[R-G] Canada's Arab immigrant vote

[Anthony Fenton]

Canada's Arab immigrant vote
  By Ahmed Habib in Toronto
http://english.aljazeera.net/focus/2008/10/20081013112940123612.html

The immigrant vote is likely to become a central issue as Canadians  
head to the polls.

On October 14, Stephen Harper, the incumbent prime minister from the  
Conservative Party, will be seeking to gain more seats in parliament  
from among the 300 ridings, or administrative districts, which are up  
for grabs.

But this year, the immigrant vote is likely to play a crucial role, as  
some one million newcomers have entered Canada over the past five years.

Historically, ethnic communities in Canada have supported the Liberal  
party which many see as pro-immigration and favouring a multicultural  
society.

However, issues such as gay marriage and abortion have driven a wedge  
between immigrant communities, which largely hold traditional values,  
and the popular Liberals.

The immigrant vote

The left-leaning New Democratic (NDP) and Green parties are also  
gaining greater support from immigrants, particularly young people,  
who are becoming more disenchanted with mainstream political parties.

Faria Kamal, a campaign coordinator with No One Is Illegal, a national  
organisation that advocates for immigrant and refugee rights, warns of  
the tokenism that parties employ during every election season.

Experts warn of even a greater threat to immigrant communities  
subjected to ethnic-based campaigning.

Sabah Al Nasseri, a political science professor at York University in  
Toronto, said institutional fragmenting and fracturing of society  
according to different communities strengthens the position of the  
white ruling class in Canada.

A recent immigrant himself, he said: "By splitting our communities, we  
are weakened in the sense that we cannot create a general political  
project with other immigrants."

In the case of the Arab community in Canada, there are also internal  
political schisms that run along the lines of what part of the Arab  
world one comes from.

Al Nasseri, who is of Iraqi origin, sees these divisions as  
jeopardising community efforts to confront Canada's problematic role  
in the Middle East.

He urges Arab Canadian voters to remember that, "the same forces that  
are determining domestic policies here are engineering foreign policy  
in the Arab world".

Community organisations such as the Canadian Arab Federation (Caf) are  
advising Arab Canadians to take their interests into account before  
blindly following party allegiances.

Caf recently released a questionnaire to all the political parties as  
a means of gauging their stance on issues affecting the Arab  
community; they asked questions on issues like security measures  
introduced as part of anti-terrorist legislation.

"These laws were passed hastily without consultation, and have led to  
an increase in anti-Arab racism and Islamophobic sentiments in this  
country," notes Khaled Mouammar, the president of Caf.

A retired Canadian immigration judge originally from Palestine,  
Mouammar sees racism as the main deterrent to Arab involvement in the  
elections.

"We cannot lead normal lives. We are attacked by policies of the  
government here and at the same time we are bombarded by worries of  
what's happening in the Arab world."

Caf has recently come under attack in the media for its stance against  
Israeli policies towards the Palestinians, a common reoccurrence in  
Canadian political discourse.

"Many are wary of hiring Arab Canadians, the treatment of Arab and  
Muslim Canadians as suspects by security agencies is increasing, and  
many are forced to deal with a legal system that sees them  
differently," Muammar told Al Jazeera.

Grassroots mobilisation

Nadia Daar, a 26-year-old graduate student who moved to Canada from  
Oman in 2000, will be casting her ballot for the first time on October  
14.

"In order to strive for a community that promotes just and equitable  
values, then we need to vote in the elections to compliment the  
grassroots mobilisations around these issues," she says.

Daar, who lives in Toronto, Canada's largest city, will support a  
party that will take a "clear stance against the apartheid-like  
practices of the Israeli state, the American occupation of Iraq, and  
that will withdraw all of Canada's troops from Afghanistan".

She also wants to vote for a party that will seek a just and equitable  
solution to indigenous land claims. "We are all immigrants here aside  
from the First Nations community, and as such we need to vote for a  
party that gives them the rights they deserve."

Dr Qais Ghanem, a candidate for the Green Party in Ottawa, agrees with  
many of Daar’s beliefs.

A former human rights activist and doctor, Ghanem says he is leaving a  
successful medical practice to pursue a career as Member of Parliament.

He says he chose the Green Party because they shared many of the  
principles regarding "social and economic justice, concern around the  
extreme gaps between the wealthy and the destitute, and fighting  
racism".

He believes merely becoming a candidate can help break stereotypes of  
Arabs in Canada.

"An enemy is someone whose story you haven't heard yet," he said.

Ghanem, who is also a professor at the University of Ottawa, believes  
his candidacy is a natural extension to his role as an educator.

"You have to educate or else you won't get what you want. For example,  
people have to know the real story about Afghanistan."

However, Ghanem quickly ran into a media storm when he successfully  
convinced the Green Party to revise their foreign policy and recognise  
the rights of the Palestinians.

Some in the media demanded his immediate expulsion from the party for  
what they described as Israel-bashing and Anti-Semitic statements.

Elizabeth May, the leader of the Greens in Canada, however, stood by  
her candidate, and showed, "tremendous courage," he says.

The Canadian dream

Ghanem's experiences appear to provide evidence to support Caf’s  
claims that there exists racism against Arabs in the elections.

However, Omar Al Ghabra, a Liberal Member of Parliament originally  
from Syria who is seeking re-election in the immigrant-concentrated  
suburbs of Toronto, disagrees.

He says Canada is an accessible and equitable country and points to  
his ability to run for Parliament as a reflection of "the values and  
opportunities that Canada provides."

"I never expected starting off as a student working the graveyard  
shift in a doughnut shop that one day I would be a Member of  
Parliament," Al Ghabra, who is a former president of Caf, told Al  
Jazeera.

"People do not vote because of their ethnicity or religious  
affiliation … they are more sophisticated and intelligent than that."

He insists that people vote for him because of his "values, stances  
and work."

Despite Al Ghabra's beliefs, political parties use their stance on  
immigration and social values as a means of gaining more community  
block votes.

Campaign ads, sometimes in different languages, can be seen and heard  
across ethnic-based media outlets.

Even the Conservative Party has put forward a list of candidates from  
Arab backgrounds; nevertheless, many Arab-Canadians criticise Harper  
for his unwavering support of Israel and the American occupation of  
Iraq.

Elie Salibi, a candidate with the Conservative party in Ottawa would  
not respond to any requests for an interview.

Attempts to find other Arab-Canadian candidates with Stephen Harper's  
party were thwarted by the Conservative party media team that insisted  
they, "don't racially profile their candidates".

First veiled candidate

For Samira Laouni, a candidate with the NDP in Bourassa, Quebec, her  
story seems to expose the many problems facing immigrants as they try  
to break through debilitating stereotypes.

As a Muslim-Canadian, originally from Morocco, Laouni wears the hijab;  
as a result, she has been the focus of many debates on radio stations  
in the French-speaking province Quebec.

On a Montreal talk show, Laouni, termed "Quebec's first veiled federal  
candidate" by the mainstream media was recently told by the radio that  
if she was raped during the interview, under Islamic Shar'ia law, she  
would need two witnesses to prove the assault.

In turn, this incident has triggered a campaign, spearheaded by  
organisations like Caf to hold the radio station responsible for these  
comments under Canadian radio regulations.

Despite these events, Laouni insists that such voices are a "minority"  
in Canada and that "no-one in the world should be allowed to attack a  
woman because of her hijab".

Zahia Al Masri, also a candidate with the NDP in Quebec, agrees with  
her fellow party member in that these elections must be used as an  
opportunity to fight harmful stereotypes.

Al Masri, a single mother of Palestinian origin, says that efforts  
must be made to fight obstacles within the Arab community itself.

"For me, most of the resistance I've faced has come internally around  
my involvement in politics as a woman."

She says these elections test Canada's claims of tolerance and equity;  
she insists that: "We can't say we have a multicultural system, and  
then leave it on its own to work."

Canada's social fabric

Regardless of who wins in the 40th Canadian elections, and what  
minorities end up being represented, systemic issues of racism against  
immigrants and indigenous communities will continue to test the social  
fabric of Canada.

Recently, Canada was criticised by the UN for its treatment of First  
Nations communities, and many community organisers have warned of an  
increasingly undemocratic atmosphere under Harper and the Conservatives.

Elections in Canada are also in a struggle to gain more relevance  
amongst its own citizens.

According to Elections Canada statistics, voter turnout in Canada has  
been decreasing steadily since 1988; this is especially true amongst  
immigrant communities.

Mina Mahdi, an Arab Canadian, who has lived in Toronto for several  
years, will be looking more closely at how the American elections  
unfold.

"As an Iraqi, what happens in the American elections will have more of  
an impact on what I'm most concerned about, the occupation," she says.

However, Mahdi will be voting for the first time in the upcoming  
Canadian elections.

She said: "I will be voting to make sure Stephen Harper is out."