Mansoor’s Musings: Doug Ford’s remarks called ‘dumb,’ ‘racist’

By Mansoor Ladha on June 5, 2024.

Some politicians tend to open their mouths and let words flow out without thinking. Some are gracious enough to apologize and rectify their mistakes but not Ontario Premier Doug Ford, who recently appeared to blame the Toronto antisemitic incidents on immigrants.

Whether the incidents are antisemitic or Islamophobic, they should be condemned by everyone and there is no place for them in Canada. But blaming immigrants for such incidents is ludicrous and unacceptable. If Mr. Ford had any evidence of who these immigrants are or to which community they belong, then he should as a good citizen provide the information to the authorities so they can be dealt with under the law.

Ford said people should not come to Canada if they’re “going to start terrorizing neighbourhoods like this.”

“You’re bringing your problems from everywhere else in the world, you’re bringing it to Ontario, and you’re going after other Canadians. I got an idea: before you plan on moving to Canada, don’t come to Canada if you’re going to start terrorizing neighbourhoods like this. Simple as that. You want to come to Canada? You want to be a resident of Ontario? You get along with everyone.”

These are harsh words accusing immigrants without any evidence by the premier of a province with the largest number of immigrants in Canada. So far, there is no indication from police that any of the suspects involved were immigrants, as Ford appeared to suggest.

The unrepentant premier is reported to “stick with what I said” despite the uproar. Ontario NDP Leader Marit Stiles urged Ford to “apologize” for his “racist” remarks.

“Fighting hate with hate has never worked. Fighting antisemitism with xenophobia won’t keep communities safe,” she said in a statement. “I’m appalled by the Premier’s racist remarks. He should apologize.”

Amira Elghawaby, Canada’s special representative on combatting Islamophobia, in a statement on X said: “Legitimizing irrational fears, scapegoating, or spreading unfounded conspiracies about immigrants, or any group, undermines social cohesion and safety. We can and should condemn antisemitism and the heinous acts against Jewish schools without fueling further hate and division.”

Immigration Minister Marc Miller was equally upset, describing Ford’s comments “dumb.”

“It’s a dumb thing to say, blaming immigrants. No one was blaming immigrants for the trucker convoy,” Miller said at a press conference in Montreal. “People have a right to protest when they do. There are legitimate forms, and there are certainly illegitimate forms. And those illegitimate forms certainly include targeting, the deliberate targeting of Jewish institutions.

“If you have issues with the Israeli government, taking on Jews in this country is not the solution. Frankly, if that’s your answer, I don’t want your vote,” Miller said.

I wonder how Mr. Ford’s would classify pro-Palestine protests so prevalent in university campuses in Canada, the U. S. and U.K.? Are the students who are protesting also immigrants?

This isn’t the first time Ford has engaged in racist scapegoating. In 2023, he suggested that immigrants were to blame for Ontario’s housing crisis, as he attempted to garner support for his Greenbelt land grab. In 2021, he suggested would-be immigrants were coming to Ontario “to collect the dole”-an outdated racist stereotype-and refused to apologize.

In 2020, in the wake of George Floyd’s murder in Minneapolis, which sparked worldwide protests, Ford claimed that systemic anti-Black racism doesn’t exist in Canada.

There has been a rise in hate crimes in Canada, which has swelled in recent months amid Israel’s ongoing conflict against Hamas, which began on Oct. 7, 2023. The number of antisemitic incidents in Canada more than doubled in 2023 compared with the year prior.

According to Statistics Canada in its annual look at police-reported hate crimes, since 2019, Jews have been the most targeted religious group based on police data, with 502 incidents in 2022.

Muslims are the second most targeted group, with 108 police-reported hate crimes in 2022. According to a November 2023 Senate report on Islamophobia, an additional 1,723 crimes were motivated by racial or ethnic hatred involving Muslims in 2021.

New figures released by Toronto police showed a 47 per cent increase in reported hate crimes in the city last year, with the Jewish community, 2SLGBTQ+ community, Black community and Muslim community being the most frequently victimized groups.

Instead of urging everyone to live harmoniously in Ontario, Mr. Ford has tarnished Canada’s multicultural mosaic and blemished the country’s record on diversity.

Mansoor Ladha is a Calgary-based travel writer and author of Memoirs of a Muhindi: Fleeing East Africa for the West, Off the Cuff, and A Portrait in Pluralism: Aga Khan’s Shia Ismaili Muslims.

21
-20