Institute for Public Affairs of Montreal

SUR RDI AVEC BRIGITTE BOUGIE
CONTRE LE PROJET DE LOI 14

Speaking at Anti-Bill 14 Rally at Marois' office
Full CTV video,CBC and CTV interviews and press coverage

ANTI-BILL 14 PROTEST RALLY
"A chance to do something, not just complain!"

MEMO TO LIBS & CAQ ON BILL 14
DON'T EVEN THINK ABOUT IT!

CRITIQ
A rights response to language laws

En débat avec Mario Beaulieu (SSJB) sur l`émission Denis Levesque LCN
Réactions

Institute advocacy results in major Revenue Quebec reforms
Journal de Montréal:
Revenu Québec renonce aux cotisations «choc»
*****
Finance Minister and Director-General act after abuses brought to light

Queen's Jubilee Medal
Awarded for
community service

1500 model UN participants hear message of challenge and responsibility
Métropolitain publisher keynotes McGill Conference largest after Harvard and Penn State

The Payette Plan
A community protected,
a battle won,
a campaign continued

Reprenons la rue
Taking back the street

Résister aux comparaisons
Paul Gérin-Lajoie
Un révolutionnaire tranquille

13,000 Montrealers salute Israel
Hosting the Israel Independence Day Rally

Amal's Story
"All I want to know is why?"

On Language
Optics and politics

City's Iran protests continue
Kilgour,Wajsman speak to coalition

Helping Sun Youth's Haitian Relief
Diplomats and activists rally

The Canwest Bid
Going for the Gazette

"KIP"
Daring to care

The Arrogance of Authority
The Bela Kosoian Affair

"Arrogants, vulgaires et disgracieux!"
Citizens fed up with green onions and parking rules

Local and national recognition
The Suburban and Editor receive writing honours

Wajsman for Mayor?
A helluva reaction for April Fool`s

Community coalition demands change
Mayor finally agrees to open discussions

Broken Promises
How we lied to Ala Morales and to ourselves

WOZNIAK
Justice done

Causing a stir
Libs, Tories & BPW

Martin Luther King, Jr. Legacy Award Ceremony at City Hall
BPW receives award for promoting human dignity

The Teaching of Contempt
Gemma Raeburn and the Montreal Police

"Cassandra's Lilacs"- The "Gentle the condition" Concert
The Garceau Foundation and the Institute for Public Affairs present the "Gentle the Condition" concert

"Human Dignity Rally"
Ottawa rally for rights in China an inspiring success

The "Salubrious" persecution of Citizen "M"
Your home is not your castle and you need to know why

Dietrich Freed!
A Senior and the System

A Healthy Corrective to Self-Censorship
National Post's
Barbara Kay on
"The Métropolitain"

Marchildons Win!
RAMQ approves US surgery

Itzhayek Home!
"Sorry just doesn't cut it!"

Advocacy matters!
It makes a difference

Answered Prayers
Battling hunger

Gentle the condition
A just society where co-operation is valued as much as competition and where compassion always triumphs over contempt

Ahead of the curve
Unanswered questions on Gomery bias

Tax Revolt!
If they can do this to us, they can do this to anyone

"We are not satisfied!"
Darfur:The Montreal Conference

The Conrad Black Verdict
Why we all need to care about the politics of justice

The Suburban's
New Editor
Beryl Wajsman

On The Slippery Slope to Thought Control
Quebec's Press Council Decisions

The Pressure at the Pumps
This Time it's the Greed not the Greens

Montreal's Meter War
The Brewing Urban Tax Revolts

Communities of Conscience: The Budapest Wallenberg Memorial Project
Support from the Anglican Church of Canada

The Tale of Two Nazanins
A Victory for Valor

From the Klan to Tehran
Baker, Carter, Duke & the New Cliveden Mindset

The Peter March Concordia Lecture
Islam and Democracy
The Urgency of Reforming State Faith

Therefore Choose Courage
Lest We Forget
Canadians of Conscience

Religious Profiling
Quebec Style

10th Institute Policy Conference
Questions of Values
Ways of Response to the Islamist Challenge

The Problem with Liberalism
It's The Statism Stupid

Quebec and A Question of Values
The Montreal Rally for "Peace"

A Nation
Under Suspicion
Time to Stop the Tyranny of the Mindless

Chantal Beaubien
An Institute Intern Hits the Front Lines

The CUPE Boycott of Israel
Echoes of Darker Evils

Memory and Witness
The EMSB, the Institute and the Palatucci Facility

The Scarlet Lettering of Christopher Statham
Foreign Law and
Free Press

The Freedom to Choose: Always the Right Side of History
The Problem with Total Smoking Bans

9th Institute Policy Conference
United Nations Office for Project Services and the New Realities of the Middle East

The Moslem Riots
Why We Owe Them Nothing

Boycotting Israel
The Hypocrisies of
Petty Narcissms

A Judge's Hanging
The Lynching of
Andrée Ruffo

Power Play
Big Oil, Big Government, Big Fraud

Days of Drums
Times of Treason

The "Responsibility to Protect"
The U.N. Is Not Responsible and Canada Does Not Protect

A Time to Strive and Not To Yield
BPW in the Media on Liberals,Lapierre and Leadership

A Political Mugging
The Politics of
Canada's Nixon

Julius Grey Attacks the New Prohibitionists
Loi 112
Excessif et Paternaliste!

New Orleans
Crisis and Challenge
A Human Triumph of the Power of One

Sharia Justice
Veiled Freedom

The Money Gap
Andy Stern, Alan Greenspan and the Emerging Clash Over Economic Class

Hey State! Stay Out of Our Fate
The Travesty of the Hotel Godin Affair

It Can Happen Here
If You Don't
Stand for Something
You'll Fall for Anything

Just as Many
Just as Mad
A Citizen's Advice to the Ethics Commissioner

"Nothing Illegal" Says Counsel for
Attorney-General
A Top Ten List of
Gomery Hypocrisy

After Chaoulli: Still In Critical Condition
The Health-Care Crisis and the
Crutch of the Courts

Justice for the
Rev. Darryl Gray
Stand Up In Solidarity

Dare To Call It Treason
The Corbeil Allegations and the Oligarchy of Canadian Politics

Hope Conquers Dismay
Jake Eberts Brings Gandhi's Message of Non-Violence to the
Middle East

To Spend Oneself in a Worthy Cause
The Arena of Dust and Sweat and Blood

Revenue Quebec
Time For the
Geese to Hiss

The Gomery Deception
Complicity in the Corridors of Consequence

Never To Mirror What We Seek To Destroy
Pre-Emptive Intelligence Not Preventive Controls

It's Time to Fix It
The World's Meeting Place for Human Rights Leadership

Mandatory Backfire
The Quality of
Justice Strained

Illiberal Justice
Low Limitation and
Narrow Circumstance

Hey Canada!
Can You Handle
the Truth?

Unity and Community
A Program for a True Alliance for Progress

Wal-Mart
A Pharoah Who Knew Not Joseph

Wallenberg:
Daring To Care
The Imperative of Redemptive Rage

A Modern Blood Libel
The Mohammed al-Durra Cover-Up

Voir la souffrance et tenter de la guérir
Les citoyens répondent à la crise des enfants malades

The Marriage Reference
Illiberal Democracy

A Catalyst for Conscience
Canada, The U.N. and the China Trade

The Arrogance of the Asian Tiger
When Will
Enough Be Enough?

Big Brother-
Canadian Style
Too Much Law
Too Little Justice

Globalization's Victims
Let's Label the Exploiters

Dangerous Inmates
Elmasry, Kathrada and the Plague of
Illegitimate Orthodoxy

Organized Labour and Charest's Third Way
The Danger of the Gaspesia Gambit

The Challenge of a National Stirring
The Populist Vision of a New Political Plurality

A Nation Adrift
The Chicoutimi Disaster
The Tragedy of
Unfulfilled Promise
and Undefined Purpose

Concordia's Capitulation
The Paralysis of Reason

Ours Is To Reason Why
Repairing the Chaos of Canada's Military Policies

Doesn't Anyone Get Angry Anymore?
Our Ambivalence to the Insolence of Authority

A Reminder of Our Nation's Pride and Purpose
A Day Aboard the
HMCS Montreal

The Bank Emperors Aren't Wearing Any Clothes
Straight Talk On
Bank Mergers

On Public Revenues and Private Rights
An Examination of the Tolerance of the Governed

Barbarians Within Our Gates
The CRTC and the Intellectual Incoherence of Statist Faith

With One Voice
For The
Devastated of Darfour

"Know Your Rights-Just Say No"
Conference on Seniors Rights Co-sponsored by the Institute

Five Pillars of Purpose
Priorities for Planning in Defense and Security Policy

The Council for Community Conciliation: An Institute Initiative on Hate Crime
A Challenge to the Courage of our Convictions and the Content of our Character

The Whistleblower and Our Leviathan of Oligarchy
A Proposal for
Legislative Action

BPW's Closing Address to the 20th CDA Congress on Foreign Affairs & Defence Policies
"Canada's Hope":A Nation Standing Tall With A Leadership That
Stands Up

The Neglect of the Elderly "Not Yet the Best to Be"
A Visible Minority Besieged

5th Institute Policy Conference: An Evening with Irshad Manji
Opening Event of the Institute's Centre for Democratic Development

Democracy Without Borders
The Institute's Centre for Democratic Development

Habitations Louis-Laberge
2500 Social Housing Units for Montreal

To Afflict the Comfortable and Comfort the Afflicted
The Challenge of Hunger in a Free Society

Opening Address to the 4th Institute Policy Conference
"Pourquoi Israël?
Why Israel?"

Report on the 3rd Institute Policy Conference: James Woolsey on
Security & Trade in the post-Iraq Era

"A Matter of Honor"
Address to the 3rd Policy Conference of the Institute for Public Affairs of Montreal

The Signature of a Society: A Canadian Manifesto
A Populist Agenda for the 21st Century

Remarks by The Honourable Gar Knutson, Secretary of State for Central & Eastern Europe and the Middle East
An Historic Speech of Truth Unbridled by Timidity during the House Debate on Iraq

"Israel Assassin, Schecter Complice!": Prof.Stephen Schecter and UQAM
Moral Relativism, Anti-Semitism & The Shame of Immoral Intellectual License

Aspects of Attack
An Agenda for
Alliances and Action

The Housing Crisis:An Historic Accord
The Start of a Solution

The Politics of Immigration
Approaches for Ministerial Intervention

Canada's Courage
A Statement of the Spirit of the Nation

Israel Myths & Facts
A Checklist for Media Accuracy

The Soldiers of Israel: The Frontline Defenders of the West
Redemptive Acts of Courage and Conscience

Financement et Flexibilité
La Gouvernement du Canada et les Programmes Destinés aux Organismes Communautaires, Culturels et Sociaux

Labour

Justice

Economic & Social Policy

Foreign & Military Affairs

Think Tanks

An Orgy of Hate: The Disgrace of Prejudice

An Open Letter to the Ministers of Justice and Immigration of Canada

Institute Bulletin No.27

10. September 2002

Yesterday, the streets of Montreal were awash with a devastation as deadly to the spirit as any natural disaster is to the body. An element as foreign as any physical threat pervaded our land. A specter as deadening to our senses of decency and democracy raised its ugly head and raged at the light of liberty. It was a spectre that sought to replace expression with intimidation and co-operation with confrontation. It represented a culture alien to our body politic. A culture that legitimizes denunciation over debate and destruction over discussion. It is a virus that we have been aware of and that is now in full bloom. It is incumbent upon you gentlemen to act.

We live in a good and gentle land. Our country gives succor to refugees, educates its young without imposing financial hardships, has a medical system that is free and still the envy of most of the world and nourishes a political culture that does not pander to popular prejudices. When we had a free vote on capital punishment even the Tories did not surrender to the bloodlust of certain of our citizens and voted against it. Through all this we have been told by decades of Liberal government that a system as generous as ours has a certain fragility and requires certain protections from the economic impact of larger powers. It is time to recognize that a democracy such as ours also needs protection from the political impact of totalitarian powers that export their philosophies of hate and intolerance to our shores. A system as generous and giving as ours can only be protected by the courage of character of its champions.

We urge you to act for the dignity of our citizenry and for the destiny of our society. The brutal assaults by demonstraters on Canadians peacefully assembled to hear a speech cannot be tolerated in our land. There can be no cause for self-satisfaction that we allow free speech for the violent while the peaceful are terrorized. The challenge to Mr.Netanyahu’s right to free expression goes to the heart of Canada itself, for the protestors accused him of nothing more than what our late Prime Minister Trudeau did in the FLQ crisis to protect our democracy and keep our citizens safe from violence. The events of yesterday are a direct challenge to our values and purposes as a nation from a philosophy as foreign as the darkness of night.

We ask you Ministers to act boldly and daringly. Many of those engaged in thuggery and assault and destruction and incitement are in this country on sufferance. They are here as students or visitors and in some cases as illegals. The Montreal police have already begun their investigations on Criminal Code violations of the first three offenses. We would urge the Federal Minister of Justice to use the resources and powers of the RCMP and CSIS to begin an immediate investigation of the breadth and depth of the fourth, and most dangerous, offence. Incitement to hatred. Section 319 of the Criminal Code gives wide latitude for such an effort. In addition, we would ask that in the course of the investigations certain information, such as filmed footage, be shared with the Jewish community on a national basis so that our law enforcement agencies could benefit from that community’s intimate knowledge of the message and metaphor of the imagery and icons of the protestors hate propaganda. Many of the names of the foreign instigators of yesterday’s violence are already known to the highest-ranking law enforcement officials in the land.

Furthermore, should any of these non-status foreigners be found guilty of offences under the Criminal Code, either as to assault on persons or as to destruction of property or as to incitement of hatred, we would urge the Minister of Immigration to exercise his sweeping powers of ministerial discretion under Section 115 of the Immigration Act of Canada and begin immediate proceedings for summary deportation and removal under Section 27 of the said Act. These are daring and drastic measures but in these treacherous times where we face, in the words of Prof.Daniel Pipes, “…the only vital totalitarian movement in the world in militant Islam…” we need the actions of the bold and the brave. We must send a signal to the world that we will not allow the importation of a philosophy of hate into this land just as Prime Minister Trudeau refused to allow the blooming of domestic hatred and fratricide. He made a case for courage then. We need to make it now.

That case for courage is steeped in our own history. Canada has often been called a peace loving nation. This is only a half truth. Canada is above all a freedom loving nation. We have sacrificed more sons and daughters for the survival and success of liberty in the past century than even the United States as a proportion of population. We never shirked from this responsibility. We never calculated how many more soldiers there were in the Kaiser’s army. We never worried about the number of tanks in Hitler’s Panzer Divisions. We were never awed by Stalin’s might in Korea. And we never hesitated at home when terrorists threatened to make Montreal a charnel house. We supported the values of western civilization because we wanted to live as free men and women even when we had little more to give than Churchill’s “blood,sweat and tears”. We understood, viscerally, that man’s millennia long struggle to break out of the forests of barbarism was a precious quest. We lionized and celebrated those who stood with us in vigilant opposition to any assault on our values of democracy and freedom. We would “rage against the dying of the light” whenever the black night of terror threatened.

That black night threatens us now. We have a responsibility to act in the name of those Canadians who died in the past century, and do so today, to assure the survival and success of our democracy. The outcome of our response against terror, be it the smallest outbreak, holds immediate consequences for all Canadians. The policy and passion of your political futures will be ennobled by your courageous actions now.

As government leaders you have a pledge to every citizen that they shall share in the dignity of Canada.Your response must be more than the polite platitudes of political discourse. You must demonstrate that our government comprehends and recognizes that a citizen’s dignity rests in the promise of full partnership and protection in the freedom of our land. The Jewish citizens of this country have a particular call on that pledge. Canada is a nation that for all its courage, came to understand the futility of appeasement and the shame of neglect in its “none is to many” immigration policies. Yet this land has benefited more from the character, contributions and commitment of its Jewish citizens than from any other save the two founding communities.

And there is reason for this ---the heritage of the universal Jewish liberal message of humanism that compels Jews to a heightened sense of responsibility to, and engagement with, all members of our Canadian mosaic, a responsibility and engagement which benefits all from the penniless pauper to the powerful politician. The values of the Jewish community of Canada, in contradistinction to those of others, such as many of yesterday’s protestors, are foundationally favourable to Canada’s and have often been the framework for expression for the best in Canadian aspirations. Yet, too often, others will use every device of which human ingenuity is capable to distort and deny the best of what we are.

We all bear an important and cherished title in this land. That title is citizen. As citizens we want our Canadian government to send a message to the world that our heritage is not forgotten and that our place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who in times of moral crisis maintain their neutrality. We are better than that. Let us amplify our nation’s pride and advocate with vigor our country’s standards. For at the core of what we seek is one simple idea---decency. And decency is not something we learned in universities or the political arena. We learned it at our mother’s knee. Your courageous actions will be a clarion call to the civil society we all seek to build,for all civilized men comprehend decency---good from evil and right from wrong---viscerally and instinctively. Let us build on,and trust in, that civility.

The progress of our land will be enriched by your defense of dignity, freedom and courage. We must make bold new departures for if we fail we will lay at harbour facing the relentless tides of even greater challenges to our stability and we will be able to respond only with weary caution and resignation. We must always stand guard that Canada’s ordeal of civility is not flooded by, in the words of Jean-Paul Sartre,”… the teachings of contempt…”.

Beryl Wajsman
President


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