And now for a Canadian update ...

(Visualize a beautiful maple leaf here as I cannot post one!)

YOU, SIR, ARE A RACIST!

by Joe Boughner

September 26, 2006
A simple two-word subhead in today’s Post says it all: “Racism alleged.” In fact, the Big Seven is awash in allegations of racism today. From opening testimony at the Air India inquiry to the continuing fallout from Globe columnist Jan Wong’s piece on the Dawson College shooting to the ongoing Liberal leadership race; it seems that everyone has their own tale of racist torment. So what’s going on? Is the much-loved Canadian mosaic starting to shatter? Have we been so inundated with American cultural offerings that their so-called melting pot is oozing across the 49th parallel, snuffing out our virtues of tolerance? Is it time for another Royal Commission? Melodramatic rhetorical questions aside, MediaScout feels this issue is worth taking a look at, if only to dissuade readers from the belief that we are on the verge of an oh-so-Canadian identity crisis. Think of it as a pre-emptive strike against our national neuroses.The fact is that all perceived racist slights are not created equal. Relatives of the victims of the Air India bombing have, at first glance, a fairly legitimate reason to believe racist undertones have compounded their suffering. As one despondent family member asked the inquiry yesterday, if the victims had been white, would the families have been treated differently? But on the flip side of the credibility coin, one would be forgiven for taking a more cynical stance on Liberal leadership hopeful Joe Volpe’s accusations of mistreatment. Neither fellow Italian-born candidate Maurizio Bevilacqua nor Trinidadian Hedy Fry made mention of racist exclusion when they dropped out of the race, and front-runner Michael Ignatieff is a first-generation Canadian who has spent much of his professional life in the US and Britain. Accusations of racism should not be made or taken lightly; MediaScout hopes to see some more Big Seven scrutiny of these and other similar claims, particularly when they serve as a nice diversion for someone caught in a political jam.

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THE LEADS:
THE NATIONAL: “Debt Payment: the Harper Government pays down a whack on the national debt and finds a billion dollars in savings”
CTV NEWS: “Winter Watch: Before the snow flies, a prediction you should hear”
GLOBE AND MAIL: “Ottawa’s $2-billion hit list”
NATIONAL POST: “Surplus hits $13B, cuts debt”
TORONTO STAR: “Tories cut $1B despite surplus”
LA PRESSE: “Harper pays the bills”
OTTAWA CITIZEN: “‘Trimming the fat’”



THE STRAIGHT GOODS:Ottawa announces $1 billion in cuts to program spending on the same day they unveil a $13.2-billion surplus. A prominent Afghan women’s advocate is killed in Kandahar. Ottawa continues to invest in a fighter-jet project, despite concerns the new plane won’t suit Canada’s needs.
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DON HARPER’S HIT LIST
Everyone but CTV News (who goes inside, not available online) leads with Ottawa’s simultaneous announcements yesterday of a $13.2-billion federal surplus and $1 billion in cuts to federal programs. Along with the cuts, the government announced it intends to find another $1 billion in unidentified program management savings. Some of the targeted programs—including the GST rebate for foreign visitors, the medicinal marijuana research program and the Court Challenges program that subsidized constitutional challenges by various interest groups—had their funding cut outright. Others—such as the controversial Technology Partnerships Canada program and the Youth Employment Strategy—will have to deal with significant reductions in their budgets (a complete breakdown of the cuts is available on the Treasury Board of Canada website). Meanwhile, on the flip side of the ledger, the Tories earmarked the entire $13.2-billion surplus to dept repayment, a move that runs counter to the established (though admittedly Liberal) practice of dividing surplus revenues between debt repayment and program spending.While the Big Seven focus largely on the impact of the many cuts, only the Star (in the form of a Thomas Walkom piece) offers a separate analysis of the announcements. Walkom argues the cuts are largely aimed at appeasing the traditional Conservative base while not ruffling too many feathers further left of the spectrum. He also adds a refreshing bit of context that only he and The National pick up on—the cuts represent approximately 1 percent of annual program spending and approximately one-fourth of 1 percent of annual government expenditures. That fact is likely small consolation to the affected program staff and those they serve, but it’s important to remember nonetheless. The cuts are significant and serve as a marked departure from the practices of previous Liberal governments. MediaScout, however, thinks calling the announcement a “$2-billion hit list” is somewhat overselling the drama.

BRIGHT LIGHT FOR AFGHAN WOMEN EXTINGUISHED

The National, the Globe, the Post, the Citizen (neither available online) and the Star go inside, while La Presse briefs the shooting death of Safia Ama Jan, a leading defender of women’s rights in Afghanistan. Ama Jan ran an underground school for girls during the Taliban regime and was serving as a provincial director for the Afghan Ministry of Women’s Affairs when she was gunned down yesterday outside her home in Kandahar. She was reported to have opened six schools in recent years in Kandahar, where as many as 1,000 girls learned valuable job skills. A regional Taliban commander claimed responsibility for the shooting, but the Associated Press (from which the Star and the Globe get their stories) notes that the claim has not been verified. The killing is part of a wave of violence aimed at reconstruction efforts in the country; a provincial governor was killed earlier this month by a suicide bomber, and just last week 19 construction workers were killed while riding a bus in Kandahar province. Despite the heavy concentration of Canadian soldiers and journalists in Kandahar, only The National dispatched its own journalist to cover Ama Jan’s death, with the Big Seven’s print contingent relying instead on wire copy.

Joe Boughner is an Ottawa-based MediaScout writer for Maisonneuve Magazine.

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