Amira and her problem
Since the Amira Elghawaby story isn’t directly a city drama, I haven’t posted about it, but I like this piece by Judith Lussier: Les Québécois ne sont pas racistes, mais la classe politique semble déployer davantage d’énergie à dire que les Québécois ne sont pas racistes qu’à véritablement lutter contre le racisme.
Chris 22:03 on 2023-02-03 Permalink
As always in these discussions, beware the conflation of the ideology (ex: Islam) and the practitioners of it (ex: Muslims).
“Le sondage Léger produit en mai 2019 démontre tout de même un double standard à l’égard des religions, les sondés étant 60% à avoir une opinion positive du catholicisme – religion pourtant éclaboussée par de nombreux scandales de pédophilie, notamment, rappelons-le – contre 28% pour l’islam.”
It’s not a double standard to have different approval ratings for different ideologies! You’d likewise see different approval ratings of capitalism vs communism. Plainly, different things are different, and are evaluated on their merits. No one expects us to view different economic systems “equally”. No one would make the charge of ‘double standard’ if not. Likewise religions.
Paedophilia is not sanctioned by Catholicism (the ideology), in fact the opposite. Certainly numerous priests didn’t get the memo! That’s a strike against some Catholics (people), not the ideology.
She what she did there?
Every ideology has some good ideas and some bad ideas. But let’s be honest, read the holy texts of Christianity and Islam, and evaluate those ideologies overall. Islam is plainly worse, on balance. We should expect a lesser positive opinion of it.
shawn 08:17 on 2023-02-04 Permalink
Chantal is my go-to person for commentary (and this isn’t paywalled, at least for me).
https://www.thestar.com/politics/political-opinion/2023/02/04/justin-trudeaus-anti-islamophobia-disaster-reveals-a-government-dangerously-out-of-touch-with-voters.html
JaneyB 09:00 on 2023-02-04 Permalink
@Shawn – Hébert is also one of my faves. That’s quite a scathing rebuke of JT’s appointment and will probably get a lot of play in the federal Liberal caucus. I don’t think QC will go PC but climate-friendly Yves-François Blanchet and the Bloc could profit greatly from JT’s tone-deafness.
Kevin 09:53 on 2023-02-04 Permalink
Methinks Quebec’s politicians and commentariat doth protest too much, especially in the wake of the anniversary of the mass slaughter of Muslims.
qatzelok 12:51 on 2023-02-04 Permalink
Kevin, when you write ‘mass slaughter of Muslims,’ which one of the West’s oil wars are you referring to? Iraq, Libya, Syria, Afghanistan…? Millions and millions… funded and promoted by us.
Kevin 13:21 on 2023-02-04 Permalink
Qatzelok
People use whataboutism to distract when they don’t have an argument.
Meezly 17:04 on 2023-02-04 Permalink
Chantal’s opinion piece was dead-on in terms of politics. JT may be out of touch with Quebec and Eighawaby may be ignorant of French Canadian history, but she still misses the larger issue. If JT got it right in first place, he would’ve appointed someone who’s got a diplomatic handle on Quebec’s fragile nationalism fueled by the likes of MBC while trying to dismantle Islamophobia.
But really, no matter whom he appointed, it would’ve been either an impossible task if they actually took their job seriously, or a symbolic position. But now, thanks to the outrage and outcries from QC’s political class, it’s now hard to see Elghawaby as an asset in the anti-Islamophobia campaign.
To quote Lussier: “S’il faut régler la question du racisme, ça ne se fera pas nécessairement en cajolant l’égo des Québécois. Ça se peut que ça écorche. Et il est fort probable que l’on ne s’entende pas sur les faits. Au Québec, plusieurs personnes refusent de reconnaître l’existence d’un racisme systémique, bien que ses diverses manifestations (profilage racial, discrimination à l’embauche et au logement, écart de richesses, surreprésentation carcérale) soient largement documentées. Va-t-on demander la démission d’Amira Elghawaby si elle reconnaît l’existence du racisme systémique dans le cadre de son mandat de lutte contre l’islamophobie alors que ça ne fait pas l’affaire des Québécois? Elle devra avoir cette latitude sans que l’on demande sa tête chaque fois.”
So let’s not detract from Judith Lussier’s excellent article, as she’s someone who can see the bigger issues at stake.
Chris 14:44 on 2023-02-05 Permalink
Hébert made similar points on CBC At Issue. I think Althia Raj made a good point too: we don’t need such a position anyway.