Here’s your Canadian Atheist Weekly Update for to .
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[] Quebec Superior Court upholds most of religious symbols ban, but English-language schools exempt
This was the big news this past week. It’s a bit of a disappointment, but not really a surprise. The truth is that most of the strategies were a bit of a long shot; the fact that the Bill uses the notwithstanding clause shields it from the obvious avenues of challenge. I haven’t read the decision yet (it’s 200+ pages, and only in French, which makes it a bit of a slog for me), but it sounds like the Judge basically said that, yeah, the law is terrible, it violates fundamental rights, it harms minorities disproportionately, and it serves no meaningful purpose… but because of the notwithstanding clause, none of that matters. It’s amusingly ironic that what spared the English school boards was the minority language rights section of the Charter. Of course, it stirred up the usual bigot brigade, but that was to be expected. The current slogan they’re mindlessly repeating is that there should be “one law for everybody”… which is a bit rich given that there was one law for everybody before this stupid law. I wish I could comment in more detail on the ruling, but as I said, I haven’t read through it yet, so it may be a while. What seems certain now, though, is that this battle isn’t over. This is definitely going to be appealed, probably by both sides, and is probably destined to reach the Supreme Court.
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[] There’s An Anti-LGBTQ+ And Anti-Abortion Lobby Group Setting Conservative Party Policy
No one should be surprised to learn that the Conservative Party of Canada is beholden to the (Christian) religious right; that should be the default assumption for any conservative party in Canada. What should be surprising here—and horrifying—is just how beholden they are, and just how far right and how religiously extreme their base is. Campaign Life Coalition is way out there; they’re not just religious nutters, they’re also into conspiracy theories about COVID-19 and QAnon. And they seem to really have a stranglehold on the Conservative Party.
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[] How Canadian evangelicalism is reinventing purity culture as ‘pro-women’
We don’t often talk about Canadian evangelicals; they’re usually overshadowed by their much more boisterous American cousins. But Canadian evangelicals believe pretty much the same ignorant and odious shit as the Americans… they’re just a lot more discreet about it, usually. This article gives us a peek at Canadian evangelicals, and in particular calls attention to their two-faced, faux concern about women’s rights. It actually specifically mentions their crusade against sex-selective abortion—which is really just a backdoor tactic to undermine abortion rights in general.
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[] BC Murder Linked To Hitler Adoring “Christian Identity” Movement
Wow. I’ve mentioned Christian Identity on Canadian Atheist before, as part of the background on white nationalism in the article “Atheism, white nationalism, and anti-Muslim hate in Canada”, but I assumed it was just a historical curiosity. Apparently, it’s still very much alive and kicking in Canada… and still racking up a body count.
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[] Federal Parliament petition e-3114: Citizenship and immigration
The Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada has a system where they can streamline refugee claims, either using a shortened interview process, or sometimes skipping the interview altogether. Basically, if you’re coming from a situation where 80+% of claims get accepted, or where there’s really no question about the risks the refugee is facing, your case could get fast-tracked. For example, Shias from Saudi Arabia can (usually) skip the interview completely, while apostasy or conversion to Christianity in Iran could warrant a short interview. But despite the danger that atheists face in several countries, some of which have seen multiple atheists extra-judicially murdered and some of which flat-out say that the penalty for atheism is death, atheists get no mention in the list of situations that might get you one of the fast-track processes. And when Secular Connexion Séculière tried to get the Minister of Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship to do something about it, they got only silence. So… they set up this Parliamentary petition. Now, it’s already succeed; it needed 500 signatures, and it has over 1,800. But, what the hell, let’s really send a message. Go ahead and sign it!
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Scott. It’s been a while since we connected. I do read your interviews with key secular minds and leaders and your news updates. Your work and commitment to our on-going need to educate ourselves is much appreciated. Just a quick note. I was just given a certificate as the first accredited Humanist Chaplain in Humanist Canada short history. We have put together an accreditation committee to get the word out there and to vet and prepared those follow this career path.