Great expectations, and racism, but immense pride and learning: Asian-Canadian MPs share their experiences
For NDP MP Jenny Kwan, it’s a privilege to serve as one of Canada’s few Chinese-Canadian MPs, especially for her downtown Vancouver East, B.C., riding with many new Canadians who turn to her constituency office for help navigating Canada’s immigration system. She can speak Cantonese, and all three of her current constituency staff can speak […]
Proposed Quebec ban on religious symbols isn’t freedom, it’s oppression
After defeating the ruling Quebec Liberals earlier this month, premier-elect François Legault’s Coalition Avenir Québec announced that some public employees may be banned from wearing religious clothing under a proposed “secularism law” in the province. Restrictions would be placed on all religious symbols, including a kippah skull cap or a hijab, and would apply to […]
Taking the law into their own hands: citizens in the South are strengthening access to justice for women, and Canada must support them
Tanzania feels like one of the most challenging places in the world to be a woman. Almost half of all Tanzanian women have faced physical or sexual violence, and while 70 per cent of people live on less than $2 per day, poverty is highest among female headed households. I learned this as I trekked […]
It would have been ‘cheeky’ for Trudeau to intervene on notwithstanding clause, says reader
Re: “Trudeau should have stood up to Ford over notwithstanding clause,” (The Hill Times, letter to the editor, p. 8). Alykhan Pabani writes that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is no leader. Prime Minister Trudeau has sidestepped the Supreme Court by refusing to revise abortion legislation, which the Supreme Court struck down, and instead took it […]
Nike scores a touchdown with Kaepernick ad
OTTAWA—While coaches and sideline staff in the Canadian Football League come out on the field in “Diversity Is Strength” T-shirts, the president of the United States regularly whips up his base by denigrating professional players who kneel during the national anthem to protest racism and police brutality. The CFL shirts are meant to celebrate diversity […]
Is #MeToo in danger of becoming the new McCarthyism?
OTTAWA—Is #MeToo in danger of becoming the new McCarthyism? The editor of The New York Review of Books exited last week after publishing an essay by Jian Ghomeshi entitled, “Reflections from a Hashtag.” It is unclear whether he quit or was fired, but editor Ian Buruma was widely attacked for his editorial decision to offer […]
Senators, opposition MPs await Liberal response to ‘common sense’ changes to anti-harassment bill
Opposition parties say they’re ready to accept changes the Senate made to a bill aimed at preventing and handling workplace violence and sexual harassment, calling them “common sense,” however the government is mum on its next steps. The Senate passed Bill C-65 on June 18 with seven amendments stemming from its Human Rights Committee, with […]
Political parties will need to do more to entice female candidates to run federally
OTTAWA—While Parliament did indeed rise for the summer, most federal MPs did not stop working. With a federal election just over a year away, MPs with the intention to run again were busy meeting their respective parties’ nomination requirements, and ensuring that their efforts as government or opposition MPs were well understood among constituents. The […]
Stepping back to look ahead: why this outspoken parliamentary secretary volunteered to be demoted
When Liberal MP Celina Caesar-Chavannes turned down the offer to serve another term as a parliamentary secretary, it wasn’t a decision made lightly, she says, nor was it solely based on the social media abuse to which she’s been subjected for being a woman, particularly a woman of colour, who speaks her mind. First elected […]
Sajjan says Canadian Armed Forces should reflect Canadian population and be gender balanced
Canada’s Minister of National Defence Harjit Sajjan says the Canadian Armed Forces is striving to reflect its population, and that means gender parity. The current goal is for the Forces to be composed of 25 per cent women by 2025, but Mr. Sajjan (Vancouver South, B.C.) said that is “just the start.” That includes making […]
