To the editor:
What on Earth is happening to our beloved Canada?
Not too long ago, we were a nation of tolerance and acceptance and understanding.
We took pride in our multiculturalism.
We were a country that welcomed people from all over the world and stood for human rights and decency toward our fellow man, We were respected and admired for our neutral position on the world stage.
We had integrity, and recoiled from those who would deny us and others our basic civil liberties.
As with most nations, we accepted that pockets of our population would continue to wallow in bigotry and racism founded in ignorance and fear. For the most part, however, we have felt secure in the knowledge that the majority knew better and that our collective beliefs and values would serve to protect us, and anyone among us who would otherwise be unjustly persecuted, by standing firm against such ignorance and fear.
Our fundamental rights and freedoms have reflected our stance against racial inequality and bigotry and have been pretty much taken for granted, withstanding any challenges brought to bear against them,
Not so anymore.
Thanks to Stephen Harper, and his politics of hate and divisiveness, Canada has sunk to an all-time low,
In a bid to win votes in the next federal election, he has introduced various pieces of highly contentious legislation deliberately designed to open the floodgates and incite all of the worst mankind has to offer to come forward and vent their hatred against innocent people.
He has started in Quebec where I am shocked to discover what appears to be a groundswell of support for his campaign of fear, racism and intolerance and, with his encouragement, is now spreading like a cancer across that province.
Most recently, a Quebec judge actually refused to hear the case of a Muslim woman because she stood before the Court with a 'hijab' around her head, her face fully visible to the Court, comparing her headdress to that of an ordinary hat and a pair of sunglasses.
As if the former were a symbol of disrespect to the Court similar to that posed by the latter. This should shock the majority of Canadians.
Reminiscent of the days during the Second World War when Japanese Canadians were persecuted and discriminated against in this country simply because they were Japanese, it is with Stephen Harper's blessings that an atmosphere of hostility and intolerance is once again growing in Canada that I, for one, will not accept.
How hypocritical of this government to rail against the hateful and violent teachings/actions of others while poisoning the waters in our own backyard.
For shame.
Canadians must speak out against this kind of draconian-style leadership, or risk falling victim to an equally sinister form of radicalization within our own borders perpetrated by this federal government,
In October, make your vote count and send a message to Stephen Harper that we do not share his vision of Canada.
Louise Fisher,
Thunder Bay
