Heritage Committee Updates
Canadian Citizens For Charter Rights And Freedoms (C3RF) will be posting updates on the Heritage Committee Meetings as soon as they are available.
November 8th Heritage Committee Meeting and Audio
Russ Cooper reports on the latest meeting convened to discuss systemic racism and religious discrimination in Canada. The testimony of Yasmine Mohammed, the former wife of a jihadi and tortured daughter of honour-bound Islamic parents, was startling and silenced the Liberal and NDP representatives. In addition, Statistics Canada representatives confirmed that the number of hate crimes in Canada was too small and insignificant to support an assertion that a rising "climate of hate and fear" existed in the country. He summarizes the testimonies of the witnesses that spoke: Aurangzeb Qureshi, Vice-President, Public Policy and Communications, Alberta Muslim Public Affairs Council; Faisal Khan Suri, President, Alberta Muslim Public Affairs Council; Karim Achab, Professor of linguistics, University of Ottawa; Yasmine Mohammed; Yvan Clermont, Director, Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics, Statistics Canada; and Rebecca Kong, Chief, Policing Services Program, Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics, Statistics Canada. Click here to read more.
November 6th Heritage Committee Meeting and Audio
Russ Cooper reports on the latest meeting convened to discuss systemic racism and religious discrimination in Canada. Of particular note was the part the Governor General's speech from last week played during the deliberations. Her stated preferences for secular scientism over religious belief systems was seen as worrisome and working against the effort to diminish system racism and religious discrimination. This, taken in conjunction with the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada observation that Christian students suffer discrimination at the hands of provincial bodies, seems to indicate that governmental agencies and policies have a part to play in the "systemic" nature of racism and discrimination in Canada. He summarizes the testimonies of the witnesses that spoke: Bruce Clemenger, President, Evangelical Fellowship of Canada; Julia Beazley, Director, Public Policy, Evangelical Fellowship of Canada; Frank Huang, National Secretary-General, National Congress of Chinese Canadians; Ali Rizvi, Co-Chair, Canadian Association of Jews and Muslims; and David Zackrias, Head, Diversity and Race Relations, Ottawa Police Service. Audio of the proceedings is available and a link is provided. Click here to read more.
November 1st Heritage Committee Meeting and Audio
Russ Cooper reports on the latest meeting convened to discuss systemic racism and religious discrimination in Canada. Of particular note was the testimony of Barbara Landau, from the Canadian Association of Jews and Muslims, as she highlighted profound differences in approaches to the subject matter at hand by various Canadian Jewish organizations. He summarizes the testimonies of the witnesses that spoke: Don Hutchinson, author; Cecil Roach, Coordinating Superintendent of Education, Equity and Community Services, York Region District School Board; Barbara Landau, Co-chair, Canadian Association of Jews and Muslims; Shahid Akhtar, Co-Chair, Canadian Association of Jews and Muslims; and Perry Bellegarde, National Chief, Assembly of First Nations. Audio of the proceedings is available and a link is provided. Click here to read more.
October 30th Heritage Committee Meeting and Audio
Russ Cooper reports on the latest meeting convened to discuss systemic racism and religious discrimination in Canada: Shahen Mirakian, President, Armenian National Committee of Canada; Robert Kuhn, President, Trinity Western University; Dr. Zuhdi Jasser, founder of the American Islamic Forum for Democracy; Muainudin Ahmed, Director, Muslim Food Bank and Community Services Society; and Balpreet Singh, Legal Counsel, World Sikh Organization of Canada. Audio of the proceedings is available and a link is provided. Click here to read more.
October 25rd Heritage Committee Meeting and Audio
Russ Cooper reports on the latest meeting convened to discuss systemic racism and religious discrimination in Canada. Of particular interest is the Canadian Labour Congress position, as stated by its Executive Vice-President, that Islamophobia could be taken to mean being against Islam. This startling position could be seen as promoting the shielding of the religion of Islam from criticism in the public square. He summarizes the testimonies of the witnesses that spoke: Mr. Pouyan Tabasinejad, Policy Chair, Iranian Canadian Congress; Ms. Soudeh Ghasemi, Vice-President, Iranian Canadian Congress; Larry Rousseau, Executive Vice-President, Canadian Labour Congress; Elizabeth Kwan, Senior Researcher, Canadian Labour Congress; and Cindy Blackstock, Executive Director, First Nations Child and Family Caring Society of Canada. Audio of the proceedings is available and a link is provided. Click here to read more.
October 23rd Heritage Committee Meeting and Audio
Russ Cooper reports on the latest meeting convened to discuss systemic racism and religious discrimination in Canada. He summarizes the testimonies of the witnesses that spoke in person and by video conference: Serah Gazali, Community Member, Frog Hollow Neighbourhood House; Narges Samimi, Community Member, Frog Hollow Neighbourhood House; Idris El-Bakri, Past President, Manitoba Islamic Association; Osaed Khan, President, Manitoba Islamic Association; Mansoor Pirzada, President, Muslim Association of Newfoundland and Labrador; Ayse Akinturk, Executive Committee Member, Muslim Association of Newfoundland and Labrador; and Haseen Khan, Executive Committee Member and Treasurer, Muslim Association of Newfoundland and Labrador. Audio of the proceedings is available and a link is provided. Click here to read more.
October 18th Heritage Committee Meeting and Audio
Russ Cooper reports on the latest meeting convened to discuss systemic racism and religious discrimination in Canada. He summarizes the testimonies of the six witnesses that spoke: Reuven Bulka, Congregation Machzikei Hadas as an individual; Michael Mostyn, Chief Executive Officer, National Office, B'nai Brith Canada; David Matas, Senior Legal Counsel, National Office, B'nai Brith Canada; Shimon Fogel, Chief Executive Officer, Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs; Tamara Thomas, Policy Researcher and Analyst, African Canadian Legal Clinic; and Sikander Hashmi, Spokesperson, Canadian Council of Imams. Audio of the proceedings is available and a link is provided. Click here to read more.
October 16th Heritage Committee Meeting and Audio
Russ Cooper reports on the latest meeting, and how it was dedicated to Motion M-103 and its assertion that "systemic racism" and "religious discrimination' were rampant in Canada. He summarizes the testimonies of the five witnesses that did speak: Dr. Sherif Emil, Professor and Associate Chair, Department of Pediatric Surgery, Faculty of Medecine, McGill University, Director, Pediatric General and Thoracic Surgery, Montreal Children's Hospital; Laurence Worthen, Executive Director, Christian Medical and Dental Society of Canada; Farzana Hassan, Author and Columnist; Andrew P.W. Bennett, Senior Fellow of Cardus; and Budhendranauth Doobay, Chairman, Voice of Vedas Cultural Sabha. Audio of the proceedings is available and a link is provided. Click here to read more.
October 4th Heritage Committee Meeting and Audio
Russ Cooper reports on the latest meeting, and how unusual it was that the meeting was cut so short. He summarizes the testimonies of the four witnesses that did speak: Anver Emon, Professor of Law & Canada Research Chair in Religion, Pluralism, and the Rule of Law, University of Toronto; Jasmin Zine, Professor, Sociology and Muslim Studies Option, Wilfrid Laurier University; Ihsaan Gardee, Executive Director of NCCM; and Eve Torres, Public Affairs Coordinator of NCCM. Audio of the proceedings is available and a link is provided. Click here to read more.
October 2nd Heritage Committee Meeting and Audio
Russ Cooper reports on the latest meeting, specifically the testimonies of four witnesses: Mr. Murray Sinclair, a Senator from Manitoba, Mr. Kevin Barlow of the Metro Vancouver Aboriginal Executive Council, Mr. Samer Mazjoub, President of the Canadian Muslim Forum, and Faisal Bhabha, Associate Professor, Osgoode Hall Law School, York University. Audio of the proceedings is available and a link is provided. Click here to read more.
September 27th Heritage Committee Meeting and Video
Russ Cooper reports on the latest meeting, specifically the testimonies four witnesses who were all against Motion M-103: Raymond J. de Souza, Peter Bhatti, Chairman, International Christian Voice, Jay Cameron, Barrister and Solicitor for Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms, and Raheel Raza, President, Council for Muslims Facing Tomorrow. A full video of the proceedings is available and a link is provided. Click here to read more.
Raheel Raza's Testimony to the September 27th Heritage Committee Meeting
Raheel Raza, President, Council for Muslims Facing Tomorrow, presented a moving and powerful testimony in person to the Heritage Committe. A full transcript of her testimony is available here, along with a PDF download of the transcript. Click here to read more.
Father Raymond J. de Souza's Testimony to the September 27th Heritage Committee Meeting
This is a transcript of the testimony of Father de Souza, Editor-in-Chief of Convivium, chaplain at Newman House (the Roman Catholic centre at Queen's University), a parish priest, and a Cardus senior fellow, to the Heritage Committee Meeting on September 27th, 2017. Click here to read more.
September 25th Heritage Committee Meeting and Audio
Russ Cooper reports on the latest meeting, specifically the testimonies of Ayesha S. Chaudhry, Associate Professor and Chair holder of Canada Research Chair in Religion, Law and Social Justice, Avvy Yao-Yao Go, Clinic Director, Chinese and Southeast Asian Legal Clinic, Shawn Richard, President, Canadian Association of Black Lawyers, and Shalini Konanur, Executive Director and Lawyer, South Asian Legal Clinic of Ontario. A full audio recording of the proceedings is available and a link is provided. Click here to read more.
September 20th Heritage Committee Meeting and Audio
Russ Cooper reports on the latest meeting, specifically the testimony of Tarek Fatah and Michel Juneau Katsuya, who offered completely contrasting testimony from both sides of the spectrum. It is safe to say that M-103 deliberations have dropped any sense of being benign and of no consequence to the free speech rights of Canadians. A full audio recording of the proceedings is available and a link is provided. Click here to read more.
September 18th Heritage Committee Meeting and Video
Russ Cooper reports on the latest meeting, how one-sided the proceedings seemed, how there was an absence of any discussion surrounding Islamic extremism, and that many MPs remarked on their constituents reporting concerns about Sharia law. A full video of the proceedings is available and a link is provided. Click here to read more.
June 20th Heritage Committee Meeting and Written Submissions to the CHPC
Russ Cooper reports on the latest meeting, how many witnesses each party will be allowed to call, concerns about the vote being stacked, and what you can do to make a difference: make a written submission to the CHPC. Click here to read more.
June 8th Heritage Committee Meeting and recent updates
Russ Cooper reports on the latest meetings that were again held in camera since our last report - and reveals that the process for reviewing potential witnesses for "Systemic Racism and Religious Discrimination" deliberations had begun. Click here to read more.
May 9th & 11th Heritage Committee Meeting
Russ Cooper reports on the latest meetings that were again held in camera. Links to official minutes are provided. Click here to read more.
May 4th Heritage Committee Meeting
Russ Cooper reports on the latest meeting, noting that once again it was held in camera, and offers some insight into the latest discussions. Click here to read more.
April 13th Heritage Committee Meeting
Russ Cooper reports on the newly updated notes on the April 11th Meeting, and comments on the April 13th meeting held by the Heritage Committee and its significance. Click here to read more.
April 11th Heritage Committee Meeting
Russ Cooper has posted a comment on the most recent meeting held by the Heritage Committee. Click here to read more.
April 4th and 6th Heritage Committee Meetings
Russ Cooper has posted a summary of the most recent meetings held by the Heritage Committee, along with some insightful analysis of the process. Click here to read the intro and the minutes from the meetings.