September 26, 2016: Canadian values change and evolve over time

By Michael Regenstreif

One of lowest points during the 2015 federal election campaign was the proposal made by Conservative candidates Kellie Leitch (then minister of labour and minister for the status of women) and Chris Alexander (then minister of citizenship and immigration) for an RCMP tip line to which citizens could anonymously report “barbaric cultural practices.”

The proposal was widely seen as an example of “dog whistle politics,” which is the use of code words to signal something to the greater population while scapegoating a specific group. In this particular case, it was seen as an attack on the Muslim population.

In any case, a tip line was totally unnecessary because so-called “barbaric cultural practices” – honour killings or female genital mutilation, for example – are crimes in Canada that must be reported to the police by anyone with knowledge they are or will be occurring.

The proposal didn’t fly with the electorate and was seen as a factor in the Conservative Party’s loss. After the election, the party, under interim leader Rona Ambrose, turned a corner and distanced itself from such proposals.

Months later, by then a candidate for the Conservative leadership, Leitch appeared on the April 21 edition of CBC News Network’s “Power & Politics” and emotionally said she wished she’d never made that announcement.

“I’ve had a lot of time to think about this since the campaign took place and, if I could go back in time, which I can’t, I would change things,” Leitch told host Rosemary Barton.

Five months ago, Leitch appeared to be through with dog whistle politics.

This month, though, Leitch, still a candidate for the Conservative leadership, floated the idea of screening potential immigrants to see if they believe in “Canadian values.”

But Leitch hasn’t really defined just what Canadian values she would be screening for.

And the thing about values is that they change over time.

For many decades, successive Canadian governments used the cruel residential school system to strip First Nations peoples of their languages and cultures. That was a Canadian value for many years.

Speaking of First Nations and Canadian values, Leitch was minister for the status of women in a government that refused, time and again, to establish a commission of inquiry into the obscene numbers of missing and murdered Aboriginal women.

During the Holocaust, it was a Canadian value that “none is too many” was the right number of Jewish refugees fleeing the Nazi genocide to admit into Canada.

There are many, many other examples from Canadian history of changing Canadian values that could be mentioned.

And it’s not just a matter of history. We continue to see the constant evolution of Canadian values.

For example, same-sex marriage is now legal and a well-accepted value in Canada. But it has only been legal in parts of Canada since 2003 and everywhere in this country since 2005. The whole nature of family values – and what constitutes a family – has changed dramatically in Canada in recent years.

And what are the “Canadian values” Leitch would screen immigrants for?

I would presume, for example, that freedom of religion and religious equality would (or should) be Canadian values. But, here in Ontario, the government privileges one religion over all the rest by publicly funding its faith-based school system and refusing to fund the schools of all other religions. Is such inequality a Canadian value?

Since the 1970s, we’ve considered multiculturalism to be a Canadian value. But the province of Quebec rejects the very concept.

I would presume that national unity is or should be a Canadian value. But there are several members of Parliament whose party is dedicated to breaking up the country.

The point is that, in a liberal democracy, one’s values are not necessarily the same as everyone else’s and they change and evolve over time. So, too, do our collective values.

Immigrants to Canada should be screened on many levels – and they are – almost always successfully.

Leitch is again playing dog whistle politics with her proposal for “Canadian values” screening. Tellingly, the interim Conservative leader, and Leitch’s fellow leadership contenders have called her on it. And that is a great Canadian value.

September 5, 2016: Tell your MP how important it is to prohibit genetic discrimination in Canada

By Michael Regenstreif

The House of Commons is scheduled to resume sitting on September 19, and one of the pieces of legislation expected to be on the fall agenda is Bill S-201: An Act to Prohibit and Prevent Genetic Discrimination – a bill that was originally put forward by Liberal Senator James Cowan in 2013.

The Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA) is encouraging members of Canada’s Jewish community to write to their members of Parliament to encourage their support for the bill and ensure its passage.

As CIJA Chair David Cape points out in an August 25 email to the community, “Canada is the only G7 country without specific protections in place to prevent discrimination based on DNA.”

This is a matter that should be of serious concern to all Canadians. As Cape points out, when we are without a law protecting us from genetic discrimination, there is nothing to prevent such bodies as insurance companies, employers (and potential employers) from demanding individuals take genetic tests and disclose private information to them.

“This poses serious problems when it comes to finding or keeping a job, advancing in a career, or buying insurance,” Cape notes.

And this is a matter that is specifically of concern to the Jewish community as there are a number of genetic diseases that are much more prevalent among Ashkenazi Jews than in the general population. These include Gaucher disease, cystic fibrosis, Tay-Sachs disease, familial dysautonomia, and Canavan disease.

A genetic condition that runs in my own family is hereditary angioedema – a condition that can cause swelling, sometimes very painful swelling – in almost any part of the body at almost any time. My great-grandmother, grandfather and father all had it and there was a 50 per cent chance that I would have it. Luckily, I don’t. But one of my brothers does, as do a number of my cousins.

As well, I know many Jewish individuals who suffer from Crohn’s disease, for which Ashkenazi Jews have a higher genetic disposition than the general population.

And there is a too-long list of other genetic diseases – some of them, like hereditary angioedema, that are quite rare – affecting Ashkenazi Jews in much higher proportions than other communities.

Genetic testing can help individuals at risk for these diseases manage their health. However, without a law protecting them from the types of genetic discrimination I’ve mentioned, many people are afraid that being tested and testing positive would put their livelihood or ability to be insured at risk. So too many people avoid being tested at all and don’t receive the help or knowledge they need.

It is unacceptable that Canada remains the only G7 country that has not yet enacted protection from genetic discrimination. Contact your MP and let them know how important it is that Bill S-201 be passed as soon as possible.