A
Bedrock of Strength and an Affront to a
Nation:
Uncovering
Canada post-9/11
Remarks the
Hon. David Kilgour, P.C., M.P.
Secretary
of State, Asia-Pacific and M.P. for Edmonton
Southeast
Symposium marking the launch of Canada and
September 11th: Impact and Responses
Red and White Club, Olympic Volunteer
Centre,
McMahon Stadium, Calgary
September
18th, 2002
*Check Against
Delivery
It’s
an honor to be a part of this symposium
to reflect on the impact September 11th
has had on our nation and how we have responded
to its challenges. Congratulations must
first go out to Karim-Aly, George and Lynne
for taking the initiative to publish a uniquely
Canadian perspective. There appear to be
close to 1500 American books on the subject,
and to the best of my knowledge, the book
we’re launching here today is one of
only three Canadian ones. (One is the story
of 9/11 as told through the eyes of a resident
of Gander, Newfoundland, and the other profiles
our post-9/11 relationship with the U.S.)
When researching
the chapter, there was a glaring lack of
publicly available information on the effect
that 9/11 had on a variety of groups in
Canada. A few key news stories and magazine
articles provided information, but significant
primary research was still needed. Many
of the individuals and groups contacted
were surprised that someone was even asking
how they had been affected, and all were
highly enthusiastic about the idea of creating
a permanent record of the 9/11's uniquely
Canadian impact. Thanks to your leadership,
future generations of Canadians now have
a source to which they can turn to find
documented responses and thoughtful analyses
of the events and their impacts in Canada
- a source courageous enough to include
the good, the bad, and even the ugly.
Like you,
I remember the day vividly. At 7am ‘Alberta
time’ I was attending a Special Assembly
of the Organization of American States in
Lima, Peru, as a follow-up to the Quebec
City Summit of the Americas. Representatives
from 34 OAS countries that morning passed
unanimously a Democratic Charter about an
hour after the attacks. Many of us there
thought that American Secretary of State,
Colin Powell, would leave immediately, but
a after a dignified statement to the delegates
about what had happened, he said that he
would not leave until the Charter - the
first of its kind for the hemisphere as
a whole - had been adopted.
Watching
that morning in disbelief at the devastation
that unfolded, a wave of emotions began
to flow. As you must have done too, I asked
myself ‘Is this really happening?’
The image of UA Flight 175, carrying terrified
passengers and crew, heading towards the
World Trade Centre's south tower, is one
that will stay embedded in everyone's mind
for decades to come.
Ensuing scenes
of the World Trade Centre, the Pentagon,
the Pennsylvania crash site and the surreal
sight of the twin towers crumbling to ground
made one's heart ache. Like all Canadians,
I felt a deep sense of grief and loss for
America and for the world. We all sensed
in one defining moment that our lives would
never be quite the same. Acts of terror,
war and bloodshed we were so accustomed
to reading about in the news always occurred
somewhere else – somewhere ‘far’
from home.
On September
11th, 2001, it hit us close. Terror had
not just knocked on America’s door.
Instead, like an intruder, it invaded our
neighbour without warning and struck its
fatal blow. As we mourned, we wondered if
we would be next. To say that it was a rude
awakening would be an understatement.
Whither Canadian
Society?
9/11 brought
about a variety of responses. Some made
me proud to be Canadian, such as Gander’s
welcoming of more passengers than it had
residents. Others, however, made me sick
to my stomach: one of the immediate consequences
to 9/11 was an increase in hate crimes against
Muslims, Sikhs, Arabs and Jews across this
country and the world. These senseless acts
stemmed entirely from ignorance and resulted
in more innocent people being harmed and
even killed.
Many Canadians
of Muslim faith felt uneasy about leaving
their homes or going to their place of worship
for fear of being harassed or assaulted.
They felt under siege in their own country,
where many were born and raised. Similarly,
members of the Sikh community were also
subjected to contempt, suspicion, verbal
abuse and unprovoked assault. Members of
the Jewish community also came under renewed
attack from a relative handful of domestic
Osama Bin Laden supporters.
Overnight,
Canadians whose skin tone or facial features
bore a resemblance to the stereotype terrorist
images that flooded our newspapers and television
screens were suddenly looked at with an
air of distrust and suspicion. These Canadians,
who are as patriotic anyone else, were intimidated
and fearful – in this country that
is their own; a nation that has long been
proud of the fact that it is a land of inclusion
and cultural diversity.
One of the
ultimate ironies is that we are home to
such a strong Muslim community because Canada
was chosen by many Muslims fleeing persecution
in their own countries who thought that
Canada reflects many of the values that
Islam itself holds dear.
Media
‘Islamaphobia’
was partly a result of irresponsible media
reporting the world over. Terms unnecessarily
linking faith practices with crimes such
as “armed Islamic group”, “Islamic
terrorist” and “Muslim militant”,
to name a few, were used frequently, thus
perpetuating the phobia and feeding paranoia
in vulnerable minds during that period.
Haroon Siddiqui
in his article in the book wrote that with
some exceptions, much of the mainstream
media echoed the American jingoistic discourse
against Islam and Muslims; it was difficult
to convey the message through the media
that law-abiding Muslims and Arab Christians
were no more responsible for 9/11 than Japanese-Canadians
were for Pearl Harbor or Germanic Canadians
were for the Nazis.
Riad Salooje
of the Council of American Islamic Relations-Canada
noted that Canadian Muslims agree that coverage
of Islam post September 11th was better
than during the Gulf War. The media has,
he said, attempted to include the Canadian
Muslim voice and understand Muslim perspectives.
He noted
however, the resurgence of 'old themes'
in some media outlets such as 'Islamic terror
& Islamic fundamentalism' and that some
outlets reacted cynically to press releases
from the Muslim community saying that Canadian
Muslims faced a stiffer test of patriotism
than other Canadians.
Gordon Legge
from the Centre for Faith and the Media
thinks our media was poorly prepared to
cover the events of September 11th, particularly
in terms of religion. He asserts that the
coverage of the events ought to provoke
soul-searching on the part of the news media
and that we need to equip journalists to
enable them to have a better understanding
about what people believe, why they believe
it, and how to report fairly and accurately.
While Kirk Lapointe, the Senior Vice President of CTV
News, watched the World Trade Centre towers
burning on monitors in his newsroom, a thought
occurred to him as he looked around: there
were no Muslims in his newsroom .He simply
didn't have an in-house resource person
on the issue. It was only then that it dawned
on CTV that diversity in the newsroom didn't
just mean race, gender and sexual orientation.
The concept involves spiritual diversity
as well.
Speaking
at a forum organized by Faith and the Media
with the support of the Department of Canadian
Heritage and the Winnipeg Free Press, Lapointe
said that this is one of the changes in
the way the media thinks about faith.
Although
there have been some improvements in the
way the media cover such issues, the process
is a slow one. A recent poll of 296 Muslims
across our country, conducted by the Council
for American Islamic Relations Canada, showed
that fully 56% believe that the media have
grown more biased against Islam and Muslims.
Other survey
results include the following points:
·
82% of respondents said they knew of a fellow
Muslim who experienced discrimination.
·
33% said their lives changed for the worse,
while 39% said that they experienced no
change and 22% said their lives changed
for the better.
·
Those who indicated that their lives changed
for the worse felt disliked by fellow Canadians,
were subjected to rude and hostile behavior
and were concerned about the safety of themselves
and their families.
These results
are painful for most Canadians to hear.
Hopefully, our collective outrage will force
vigilance and deliberate care both in the
way our media covers issues related to religion
and in the way we reach out to fellow Canadians.
Walking the
Walk
9/11 forced
Canadians to ‘soul-search’. Do
we act out of fear and paranoia? Do we let
this event sever seams that hold the fabric
of our multicultural society together and
slowly let it rip us apart?
Fortunately
incidents of hate crimes were not the norm.
The overwhelming majority of Canadians saw
an opportunity in the events of 9/11 to
"walk our talk" about being a
strong democracy, to hold on to our values,
to unite in a stand against the ‘real’
terrorists and not to help their causes
by turning on each other.
Our response
as a nation was to draw from the strength
of our diverse society. While being proud
of our own individual backgrounds, many
opened hearts and minds seeking a better
understanding of Canadians from differing
faiths and backgrounds.
To quote
a segment from Myrna Kostash's article in
the book we honor today, now Globe &
Mail Editor-in-Chief, Edward Greenspon,
wrote, "the evidence suggests that
Canadians, rather than stomping on the multicultural
flag, rallied around it."
This was
illustrated in part by the various inter-faith
services that were a direct result of 9/11.
One major inter-faith service was held on
Parliament Hill and, despite short notice,
the response was overwhelming. The largest
room on Parliament Hill was filled to capacity
by hundreds of people from a range of faiths
sharing their grief and united in prayer.
Groups that had before been mutually respectful
but never directly engaged were now relying
on each other in ways few would have anticipated
before 9/11.
University
of Calgary Dialogues
At the University
of Calgary, you organized several "Dialogues
on Terrorism" aimed to educate students,
staff and community by eliminating misunderstandings
and dispelling myths & stereotypes about
Islam. These helped to ease tensions and
open the minds of those who attended them.
As Joanna Buhr wrote in her chapter, a religious
studies professor here was impressed by
the fact that many participating students
affirmed their support for one another and
denounced the mistreatment of any specific
group of students.
The Canadian
Teachers' Federation (CTF) urged its members
following 9/11 to take a pro-active role
in countering anti-Muslim and anti-Arab
sentiments. The CTF president rightly stated
that the Federation believed the fight against
religious and political extremism started
in the classrooms and in our communities.
Teachers play a pivotal role in the lives
of young Canadians (and the world over)
and were urged to recognize that it was
their professional responsibility to help
children and youth cope with this tragedy
by encouraging discussion in the classroom
and educating students by correcting inaccuracies
about how they view other cultures and religions.
WEBB which
stands for Women Engaging in Bridge Building
is an example of an organization that was
established after 9/11. The idea of WEBB
germinated at a conference in Milan last
year, three weeks after 9/11. Professor
Dr. Riffat Hassan, a Pakistan born Muslim,
was a speaker at the conference to talk
on the subject of religion and contemporary
trends.
With 9/11
dominating the thoughts of many, Hassan
felt the need to share her perspective about
the public disclosure in the U.S. regarding
Islam and Muslims. Her presentation evidently
generated much interest and discussion with
other participants. Members agreed to work
toward having a network of women of all
faiths with centres in different countries
to work with Hassan and other like-minded
persons to implement projects in the West
and Muslim countries.
Members of
WEBB will engage in building bridges across
the schisms and chasms of misperceptions
and misconceptions that separate non-Muslims
from Muslims and marginalized groups of
Muslims from ones with privilege and power.
One year
later, many civil society groups are optimistic
that the post 9/11 climate of distrust can
be overcome and are willing to focus on
the unexpected positive outcomes.
Facing the
Century
A lot of
both wise and foolish things have been said
about September 11th in the past year. Let
me share only a couple of comments for your
consideration:
·
Our 23-year-old daughter, Eileen, wrote
our family last December from Thailand that
the year 2001 was one where poverty, violence,
HIV/AIDS, and human rights had all worsened
in many countries.
·
Someone made the same essential point that
if the so-called ‘developed world’
does not go to communities which support
bin Laden around the world, he and his friends
will visit more of our neighbourhoods.
·
National Post commentator, Andrew Coyne,
felt that 9/11 provoked something of an
existential crisis among many Canadians.
He re-ignites a burning debate regarding
the difference between Canada and the U.S.
and our constant need over the years to
illustrate who we are by highlighting the
differences between us. He wrote, "Surely
we can come up with some higher argument
for our existence than 'to be different'."
9/11 may have the beneficial effect of a
different line of inquiry, one that focuses
not on identity as the defining quality
of nationhood, but on the moral purposes
to which that nation is dedicated.”
He concludes with the notion that it is
irrelevant if we choose a path that makes
us more and or less like the Americans.
Instead – we as a nation, must aim
not to be unique but to be the best: to
be the highest example of ideals that are
common to all societies.
·
Charles Krauthammer, a Washington based
columnist, wrote, " A nation's character
does not change in a day. September 11th
did not alter the American character, it
merely revealed it. It allowed – it
forced – the emergence of a bedrock
America of courage, resolve, resourcefulness
and, above all resilience. "
I believe
the same can be applied to Canada. The good
news, according to many of the contributors
of the book, is that apart from the most
infantile incidents of harassment, discrimination
and violence against some Canadians of Muslim,
Sikh, and Hindu faith, our population’s
commitment to respecting diversity, inclusiveness,
human dignity, and spirituality have all
gone up.
Conclusion
Karim-Aly
Kassam aptly describes ‘us’ in
the conclusion of his article when he states
that Canada of the 21st century, through
the long history of co-existence of its
indigenous peoples and immigrants from the
world over, has manufactured its own unique
ideas and ideals which has withstood the
test of time and can be shared with communities
across the globe. Canada, he says, is an
illustration to the world (specifically
Afghanistan) that a pluralistic civil society
is not just a hope but also a reality.
The majority
of Canadians want the same things: continued
peace & stability in our nation; to
co-exist with understanding and acceptance,
and to respect our fellow Canadians for
what they are, regardless of their faith
and origin.
9/11 was
a tragic day, but it has hopefully proven
that when a nation shaped by an intense
bedrock of strength is faced with an assault
on its unity, its people do not let the
challenges they face destroy their faith
in each other.
Thank you.
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