Man files rights claim against Gatineau
A man has filed a complaint with Quebec’s Human Rights Commission after he says he was singled out by the City of Gatineau for criticizing a controversial immigrant values guide.
Kamal Maghri, who has lived in Canada for 11 years and works for the federal government, said he was shocked when he discovered that a city official had been investigating him.
He had complained to the city about the guide when it came out in December.
Maghri said the official was digging up details on his finances and even mentioned to other government officials that he had come to Canada just after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in the United States. The official also called a mosque in Gatineau to see if the caretakers knew Maghri.
The city’s investigation came to light when Maghri was accidentally added to a mass email from the city worker to other government officials.
Maghri is being aided by the Centre for Research-Action on Race Relations, a Quebec-based civil rights organization.
The centre filed the complaint on his behalf.
The executive director of the organization, Fo Niemi, said the guide was unnecessary and even discriminatory.
“It’s full of thinly disguised stereotypes,” he said. “These values are basic things that everyone knows. It’s offensive.”
Gatineau is one of only two Quebec municipalities to publish a values guide for immigrants.
The booklet outlines basic human rights, but also includes some contentious advice. The passages warn immigrants to avoid cooking smelly foods, to be punctual, and to use basic hygiene. There’s also a section that specifically outlines that honour killings and other forms of discrimination against women are unacceptable.
The Quebec immigration forums, Kathleen Weil, said the guidebook was based on the province’s seven “common values,” taught to newcomers, including gender equality, French as the dominant language and an explanation of democracy.
However, Weil isn’t happy with the Gatineau guide.
“Was it awkward . would I have phrased it differently? Yes,” she said Wednesday in a telephone interview from Quebec City, adding that the intention of the values guide was not to discriminate.
Gatineau has a population of almost 250,000, with a growing immigrant presence.
In 2006, the latest data available, immigrants accounted for one-quarter of the population. The majority were from Africa, Asia and the Middle East. Niemi said the book specifically targeted Arab, Muslim, and South Asian immigrants.
“In France, there’s a discourse of protecting national values against outsiders,” he said. “This rhetoric is being imported to Quebec.”
However, Julie Taub, an Quebec immigration and refugee lawyer in Ottawa, said the values guide was vital to protect women.
“We’re not only a democratic country,” Taub said. “We are (also) a democratic country that respects absolute gender equality.”
A self-described feminist, she said that the specific issues – such as hygiene and cooking smelly foods – were “ridiculous” but that a general code was necessary to prevent abuse.