In a CBC article, a journalist called Ms. Zeahaa Rahman wrote the following (title): “On election day, I greeted people who voted for parties that hate people like me”. The CBC even uses the following graphic picture:
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/first-person-elections-right-wing-politics-1.6220540
As soon as Bambi started reading this article, she immediately stopped to search for “Bernier” in the text, as she guessed that it would be a piece of disinformation about one of our federal political parties called, the PPC :). Indeed, she found the name of Mr. Maxime Bernier along with the following misleading sentences:
“Some of the people I had interacted with had voted for the far right People’s Party of Canada, whose leader, Maxime Bernier, has proposed to end multiculturalism, reduce the number of immigrants and refugees Canada receives, and fosters hate-speech under the guise of free speech as part of his party’s platform. The PPC received more than 840,000 votes in the 2021 federal election. That’s more than double the number of votes they received in the 2019 federal election, and it’s because these policies resonate with at least some Canadians.”
First, the word “far right” does not mean anything is a country that has become almost communist. Indeed, look at the level of governmental intrusiveness in our lives and the widespread empty slogans or ideologies. At the governance level, all the federal parties are almost all to the left of the political spectrum, or leaning to the left, or pretending to be left. Even the official opposition does not seem to be strong or efficient enough, despite the excellent performance of some of its great elements holding our government accountable (like for instance Mr. Pierre Poilievre).
Second, Mr. Maxime Bernier did not propose to end multiculturalism. He denounced “extreme multiculturalism“, which becomes destructive like sectarianism or tribalism (especially when it is exploited for political purposes). For this, he should be commended for having been the first Canadian politician to advocate for badly needed unity among Canadians.
He talked about his ideas in the same year he left his Conservative Party and eventually created his own political party. Bambi recalls this very well. Back then, she was shocked to see the level of political correctness in our country (from the reaction he got from the media and from his peers… in addition to the milk producers of his region, one must not forget. The latter were largely responsible for his defeat in his former party. Had he won, we may have perhaps had Mr. Bernier instead of Mr. Trudeau, as Prime Minister. Who knows?). The whole woke movement, which pretends to speak in the name of minorities, was starting at the time.
Today, wokeism is widespread in so many brains and in many censorship actions (from books to people cancelled, from books and churches burned in the name of justice to stores destroyed, of course in the name of justice too). Some politicians pretend to be woke to survive. Others may be true believers (in NB, we seem to have at least two of them (https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/new-brunswick-land-acknowledgment-racist-1.6224063). Which one of the two have the potential to be more radical in a society? Think about it. Bambi does not have an answer, but she always wonders about it.
Mind you, it is not only Mr. Bernier who denounces extreme multiculturalism. Most Québeckers do (even those who are federalist, but not into wokeism). Just read or listen to intellectuals like Dr. Mathieu Bock-Côté, as an example. He is the author of a book entitled in French “Multiculturalism as a political religion”.
It is this extreme multiculturalism, in a “postnational” country (as per Mr. Trudeau’s own terms) that Mr. Bernier denounced in the past. Not the pluralistic nature and beauty of Canada. You may agree with him or not, but why vilify him for his ideas, Ms. Rahman?
Third, where is the problem in reducing a massive number of immigrants and refugees in order to ensure their better integration in our county, welcoming them from the best of our capacity and being fair to them? Again, you may agree or not with this point, but why are you vilifying this political party?
Fourth, when you wrote “… fosters hate-speech under the guise of free speech as part of his party’s platform“, can you give us specific examples to illustrate your statement, please? Bambi searched this platform and did not find anything that looks like hate. She found the word hate only when it was in the name of a proposed bill (Bill C-36) by our government about online censorship. This party was the only stating clearly in its platform that it is against this bill. Just like Bambi, mind you.
Fifth, you seem to insinuate that the “far-right“, hateful, and racist platform of this party has resonated with some Canadians (at least, you are accurate in showing the increasing popularity of this party in our country): “… that’s more than double the number of votes they received in the 2019 federal election, and it’s because these policies resonate with at least some Canadians”. So, are you telling us that some Canadians are racist and this is why this party appealed to them? If so, you are insulting many Canadians, some of whom wear a hijab like you. Actually, Bambi knows several Muslims and Jews who voted for this party. You are also insulting others who may have perhaps also voted for this party.
Finally and most importantly, why can’t you respect your fellow Canadians, Ms. Rahman, regardless of their political vote at a particular point in time? It is called democracy, in case you forgot it.
Thank you.
