Ontario MPP and Mayoral hopeful George Smitherman with Toronto Mayor David Miller.

When David Miller announced that he would not be seeking a third term for mayor, much speculation arose as to who would dare take the role of what is seemingly the worst political job in the country. Almost right away, Ontario Liberal MPP George Smitherman – who was Health minister of Ontario from 2003-2008 until he was shifted to Energy and Infrastructure – put his name in the proverbial hat, though no official candidacy will begin until the new year. Smitherman is MPP for the Toronto Central riding and does have experience in municipal politics, as he was top aide to former Toronto Mayor Barbara Hall. Considering his likely opponents may include John Tory, Smitherman must think he is a shoe-in for the job and has even resigned his portfolio (though not his membership) in anticipation of the race.

Smitherman will be switching political domains on the heels of the red hot eHealth scandal, which saw the resignation of Smitherman’s health portfolio successor David Caplan. Smitherman feels there should be no correlation between himself or the scandal, because eHealth was not created until after he was shuffled to the energy portfolio.
(more…)

A common misconception, I have found, is that people (and often the media) assume the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE or the Tamil Tigers) and the Tamil people are one in the same. This is a gross misconception, for many Tamil people do not support the LTTE and if they do, it was most likely because no one else in the world was standing up for them. The massive protests in Toronto in support of the Tamils may have seemed to be in favour of the Tigers. But underlying the protests was the disgust with the horrific number of Tamils the Sri Lankan government executed during the last few months of the civil war. While the injustices of the LTTE have been many – including the high profile assassination of Rajiv Gandhi, Prime Minister of India, in 1996 – the Sri Lankan government itself has many things to answer for. BOTH sides of the civil war mercilessly bombed and killed civilians who were, often enough, innocent Tamils. It is these Tamils that need asylum in Canada – not the ones who perpetuated and propagated this war.
(more…)

Nathalie Morin (right), with husband Al Bishi and eldest son Samir.

The Canadian government has decided not to repatriate a Quebec woman living in Saudi Arabia who claims her husband is not allowing her to leave the country. Nathalie Morin, who married a Saudi Arabian man over eight years ago, is subject to the Saudi law that women and their children cannot leave the country without the permission of their husbands. Morin has three children and claims to have been trying to come to Canada for almost three years – but her husband refuses to allow her the necessary permission.

Nathalie Morin met her Saudi husband, Samir Said Ramthi Al Bishi, in Montreal at the age of seventeen. They later moved to Saudi Arabia after the birth of their first son. Morin’s mother claims her daughter’s marriage and family life was strong until they left Canada. It is claimed that Al Bishi is regularly physically abusive and that his refusal to let Moran and her children come to Canada is not out of love but out of spite. Although an amendment to the Saudi law allows foreign wives to leave without their husbands’ permission, it does not apply to Morin as she was married before the law was changed. Desperate to have her daughter home, Morin’s mother Johanne Durocher has been pleading that the Canadian government repatriate her daughter. Foreign Affairs minister Lawrence Cannon met with Saudi officials on the weekend to discuss the situation and announced afterward that the matter was to be privately dealt with by the family. Durocher says Cannon’s press secretary, Natalie Sarafian, sent her an e-mail explaining that Morin’s husband would allow Morin to come home – if the government paid him a sum of $300,000. Durocher claims this exorbitant request was passed onto her. “You don’t buy your children” says Durocher.
(more…)

Jean Charest is upset with the Supreme Court's ruling on Bill 104

Bilingualism in Canada is undeniably one of the most prevalent aspects of our international identity. All of our federal documents are printed in both English and French, despite the fact that only one of our provinces is officially bilingual (and no, it’s not Quebec – only New Brunswick is officially bilingual, meaning the provincial government prints documentation in both languages). Despite all this, language laws have often been a topic of contention within the country and particularly within Quebec. Almost one hundred years after the first language law passed in Quebec, we still find ourselves unable to reach middle ground when it comes to our languages – particularly in the education system. Up until recently, there was a loophole in the Quebecois language laws which allowed parents to send their children to English public school if they had previously attended an English private school. The majority of children in Quebec, however, are required to attend French public school. In 2002, Jean Charest’s government closed the loophole (Bill 104) thus preventing a much larger percentage of students from attending English public school in Quebec. Without the loophole, only students who passed a lengthy assessment of circumstance were granted permission. Yesterday, a disgruntled group of parents who opposed Bill 104 and had taken their displeasure up with the supreme court won a “partial victory” when the supreme court ruled Bill 104 as “unconstitutional and excessive”. Naturally, the Quebecois government is upset, claiming that by allowing a larger minority of children to enroll in the limited English school system in Quebec, the French language is not being preserved.
(more…)