Crystal Clear in Quebec

But not to worry, the minister responsible, Bernard Drainville, assures us: "It will be done humanely."  But of course.  They will not be told to get out in a cruel way, but with care, compassion, or what the minister calls "good old common sense."  It will simply be made clear to these people, as kindly as the occasion permits, that, notwithstanding their years of blameless service, their continued employment is incompatible with Quebec's common values - that their insistence on wearing the yarmulke or the turban, in accordance with the deepest teachings of their faith, has become a source of "tension" and "division" and that for that reason they will have to find other work.

There's a shift happening here that goes far beyond just Quebec.  Intolerance is creeping back in to the mainstreet dialogue and even Parliamentary debate in places ranging from Hungary and Greece to our very own Quebec.

I have to admit - when I wrote "I hate to say it, but I would keep an eye out for a party further to the right of the CPC gaining some presence, too" I was particularly thinking about the inevitable rift forming between hard-right social conservatives and their more electoral-win focused brethren in places like Ontario and Alberta.  It still wouldn't surprise me if some of the muzzled or turfed MLAs take their grievances as a rallying cry, turning some of their supporters against the conservative Party's that were once their home.

The angrier your foundations, the more vindictive becomes your direction.  As perhaps opportunistic politicians add legitimacy to xenophobia for their own gain, the haters of our world gain that much more credibility, plus a broader platform to speak from.  That Party's moving in the right direction, they can say in validated fashion; they just need to go further.

How the rest of us and, in particular, our leaders respond to this trend is of critical importance.  You can't ignore it - like cancer, hatred left unchecked will inevitably spread.  At the same time, you don't want to fuel the fire by creating an "us vs. them" mentality that, as in North Korea, justifies increasingly alarming decisions and actions.

This is where neuropsychology comes in.

For ages we have known, in anecdotal fashion, that courage, altruistic acts, a positive spirit and creativity are great tonics against hatred and intolerance.  Thanks to advances in how we understand emotion, behaviour and the engine that drives them, we've gotten better at influencing mind and the social matrix.  Its up to those who would represent the Canadian Idea - above all, strength through diversity - to borrow from neuromarketing and wage a hearts and minds campaign to counter the dangerous direction Quebec's government is taking.

This isn't a Quebec/ROC thing any more than it's a religious people/ROQ thing - it's a human thing.  Politicians and their policies set the tone of the province in much the same way as different corporate leaders change the entire culture of their companies.  Our ultimate goals are twofold:

1) To inoculate people against hatred and intolerance, reducing their efficacy as a populist tool.  

2) To support those within Quebec who would stand against intolerance, ensuring them the safety needed to raise their voices in opposition without fear of undue reprisal.

The main tool for accomplishing this is the same it has been throughout history - education.  

It's time Canada's leaders take their hand off the fear button and stop oppressing information which challenges them; that merely fuels the problem.

It's time Canadians start holding them to that - not narrow mandates and limited focus, but sustainable leadership.

Get informed, folks; get engaged - because, when we do, we can make a difference.

Stephen Harper's Bad Example Don't Mix Confusion With Fear

"We raise our children from a Biblical-Christian world view and exposing them to concepts and values that are in conflict with the values taught at church and home will lead to confusion."

 

 

Some folk used to say the same thing about learning multiple languages at the same time - it would muddle the brain, they said, and result in children learning neither.  Look at households, at classrooms around the world and especially here in Toronto and you'll hear that's clearly not the case.  The brain's a much more flexible machine than we give it credit for.

 

 

Of course, that's not the main issue here.  The reason why some parents have created a checklist of issues they consider uncomfortable for their children to learn is because of just that - certain subject matters make them uncomfortable.  I could be wrong in this, but I'm pretty sure that no religious text promotes xenophobia.  What else could be the purpose of excluding children from the broader education that will benefit their peers?  Is there some magical line down the road where these children will have enough entrenchment in their parents' beliefs that exposure to other viewpoints and opinions in this polycultural society of ours won't offend their sensibilities?

 

 

Canada is not a collection of cultural silos, ethnic and religious groups existing "equal but separate" from each other.  We have a long, proud, envious history of finding collaborative solutions to common problems, of finding strength in diversity.  This has been a key part of our national identity, this desire to work together.  We might never have been a military superpower but in times of challenge, our friends and neighbours always knew they could depend on us.

 

 

That's how it used to be.  Today, Canada is becoming a more insular place.  It is the politics of division, not exclusion, that define us and this traces right back to the very top.  Stephen Harper, Prime Minister of Canada, doesn't believe in the things people can accomplish when they work together.  He stiles dissenting voices in the bureaucracy, in Parliament, in critical groups of every stripe.  He doesn't believe in collaboration, in debating ideas, in reaching a hand out to those in need rather than simply targeting those who might be threats.

 

 

In his own way, Harper is as socially influential a Prime Minister as Pierre Trudeau was, leaving an undeniable imprint on our country.  Harper seems to feel things like facts might confuse us, that any foe left standing provides a threat to his vision of the country.  In his view, transparency really equates with opacity; accountability is anything but accountable.

 

 

And so we see a growing number of Canadians deciding it's not worth trying to make things work, to have open debates about points of contention.  Why learn to disagree when you don't need to engage with The Other at all?  A lack of exposure to the why behind the differences around us lead to the rise of conjecture, suspicion and fear.  We naturally fill in the dark spaces of our understanding with bogeymen.

 

 

True leaders bring their people together with a powerful vision based on shared beliefs.  The people find themselves reaching out in collaboration and wonder at what they have accomplished, together.  We've seen this before.  But in Harper's Canada, it's Jedem das Seine - we've seen how that's worked out in the past, too.