Roundup: Extreme multiculturalism

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The fallout to Maxime Bernier’s latest Twitter missive on multiculturalism was more muted than one might have expected – no actual condemnation from Andrew Scheer, just a bland statement from his office that didn’t address Bernier’s words at all. And Erin O’Toole offered his own response which was basically just a reiteration that the various conservative parties in Canada’s history have had ethno-cultural firsts as a way of proving that they’re not all bigots or racists, but it missed the point that there was nevertheless a certain amount of tokenism in those firsts – that yes, they’ve got one of these different groups, but one is enough, thanks, and don’t talk to us about systemic barriers or discrimination. After all, these singular examples pulled up their bootstraps and made it – why can’t everyone else?

Bernier himself got huffy that he was described as saying he was against diversity – he insists he’s okay with some diversity, but not “extreme multiculturalism,” which is odd, because it’s like he missed the whole point of multiculturalism, which is about finding an effective way of integrating newcomers rather than alienating them further into ghettos. The fact that he doesn’t get that just adds fuel to the notion that this is all about winking to xenophobes and white nationalists, never mind the fact that it’s a nonsense proposition that there’s a Goldilocks zone of not too little, not too much, but just enough diversity that will magically keep Canada from disintegrating into some kind of ethnic hellhole. Never mind that the concern trolling about Liberal “identity politics” ignores the fact that in order to address systemic barriers facing women, sexual minorities, and people of colour, you actually to address what those barriers are, which is not about balkanizing – as Bernier seems to think.

Meanwhile, not every Conservative seems to be keen on Bernier’s pronouncements, but they seem concerned about how much influence he has among the base (somewhat mystifyingly). And with a convention coming up, we’ll see if these tensions spill out into the open.

Good reads:

  • While in PEI, Justin Trudeau reiterated that he’s not giving up on Supply Management in NAFTA talks.
  • Trudeau also said that they’re continuing to engage diplomatically with Saudi Arabia, but won’t back down on supporting human rights.
  • In case you missed it, John Baird took to Saudi television to criticize the Trudeau government for doing the very things he did as foreign minister.
  • Dominic LeBlanc will now be in charge of the ad-hoc Cabinet committee on irregular migration. Ontario is still demanding $200 million for resettling refugees claimants.
  • As it turns out, the legal title of the Crown–Indigenous Affairs minister is still “Indian Affairs” in the legislation because they haven’t properly changed it yet.
  • Those US tax changes affecting dual nationals might be in violation of the Canada-US tax treaties that are supposed to avoid double taxation.
  • Documents show that the government has been warned that the federal shipbuilding programme is poorly managed and lacks oversight.
  • Constitutional lawyers argue that only the federal government has the power to ban handguns in Canada.
  • Inadequate municipal wastewater systems meant raw sewage had a habit of leaking into waterways – as much as a trillion litres over five years.
  • Maclean’sAdnan Khan returns to Kandahar where peace is finally taking hold, thanks in part to some work Canada did there.
  • Khan also takes a look at how the Saudi-Canada spat is playing out in some Muslim countries, and believe it or not, they’re taking Canada’s side.
  • Here are some reflections from Senator Anne Cools upon her retirement.
  • Peter Van Loan insists the Conservatives have never been more united than ever, despite MPs freelancing views over Twitter. (Sounds like famous last words to me).
  • Support for Supply Management and regulating abortion are two of the policy items up for debate at the upcoming Conservative convention.
  • The Conservatives plan to claw back Elections Canada rebates after the next election to fill the fiscal hole left by eliminating the per-vote subsidy.
  • While Jagmeet Singh twists himself into a pretzel over Saudi oil comments, his public spat with Rachel Notley is also growing.
  • Here’s a profile of Manitoba premier Brian Pallister, and his ability to survive any number of gaffes and mistakes that would sideline anyone else.
  • Kady O’Malley’s Process Nerd column explains the differences between the upcoming caucus and Cabinet retreats and the Conservative policy convention.
  • Chantal Hébert makes the case that we deserve a fall federal election, fixed date be damned, so that we can have a full debate on the big issues.

Odds and ends:

Ontario has decided to kill their government-run cannabis stores but will still use it to sell online until private storefronts can be opened in April.

Here’s a poll that looks at what your tipple of choice says about your politics.

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