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In this new department , I'll attempt from time to time to include some interesting reading just to have a laugh or think about it.Enjoy these first two.
 > > What is Canada becoming?
> > Canada 's tolerance misplaced?
> >
> > By Mahfooz Kanwar, For The Calgary Herald, March 30, 2009
> >
> > Canada's Immigration Minister Jason Kenney is getting
> > flak from the usual suspects, but he deserves praise
> > instead.
> >
> > Recently, Kenney pointed out that while at a meeting in
> > Toronto , members of Canada 's Pakistani community
> > called on him to make Punjabi one of
> > Canada 's official languages. It makes me angry
> > that such an idea would enter the minds of my fellow and
> > former
> > countrymen, let alone express them to a Minister of the
> > Crown.
> >
> > A few months ago, I was dismayed to learn that Erik
> > Millett, the principal of Belleisle School in Springfield ,
> > N.B., limited playing our national anthem because the
> > families of a couple of his students objected to it.
> >
> > As a social scientist, I oppose this kind of political
> > correctness, lack of assimilation of new immigrants to
> > mainstream Canada , hyphenated-Canadian identity, and the
> > lack of patriotism in our great nation.
> >
> > Increasingly, Canadians feel restricted in doing things the
> > Canadian way lest we offend minorities. We cannot even say
> > Merry Christmas without fear of causing offence. It is
> > amazing that 77 per cent of the Canadian majority are scared
> > of offending 23 per cent of minorities. We have become so
> > timid that the majority cannot assert its own freedom of
> > expression.. We cannot publicly question certain foreign
> > social customs, traditions and values that do not
> > fit into the Canadian ethos of equality. Rather than
> > encouraging new immigrants to adjust to Canada , we tolerate
> > peculiar ways of doing things. We do not remind them that
> > they are in Canada , not in their original homelands.
> >
> > In a multicultural society, it is the responsibility of
> > minorities to adjust to the majority. It does not mean that
> > minorities have to totally amalgamate with the majority.
> > They can practice some of their cultural traditions within
> > their homes -- their backstage behavior. However, when
> > outside of their homes, their front stage behavior should
> > resemble mainstream Canadian behavior. Whoever comes to
> > Canada must learn the limits of our system. We do not kill
> > our daughters or other female members of our families who
> > refuse to wear hijab, niqab or burka which are not mandated
> > by the Qur'an anyway. We do not kill our daughters if
> > they date the "wrong" men. A 17-year-old Sikh girl
> > should not have been killed in British Columbia by
> > her father because she was caught dating a Caucasian man.
> >
> > We do not practice the dowry system in Canada , and do not
> > kill our brides because they did not bring enough dowry.
> > Millions of female fetuses are aborted every year in India ,
> > and millions of female infants have been killed by their
> > parents in India and China . Thousands of brides in India
> > are burned to death in their kitchens because they did not
> > bring enough dowry into a marriage. Some 30,000 Sikhs living
> > abroad took the dowries but abandoned their brides in India
> > in 2005. This is not accepted in Canada .
> >
> > In some countries, thousands of women are murdered every
> > year for family or re ligious honour. We should not hide
> > behind political correctness and we should expose the
> > cultural and religious background of these heinous crimes,
> > especially if it happens in Canada . We should also expose
> > those who bring their cultural baggage containing the social
> > custom of female circumcision. I
> > was shocked when I learned about two cases of this
> > barbaric custom practiced in St. Catharines , Ont. a few
> > years ago.
> >
> > I have said it on radio and television, have written in my
> > columns in the Calgary Herald, and I have written in my
> > latest book, Journey to Success, that I do not agree with
> > the hyphenated identity in Canada because it divides our
> > loyalties. My argument is that people are not forced to come
> > to Canada and they are not forced to stay here. Those who
> > come here of their own volition and stay here must be truly
> > patriotic Canadians or go back.
> >
> > I am a first-generation Canadian from Pakistan . I left
> > Pakistan 45 years ago. I cannot ignore Pakistan , because it
> > is the homeland of my folks, but my loyalty should be and is
> > to Canada . I am, therefore, a proud Canadian, no longer a
> > Pakistani-Canadian. I am a Canadian Muslim, not a Muslim
> > Canadian.
> >
> > I do not agree with those Canadians who engage in their
> > fight against the system
> > in their original countries on Canadian soil. They should
> > go back and fight from within. For example, some of the
> > Sikhs, Tamil Tigers, Armenians and others have disturbed the
> > peace in Canada because of their problems back home.
> > Recently, a low-level leader of MQM, the Mafia of Pakistan ,
> > came to Canada as a refugee and started to organize public
> > rallies to collect funds for their cause in Pakistan . On
> > July 18, 2007, the Federal Court of Canada ruled that MQM is
> > a terrorist group led by London-based Altaf Hussain, their
> > godfather. As a member in the coalition government of
> > Pakistan , this terrorist group is currently collaborating
> > with the Taliban in Pakistan . That refugee was deported
> > back to Pakistan . Similarly, I disagree with newcomers who
> > bring their religious baggage here. For example, Muslims are
> > less than two per cent of the Canadian population, yet in
> > 2004 and 2005, a fraction of them, the fundamentalists,
> > wanted to bring Sharia law to Canada
> > . If they really want to live under Shara, they should go
> > to the prison-like countries where Sharia is practiced.
> >
> > I once supported multiculturalism in Canada because I
> > believed it gave us a sense of pluralism and diversity.
> > However, I have observed and experienced that official
> > multiculturalism has encouraged convolution of the values
> > that make Canada the kind of place people want to immigrate
> > to in the first place.
> >
> > Here, we stand on guard for Canada , not for countries we
> > came from. Like it or not, take it or leave it, standing on
> > guard only for Canada is our national maxim. Remember, O
> > Canada is our national anthem which must not be disregarded
> > by anybody, including the teacher in Springfield , N. B.
> >
> > Mahfooz Kanwar, PHD, Is A Sociologist And An Instructor
> > Emeritus At Mount Royal College .
> >
> > © Copyright (c) The Calgary Herald
> >

> >
> >
> > Be smarter than spam