault on some immigrants is a salvo in the election battle.



Citizenship Minister Chris Alexander has announced laws to stamp out  “barbaric” cultural practices by targeting “honor-based” violence against women, marriage of minors and polygamy. The “Zero Tolerance for Barbaric Cultural Practices Act” would ban forced or underage marriages and allow deportation of residents if they practice polygamy.



“We intend to send a very clear message to anyone coming to Canada that such practices are unacceptable,” said Mr. Alexander. He asserted that there were hundreds of cases of polygamy in Canada.



The minister cited the case of a Canadian of Afghan origin, his second wife (he claimed his first wife was a cousin not a wife) and their son who were convicted of murder in the death of his three teenage daughters and his first wife because the girls were dating or dressing like other Canadians.



This stand has puzzled social workers and lawyers. Canadian courts do not accept honor as a justification for killings. The man, his wife and their son the minister referred to were found guilty in 2012 and jailed for life. That’s the maximum sentence in Canada because the death penalty is banned. So what is the problem if the law against murder for any reason already exists and is enforced?



Polygamy is also banned. If the minister knows of hundreds of cases of polygamy among immigrants, why hasn’t the government acted against them for violating the law? And why hasn’t the government prosecuted white Christian Canadians who practice polygamy?



The Globe and Mail quoted immigration lawyer Joel Sandaluk as saying that polygamy is already illegal and that he had not come across even one such case among immigrants though he has practiced immigration law for 15 years. He called the move political posturing.



Journalist Toula Drimonis called the proposed legislation “an incredible combination of self-ignorance, denial and sanctimonious hypocrisy.”



She wrote: “Here at home the Canadian Indian residential school system is a giant stain on our country’s conscience, and should be. Perhaps if the average Canadian knew more about the monstrosities committed they would be more inclined to pay attention to the Idle No More movement and why it matters. The forced assimilation of our First Nations is indeed a  Barbaric Cultural Act of our own, yet we like to sweep it under the rug.”



She continued: “More than 1,200 Aboriginal women are missing and no one in government seems to give a damn. 460,000 sexual assaults take place in Canada every year and out of every 1,000 only six are prosecuted and a measly three actually lead to conviction. Where’s the Zero Tolerance for those Barbaric Cultural Acts, or do they only have to involve people who come from somewhere else, dress, speak, or pray differently than you?”



Although Aboriginal women are the major victims of murders and assaults, violence against all women is common. The 460,000 figure is old. Statistics Canada’s latest data states that 472,000 sexual assaults are committed against women every year and 204,000 men are assaulted. Yet very few are brought to police attention. As the Young Women’s Christian Association (YWCA) states, based on research by University of Ottawa criminology professor Holly Johnson, court cases result in a conviction rate of only 0.3 percent. Women are discouraged from going to court because of high costs, damaging publicity and aggressive questioning that seeks to blame the victim rather than the perpetrator. Former deputy prime minister Sheila Copps has only now disclosed that though she was a member of the provincial legislature, she was sexually assaulted twice. Some members of Parliament and parliamentary staff are making the same allegations.



Sexual assault is now a major topic in Canada also because of the publicity around former Canadian Broadcasting Corporation radio star Jian Ghomeshi. Ghomeshi has been accused by nine  women, two of whom identified themselves publicly, of brutal sexual assaults. The police are investigating.



These people are not immigrants, whom Minister Alexander accused of “barbaric cultural practices.” These are average Canadians. Ghomeishi was born in England but came to Canada as a child.  Maclean’s magazine recently wrote about high school teachers in several parts of Canada, some married, who seduced 13-, 14- or 15-year-old school boys and initiated intimate relations with them in homes, field trips or even cars. Seems like a truly barbaric cultural practice. Of course this is not common, but neither is polygamy nor honor killing.



Polygamy is more common among average Canadians than among immigrants. Alexander said there are hundreds of such cases among immigrants. But Vancouver Sun reporter Daphne Bramham wrote that Canada has more than 1,200 polygamists and the government has not prosecuted them under the anti-polygamy law “in nearly 100 years.” They are not immigrants, but Canadian Mormons, a sect of Christianity, who live mostly in Bountiful, British Columbia.



Misleading attacks on opponents are common during elections. But sowing divisions among Canadians and targeting immigrants are dirty tactics and a threat to harmony and peace in Canada.

 




— Mohammed Azhar Ali Khan is a retired Canadian journalist, civil servant and refugee judge. 


November 20, 2014
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