TORONTO 91裸聊视频� Canada has long prided itself on being a multicultural nation that values inclusion, opening its borders to refugees and immigrants, no matter their ethnicity or religion.
But has U.S. President Donald Trump91裸聊视频檚 Muslim travel ban, his promise to build a wall on the Mexican border and months of pre-election anti-immigrant rhetoric led to a rise in racial intolerance in this country?
Or has such discrimination been bubbling below the surface within some segments of Canadian society, and Trump91裸聊视频檚 world view and policies have merely validated such sentiments, granting like-minded people tacit permission to voice racist comments and perform hateful acts, where they might not have before?
91裸聊视频淚 think absolutely the boundaries are porous, the borders are porous, so anything that happens in the U.S. obviously affects us,91裸聊视频� said sociologist Barbara Perry, a global hate crime expert at the University of Ontario Institute of Technology in Oshawa, Ont.
91裸聊视频淲e get the same Twitter feeds, we hear the same sound bites on television and radio and in the print media as well. Clearly the messages are crossing the border.91裸聊视频�
And those messages do seem to be resonating with some Canadians, said Perry, pointing to a flurry of anti-Muslim postings on social media that followed last month91裸聊视频檚 Quebec City mosque shooting.
91裸聊视频淚91裸聊视频檓 not a big user of social media, but even someone like me who91裸聊视频檚 at arm91裸聊视频檚 length can see the freedom people are feeling to express some pretty vicious and violent sentiments,91裸聊视频� she said, noting that the ability to remain anonymous makes it easier to voice 91裸聊视频減olitically incorrect91裸聊视频� opinions.
91裸聊视频淵ou might not say something out loud or you might not sign your name to something 91裸聊视频� (being) expressed online, but if nobody can see your face because you91裸聊视频檝e got a picture of a cute little kitty cat as your avatar, then you don91裸聊视频檛 suffer repercussions, you don91裸聊视频檛 think anyone91裸聊视频檚 going to call you out in the same way they would in a more public and face-to-face venue.91裸聊视频�
Still, it91裸聊视频檚 important to recognize that Canada is hardly innocent when it comes to discriminatory attitudes and policies, said Rima Wilkes, a professor of sociology at the University of British Columbia, pointing to the maltreatment of indigenous people, the 1923 Chinese Exclusion Act, and the internment of Japanese-Canadians and the refusal to accept Jews fleeing Nazi Germany during the Second World War.
More recently, former prime minister Stephen Harper spoke of Islamicism being the greatest threat to Canada and said during the 2015 election campaign he would consider banning the niqab for public servants. Conservative Party leadership hopeful Kellie Leitch is running on a platform of screening would-be immigrants at the border for 91裸聊视频淐anadian values.91裸聊视频�
91裸聊视频淚t91裸聊视频檚 not like Trump just appeared out of thin air and now people have permission (to discriminate). I think this has been simmering for years,91裸聊视频� Wilkes said from Vancouver.
91裸聊视频淚t would be nice if we could try to not be like that. I think we have a leader (Justin Trudeau) right now who is really trying to not be like that.
91裸聊视频淏ut that mosque shooting shows that we are not immune.91裸聊视频�
Perry believes many Canadians are in denial about how commonly racially motivated acts occur in this country 91裸聊视频� she frequently hears from her students about how they or their families have been targeted 91裸聊视频� and that polls over the last five to 10 years suggest a sizable proportion of the population is resistant to immigration and in particular to newcomers from Muslim countries.
91裸聊视频淚t91裸聊视频檚 more like we91裸聊视频檙e finally paying attention to it and acknowledging that it happens,91裸聊视频� she said of discrimination, which may be more overt in the last few months.
91裸聊视频淪o I don91裸聊视频檛 know that it was necessarily latent before. I think what we91裸聊视频檙e seeing is maybe more extreme versions have sort of burst out of the shadows.91裸聊视频�
On the flip side, the Trump administration91裸聊视频檚 travel ban and the Quebec City mosque massacre seem to have had a unifying effect among those who renounce racial intolerance, giving rise to rallies and vigils across the country to demonstrate support for Canadians of all ethnic and religious backgrounds.
Amanda Hohmann, national director of the League for Human Rights of B91裸聊视频檔ai Brith Canada, said that anti-Semitic incidents across the country in the last few months appear to be down, compared to the same period a year ago.
91裸聊视频淚 think people are paying attention now where they weren91裸聊视频檛 maybe paying attention before because of what91裸聊视频檚 going on in this political climate,91裸聊视频� said Hohmann, who is based in Toronto. 91裸聊视频淚t91裸聊视频檚 part of a national discussion right now, this idea of discrimination against minorities.91裸聊视频�
Even so, there have been several reports over the last few weeks of swastikas drawn in the snow in Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., Winnipeg, Montreal and Toronto.
91裸聊视频淭hose are a completely new phenomenon. We haven91裸聊视频檛 really seen that before,91裸聊视频� said Hohmann. 91裸聊视频淚 think the world right now is really polarized. So the people who are promoting this kind of hate, I think they91裸聊视频檝e kind of got their backs up.
91裸聊视频淚t91裸聊视频檚 almost like 91裸聊视频業91裸聊视频檓 going to make my voice louder than your voice.91裸聊视频�91裸聊视频�
Still, Hohmann is heartened by the number of counter-vandalism and counter-discrimination acts also being reported.
91裸聊视频淪o where people write a swastika, somebody colours over it with a heart. I91裸聊视频檝e never seen that to the degree that we91裸聊视频檙e seeing it now.91裸聊视频�
91裸聊视频� Sheryl Ubelacker, The Canadian Press
