George Galloway, the controversial British MP scheduled to speak in Canada this week, and parties supporting him, sought an injunction at the Federal Court today.
Although I don’t agree with everything Mr. Galloway says, his views as it relates to non-military solutions to problems largely grounded in social and economic conditions, are ones that in my opinion should be heard.
I attended the hearing at the Federal Court today, where a session was conducted via videoconference to Ottawa.
Barbara Jackman, counsel for the Applicant, noted that in her 30 years of immigration practice she had never seen a case like this, or one which so closely resembled the Supreme Court decision in Roncarelli v. Duplessis, [1959] S.C.R. 121, cited by the Applicants in their submissions.
The presiding judge, Justice Luc Martineau, also noted that unless either counsel could indicate otherwise, there was no case law on anything resembling this fact scenario.
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Roncarelli v. Duplessis
On Mar. 18, 2009, Hon. Jason Kenney, Min. of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism, spoke at Huron College at UWO.
He spoke on a variety of subjects, but largely focused on what he perceived to be the role of his Ministry.
It was his opinion that immigrants to Canada are pretty well off – they have their own institutions and organizations, and don’t really need much governmental support. Never mind that he talked at great length to dismiss the legitimacy of organizations that have criticized his policies, and failed to identify which organizations spoke for the most discriminated elements in society.
What immigrants do need is language skills. Min. Kenney rebuffed studies that have shown that recent immigrants to Canada are faring far worse than previous generations by saying it’s because they don’t have proficiency in English or French.
The fact that Canada’s immigration patterns in recent decades have shifted to substantially more racial minorities obviously does not play into the equation. Somehow the immigrants from eastern Europe and the Ukraine, which populated significant parts of central Canada where Kenney was raised, did not have the same problems, even though they did not learn English in their first generation either.
But to make it worse, these immigrants don’t even do what they need to be doing. Only 20% of them take language classes offered by the government.
So you see, if you’re an immigrant to Canada and you’re having a tough time, it’s really your fault, not the government’s. Min. Kenney seemed oblivious to the acute xenophobia towards these immigrants, and denied that there have been calls to bar certain groups from entry to Canada. He thought the British and Australian immigration models (and responses) was something we should emulate.
Min. Kenney, are you not monitoring levels of intolerance in Canada? Or are you only concerned about helping your political constituency alone?
Kenney was unable to explain how he learned so much about immigrants and visible minorities who face discrimination while growing up in Saskatchewan. He conceded his social group consisted of all white-males as a youth, but attributed that to his involvement with the Liberal Party at the time. All of the minorities were obviously hiding out in the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada.
Updates
Min. Kenney repeated the call for immigrants to speak English or French before immigrating to Canada at a conference in Calgary, clearing up any ambiguity that may have previously existed.
These policies are nothing more than a covert for of racism, seeking to perpetuate historic racist legislation in Canada that sought to bar ethnic minorities from entering Canada, and overturn progress made in recent years to remedy these policies.
More recent statements seem to indicate he is backpedalling in face of sharp criticism by the public. Despite blaming the media, Min. Kenney’s statements are recorded by the media and attendees at his talks this week.
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What do Sikh immigrants to B.C. almost a century ago have to do with gay issues?
Everything. Or, maybe nothing.
On Oct. 24, 2008 I saw a film, Rex vs Singh, a 20-min. short film on a legal case from B.C. in 1915.
The event was hosted by Standing Against Queer Discrimination (SAQD) as part of a film festival at the University of Western Ontario.
One of the film-makers, John Greyson, introduced the film and answered questions.
A New City with Big Problems
Vancouver was a new city at this time, but was still Canada’s most multicultural city with a few pockets of Chinese, Japanese and Sikh communities. In 1907 riots ensued, destroying Chinese and Japanese neighborhoods, while the rioters sang ‘White Canada Forever.’
In 1914, a year before the case of Rex v. Singh, the Komagata Maru tried to dock in Vancouver. It resulted in a split within the Sikh community, and increased xenophobia by the rest of the population.
Discrimination Under a Different Name
The men in this case were entrapped by the police and accused of sodomy, which was of course illegal. Apparently this was part of a routine process of discrimination in a series of legal cases stretching back to the 1800′s. The film mentions over a dozen cases between 1905-1930.
But not necessary because these people were gay. In an interview earlier in the year Greyson said,
Were the men having sex? Or were they just entrapped? We don’t even know what the verdict was in this case —that part of the story has never been uncovered. There is so much about it that is unknowable, that is mysterious. This is a video about fragments of a story —the more we try to answer them, the more they fall apart.
Homophobia was used to persecute these minorities because they had full rights as British citizens, and could not be targeted using techniques more routinely used for harassing minorities. Immigration laws were deliberately designed to limit the number of Sikh women arriving in Canada, to discourage permanent settlement as much as possible.
Vancouver historian, Gordon Brent Ingram, who researched the case and also appeared in the film, said,
Certain white people in Vancouver were not happy about this. The early ‘city fathers’ of Vancouver were all white and often quite racist. They didn’t want Indo-Canadians becoming a significant demographic group in Vancouver, and by sexually harassing them they hoped to make these men feel unwelcome.
The film brings to life a transcript from the actual case, as the officer describes his tactics of tricking the accused as being “necessary.” But the accused responded they knew he was a detective, and did not attempt any sexual impropriety.
A witness also claims one of the Sikh men asked him to participate in sexual activities, but could not explain how this could have happened when informed that the man did not speak English.
The outcome of these cases are unknown, but similar cases in California resulted in sentances of 5-7 years.
What’s the Relevance Today?
The point is not whether or not these individuals really were gay. When intolerant elements of Canadian society were unable to persecute ethnic minorities using institutionalized discrimination, they resorted to other legal techniques to accomplish the same purpose.
Some reporters are attributing the recent Tory win to their ethnic strategy, which has given them 10 ridings in the GTA and Vancouver that have significant populations of ethnic minorities. Ruby Dhalla of Brampton-Springdale, a riding with one of the highest Sikh concentrations in Canada, won by a mere 1,000 votes, down from 8,000 in 2006.
Interestingly enough, the new Conservative Minister of Minister of Citizenship and Immigration, Jason Kenney, has himself made disparaging remarks dismissing them in 2000 saying they were,
…overheated Sikhs using the race card, which they so often do when their credentials are being questioned.
Family values, crime and taxes are issues supposedly resonating in these communities. “Family values” is often used as code for anti-homosexual policy.
What all these ethnic communities should realize, and often do, is that issues of discrimination cross boundaries of ethnicity, religion, race and sexuality. Advocacy therefore requires support for others who don’t necessary share your beliefs, culture, lifestyle or identity.
The case of Rex vs Singh is yet another reminder of this lesson.
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