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What’s Pierre Poilievre’s Conservative Party Policy on Racism on Black Canadians?

Published

11 months ago

December 6, 2023

Pierre Poilievre is the newly elected leader of the Conservative Party of Canada, and the CBC has described him as “a 21st-century populist who thinks his moment has arrived”. As leader of the Conservative Party of Canada, Pierre is a Harper Conservative, following the political ideology of Stephen Harper, the former Canadian prime minister.

Unfortunately, Harper’s Ideologies aren’t favoured by many Canadians as they have been criticized for opposing multiculturalism and immigration and disregarding environmental and social issues.

Therefore, Harper Conservatives have been criticized by many as “authoritarian, undemocratic, out of touch, and racist.” This criticism also rubs off on Pierre Poilievre, as many question his policy on social issues, especially racism against black Canadians.

Controversial Remarks and Action of Pierre Poilievre

For now, Poilievre has not explicitly stated his policy on racism against Black Canadians since no source conveys such information. Nevertheless, the Conservative Leader has made controversial remarks and actions on related issues.

Opposed Recognizing Systemic Racism in the RCMP

Pierre Poilievre previously opposed the motion to recognize systemic racism in the RCMP and called it a “smear” against the police in June 2020, when he was the Conservative finance critic. He said the motion, which the NDP introduced, was “an attack on the brave men and women in uniform who keep us safe.”

Poilievre further argued that there was no evidence of systemic racism in the RCMP and that the term was vague and undefined. According to Pierre, “systemic racism means that the entire system is racist, that the people who built the system are racist, that the people who operate the system are racist, and that the outcomes of the system are racist.”

Nevertheless, his opposition to the motion was criticized by many, including Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who said that systemic racism was an issue in all institutions, including the RCMP.

Trudeau argued that systemic racism does not mean that individuals are intentionally racist but that the systems they operate in have biases that affect racialized people disproportionately.

Introducing the Fair Elections Act

Another example linking Pierre Poilievre to controversy is when he introduced the Fair Elections Act in February 2014, when he was the Minister of Democratic Reform.

The act was controversial because it made several changes to the Canada Elections Act and other acts related to federal elections in Canada. One of the changes was to eliminate the use of vouching and Voter Information Cards as a form of ID. Poilievre claimed that these forms of ID were prone to fraud and abuse and undermined the integrity of the electoral system.

Pierre Poilievre argued in favour of the Fair Elections Act that “vouching is a broken system that is wide open to fraud” and that “Voter Information Cards are not a reliable form of identification.” He also argued that there were 39 other acceptable forms of ID that electors could use to prove their identity and address and that most Canadians had access to them.

However, many critics and experts disagreed with Poilievre‘s claims and opposed the elimination of vouching and Voter Information Cards. They argued that these forms of ID were necessary for some groups of electors who faced barriers to obtaining other forms of ID.

These groups mainly include students, seniors, homeless people, people with disabilities, and Canada’s black population. One member of the Canadian Federation of Students, Maude Barlow, commented against the notion, saying, “…this is just a way of blocking all sorts of people — the ones least likely to vote for the Harper government.”

These examples, alongside others, make it complicated to determine Pierre Poilievre’s policy on Racism, especially towards Canada’s black community. However, it’s also worth mentioning that Poilievre was quick to reject someone strictly for their racist views.

Using ‘Racist’ Thin Blue Line in Commemoration

Pierre Poilievre got into another controversy in March 2023 over the use of the thin blue line symbol in his social media post to commemorate two Edmonton police officers who were killed that week.

It’s worth mentioning the thin blue line is a symbol that is supposed to show support for the police or honour fallen officers. However, it’s been banned since it’s associated with white supremacy, racism, and fascism, especially since the Black Lives Matter movement.

Most people on Twitter criticized Poilievre for politicizing the tragedy and using a divisive and offensive symbol. The Canadian Anti-Hate Network also stated that it often encounters the thin blue line and ‘back the blue’ symbols on social media pages used by hate groups.

Despite the backlash, Poilievre has not responded to the accusations or explained his reason for choosing the symbol.

Pierre Has Denounced a Racist and Their Views

Recently, Pierre Poilievre distanced himself and his political party from the racist and hateful views of German politician Christine Anderson. She was on a cross-Canada tour and chose to have dinner with three conservative Members of Parliament (MP) – Niagara West MP Dean Allison, Oshawa MP Colin Carrie, and Haldimand–Norfolk MP Leslyn Lewis.

Shortly afterwards, photos emerged online showing Anderson at a group dinner along with these three Canadian MPs. The meeting was condemned on X, formerly Twitter, by the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs, commenting on their concerns about communicating with Christine Anderson.

It’s worth noting that Christine Anderson is a member of a far-right party in Germany called Alternative for Germany (AfD). This political group is known for having extreme racist, anti-Muslim, and anti-immigration perspectives.

Ultimately, Christine Anderson is at the centre of several controversies, and Canadians were upset at her arrival in Canada and having dinner with three Members of Parliament.

Upon noticing the backlash, conservative leader Pierre Poilievre quickly distances himself and the party from Anderson. A statement from Poilievre, issued by the director of media relations, condemned Anderson and her views.

It stated, “Christine Anderson’s views are vile and have no place in our politics. The MPs were unaware of this visiting Member of the European Parliament’s opinions and regretted meeting with her. “

He continues, “Frankly, it would be better if Anderson never visited Canada in the first place. She and her racist, hateful views are not welcome here.”

Pierre Poilievre further comments that they were unaware of Anderson’s views, mentioning that such knowledge would have deterred them from meeting. According to his statement,”…we do not share or endorse her views and strongly condemn any views that are racist and harmful”.

Harper Conservatives have faced criticism for allegedly having authoritarian, undemocratic, out-of-touch, and racist views. As the leader of the Conservative Party of Canada, Pierre Poilievre is no exception to this scrutiny.

While he has been at the centre of several controversies, there is no definite indication of Poilievre’s policy on racism against Canada’s Black community. He refused to recognize systemic racism in the RCMP, used a ‘racist’ symbol, and introduced the Fair Elections Act in 2014.

At the same time, he has also denounced racism, with a grand example being him distancing himself from German politician Christine Anderson and her racist views. Pierre also denounced the “White replacement theory” in 2022, which was thought to motivate the shooting at Buffalo, N.Y.

Ultimately, the debate on Pierre Poilievre’s policy on Racism is still debatable, but for now, there’s insufficient evidence to say he’s against Black people in Canada.

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Justin Trudeau’s Announcing Cuts to Immigration Could Facilitate a Trump Win

Published

4 hours ago

November 5, 2024

Nick Kossovan

Outside of sports and a “Cold front coming down from Canada,” American news media only report on Canadian events that they believe are, or will be, influential to the US. Therefore, when Justin Trudeau’s announcement, having finally read the room, that Canada will be reducing the number of permanent residents admitted by more than 20 percent and temporary residents like skilled workers and college students will be cut by more than half made news south of the border, I knew the American media felt Trudeau’s about-face on immigration was newsworthy because many Americans would relate to Trudeau realizing Canada was accepting more immigrants than it could manage and are hoping their next POTUS will follow Trudeau’s playbook.

Canada, with lots of space and lacking convenient geographical ways for illegal immigrants to enter the country, though still many do, has a global reputation for being incredibly accepting of immigrants. On the surface, Montreal, Toronto, and Vancouver appear to be multicultural havens. However, as the saying goes, “Too much of a good thing is never good,” resulting in a sharp rise in anti-immigrant sentiment, which you can almost taste in the air. A growing number of Canadians, regardless of their political affiliation, are blaming recent immigrants for causing the housing affordability crises, inflation, rise in crime and unemployment/stagnant wages.

Throughout history, populations have engulfed themselves in a tribal frenzy, a psychological state where people identify strongly with their own group, often leading to a ‘us versus them’ mentality. This has led to quick shifts from complacency to panic and finger-pointing at groups outside their tribe, a phenomenon that is not unique to any particular culture or time period.

My take on why the American news media found Trudeau’s blatantly obvious attempt to save his political career, balancing appeasement between the pitchfork crowd, who want a halt to immigration until Canada gets its house in order, and immigrant voters, who traditionally vote Liberal, newsworthy; the American news media, as do I, believe immigration fatigue is why Kamala Harris is going to lose on November 5^th.

Because they frequently get the outcome wrong, I don’t take polls seriously. According to polls in 2014, Tim Hudak’s Progressive Conservatives and Kathleen Wynne’s Liberals were in a dead heat in Ontario, yet Wynne won with more than twice as many seats. In the 2018 Quebec election, most polls had the Coalition Avenir Québec with a 1-to-5-point lead over the governing Liberals. The result: The Coalition Avenir Québec enjoyed a landslide victory, winning 74 of 125 seats. Then there’s how the 2016 US election polls showing Donald Trump didn’t have a chance of winning against Hillary Clinton were ridiculously way off, highlighting the importance of the election day poll and, applicable in this election as it was in 2016, not to discount ‘shy Trump supporters;’ voters who support Trump but are hesitant to express their views publicly due to social or political pressure.

My distrust in polls aside, polls indicate Harris is leading by a few points. One would think that Trump’s many over-the-top shenanigans, which would be entertaining were he not the POTUS or again seeking the Oval Office, would have him far down in the polls. Trump is toe-to-toe with Harris in the polls because his approach to the economy—middle-class Americans are nostalgic for the relatively strong economic performance during Trump’s first three years in office—and immigration, which Americans are hyper-focused on right now, appeals to many Americans. In his quest to win votes, Trump is doing what anyone seeking political office needs to do: telling the people what they want to hear, strategically using populism—populism that serves your best interests is good populism—to evoke emotional responses. Harris isn’t doing herself any favours, nor moving voters, by going the “But, but… the orange man is bad!” route, while Trump cultivates support from “weird” marginal voting groups.

To Harris’s credit, things could have fallen apart when Biden abruptly stepped aside. Instead, Harris quickly clinched the nomination and had a strong first few weeks, erasing the deficit Biden had given her. The Democratic convention was a success, as was her acceptance speech. Her performance at the September 10th debate with Donald Trump was first-rate.

Harris’ Achilles heel is she’s now making promises she could have made and implemented while VP, making immigration and the economy Harris’ liabilities, especially since she’s been sitting next to Biden, watching the US turn into the circus it has become. These liabilities, basically her only liabilities, negate her stance on abortion, democracy, healthcare, a long-winning issue for Democrats, and Trump’s character. All Harris has offered voters is “feel-good vibes” over substance. In contrast, Trump offers the tangible political tornado (read: steamroll the problems Americans are facing) many Americans seek. With Trump, there’s no doubt that change, admittedly in a messy fashion, will happen. If enough Americans believe the changes he’ll implement will benefit them and their country…

The case against Harris on immigration, at a time when there’s a huge global backlash to immigration, even as the American news media are pointing out, in famously immigrant-friendly Canada, is relatively straightforward: During the first three years of the Biden-Harris administration, illegal Southern border crossings increased significantly.

The words illegal immigration, to put it mildly, irks most Americans. On the legal immigration front, according to Forbes, most billion-dollar startups were founded by immigrants. Google, Microsoft, and Oracle, to name three, have immigrants as CEOs. Immigrants, with tech skills and an entrepreneurial thirst, have kept America leading the world. I like to think that Americans and Canadians understand the best immigration policy is to strategically let enough of these immigrants in who’ll increase GDP and tax base and not rely on social programs. In other words, Americans and Canadians, and arguably citizens of European countries, expect their governments to be more strategic about immigration.

The days of the words on a bronze plaque mounted inside the Statue of Liberty pedestal’s lower level, “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free…” are no longer tolerated. Americans only want immigrants who’ll benefit America.

Does Trump demagogue the immigration issue with xenophobic and racist tropes, many of which are outright lies, such as claiming Haitian immigrants in Ohio are abducting and eating pets? Absolutely. However, such unhinged talk signals to Americans who are worried about the steady influx of illegal immigrants into their country that Trump can handle immigration so that it’s beneficial to the country as opposed to being an issue of economic stress.

In many ways, if polls are to be believed, Harris is paying the price for Biden and her lax policies early in their term. Yes, stimulus spending quickly rebuilt the job market, but at the cost of higher inflation. Loosen border policies at a time when anti-immigrant sentiment was increasing was a gross miscalculation, much like Trudeau’s immigration quota increase, and Biden indulging himself in running for re-election should never have happened.

If Trump wins, Democrats will proclaim that everyone is sexist, racist and misogynous, not to mention a likely White Supremacist, and for good measure, they’ll beat the “voter suppression” button. If Harris wins, Trump supporters will repeat voter fraud—since July, Elon Musk has tweeted on Twitter at least 22 times about voters being “imported” from abroad—being widespread.

Regardless of who wins tomorrow, Americans need to cool down; and give the divisive rhetoric a long overdue break. The right to an opinion belongs to everyone. Someone whose opinion differs from yours is not by default sexist, racist, a fascist or anything else; they simply disagree with you. Americans adopting the respectful mindset to agree to disagree would be the best thing they could do for the United States of America.

______________________________________________________________

Nick Kossovan, a self-described connoisseur of human psychology, writes about what’s

on his mind from Toronto. You can follow Nick on Twitter and Instagram @NKossovan.

News

Former athletes lean on each other to lead Canada’s luge, bobsled teams

Published

4 hours ago

November 5, 2024

Anne Joseph

CALGARY – Sam Edney and Jesse Lumsden sat on a bench on Parliament Hill during an athlete celebration after the 2014 Winter Olympic Games.

Having just represented Canada in their sliding sports — Lumsden in bobsled and Edney in luge — the two men pondered their futures together.

“There was actually one moment about, are we going to keep going? Talking about, what are each of us going to do? What’s the next four years look like?” Edney recalled a decade later.

“I do remember talking about that now. That was a big moment,” Lumsden said.

As the two men were sounding boards for each other as athletes, they are again as high-performance directors of their respective sliding sports.

Edney, an Olympic relay silver medallist in 2018 and the first Canadian man to win a World Cup gold medal, became Luge Canada’s HPD upon his retirement the following year.

Lumsden, a world and World Cup bobsled champion who raced his third Olympic Games in 2018, leaned on his sliding compatriot when he returned from five years of working in the financial sector to become HPD at Bobsleigh Canada Skeleton in July.

“The first person I called when BCS reached out to me about the role that I’m in now is Sam,” Lumsden said recently at Calgary’s WinSport, where they spent much of their competitive careers and now have offices.

“It’s been four months. I was squatting in the luge offices for the first two months beside him.

“We had all these ideas about we’re going to have weekly coffees and workouts Tuesday and Thursday and in the four months now, we’ve had two coffees and zero workouts.”

Canada has won at least one sliding-sport Olympic medal in each of the last five Winter Games, but Edney and Lumsden face a challenge as team leaders that they didn’t as athletes.

WinSport’s sliding track, built for the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary and where Edney and Lumsden did hundreds of runs as athletes, has been closed since 2019 needing a $25-million renovation.

There is no sign that will happen. WinSport took the $10 million the provincial government offered for the sliding track and put the money toward a renovation of the Frank King Lodge used by recreational skiers and snowboarders.

Canada’s only other sliding track in the resort town of Whistler, B.C., has a fraction of Calgary’s population from which to recruit and develop athletes.

“The comparison is if you took half the ice rinks away in the country, hockey and figure skating would be disarray,” Edney said.

“It just changes the dynamic of the sports completely, in terms of we’re now scrambling to find ways to bring people to a location that’s not as easy to get to, or to live out of, or to train out of full time.

“We’re realizing how good we had it when Calgary’s (track) was here. It’s not going to be the end of us, but it’s definitely made it more difficult.”

Lumsden, a former CFL running back as well as an Olympian, returned to a national sport organization still recovering from internal upheaval that included the athlete-led ouster of the former president and CEO after the 2022 Winter Olympics, and Olympic champion pilot Kaillie Humphries suing the organization for her release to compete for the U.S. in 2019.

“NSOs like Luge Canada and Bobsleigh Canada Skeleton, they’re startups,” Lumsden said. “You have to think like a startup, operate like a startup, job stack, do more with less, especially in the current environment.

“I felt it was the right time for me to take my sporting experience and the skill set that I learned at Neo Financial and working with some of the most talented people in Canada and try to inject that into an NSO that is in a state of distress right now, and try to work with the great staff we have and the athletes we have to start to turn this thing around.”

Edney, 40, and Lumsden, 42, take comfort in each other holding the same roles in their sports.

“It goes both ways. I couldn’t have been more excited about who they hired,” Edney said. “When Jesse was coming in, I knew that we were going to be able to collaborate and work together and get things happening for our sports.”

Added Lumsden: “We’ve been friends for a long time, so I knew how he was going to do in his role and before taking the role, having the conversation with him, I felt a lot of comfort.

“I asked ‘are you going to be around for a long time?’ He said ‘yeah, I’m not going anywhere.’ I said ‘OK, good.'”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 4, 2024.

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Billie Jean King Cup and Davis Cup encourage donations for Spanish flood recovery efforts

Published

4 hours ago

November 5, 2024

Anne Joseph

MALAGA, Spain (AP) — With the finals of the Billie Jean King Cup and Davis Cup set to be played in Malaga, Spain, this month, the International Tennis Federation is making a donation to the Spanish Red Cross to support relief and recovery efforts for the recent catastrophic flooding in the country.

The ITF and its two team tournaments said in a news release Tuesday that they “express their deepest sympathy to the victims and support for the communities and families affected by the devastating floods in Spain and its regions.”

The Billie Jean King Cup and Davis Cup, along with the ITF, “are donating to the Cruz Roja, and we encourage all our fans and followers to contribute as well.”

The ITF did not say how much it is donating.

Authorities have recovered more than 200 bodies in the eastern Valencia region after heavy downpours caused flash flooding. Police, firefighters and soldiers continued to search Tuesday for an unknown number of missing people.

The Billie Jean King Cup matches are scheduled for Nov. 13-20, and the Davis Cup — the last event of 22-time Grand Slam champion Rafael Nadal’s career — is set for Nov. 19-24, all in Malaga.

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AP tennis:

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