March 2, 2016 English Edition, No. 5
Recent Events at the Collège de Maisonneuve
- Fernand Deschamps -
Recent Events at the Collège de Maisonneuve • Demonization of Muslims in the Name of "Combating Hate Speech" - Fernand Deschamps - • Statement on Incident Involving Adil Charkaoui - Farouk Aouni -
For Your Information • Government Bills 59 and 62
1 Recent Events at the Collège de Maisonneuve
- Fernand Deschamps -
Almost one year after Collège de Maisonneuve in Montreal terminated a contract to rent classrooms to the School of Companions where security certificate survivor Adil Charkaoui teaches Arabic and Koranic studies, the monopoly-owned media is fabricating more stories to demonize Muslims and divide the polity.
Mr. Charkaoui is an Arabic-language teacher, director of the Assahaba Islamic Community Centre in Montreal and president of the the Quebec Collective Against Islamophobia. He was the victim of secret security certificate proceedings instituted by the federal government beginning in 2003 which in 2008 the Supreme Court of Canada ruled to be unconstitutional. Since that time he has been singled out as a target for demonization by the monopoly media and ruling circles and others, such as Collège de Maisonneuve, have become guilty by association. Not only is Mr. Charkauoi's life made miserable but so too those of his family members and members of his social, religious and professional circles. The lives of Collège de Maisonneuve students, professors and staff are also turned upside down.
But this is not all. The Liberal mayor of Montreal has used the defamation as a pretext to establish, advocate and get funding for his "de-radicalization" experiments[1] and the Liberal government of Quebec has jumped on the bandwagon to introduce a law, Bill 59, which claims to oppose hate speech, all the while peddling Islamophobia on an unprecedented scale. For their part, the main parties which form the Opposition in the National Assembly, the Parti Québécois (PQ) and Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ) have also thrown all caution to the wind in their demands for the Government to go further to defend "Quebec values" against those who "preach" inimical ideologies and religions.[2]
The Monopoly Media's Disinformation
The recent developments are that La Presse, one of Quebec's main daily newspapers owned by the Desmarais family who control Power Corporation, has concocted three new stories published on February 19, 24 and 25. The first article is entitled ''Tensions and Intimidation at collège de Maisonneuve." It says a group of students intimidated members of the college library staff. The author claims his allegations are based on ''confidential sources'' as well as on an incident which took place on December 7, 2015 in the college parking lot. The article claims that a fight broke involving one of the students who was prevented last year from boarding a flight at the Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport in Montreal with nine other youth.
This refers to another concocted story. Police confiscated the passports of ten students in February 2015 under the pretext that they were planning to go to Syria to fight alongside the Islamic State. No evidence was ever provided for this allegation and no charges were ever laid
2 against them. Not long after they were prevented from leaving the country and hysterical stories flooded the media it was revealed that the youth were five couples who wanted to leave the country to marry as the nuptials were against their parents' wishes. At the time, the monopoly media attempted to link two of these youth to Adil Charkaoui, claiming that they had twice enrolled in a course and later dropped out.
Following the publication of the February 19 article, the Collège de Maisonneuve administration published a statement which said, among other things:
''Since last Friday [February 19], Collège de Maisonneuve has become the subject of media coverage which is getting out of hand. Without trivializing in any way the events which took place, we sincerely wish to denounce the numerous connections which the media are promoting.
''On December 7, 2015, when the library was closed, a dispute broke out and degenerated into a fight outside the college. The person responsible for the dispute was expelled on December 11. Neither the Security Service nor surveillance videos have revealed that a knife was involved in the dispute. As well, none of the participants in the dispute had anything to do with the youth who were intercepted at the Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport.
''It sometimes occurs that certain students who use the library are impolite towards the staff trying to enforce the code of conduct. These interventions create certain tensions between some students and employees, but these tensions have absolutely nothing to do with the ethnic origin of our students and even less with the phenomenon of radicalization.''
Not satisfied with this clarification, La Presse published yet another sensationalist article on February 24. The article is titled, ''Collège de Maisonneuve Denies a Climate of Fear." It repeats the lie that one of the students involved in the December 7 dispute was one of the ten youth stopped last year at Trudeau airport.
Then another article was published in La Presse on February 25, this one picked up from an earlier report from Paul Arcand's radio program on 98.5 FM. Entitled, ''Yet Another Incident at Collège de Maisonneuve Involving Charkaoui." It carried the subtitle ''Yet Another Provocation by Charkaoui.'' The article claims that a representative of Collège de Maisonneuve stated that on February 21 one of its security guards ''was intimidated by members of a soccer team comprised of individuals from outside the college'' and that the police had been called to intervene. According to the article, one of the people identified by police officers called to the college was Adil Charkaoui.
Not to be outdone, the Journal de Montréal, owned by the Péladeau family which controls the Quebecor monopoly, published an item on February 26 entitled, ''Muslim Commando at the Cegep.'' It added nothing "new" which makes it look as if its only aim was to give some credibility to the disinformation of La Presse and thereby shore up the dangerous demagogy of
3 the Liberal government and main political parties in the National Assembly. They claim that the main danger to the security of Quebec and Canada is posed by radicalized youth and their religion, beliefs and behaviour, that is to say, their allegedly anti-Quebec values.
It would seem that no elected official or Cegep representative is interested in conducting a serious inquiry into what actually took place on February 21 or to speak with everyone involved in the incident, in particular the person who rented the facilities for the soccer game. The latter gave his version of the February 21 events. His statement is printed below.
This is how the monopoly media go about their business. An article is conjured up. It coincides with the anniversary of an event which was distorted and falsified in the first place. Harmless incidents are blown out of proportion (misbehaviour on the part of a few students towards the library staff and some people who happen to be Arab and perhaps Muslim playing soccer in a school gym), then connected to events that took place in 2015 (the incident with the ten students at the airport). The lie is repeated again that these youth wanted to flee to Syria to fight with ISIS, and past events are again distorted so as to connect them to the School of Companions and to defame its president, Adil Charkaoui so as to engage in fearmongering amongst the people, sow Islamophobia and permit the government to legalize discrimination and the criminalization of youth in the name of opposing hate speech.
The demonization of Muslims in the name of ''combating hate speech,'' is not acceptable. The monopoly media and Couillard government are the greatest proponents of disinformation leading to extreme measures by the state against national minorities, including Muslim youth. It must not pass!
Notes
1. See Chantier politique, February 17, 2016 - No. 4.
2. The Couillard government was quite content to take up the La Presse fabrications rather than carry out any investigation into the incidents which took place on December 7, 2015, and February 21, 2016. The same week the articles were published, the press secretary for the Minister of Education said, ''It's up to the head of the college to ensure on-campus security as well as a safe environment conducive to learning. We expect the school representatives to take up their responsibilities.'' The Ministry of Public Security declared, ''We are paying close attention to the situation because we will not tolerate any further intimidation.'' The Minister of Justice also declared in the National Assembly that the government has tabled amendments to Bill 59 to prevent and combat hate speech and speech inciting violence. She linked these amendments to the La Presse article and to the request of the Cegep Federation to be allowed to terminate rental contracts in cases where ''student security could be jeopardized.''
4 Refering to Bill 59, leader of the Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ) François Legault told media on February 25 that events sensationalized in monopoly newspapers prove that the bill is "useless in fighting radicalization." Legault said, "We need a bill that will made it illegal to preach against Quebec values, it's that simple. We must beware of fundamentalists, of Islamists," he said. "We must dare to name the problem, but [Premier] Couillard is not comfortable with that." Legault said he was "concerned that a school gym could be used to preach." Legault said, "I have a son who went to De Maisonneuve. I can't believe the college would allow someone like Adil Charkaoui to continue to preach there against Quebec values." He also demanded that the Quebec police (Sûreté du Québec) intervene in the situation.
The PQ "secularism critic" Agnès Maltais said, "All parties are agreed on the need to fight radicalization. I would throw Bill 59 in the garbage. It cannot be amended. Measures are required to fight fundamentalist imams, no need to pass legislation." The Journal de Montréal quotes Maltais as saying that the only result of the bill will be "to curtail the freedom of expression of all Quebeckers and provide all Islamists the possibility of blocking all legal action against them by demanding that their human rights [enumerated in the bill] be respected." "All we see on the table is a bill that attacks the freedom of expression of all Quebeckers," said Maltais. "We don't need a bill. All we need are additional resources to help schools and police forces enforce the Criminal Code against dangerous predators."
(Translated from the original French by Chantier politique)
- Farouk Aouni -
Farouk Aouni is the person who signed the contract to rent the gym at Collège de Maisonneuve for a soccer game on February 21. He made the following statement:
Following the statements by the spokesperson for Cegep Maisonneuve on Paul Arcand's radio program (98.5 FM) and the publication of a number of articles in La Presse, I wish to share my version of the facts with the public.
1. The Security guard was never surrounded by participants.
2. No ball ever touched him.
3. A number of players suggested that he move because he was close to the goal net and there was a risk of him being hit by the ball. He refused to do so claiming he would be able to take advantage of the CSST -- Commission des normes de la santé et de la sécurité du travail (Workers Compensation Board).
4. Mr. Adil Charkaoui did not push the agent in question and contrary to the spokesperson's statements, there was no "punch to the chest."
5. First, Mr. Adil Charkaoui wanted to close the door but the guard, who was standing in front of the door, prevented him from doing so. So he suggested that he either come in or leave.
6. Mr. Charkaoui, who was acting as referee, intervened to calm things down as the guard was
5 provoking the youth and encouraging them to throw the ball his way and to hit him.
7. Wanting to close the door, and without being aggressive or forceful, Mr. Charkaoui signalled the guard with his hand, inviting him in. The latter then threatened to call the police if Mr. Charkaoui closed the door. And he carried out his threat.
8. We continued to play until the police arrived, who took statements from the security guard and Mr. Charkaoui. The police then left and we finished our match.
9. We were not in the middle of prayer when the guard came to watch the match.
10. Mr. Charkaoui was there to accompany his son, as referee as well as to play with us. He is not the person in charge of the activity, nor is he a permanent participant.
11. Contrary to statements made by the cegep, the majority of the players were not between the ages of 30 to 40. They were college students and youth under the age of 25.
12. I am surprised that although the incident was reported closed by the SPVM (City of Montreal Police Service) on Sunday, the Cegep Maisonneuve spokesperson declared on 98.5 [FM] that she has a meeting with the police on Monday to lodge a complaint!
13. I refuse to have my contract annulled and it is my opinion that the cegep should honour it and not bow down to media pressure and political manipulation.
(Source: The Muslim News, February 26, 2016. Translated from original French by Chantier Politique.)
For Your Information
The Couillard Liberal government tabled Bill 59, An Act to enact the Act to prevent and combat hate speech and speech inciting violence and to amend various legislative provisions to better protect individuals in the National Assembly on June 10, 2015. It was tabled at the same time as Bill 62, An Act to foster adherence to State religious neutrality and, in particular, to provide a framework for religious accommodation requests in certain bodies. Bill 59 is currently at the committee stage of clause-by-clause review with the last meeting taking place February 23, while Bill 62 has yet to proceed further. The two bills are part of the Government Action Plan 2015-2018 called "Radicalization in Quebec: Action, Prevention, Detection and Living Together," also tabled June 10.
Bill 59 introduces new powers to institutionalize denunciation, establish mechanisms to protect informants, allow the minister to interfere in the early child and primary, secondary, college and university education sectors as well as in private schooling, including the retention and annulment of grants to the targeted institutions. In several places within the bill, the issue of "behaviour that could reasonably pose a threat for the physical or emotional safety" is raised as a pretext for the use of powers for state intervention.
Section 9 of the Bill 59 states that where the Commission des droits de la personne et des droits de la jeunesse (Human Rights and Youth Rights Commission) "has reason to believe that there is
6 a threat to the life, health or safety of a person belonging to a group targeted by the speech being investigated, or if there is a risk of evidence being lost, the Commission may apply to a court for any emergency measure that can put an end to the threat or risk of loss." The Explanatory Notes of the bill indicate that a minister can initiate an investigation on the basis of presumption or belief.
Bill 62, among other things, would mandate that provincial employees "must exercise their functions with their face uncovered" and those receiving government services "must have their face uncovered."
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