The World Desk

 The World Desk

Michael Petrou writes about international news and Canadian foreign policy.

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Islamists, Iran, and the RCMP: the government responds

by Michael Petrou on Thursday, October 28, 2010 7:39am - 0 Comments

From yesterday’s House of Commons proceedings:

Here is my original post:

Mr. Steven Blaney (Lévis—Bellechasse, CPC): next intervention

Mr. Speaker, we recently discovered that some Bloc members are supporting a conference that will be attended by the executive director of an NGO that sanctions hateful stereotypes about Jews.

The spokesperson for the Canadian Islamic Congress claims that all Israelis over 18 are legitimate targets for Palestinians. That organization will be represented at the conference. Those remarks are unacceptable.

Can the Minister of Public Safety comment on the Maclean’s magazine article that reports that the Bloc Québécois member for Gatineau is sponsoring this hateful event?

[English]

next intervention previous intervention [Table of Contents]

Hon. Vic Toews (Minister of Public Safety, CPC): previous intervention next intervention

Mr. Speaker, as soon as I learned about this event, I asked the RCMP to explain its involvement. I have asked it to immediately cease any participation.

Let me be clear. Canada’s national police force must have no involvement in any event organized by those who promote extremism and hatred.

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  • chet

    Are the Liberals speaking out against this as well,

    and if not, why not?

    • Rob Shift

      Ms. May is. Which is good because there were members of her party sponsoring it too.

      May said the organizers either allowed themselves to be manipulated or didn’t adequately consider the implications of their actions.

      “I can’t imagine what they were thinking.”

      Their intentions “may have been good,” she said, noting that some other speakers are well-respected.

      “But the fatal failure is in having those particular supporters of the current Iranian regime without balance.”

      But Maillet said he and his fellow organizers weren’t interested in having a “group hug.

      “A professional peacekeeper does not choose to have conferences with his friends. He chooses to have dialogue and discussion with people with whom he has differences. That is the place you can make gains.”

      However, said May, “You can’t have a dialogue if you don’t have balance. You can’t be naive about these things.”

  • LdKitchenersOwn

    Does this mean that if I can find an outrageous quote that some former leader of the Conservative Party said half a decade ago before resigning his position in disgrace, that I can beat the current government over the head with said unacceptable remark even though the person who said it resigned from his position in the Party over 5 years ago???

    • Blue

      I don`t think there are any former leaders of the Conservative Party but if there are any members of the Conservative Party who have given support to any organization that promotes any kind of hatred or supports terrorism in any way, then by all means you should beat the current government over the head.

      • LdKitchenersOwn

        I actually meant "leader" in a small-l sense (as in "leading figure") as opposed to the big L sense of "Party Leader" but point taken.

        That said, I do think that if you're going to set the bar at allowing me to beat the current government over the head with the words of "any members of the Conservative Party who have given support to any organization that promotes any kind of hatred" you may be setting the bar too low. I'm pretty sure one could find members in almost ANY political party who "have given support to any organization that promotes any kind of hatred". Many would argue that there are quite a few sitting MPs in Canada who would fit this description.

  • Rob Shift

    You really have to shake your head at some of the ideas that come out of 'well meaning' people.

    On a completely unrelated note, I'm really starting to dislike the phrase, "Let me be clear".

  • tobyornotoby

    The World Desk? You sure this posting wasn't from the Petty Domestic Politics Desk?

  • Amateur Hour

    Zijad Delic, head of the Canadian Islamic Congress, made no such statement and Vic Toews knows this.

    This is yet another bald-faced lie spoken by our Public Safety Minster.

    It's positively vile that CPC ministers feel free to use the protections of Parliamentary privilege to lie to the public, lie to MPs and defame citizens.

  • LdKitchenersOwn

    The font appears to change, and shift to the left, for the first sentence of each speaker. Does this have some significance, or is it just a technical blip? At first, I was trying to figure out where the MPs comments ended and where Petrou's interjections began, but I'm now starting to suspect that none of the words after "original post" are Petrou's at all.

    The typography makes it a bit confusing though.

  • kuchylu

    Thank God for my Government – they've stopped the RCMP from going to this Islamist conference……but why did they not pick up on this in the first place ?

  • AlexB

    The RCMP should have attended — to disrupt this idiotic conference, arrest the extremist speakers, and deport them from Canada to the Peaceful, Just and Free Islamic Republic of Iran.

  • http://myblahg.com Robert McClelland

    The spokesperson for the Canadian Islamic Congress claims that all Israelis over 18 are legitimate targets for Palestinians. That organization will be represented at the conference. Those remarks are unacceptable.

    How long will Elmasry and anyone associated with him be persecuted over a 6 year old remark that he apologized for making?

  • http://accidentaldeliberations.blogspot.com The Jurist

    That would be until the Cons decide that some group other than Muslims makes for a better target in their perpetual culture war.

  • Bob

    How long are you going to be an apologist for these idiots?

  • LdKitchenersOwn

    The CIC may well be idiots, but does one have to be an "apologist" to think that they should be held accountable for what their members and leaders say NOW, as opposed to being browbeaten by what a disgraced former leader said six years ago?

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