Canadian elections: Who are you going to vote for and why?

[Jabhad]

Muslims including Somalis traditionally voted for the Liberals, but recent Liberal moves to support Israeli policies in the UN and voting down the establishment of the first Islamic Shariah court in Ontario has raised some questions of the benefits of voting for the Liberals to office. Self elected Muslim organizations including Muslim Canadian Congress wants us to vote for the NDP while the Canadian Islamic Congress want us to shun voting for the Liberals. Will you vote or will you not vote?

 

Globe and Mail - Martin runs risk of losing Muslim vote by John Ibbitson

Paul Martin probably thought it would be nothing but a meet-and-greet. Instead, he got bushwhacked.

 

All four federal party leaders attended a reception last night sponsored by the Canadian Arab Federation. For the Liberals, in particular, this was to have been an opportunity to solidify electoral support in the Arab-Canadian community.

 

Fat chance. The Prime Minister sat uncomfortably as Faraj Nakhleh, acting president of CAF, rebuked him for claiming, as he did in a recent speech, that "Israel’s values are Canada’s values."

 

"Canada does not share common values with some countries, like Israel, who break international law and whose human-rights record is clearly questionable," Mr. Nakhleh retorted, before moving on to criticize the Liberal anti-terrorism legislation, in which he said "human rights and civil liberties [have been] bartered to gain no more than a false sense of security."

 

(...)

 

That the Martin government has tilted Canadian policy in a more pro-Israeli direction is beyond debate. Over the past year, Canada has changed its position on three United Nations resolutions criticizing Israeli policy toward Palestinians. The changes reflect a position more supportive of Israel.

 

(...)

 

"We’re seeing a worrying shift," Mr. Nakhleh said yesterday in an interview. "And we’re concerned about it."

 

It needs to be noted that the wording of some of these resolutions is gratuitously anti-Israeli, and that the Martin government has worked successfully in some cases to improve it, making it possible for Canada to vote in support.

 

Nonetheless, politics is perception. The Liberals have always taken the Arab-Canadian and Muslim vote pretty much for granted, because the Conservatives have traditionally been strong supporters of Israel. But the changed UN votes, the anti-terrorism legislation (which many Muslim Canadians fear targets their community), and the notorious government failures that led to the deportation and torture of Maher Arar, have strained that support to the breaking point.

 

(...)

 

It is a political fact of life that Canada’s Jewish community is affluent, organized and influential, while Arab and other Muslim Canadians are generally poorer and more faction-ridden.

 

(...)

 

But Muslim Canadians make up about two per cent of the Canadian population, while Jewish Canadians make up only one per cent. And the trend line is all one way, since Indian, Pakistani and Arab Muslims are major sources of new immigrants.

 

Which suggests a fascinating political question: Will the election of 2006 be the first in which ignoring the Arab and Muslim vote cost the Liberals seats?

[Jabhad]

Here is an article from the aftermath of the last election.

 

How the Muslims won the election

Islamic Congress takes credit for helping Liberals fend off Tories

 

Gillian Cosgrove

 

Saturday, August 07, 2004

 

As the pundits are still noting, the big losers in the federal election were

the Liberals, who nearly blew it, and the socialists, whose boastful

rhetoric did not garner them nearly as many seats as they expected. The

winners were the Bloc Quebecois, big time, and the Conservatives, to a more

modest degree.

 

But there was another, hitherto unacknowledged, winner: Canada's

700,000-member Muslim community, which now ranks as the second-largest

religious bloc in Canada after the Christians and is growing rapidly.

 

On June 28, Muslims delivered the vast majority of their votes to the

Liberals, especially in greater Toronto where, led by Colleen "Baghdad"

Beaumier, an apologist for the deposed Saddam regime in Iraq, they beat back

the upstart Conservatives and NDPers. In this process, Muslim leaders claim,

with statistics on their side, Muslims did nothing less than to "save" (at

least in their eyes) Canada from the Conservatives.

 

To put it bluntly, Muslims now hold the balance of power in at least 100

ridings.

 

If you doubt all this, check this headline on a post-election "media

communique" issued by the Canadian Islamic Congress: Muslim Vote Helps Save

Canada from Conservative Government: More than 80 per cent of Eligible

Canadian Muslims Voted -- with Liberals the Overwhelming Favourite.

 

According to a CIC exit poll, 71% of Muslims voted Liberal; 23% opted for

the NDP; 3% for the Bloc Quebecois, with the remaining 3% spread among the

Conservatives, Greens and independent candidates.

 

Dr. Mohamed Elmasry, CIC's national president, finds it significant that 88%

of Muslim voters younger than 25 bothered to cast ballots, with more voting

for the NDP than usual, and the percentage of Muslim women casting

ballots -- eat your heart out Osama bin Laden! -- was slightly higher than

that of men.

 

The good doctor sums up the CIC's response to the election result: "It's a

very good day for democracy in Canada."

 

Ms. Wahida Valiante, CIC national vice-president, chimes in: "CIC took a

leading role to engage Muslims in this election.... But now we must HOLD

EVERY MP ACCOUNTABLE TO THE ELECTORATE THAT PUT HIM THERE. The REAL work has just begun."

 

A CIC research document stresses that, FOR THE FIRST TIME, there were more

than 100 ridings in Canada "where Muslims hold a significant 'swing vote' of

between 1.8% and 13.5%."

[Jabhad]

HOW THE ISLAMIC CONGRESS RATES OUR MPS

 

Back in April, the CIC flexed its electoral muscle by issuing what it called

"Canada's first election research report card," grading all 301 MPs on their

performance in Ottawa over the last four years. They were assessed against a

position paper on 10 national and 10 international issues, including, of

course, their position toward the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, as defined

by the aforesaid CIC.

 

Then it takes some shots, of sorts, at the Martin government: "Current

Canadian policy toward the Palestinian-Israeli conflict ... is more of the

Israel-cannot-do-wrong, and thus is less balanced than under previous

administrations."

 

Nonetheless, it reports, 42 Liberal MPs out of a total of 85 MPs get "A"

ratings on its report card, including Paul Martin and Cabinet members Bill

Graham, Reg Alcock, Ralph Goodale and John McCallum. Joe Volpe and Pierre

Pettigrew merit Fs.

 

By contrast, all 14 NDP members get As, while only six Conservatives receive

As and 69 Fs, and 23 Bloc MPs get As and one an F.

 

RIDINGS WHERE MUSLIMS HAVE MOST CLOUT

 

According to the extensive CIC research, of the 101 ridings where Muslim

voters can cast "swing votes," seven of the top 10 are in the Greater

Toronto Area, two in Montreal and one in Ottawa. The riding with the most

Muslims, 13.5%, is Don Valley West, Toronto, followed by Don Valley East,

12.5%.

[Pucca]

-commented without reading-

 

oops

[Jabhad]

Pro-Islamist words dubbed a 'smear'

The incendiary words came flying out of an exuberant, cheering crowd, words exalting the rise of Islamic power in Canadian politics. Now they're being called an election smear that involves Islam and might have lasting repercussions for Muslims who have only recently become active in Canadian politics.

 

The fiery phrases, immediately attributed to Omar Alghabra – the rookie candidate who had just won the Liberal party nomination in Mississauga-Erindale – were soon making the rounds on the Internet, then became the subject of a news release from an outspoken group that seeks to expose radical Islam. "This is a victory for Islam ... Islamic power is extending into Canadian politics," Alghabra was reported to have said.

 

The problem is that Alghabra and others who were there – including outgoing Mississauga MP Carolyn Parrish – insist he didn't say them. A Toronto Star reporter covering the event also heard no such thing.

 

Toronto Star, 23 December 2005

 

See also Globe & Mail, 21 December 2005

 

For earlier coverage, see for example here here here and here

 

Posted on Friday, December 23, 2005 by Martin Sullivan in Right Wing, Resisting Islamophobia, Canada | Comments Off

Muslim conspiracy to rule world just nonsense

"Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld et al have been raising the spectre of a worldwide Islamic rule by a caliph, as envisaged by Osama bin Laden, Abu Musab Zarqawi and other terrorists. The chances of a caliphate coming are zero. But raising its spectre helps keep Americans scared."

 

Haroon Siddiqui in the Toronto Star, 15 December 2005

 

Posted on Friday, December 16, 2005 by Bob Pitt in Right Wing, USA, Resisting Islamophobia, Canada | Comments Off

French problem affects rest of Europe as well

"France is proudly mono-cultural, insisting that its residents shed all their identities and 'be French'.... Yet, when facing social problems, the French attribute them to their pluralism. To a lesser degree, Germany and others do the same. 'Multiculturalism has failed, big time', said Angela Merkel, on her way to becoming chancellor. But Germany never had a policy of recognizing all cultures. What it has is an immigrant population that long ago ceased to be only white and Christian. That's what she was complaining about. So was former chancellor Helmut Schmidt, 85, saying of the 2.6 million Turkish Germans, that it had been a big mistake to have let them in.

 

"Immigration was fine until the wretched Muslims came!

 

"A second theme coursing through public debate concerns the adaptability or otherwise of immigrants/Muslims: 'They do not integrate.' 'They do not fit in; they cannot fit in.' 'They live in France but are not of France' (or Germany, Holland, Belgium, etc.). 'They don't consider themselves French' (or German, Dutch, etc.). But it is the French, the Germans and others who deny jobs to Arabs/Turks/Muslims because of who they are, while the latter cry out to be treated as the French/German/Dutch citizens and long-time residents that they are.

 

"This is a neat trick. You won't let them forget their ethnic/religious identity but blame them for keeping it. You won't give them jobs but blame them for not having any. You build barriers to integration but blame them for not integrating. You pursue policies of social and economic segregation that produce poor, crime-riddled ghettoes, but you accuse them of domestic Balkanization."

 

Haroon Siddiqui in the Toronto Star, 13 November 2005

 

visit: http://www.islamophobia-watch.com

[Jabhad]

liberals...i'd rather have them cheat the system and pocket the $$$ then have the conservatives turn canada into a freaking copy of america by makin healthcare and other services private.

Under the Liberal watch, brivate health care services are popping up everywhere.

[Baluug]

I won't vote for anybody. No Islamic Party, no vote from me.

 

Stephen Harper needs to wake up and realize Canadians(read:Ontarians) don't care about the Liberals wasting all their money, they don't care about accountability, or else the Liberals would have been turfed long ago. They're just afraid of a Westerner getting in because they think he's a redneck American wannabe, and they're probably right, which is why the Conservatives would not get my vote, but if I were to vote, they would probably get it. I could definitely use the extra $2400 a year in baby bonuses, how else am I gonna buy my beer and popcorn?

 

As for the Liberals, I got 2 words: gay marriage. Think about this.....What is the purpose of getting married in the first place? It is done in order to sanctify the union of a man and woman before God(I say man and woman because there is no religion that I know of that allows homosexuality). Therefore, if you know beforehand that God does not approve of your marriage, then why would you bother to even try? Idi*ots.

Anyways, that and the whole taxing-every-and-anything-I-own-and-stuffing-their-pockets-with-my-money-that-I-worked-hard-for thing are the main reason why I will not vote Liberal.

 

Jack Layton looks like a real nice guy, but that means nothing to me. If anything, I imagine he would be even worse in the Prime Minister's Office than Chretien and Martin, so the NDP does not get my vote.

 

Green Party? Don't have a full platform, they're only worried about the environment, so they gets none.

 

Bloc Quebecois? Oui oui, mon ami!!! But of course! NOT!

 

Marijuana Party? Hmmmmmmm.......Just kidding!

[Castro]

^ The last (and only) time I voted in a Canadian election was for Svend Robinson in Burnaby, BC a decade ago. The openly gay MP was heavily courting the immigrant community with promises of refugee case handling reform and some such vague campaign rhetoric. He ended up winning but I've not seen any of those "promises" come true. Later I found out the Canadian government reduced the acceptance rate of refugees by drastic numbers.

 

Much like the US, there's a large community of white, anglo-saxon, protestant majority that controls the government. They're conservative, middle-class and higher, and don't care much about minorities. For the most part, federal elections are meaningless for minorities since their impact is minimal. It's best to focus on local and city elections for those are the ones that have real impact on our lives and they're also the ones minority communities can have a say in their outcome.

[Jabhad]

Castro

He ended up winning but I've not seen any of those "promises" come true.

That explains why majority of Canadians believe politicians lose in touch with the public after they were voted into office. I voted last election for the Liberals for fear of Conservatives coming to power. And that might be my last vote in Canadian politics.

 

Liibaan

I won't vote for anybody. No Islamic Party, no vote from me.

You never know sxb, Canada might be the first Western country to have an Islamic party.

[LayZie G.]

Ever since I was old enough to vote, I was supporting and voting for the NDP party. I am a huge supporter and so is my mother. My reasons for voting for the NDP yet for another election is because of their proposed plan to improve the public health care system, reducing price of drugs. Restructuring the hospitals current state, its sickening of the hospital wait times, ridiculous. Among other things, such as improving education, worker's pension impoving immigration, but my main focus is the health care plan, the ones liberals destroyed, if they can undo the damage, all the more power to the NDP party.

 

 

PS: For those of you that aren't canadian and are not familiar with what NDP stands for, its the NEW DEMOCRATIC PARTY OF CANADA. GO NDP, GO NDP

[ElPunto]

LOL - Liibaan - that was one funny post. I don't know anymore who to vote for. I am even considering, shock and horror!, the conservatives. Stephen Harper is definitely not the demon the Liberals make him out to be - and it is important to have some change in government instead of a one-party rule all the time. But..... I still can't make that jump - who knows. Maybe I'll give it to the NDP. It's so funny, whenever the words gay/homosexual appear on television, you will hear a string of curse words from my parents who almost never curse and yet almost every federal/provincial election they happily give their votes to the NDP.

 

On the other matter, I doubt Muslim votes are really affected by Israel/Palestine, maybe only at the margins. Most Muslims vote for things that affect them in this country, in the here and now.

[Miskiin-Macruuf-Aqiyaar]

Salaan...

 

Waligeey ma codeynin, inkastoo I am a political junkie, locally and internationally. I sometimes read two or three dailies a day and checking other news on the net. Still waligeey wood bixi ma igu soo dhicin. However, this election might change that.

 

I've a full respect to the universal Canadian healthcare system, and I therefore cannot stand anybody dismantling it. The two-tier system, as advocated by the likes of Conservative leader Stephan Harper albeit not openly, won't work, unless there are strict restrictions placed, as practiced by countries like Sweden. Why it won't work, just give a look at deplorable US medicare system or Australian one. Only the rich will be wealthy enough to afford the best to be healthy.

 

That is what they want to bring to Kanada. No way.

 

So far, if aan codeeyo, NDP will have it. Or Liberal might too, who knows. I ain't rich, so no Tory.

 

I could definitely use the extra $2400 a year in baby bonuses, how else am I gonna buy my beer and popcorn?

What Stephan Harper promised is a bogus, vote-grabbing way to buy a middle-income families' votes. It isn't $2400 per child, though I assume you meant a family with two children. It is $100 per month per child for daycare needs. It is pretty attractive I tell you, especially to those who already had stay-at-home mothers. The fact is it doesn't help, especially working families (including Soomaalis) since it costs almost $1000 per month per child at a decent daycare. It is just another tax cut, the Conservative party's best friend. Cutting taxes is their thing to make richer their wealthy base supporters.

 

Since Harper is a conservative who believes the ideal family is a working father, a mother staying at home (Soomaali culture might agree him with that too), he is discouraging the whole daycare idea, and instead the kids spend their time with non-working mothers. Pretty neat. I might inclined to agree too.

 

But, would those who bought that pseudo-tax cutting also buy and vote if he proposed he would give each family a $100 a month to fend off their healthcare needs? I don't think so.

 

And no need to cut the GST, not even that two-percent Harper proposed. I for one am for increasing it. It discourages spending, that is why it is called "goods" and "service" tax.

[Socod_badne]

I haven't decided who to vote for yet. Liberals or Conservatives as the only serious candidates doesn't help me resolve my indecision. There is no way I can vote the New Democrats, they're too far to the left and if elected we'll likely ruin the economy. The separatist are out of the question for obvious reasons.

 

Right now, I'm leaning towards voting for the Liberals. It's feasible I change my mind and vote for the conservative. I don't buy all 'hiden agenda' they supposedly holding from the Liberals.

[LANDER]

Originally posted by Socod_badne:

Right now, I'm leaning towards voting for the Liberals. It's feasible I change my mind and vote for the conservative. I don't buy all 'hiden agenda' they supposedly holding from the Liberals.

^A somali who votes conservative...I'll be damned, than again I've heard of somalis who vote republican on this very same forum so that shouldn't be too suprising. Remind me of that jada kiss line "why vote republican if you black huh?"

[Baluug]

Originally posted by LANDER:

quote:Originally posted by Socod_badne:

Right now, I'm leaning towards voting for the Liberals. It's feasible I change my mind and vote for the conservative. I don't buy all 'hiden agenda' they supposedly holding from the Liberals.

^A somali who votes conservative...I'll be damned, than again I've heard of somalis who vote republican on this very same forum so that shouldn't be too suprising. Remind me of that jada kiss line "why vote republican if you black huh?"

Actually, what surprises me is how many muslims vote liberal.