Good News!........Standing Firm on Religious Accommodation Pays Off

The question of religious accommodation sparks fierce debate and at its extreme, pits ultra-conservatives who believe that no accommodation should be offered against ultra-liberals who believe that freedom of religion is paramount and that accommodation is a fundamental right.

Most Canadian's are middle-of-the-roaders, believing that reasonable accommodations are fair as long as they don't violate Canadian values. It's an eminently reasonable position and reflects the common good sense and fairness that is the hallmark of Canadian society.

And so it is, that the kirpan represents a contentious issue among those who are in the middle, (those on the extreme ends of the debate have long established their positions) who rightfully fret over the dilemma of whether or not to provide the accommodation. There is room for difference of opinion and fair debate, even among those who are not dogmatic.

But there are some accommodations that all Canadians should object to, accommodations that are in direct contradiction to Canadian values of equality, respect and fairness.

In Quebec, the Hasidic community, a 10,000 member sect of fundamentalist Jews has been systematically refusing to educate their children in accordance with minimum standards as designated by the education department.
It isn't a case of minor differences, the Hasids impose upon their children a regimen of up to 35 hours per week of religious study, leaving just six hours to accommodate the three R's and all the other basic subjects.

I'm sure that most Canadians would agree (perhaps not the Montreal Gazette Editorial board) that an average of just one hour a day for French, English, math and science is just not 'kosher.'  Many might argue that such a situation can easily be considered child neglect or abuse.

The Hasids may disagree, but Canadians have long accepted that the government can impose compulsory schooling for both boys and girls as well a syllabus that both public and private schools must abide by.

The Quebec government has been aware of the academic 'problem' in Hasidic schools for years, but has treaded lightly, fearful of being accused of antisemitism.

Polite attempts by the government to prod the schools into any sort of compliance has failed miserably, with the Hasids employing legal delaying actions as well as threatening the government that the communities would up and leave the province, casting the aspersion that Quebec is intolerant.  And so the stalemate has endured for years, up until last year when the government found its backbone and initiated legal proceedings.

The ongoing debate over accommodations and language has cast the Hasids directly into the media spotlight and the press has been up in arms over the fact that the Hasids don't teach French in their schools with lessons provided in Hebrew, Yiddish and English exclusively, much to the chagrin of the you-know-whos. 

And so last year, emboldened by a of dose of language 'Dutch Courage' the government moved to have the school's public funding withdrawn and in some cases, the licenses revoked.
The Hasids reacted as they always have, by stonewalling and threatening legal action. But alas for them, these tactics did not work.

Faced with the very real possibility of having their school de-funded, a blow that would effectively close the institutions, the Hasids in one school did the impossible.

Instead of fighting, they decided to switch. They decided to comply.  Amazing!

After consulting their spiritual leader in Jerusalem, who gave his blessing to their plans to integrate, the Belz Hassidic community, which runs the religious school, undertook measures to fall in line with the education department's demands.

The school enacted the teaching of French from the earliest grades on  and extended classes until 6:45PM to make room for the other mandatory subjects, hitherto ignored or given short shrift.
Unqualified teachers were replaced by qualified French teachers able to teach the standard curriculum.
Another massive concession was the school's commitment to teach science. As you know fundamentalist schools (of all religious stripes)  have somewhat of a problem with this.

The changes at the school are epic, changes that the school is actually quite proud of.

"To integrate, we need to be able to communicate with the man in the street and in the stores" noted one school official.

 Read the whole story (fr)

Wow! That's quite a change.

If there are lessons to be learned it is that sometimes a government needs to stand up and just say "NO"
In this case the Hasids, in the face of a committed government position, decided that it was time to change and meet the government half-way.
The community will always remain devoutly Hasidic, but perhaps better educated and better able to function in a French Quebec. That is basically all the education department demanded.

Everyone is a winner.
It shows that religious communities can make concessions without destroying their beliefs.

If the government remains firm with the Sikhs over the kirpan, it's only a matter of time before that community accepts that compromise is necessary and that they cannot wear the dagger in certain public situations.

When they do comply, they will find that their religious piety hasn't been affected, they will remain Sikhs who venerate God in their own way. It will be a change, but a small one and eventually it will be no big deal.

Nothing is written in stone, religious customs can and do evolve, but sometimes a push is needed. Those liberals who advocate in favour of the kirpan in public are enablers who delay the inevitable integration of Sikhs in mainstream society.

If there is a moral to this story, it is "Just say No"

Like a child who refuses to eat his dinner and is faced with the same plate at each subsequent meal by parents who are even more stubborn, eventually the child eats. It's called good parenting.

Ultra-religious communities cannot maintain certain practices and remain good citizens. Our society is open and pluralistic, but there are limits which must be defended if our societal values are to be protected.
It doesn't mean that we want to impose secularism upon the devout, not by a longshot. Nobody is asking Sikhs or Hasids to abandon their faith.
We are ready to compromise and accommodate, but compromise is a value that these communities have to adopt as well. 

Remaining firm and upholding the shared beliefs that make us Canadian is a noble enterprise. The lesson that we learned in the above story is that they ultra-religious communities can also can evolve to share those values, while remaining true to their core beliefs.

Let us not fall into the liberal trap that says that we must accommodate at all costs.

It's too expensive a price to pay.

René Lévesque Arena -Mr. Péladeau, Are You Kidding Us?

 After forty years of bearing witness to Quebec politics and suffering through the ridiculous to the surreal, there's not much that would surprise me, or so I would think.

This morning reading the BOURQUE WEBSITE, I was gobsmacked  by an article that claimed that Pierre-Karl Péladeau was now interested in investing in a new Quebec City hockey arena and naming it after Premier René Lévesque.

Yup.....A hockey arena in Quebec City named after the late separatist Premier!

"Insider rumours swirling that Quebecor supremo PK Peladeau may be demanding of government in Ottawa and Quebec City that the new NHL arena be named the 'Forum Rene Levesque' in honour of the patron saint of the Parti Quebecois, a tip of the hat to PK's father and Quebecor founder Pierre Peladeau, a giant of the so-called 'Quebec, Inc.' of years past, a repository of then (and still) powerful Quebec-based industrialists and entrepreneurs."LINK

After reading the story, the spike in my blood pressure relaxed as I realized that Mr. Péladeau was once again pulling the chain of a supportive nationalist Quebec media and utterly naive public.
As I told you before, he is a champion manipulator who morphs conveniently between a federalist and separatist persona, belying the fact that he is in reality, just an old-fashioned money-grubber.

Months ago I watched this consummate salesman dazzle TV audiences with his spiel that what's good for Quebecor (his company) is good for Quebec. His pitch that his new wireless telephone service, soon to be launched, would be in Quebec's own best interest, was made with the skill of an old-time snake-oil salesmen that would make Vince the Sham Wow guy, green with envy.

When Péladeau went to Ottawa to secure the bandwidth he required for the service, he was the perfect federalist and when he returned back at Quebec, to sell the service to consumers, he pitched the nationalist cause, telling a fawning TV interviewer that the coming together of certain elements plus timing made for 'winning conditions" Then he promised that he'd help fund starving Quebec artists, (this in the wake of Harper cutting off funds last election).... Verrrry clever!
And so, Péladeau hopes, that every separatist will consider it a sacred duty to buy into his plan (everyone except maybe those on strike at the Journal de Montreal.)

Yes, Pierre-Karl Péladeau is an operator, a man fashioned out of the stuff that Donald Trump is made of, hot air, bullshit and bravado.

First let me shoot down any idea that the arena will be named after the late separatist Premier. It ain't gonna happen...

The naming rights for a NHL arena are worth between two and three million dollars a year and I'm sure Mr. Péladeau wouldn't forgo the income or the advertising value of naming the building after, say Videotron.

Secondly, the NHL governors would sell their first born before allowing a team to play in a building named for a separatist.
 
Now many francophones believe that the NHL is more interested in money than politics, but they are wrong. The separatist misconception that Anglophones are only interested in money and have no pride is patented stupid, a myth that is popular in the unilingual separatists circles that also holds that English Canadians have no culture.

Those who believe that money is the only motivating factor should ask Mr. Basille whether the NHL has backbone or not, as they summarily threw out his effort to move the Phoneix Coyotes without their permission, despite it being a fantastic financial deal for the league.

I don't think separatists understand the level of dislike Canadians and their American cousins have for separatists. In Quebec we accept as normal having a René Levesque boulevard in the same city as Pierre-Elliot Trudeau airport, but try opening the Benidict Arnold arena in the States and watch the fireworks.

If separatists believe that the NHL owners would allow such an insult, they are dead wrong. The NHL is the epitome of English establishment. It is the NHL, not the LNH and there's as much chance of them accepting the René Lévesque arena as there is for them accepting the Saddam Hussein arena.
I'm not saying this to be mean, but it's true. Present a plan to the NHL expansion committee that has a Quebec team playing in the René Levesque arena and kiss the Nordiques bye-bye.

So what is Péladeau's motivation other then to just shit-disturb? Well perhaps he was attempting to put the fear of God into Ottawa, warning them that if they didn't cough up he'd embarrass them with the separatist name.  If so, he has badly overplayed his hand.

As I told you before, as well as he hides it, Péladeau is DESPERATE to secure the Nordiques for his media empire.
This is why he has made an about face and is now prepared to pay part of the cost of the building. When Harper shot down the idea of Ottawa helping foot the bill, it was time to go to Plan B.

"Quebecor CEO Pierre Karl Peladeau made an about-face in Ottawa Tuesday, saying he could participate in the financing of an amphitheatre in Quebec City ...

When asked to chip in, however, Peladeau said in mid-September that the private sector was "doing more than its share." Link

Read :  Péladeau, pas un sou pour l'amphithéâtre(fr) where he stated he wasn't gonna pay a dime for the arena under any circumstances!

I may be the only who has gone on record as saying that Péladeau is desperate. But a simple analysis shows that if he isn't desperate, he should be.
The scope of that desperation must be profound, the Nordiques are that important to his media empire.

Selling cable services, wireless telephone and Internet services have become a question of convergence and any company that can't provide all three services is at a distinct disadvantage to a competitor that can offer a package deal.

And so selling a wireless service is largely dependent on bundling it with cable TV or satellite TV and Internet.

BELL remains Videotron's chief competitor and should BELL get its hands on the Nordiques, Péladeau's whole media empire could crumble.
Right now Bell owns RDS, the sports channel that holds the broadcast rights to the Montreal Canadiens. TSN is offered on BELL TV (satellite) and ALSO on Péladeau's Videotron, which is cable based.

But BELL is building a competing cable network called FIBE. In a couple of years it will go head on against Videotron cable.
What would happen if BELL pulled RDS (The Canadiens) from Videotron?

It would be a massacre, with every hockey fan and his/her family switching to BELL, taking with them their wireless and internet business.

That is why the Nordiques are key. If Péladeau secures the broadcast rights, Bell and Videotron would be at a impasse and the status quo would reign with both services likely providing broadcast of both Quebec teams.

If Bell somehow gets the Nordiques broadcast rights, its lights out for Videotron. Kaput....

That's what's at risk. Nobody except the stakeholders realize it.

The government is in the driver's seat and doesn't even know it.

By backing an independent bid to buy the team, by say, LOTO- QUEBEC, both Bell and Videotron would be forced into a vicious bidding war that would spiral beyond the intrinsic value of the broadcast rights. It  would guarantee a profit for the NHL franchise, arena included!

Too bad nobody realizes it.

Perhaps the government could thank me for the plan and call the new building the NoDogsOrAnglophone Arena, its about as likely as the René Lévesque Arena. 

As for Mr. Péladeau, perhaps he should name the arena after an old television show- FANTASY ISLAND.

For more on Pierre-Karl Péladeau;

Pierre-Karl Peladeau Poised to Become Canada's Next Media Scion

Peladeau Not the Answer to the Return Of Nordiques

Pierre-Karl Péladeau Finally Stumbles 

Bastarache -Separatists Shoot the Messanger

Longtime readers will note that I have been telling you for close to a year that Marc Bellemare was not  going to prevail over Mr. Charest, either at the Bastarache Commission or in the lawsuit that will follow, mainly because his claims were mostly hogwash, or unprovable.

"After a long and tedious process, one in which the press and the public will lose interest, Charest is likely to be vindicated by the Bastarache Commission" No Dogs and Anglophones - May 31, 2010

Not only was I right about the outcome, but I was right about the public getting bored with the issue. The only people really interested in the story are the separatists who reacted the same way they act every time a Supreme Court decision goes the other way. - By shooting the messenger!

Mr. Bellemare has had more than his fifteen minutes of fame, going from hero to heel in less than a year and his precipitous fall is being blamed on the judge instead of Mr. Bellemare's decidedly weak case.
If anything did surprise me, it was just how hard Judge Bastarache came down on him. I thought the judge would be a bit more circumspect.

For those who are interested in a pretty comprehensive account of the rise and fall of Marc Bellemare, read my past posts.

The Curious Case Of Marc Bellemare April 13, 2010
Can Bastarache Inquiry Save Jean Charest? May 31, 2010
Marc Bellemare Going Down in Flames September 15, 2010
It's Official... Marc Bellemare is Off His Rocker! December 09, 2010 

It's become par for the course for separatists to denigrate any legal decision that doesn't suit their agenda. Whenever the Supreme Court rules in Quebec's favour, (like upholding the basic tenets of Bill 101,) separatists are happy to cash the cheque. Whenever the decision goes against their interests, it becomes a case of the judges screwing Quebec to promote an Anglophone agenda.

The violins are then broken out and the mournful tune of oppression and humiliation is struck up once again to tug at the heartstrings of those eager to embrace the concept of victimization.
The done-me-wrong refrain, like a classic oldie, never seems to get old.

To separatists, losing in the Supreme Court or coming out on the wrong end of a judicial inquiry is sometimes better than winning. Considering that their primary goal is not to win concessions that will keep Quebec happily in Canada, but rather to create winning conditions for a separation referendum, engendering feelings of humiliation and betrayal is key to the process.

And so we are witness to a repeat performance.

Judge Bastarache is painted as a sellout, a dishonest and vengeful federalist, bent on screwing the legitimate aspirations of Quebec.
It's a disgusting and shameful attack, one in which the reputation of an honest jurist is impinged just because it suits the separatist agenda.

The Parti Quebecois whines that Charest has weakened the integrity of the judicial system with tainted judicial appointments and damaged the respect the public holds for it's impartiality. But in attacking Judge Bastarache as biased and characterizing the inquiry as a sham, the separatists have inflicted another measure of damage to the public's already shaken perception of the honesty of our judiciary. 
There's little doubt that notwithstanding Bellemare's humiliating comeuppance, many legitimate questions were brought up at the inquiry concerning the process of judge selection. While being cleared of direct manipulation, who can deny that there wasn't indirect interference at the least, by the Liberal party?

And so the PQ and the Liberals have both contributed to casting a pall over our judicial system, something that cannot be good for anyone.

The separatists are now claiming that had a sitting judge been selected to head the inquiry, the results would be different.
Well, they are going to get their wish in 'part deux' of the Bellemare circus when the defamation suit opens later this year before a regular court and a regular sitting judge.

As I predicted six months ago, Bellemare is going to get creamed and my views are only reinforced by the evidence (or lack thereof) Bellemare presented at the inquiry. He didn't make his case there and in regular court he will do even worse, as the onus is on the alleged defamer to prove the allegations  true.

I don't know what excuse Pauline Marois will find when Bellemare is found liable for defamation, I sincerely hope she will not tell us that the judge is a dishonest federalist, but she is surely going to say that the decision is unfair or flawed. The PQ and the separatists are too heavily invested in Marc Bellemare to go down any other route.

And so, I predict that  the separatists will get out the violins and play that familiar tune of humiliation, injustice and repression. ...sigh.

If Mr. Bellemare came out of the inquiry a loser, Mr. Charest certainly wasn't a winner.

It reminds me of Apollo Creed's victory over Rocky Balboa in the inimitable sports movie of my generation, ROCKY.  Although Rocky lost the bloody, no holds barred fight, as an underdog who faced an uphill battle, he left the ring vindicated. As for the champion Apollo, the crowd was largely unimpressed  believing him to have used the 'home field' advantage as champion to exact a contentious split decision.

And so Premier Charest, like Apollo, raises his arms to the crowd in feigned celebration, trying to convince us that he really won, while the truth remains that it is a hollow and Pyrrhic victory.

But  Mr. Bellemare never understood the very real-life lesson of ROCKY, a truism that all fight fans accept as a given.
If you are going to beat the champion in the ring, you're going to have to knock him out.

And while Bellemare fought a decent fight, there was no coup de grace and so, the writing was on the wall, he couldn't win.

So don't blame Bastarache.

Hate and Violence are Not Quebec Values

The recent vandalism of five Jewish institutions and the decision by Quebec National Assembly guards to deny entry to Kirpan bearing Sikhs into a Parliamentary committee meeting has invariably brought out the tedious refrain in newspapers across Canada that Quebec is a place of monumental intolerance. Link
For many, its easy to confuse linguistic intolerance with religious intolerance and while Quebec does officially discriminate against English, it has nothing to do with religion.
Understandably, this distinction is lost in the rest of the country, but in Quebec anglophones and minorities should be able to make the distinction.

That is why it is galling that two prominent Anglophone  newspapers, the Montreal Gazette and the community based The Suburban ran editorials repeating the nonsense that Quebeckers are religiously intolerant.
Now before one writes off The Suburban as a lightweight newspaper, "one that is worthy of wrapping a bloody pig in," (as René Levesque described it after an unflattering article) let us not underestimate the newspaper's profound influence in the western neighbourhoods of Anglophone Montreal.

"If the state is the protector and the state grants supremacy of one group over others, then the logical outgrowth is that the “others” – the minorities – are marginalized.  Not by overt assertion, but by subliminal seduction. And young minds are the most affected.
It opens the door to any person with a gripe against society, or frustrations with their own lives, to take it out on others. The others. “Les autres.” It is about the demonization of those who are different in order to soothe our frustration with ourselves. It makes hate easy and, sadly, satisfying." read the entire article

Shades of Jan Wong, who years ago blamed the three Montreal serial killings at Concordia, Dawson and Ecole Polytechnique on Bill 101 and "decades-long linguistic struggle".

It's always easy to arrive at illogical conclusions when ones draws inference from facts which are not facts.
The Suburban is somehow making a connection to the antisemitic acts of vandalism with language policies related to making French the predominant language of Quebec society.
The logical conclusion of that premise is that the perpetrators were angry francophones, whose 'young minds' were conditioned to hate, by the state.

However, if history repeats itself, there is little likelihood that the vandals were francophones.
Sorry to burst the Suburban's balloon, but almost all antisemitic acts of this kind are perpetrated by young disaffected Muslims, and religious intolerance, rather linguistic intolerance is the prime motivation.

If language policy (which doesn't exist elsewhere) is the driving force behind violent acts against minorities, why is it that Quebec has the lowest rate of hate crimes in Canada? As I wrote recently, in 2008, there were 271 hates in Toronto compared to 38 in Montreal. LINK

British Columbia is the hate capital of Canada and if one would ascribe to the Suburban's logic, perhaps we should blame the violence on Canadian 'multiculturalism.'

Most hate crimes are related to religious fanaticism, poverty, disaffection and ignorance. That plays out across the country, regardless of language.

If statistics prove anything, it is that Quebeckers are more tolerant than Canadians, something that Quebec bashers will find hard to swallow.

The Suburban does a disservice to the Jewish community it serves by telling readers that hate crimes are related to Bill 101 and language, when clearly evidence proves the opposite. Hate crimes in Quebec remain so isolated that any statistical conclusions are impossible to reach and all we can say with certainty is that these crimes occur significantly less in Quebec than in Canada.

The Suburban owes an apology to all Quebeckers.

As for the Gazette, the assertion of its editorial board that those in favour of barring the kirpan from public facilities are 'shameful,' and by inference intolerant, is unacceptably arrogant.

"There is certainly no reasonable justification for banning the wearing of kirpans by Sikhs in public venues, including the National Assembly building or the Parliament buildings in Ottawa,....

"Although it is a knife, the kirpan is not held as a weapon by its wearers but rather as a symbol of their faith, much like a crucifix by Christians or a star of David by Jews."  A shameful violation of religious freedom

Repeat after me, "This is not a knife!..this is not a knife!

The assertion that there is no reasonable justification to ban the kirpan is opinion, not fact. 

The Gazette's belief that the issue is settled reminds us of warm-mongers who tells that there can be no reasonable debate over global warming and that anyone with a contrary opinion is wrong.

It's nothing short of nonsense for the Gazette to equate an eight inch pointed dagger with a tiny crucifix or a Star of David, worn around the neck. These religious symbols cannot be used as weapons, the dagger, well.....

Should somebody attempt to board an airplane with a pointed eight inch stiletto-shaped crucifix, I would hope he would be enjoined from flying. If a person attempted to enter Parliament wearing a massive Star of David with razor sharp edges that could be used like a Ninja throwing star, I would hope that he'd be barred from entering as well.

It's the sign of a weak argument when unjustified comparisons are made.

I may venerate my AK-47 assault rifle as a religious item, but that doesn't make it less of a weapon and I'm sure the Gazette editorial board would not board an airplane where a passenger would carry that sort of 'article of faith' (See, we can all make illogical comparisons!)

The fact is, the kirpan is an article of faith that is also a weapon, it is as simple as that.

To fulfill its religious function, the kirpan must remain a functioning weapon.

If kirpans were just 'symbols', they could be fashioned into innocent plastic toys or they could be miniaturized to the size of an ordinary crucifix and thus rendered harmless. Even at full size, sharpened and pointed, they could be rendered safe by welding them within their sheaths. 

But alas, that is not what what is called for. In order to fulfill its function, the kirpan must be a real-live weapon, religiously sanctioned to be used in the defence of good. 

To pretend otherwise is just closing one's eyes to the truth.

The argument that the kirpan does not pose a potential danger because Sikhs do not consider it as weapon is patently self-serving, untrue and decidedly beside the point.

Should 'intent to use' really be a criterion for allowing weapons in public?

By the way, it's not as if Sikhs have never used the kirpan as a weapon. While rare, it has happened and it has happened in Canada.

In Montreal, a 13 year-old Sikh pulled out his kirpan and threatened other students. Link

Of course, all of this was hushed up in youth court, such is the reality of our politically correct society which denies nail-clippers on airplanes, while allowing religious daggers.

The case of a Toronto man being stabbed by a kirpan is also considered a simple aberration by defenders and not germane to the debate.  Kirpan attack in Brampton renews concerns.

If one could make the argument that Sikhs in general are somehow more  pacifistic than the average Canadian and that non-violence was a hallmark of their society, one could add some weight to the argument that the Kirpan is harmless. Unfortunately, such is not the case at all. 

Sikh radicals, (all wearing kirpans) were responsible for the worst terrorist act in Canadian history. The bombing of Air India was not the random act of just one deranged Sikh, but rather a widespread conspiracy of real terrorists.

Religious violence is problematic amidst the large Sikh community in British Columbia and just recently threats by Sikhs against Dosanj Dosani were made in relation to him attending a certain parade.

"Violent incidents at two Sikh temples this month in Brampton, along with a controversial decision over the weekend to allow photos of leaders from banned terrorist groups onto a float in the annual Vaisakhi parade in B.C., have marred the image of the Sikh-Canadian community, according to one group.

I don't want to give the idea that Sikhs represent a clear and present danger to Canadian society, but they are certainly not deserving of this type of an accommodation based on their record of non-violence." LINK

"On April 16, 2010, the day prior to the annual Vaisakhi Parade held in Surrey, B.C., one of the parade organizers issued a statement indicating should Dosanjh and BC Liberal backbencher Dave Hayer choose to attend the parade, their safety could not be guaranteed."  LINK

"...Dosanjh, a moderate who has distanced himself from such fundamentalist views, is a longtime critic of Sikh extremism who was severely injured in a February 1985 beating by a suspected member of the International Sikh Youth Federation, a banned terrorist group....
...This is intimidation and I don't believe in this day and age a Canadian parliamentarian should have to put up with these nonsensical threats." LINK

Read;
Extremist Sikh Violence in British Columbia: Why Must It Always Boil Down to This?

Sikh violence wanes in Punjab, grows in Canada

High Spousal Abuse in South Asian Marriages 
Surrey Sikh parade's martyrs float angers mayor

Sikhs fear return to violence in temple election

I haven't included the above links to humiliate or denigrate the Sikh community, just to underline that a measure of violence has been brought over to Canada from the old country. While not all Sikhs are violent, the vast majority of violent Sikhs are religious purists that wear the kirpan.

That the Canadian Parliament grants Sikhs the right to carry kirpans is more an act of political expediency than anything else. The Sikh community represents almost 2% of electors and the community directly controls the election of over half a dozen federal seats. Coming out against the kirpan would be the kiss of death to any federalist party and this is the real definition of an accommodation. 

The kirpan is banned in Denmark and France and there have been several court cases in states of the U.S. involving the legality of wearing the kirpan in public places.

The kirpan is barred in the European Parliament as well as the Indian Parliament where a Sikh member of Parliament was kept from serving because of his refusal to relinquish his kirpan. After being re-elected he reluctantly complied.
Is the Gazette prepared to brand all these countries and institution "shameful?" 

The Gazette has every right to advocate for the kirpan accommodation, but branding those opposed to that accommodation as 'shameless' or intolerant and casting aspersions on our character should be condemned.

It seems that Canadians have more good sense than the Gazette and the scads of other Canadian newspapers who hold that the kirpan is not a weapon.

The comments board in relation to a CBC story  entitled Ban kirpan from Parliament: Bloc  generated  an amazing 550 comments within just 48 hours, the vast majority agreeing with the Bloc Quebecois view of the kirpan rather than the view of the Gazette. Imagine that! The majority of Canadians actually agree with the Bloc Quebecois!

Here's a sample followed by the score of readers who agreed or disagreed with the comment

"C'mon politicians, get your act together and quit folding for one group over another. This is not the way to achieve a sense of fairness amongst Canadians." Agree- 31 Disagree 1

"I say issue a kirpan, silver bullets, a sharpened cross, a veil, a taser, and a light sabre to everyone entering for question period. Let things sort themselves out." Agree- 29 Disagree 1

"Ya just gotta admire Quebec and how they protect their culture, language and civil laws. Unlike the rest of Canada with the Jack Layton's and Dalton McGimpy's who will sell out for any popular or trendy politically correct notion." Agree- 33 Disagree 4

"If it's a weapon, it should not be allowed on planes, in parliament, or in any other location where weapons are not permitted. I'm all for religious freedom, but why should they be allowed to take a weapon where they would not be allowed for anyone else, when we as Christians are not even allowed to take our prayers into a school?" Agree- 41 Disagree 3

"We are living in a multi polar and multi faith world. the sooner we learn to live with this fact the better it is." Agree- 8 Disagree 31

"I wonder if the commenters that believe religious freedom should prevail with the Sikh knives would also support the religious freedom of people in Saskatchewan not to perform gay "marriages". Agree- 29 Disagree 2

"The Prime MInister of Australia, when faced with a similar predicament recently, stated that it was immigrants, not Australians, who had to adapt to the Australian way of life. If that was unacceptable, they had the right to exercise a great Australian freedom - leave. I suggest that Sikhs in Canada follow that same line of reasoning." Agree- 105 Disagree 2

This sampling is a fair representation, I invite you too check out the comment section yourself, under the story, it makes for some interesting reading!  Link

The Gazette owes us all an apology for arrogantly calling us 'shameful' for believing that daggers have no place in Parliament, airplanes or schools. 

Housekeeping 101- Spellchecking Comments

HOW TO KEEP TYPOS AND SPELLING MISTAKES OUT OF YOUR COMMENTS

If you use the FIREFOX browser here's a fantastic add-on that will make typos and spelling mistakes a thing of the past.
(For those using EXPLORER or SAFARI, toggle down the page for a comparable add-on for these browsers.)

Once installed, the Canadian English Dictionary add-on works invisibly to monitor spelling mistakes and typos in any web application.
 This is especially nice when writing comments where there are no support tools.

When a mistake is detected it is highlighted. It's almost instantaneous.
Clicking on the underlined word while pressing the OPTION key triggers a spell-check pop-up, which will offer suggestions! It's neat.
I especially appreciate the Canadian version of spelling, too.

You can safely ignore the underlines if you want,  they won't appear in the finished product no matter what.

You can also add words or proper names to the database.

By the way you can also download a FRENCH dictionary and can toggle between the two.
There are other languages available too.

It's two clicks to get the whole thing done and well worth the effort.

Sometimes add-ons are annoying, but in this case, once you'll start using it, you'll be hooked!


EXPLORER BROWSER

"ieSpell is a free Internet Explorer browser extension that spell checks text input boxes on a webpage. It should come in particularly handy for users who do a lot of web-based text entry"

• Completely standalone spell checker for your web browser. Does not require Microsoft Office or any other third party components.
• Integrates flawlessly with Internet Explorer and other IE based browsers.
• Three ways to start the spell check; via the right click context menu, the toolbar or the menu bar.
• Supports a wide range of web applications including simple text forms, rich text editors, forums, blogs, webmail (including Outlook Web Access and Lotus iNotes) and more!
• Spell check in any of the 3 variants (US, UK and Canadian) of the English Language!

Download it HERE.

SAFARI BROWSER

SAFARI has a built-in spell checker that works pretty much the same way as the FIREFOX spell-checker described above.
Just activate it in the EDIT menu,

For a detailed article on Browser Spell checkers,  click HERE