When the South Okanagan Chamber of Commerce (SOCC) board realized the chamber’s membership could better reflect the ethnic and cultural diversity of the region, they decided to organize an event called “Harvesting Diversity.”
The idea is to celebrate several cultures reflected in this region’s agricultural community.
Of course there’s more to cultures and heritages than music, dance and food, but it’s a symbolic way to say that other cultures offer something to celebrate and the Canadian mosaic is richer because of them.
Contrast this openness with the disgraceful and divisive issue of the niqab that has eclipsed discussion of more important issues over the past three weeks of this election campaign.
We’re not sure when you last saw a niqab, the facial covering worn by some Muslim women, on the streets of Osoyoos. None of us have. Even in our larger cities, such dress is quite rare.
No, this is a manufactured issue designed to score votes by pandering to the insecurity and bigotry of many Canadians. It’s an issue designed to instill fear and to pit Canadians against Canadians.
Let’s step back to early September. At the time, the scandal involving a secret payment by the Prime Minister’s Office to Conservative Senator Mike Duffy to cover questionable housing expenses was fresh on people’s minds.
The economic news was grim. Economic figures showed that for the first half of this year, Canada was in a recession. The loonie had plunged to about three quarters of a greenback, its lowest level in years. Canada’s employment numbers had fallen below those of our international partners.
Conservative poll numbers were tumbling into the mid-20-per-cent range. The Conservative campaign was in crisis mode.
Conservative Leader Stephen Harper responded in two ways. He relieved his campaign manager, Jenni Byrne, of many of her responsibilities and he engaged the services of an Australian “master of the dark political arts” named Lynton Crosby.
Crosby, often called “the wizard of Oz,” has snatched victory from the jaws of defeat for right-wing politicians in Australia and the UK.
His style is often called “dog-whistle politics” and it involves using coded messages to stir up xenophobia – the fear and hatred of foreigners.
Suddenly Harper was sending those coded messages, drawing distinctions between “old stock Canadians” and immigrants.
The niqab issue, though pre-dating Crosby, suddenly surged to the surface, reaching hysterical proportions. And it was not so subtly tied to fears of Muslim terrorism.
It didn’t matter that only two women have ever sought to wear niqabs to their citizenship ceremonies after unveiling in privacy to prove their identities. It didn’t matter that no federal public servants wear a niqab. The Harper Conservatives promised to take a tough line.
The strategy worked. In Quebec especially, where the NDP was riding high in the polls, their numbers plummeted.
To his credit, NDP Leader Tom Mulcair, while expressing discomfort with the niqab, called on the Harper government to respect the ruling of the Federal Court – despite seeing his numbers drop, especially in rural Quebec, where niqabs are about as rare as they are in Osoyoos.
Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau took a similar position, though it hasn’t hurt him as much, because his Quebec support is based in urban Montreal, which is ethnically diverse and where you may actually see a few niqabs.
The Conservatives and the separatist Bloc Québécois cranked up attack ads on the niqab, playing ominous music and showing scary images. In one Bloc ad, leaking oil from a pipeline morphs into a sinister-looking niqab.
It’s possible to have an honest debate about the role of religious symbols in our society, or about the arguments why people should uncover their faces in public.
In this election, however, the niqab has simply been an instrument of fear mongering and pandering to the worst in Canadians for crass political gain.
It’s a distraction. And it’s not worthy of a Prime Minister.
Regardless of how you feel about this and other issues, please make a point of voting on Monday.
Remember, line-ups tend to be shorter in the middle of the day.
