By Ihsaan Gardee, National Post

In her May 6 piece (“I expect better from Maclean’s“) regarding a recent Maclean’s magazine poll on Canadian views of various religious faiths, Barbara Kay rehashes, in textbook McCarthy style, the same old “you-don’t-condemn-terrorism” accusations against the Canadian Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-CAN). In doing so, she conveniently avoids engaging in any substantive debate on the subject.

CAIR-CAN is not the only Canadian organization to face the condemnation blame-game since 9/11, despite the fact that even a cursory look at its public work would dispel such rumours and whisper campaigns. CAIR-CAN has and continues to categorically denounce terrorism and religious extremism of any kind, whether committed by al-Qaeda, Hamas or the Tamil Tigers.

Instead of challenging CAIR-CAN’s position on the Maclean’s poll, Ms. Kay attempts to vilify the organization with fabricated allegations, many of which have already been exposed as untrue. CAIR-CAN is a grassroots civil liberties organization with a proud, clear and proven record of effective advocacy for human rights, civic engagement and anti-extremism. No amount of smear-casting by Ms. Kay or others will change that.

Without repeating baseless allegations or defending the Maclean’s methodology (the magazine is amply capable of defending itself ), a brief examination of Ms. Kay’s assertions reveals her modus operandi: resorting to old, tired canards and an us-vs.-them word game to artificially bolster her arguments.

Ms. Kay’s motivation to make such unsubstantiated claims is even more curious given the National Post’s acknowledgment in September, 2005, that CAIR-CAN has never advocated or promoted terrorism.

In an attempt to obfuscate readers further, Ms. Kay’s piece sets up a false dichotomy by suggesting that multiculturalism and democratic ideals are somehow mutually exclusive — that one can’t support both causes at the same time. That is not the case: The Canadian version of multiculturalism is a surprisingly successful experiment and one to be celebrated when compared with similar efforts in other countries. At the same time, we must be vigilant and distinguish between legitimate criticism of undemocratic and inequitable practices and us-vs.-them attitudes that attempt to divide Canadians and may give rise to the very prejudices evidenced in the Maclean’s poll.

Whether, as reported in the Maclean’s poll, the negative opinions about Islam and Muslims (and other minority faiths) held by some Canadians are due to xenophobic views or simply a lack of knowledge or awareness is one question that CAIR-CAN aims to address through some of its public education and outreach efforts. For instance, we offer a national library project, Islam 101 seminars and guides on Islamic religious practices.

The loaded terms used to attempt to marginalize and link individuals and organizations to extremism or terrorism pack a powerful political punch, no matter how false, inaccurate and misplaced they are. Barbara Kay’s agenda-driven polemic is intellectually dishonest and represents the politics of fear and suspicion.

We would expect better.

Ihsaan Gardee is executive director of the Canadian Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR-CAN).

Tags: Barbara Kay, CAIR-CAN, Islam, Maclean's, Muslims, National Post, Poll

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