After a series of setbacks, supporters of the Conservative Party of Canada (CPC) face disappointing news: the “Islamophobia” battering ram has emerged as a stumbling block, causing an uproar within the party only three months ahead of its leadership convention. The party is set to pick a new leader in August, as Andrew Scheer resigned as CPC leader in December, two months after the Liberal government win in the federal election despite the “impressive” lineup of scandals plaguing Trudeau. These include ethics violations, the monumental SNC Lavalin corruption scandal, historic big spending, a welcome mat for returning Islamic State fighters, the infamous Roxham Road illegal immigration debacle at the Quebec-US border that saw tens of thousands of illegal migrants swarm in, Trudeau’s internationally humiliating visit to India, and his repeated blackface antics. The big question was: why didn’t the official opposition Conservatives win, when the election was virtually handed to them? During the SNC Lavalin corruption scandal — which involved links to Libya — the Conservative party had a clear lead months before the fall 2019 general election.
Amid the myriad of possible reasons why the Conservatives frittered away this lead, a few basic reasons stand out: a lack of trusted leadership and a betrayal of democratic values, which eroded the Conservative support base and in fact fractured that base into two separate camps. Conservative MP Maxime Bernier, excoriating “extreme multiculturalism” and “fake Conservatives,” suddenly quit the party to form his own party, the People’s Party of Canada (PPC). With the PPC and the CPC both vying for their votes, many conservative Canadians were just too despondent to cast a ballot.
Then there were Andrew Scheer’s pre-election gaffes, which did not go over well with his support base. Two months prior to election day, a video surfaced of Scheer pandering to an anti-Israel imam who supports wife-beating, among other questionable members of the Islamic community. The video in itself could not be blamed for eroding Scheer’s support, but it merely provided further evidence of a paramount concern within the conservative sector of Canadian society: that it was becoming increasingly difficult to differentiate between the Conservatives and the Liberals.
Scheer also made headlines when he threw the Tory MP Michael Cooper out of a Commons committee hearing involving “online hate” after Cooper’s understandable confrontation with a Muslim witness who had become provocative. “Online hate” was one of the issues mentioned in the followup document to anti-Islamophobia Motion M-103, a document which promised to “monitor citizens for compliance.” Free speech is the cornerstone of democracies, and diversity of opinion is necessary, but Scheer established a troubling “cancel culture” within the Conservative Party. He fanned the flames of political correctness to the detriment of Canada, as Justin Trudeau drilled into Canadians that “we have a problem with Islamophobia.” Trudeau even accused the Conservative Party of “Islamophobia.” So a prevailing question arose in considering Scheer for Prime Minister: did he earn enough respect as a leader to challenge the leadership of Trudeau? Canada certainly answered that question on election day, despite the favorable polls Conservatives had enjoyed only months before in the face of Liberal corruption.
Now more bad news has emerged, revealing the same fear, division, lack of leadership and rancor that caused the parting of ways with Maxime Bernier. This time it centers around Jim Karahalios and MP Erin O’Toole, both contenders in the Conservative leadership race, that is, contenders up until recently. Karahalios has been forced out.
In March, Karahalios set off a firestorm when he sent out a letter warning about O’Toole’s campaign manager. This excerpt from the National Post gives a brief picture of the fallout:
“Mr. Karahalios’s bigotry will result in electoral obliteration for our Party,” said O’Toole in a statement on Wednesday. “For the sake of our Party — and respect for our members — every leadership candidate should join me (and Jason Kenney and Doug Ford) in condemning his disgraceful rhetoric.”…
Asked for comment, the Karahalios campaign responded that they are seen as a threat by other campaigns because they are “less than $100,000 away” from qualifying for the final ballot.
“Red Tories behave like Liberals, when you disagree with them they persecute you,” said an emailed statement.
The result: after qualifying to run, Karhalios was ejected by a subcommittee for engaging in “racist Islamophobic remarks that besmirched the expressed principles of the Conservative party.” Karahalios took the matter to court and was victorious; Ontario Superior Court Justice Paul Perell overturned the ruling of the subcommittee on the grounds that “the decision was made by a subcommittee that didn’t have the authority to do so.” But a day later, Karahalios was yet again disqualified.
No conversation, no dialogue, no questions posed to Erin O’Toole; only accusations of “Islamophobia” and “racism” against Karahalios.
Discussions in Canada are now all but shut down on key issues involving Islam. Let’s have a brief look, however, at some possible questions: is it “racist” and “Islamophobic” to accuse someone of supporting the Sharia? If the answer is yes, then it implies that something is wrong with Sharia. After all, O’Toole has certainly distanced himself from the implication of any association with the Sharia. So why not come out and make clear where he stands, instead of savaging Karahelios?
A second question might be: why would he not explain his position on the issue of whether he supports Sharia finance and more broadly, the Sharia in general? This is a fair question, no? Had he simply explained why he believed that Karahalios was mistaken and that he does not in any way or form endorse the Sharia, this would have sufficed, and deflected the firestorm that erupted. Instead, tempers flared, leaving the impression that there was something to hide, and Karahalios was sent packing. Very bad for optics.
What is erupting in the Conservative Party is disconcerting. But all is not lost. Another Conservative leadership contender, Derek Sloan, who is not too busy politicking to confront this explosive issue, stated:
“One thing that should put us Conservatives head and shoulders above the Trudeau Liberals is our commitment to respect grassroots democracy. This commitment must be demonstrated at every opportunity, especially in a leadership contest…….Well, today, another candidate’s fate is up in the air: Jim Karahalios.
A number of weeks ago, Jim Karahalios was denied the opportunity to run. This, in spite of LEOC [Leadership Election Organizing Committee] initially approving Jim’s entry into the race; in spite of Jim collecting the required 3000 signatures; and in spite of Jim raising the $300,000 entry fee…we know exactly why Jim Karahalios was evicted from the race.
One of the other leadership candidates didn’t like the contents of Jim’s campaign communications, and he then filed a complaint against Jim’s campaign. This complaint first led to a fine being levied against Jim’s campaign, and then, ultimately, to the disqualification of his candidacy altogether.
This was a huge overstep on the part of the members of LEOC who were involved. They were wrong in their disqualification of Jim Karahalios. Jim Karahalios has since gone to court to get reinstated as a candidate.
True, it shouldn’t be up to a judge as to who should be the next CPC leader. But it shouldn’t be up to LEOC, either. It should be up to the members of the Conservative Party of Canada. Should LEOC be censoring what candidates can and cannot say? No, they should not. Let the members decide. This is why we have elections. Candidates say things and the voters make their evaluations, and then they vote. Sure, Jim made statements that some people didn’t like, and not everyone may agree with him. Indeed, Jim even attacked me at one point, but I didn’t go crying to the party that I didn’t like what Jim said. Let Jim Karahalios run. Put Jim Karahalios back onto the ballot.”
Sloan has captured what is wrong with the Conservative Party of Canada, and what needs fixing.
Frank Gaffney, founder of the Center for Security Policy, summarized the risk of supporting Sharia finance. He warned that it is “green-lighting a seditious system that supports jihad.” He further stated:
If you understand what Shariah is, you understand that it is a pretty awful system. Not something that you’d want insinuated in your society and becoming a major feature of your economic system…..Shariah (Islamic law as dictated by the Koran) governs all aspects of life, from the personal practice of the faith to how you relate to your family to how you relate to your business partners, to your community … all the way up to how the world is run, and it is all one seamless program. You can’t say ‘I’ll take the personal pietistic practice … and skip the beheading and the flogging and the stoning and the global theocracy.
Terrorism funding and the funneling of billions by Islamic banks to al-Qaeda, al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, the Muslim Brotherhood, Hamas, and other jihad groups is another related subject. Islamic finance also owes much of its foundation to jihadists, notably Sayyid Abul Ala Maududi, a Pakistani Muslim scholar and Islamic jurist who was founder of the Jamaat-e-Islami in Pakistan, and Hassan al-Banna, founder of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt.
As it stands of this writing, the fate of the Conservative leadership race hangs in the balance. Given the Conservative Party of Canada’s competitor, the People’s Party of Canada, and given the results of the last election, it is critical that sound leadership be restored to the party.
If the Conservative party has lost control over its own Leadership Election Organizing Committee (LEOC), how does it expect to lead Canada, should it win in the next general election. How can it be equipped to confront interrelated national issues including immigration, the economy, national security, the influence of the Muslim Brotherhood and other Islamic supremacist groups, the abuse of multiculturalism and the identity politics that are tearing Canada apart, the UN Migration Pact, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation on the international front, among others?
Due to the lack of democratic principles foisted upon the Conservative Party by the LEOC, a general capitulation to the Islamic supremacist lobby that began under Andrew Scheer, and a fragmented conservative base, it looks as if Canada may well be headed for yet another Liberal government win, unless the Canadian conservative base manages to turn the ship around.
Dude says
It is probably not PC (although it is of course true), but the term Islamophobia refers to Islam’s homophobia.
I did however form a quite different opinion from the movie “Lawrence of Arabia”.
gravenimage says
Pious Muslims murderously hate consensual same sex relationships, but have always been pretty good with homosexual pedophilia and rape intended to humiliate.
Ferd III says
Scheer and the Con party. Fracking joke.
Panty waists and Libtards, little better then the People’s Princess Justina, Empress for Life, Empress of all the Canadas, Her Royal Arselingness etc etc.
Con party is a waste of time. Criticising a Meccan fascist moon cult is not racist, phobic or evil. The cult of Muhammad IS racist, phobic and evil. The cult of Muhammad contravenes existing Canadian ‘rights’ laws.
Read Mein Koran for more info. So now criticising a Nazi would apparently make a Canadian, a Naziphobe.
Embrace ‘Islamophobia’ explaining why it is moral, right, just and civilised to be a Moslem-denier.
PC Fascism be damned. The low IQ media be damned. The low IQ Libtards be damned.
Peter Buckley says
It’s very simple. It just requires one politician to say what French Prime Minister Valls has said. Whoever does that will find himself extremely popular the next day, as few Brits recognize the legitimacy of the word:
https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2015/01/french-prime-minister-manuel-valls-on-islamophobia/384592/
gravenimage says
Thanks for that link, Peter.
mortimer says
Karahelios is shooting the Tories in the foot. O’Toole is fighting a battle that doesn’t need to be fought. The Tory candidates use irresponsible rhetoric against one another, and think they are going to a rough-and-tumble water polo match, rather than to a fishing expedition. The fish will scatter if they don’t stop it. The fish may not return for a long time.
Left Coast says
The Con-servatives have shot themselves in the foot . . . O’Toole in just another Sheer or McKay fraud . . . imagine losing an election to the most Low Intellect PM Canada has ever had.
Sheer did that while campaigning in the PPC leaders Riding on Election eve.
O’Toole will be the next one to LOSE to the incredible Jihad Justin . . . as Real Conservatives migrate to the PPC & Wexit Parties.
Canada is well on the way to Sweden or France today . . .
RichardL says
I don’t fly via Toronto anymore because jihadis make up 50% of the airport’s employees. Canada is so fucked and they voted for the scumbag again. What does the “Conservative” party do? They mimic buttboy!
mortimer says
Ferd III … you are all over the map. The issue here is the ‘Islamophobia’ slander. I remind you that this forum is ‘JIHAD WATCH’, not ‘Tory Watch’. The thesis of this forum is that Islam has a canonical teaching of warfare against disbelievers. While not all Muslims know or approve of jihadism, that is truly Islam’s core teaching.
The Tories are stumbling over the slander term ‘Islamophobia’, because they do not have a unified response to the JIHADIC TERRORISM.
The Tories should simply and forthrightly say, ‘WE ARE OPPOSED TO JIHADIC TERRORISM ON PRINCIPLE AS A VIOLATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS and DON’T WANT IT IN CANADA.’ A lot of modern-day Muslims agree with that.
Left Coast says
The ignorant Cons claimed it was “Racist” to criticize the ideology of Izzlam . . . that is INSANE!
Izzlam had members of EVERY Race on the Planet . . . are they that stupid?
They have been Played again by Izzlamists . . .
mortimer says
Response to Dude: The Islamophobia slander is an accusation based on seriously flawed reasoning. The ‘Islamophobia’ slander-word is an excuse for censorship and is a ‘big lie’, implying that one should not criticize a supremacist political ideology (Islamism), because the apologists of that supremacist ideology may have hurt feelings.
what is wrong with disliking a political ideology whose aim is to remove the human rights and civil liberties of women and non-Muslims?
How can a common reaction to Islam, in this case, an “unfounded fear of and hostility towards Islam” — to use CAIR’s definition of Islamophobia — be a constant aspect of Islam’s fourteen-hundred year history, and yet still be regarded as “unfounded”?
Counter-jihadists oppose the very principle of jihadic terrorism (to terrorize disbelievers) and consider jihadic terrorism to be an intentional violation of human rights of women and all non-Muslims or of Muslims who disagree with the jihadists.
Many modern-day Muslims also oppose jihadic terrorism as a violation of human rights, conscience of the individual and personal freedoms.
Opposition to jihadic terrorism is thus reasonable and not ‘phobic’ in the least.
Tyler H says
The only real conservative party in Canada is The People’s Party of Canada with Maxime Bernier. The rest are a sham and dangerously poisonous for our country. Mad Max is our only hope for a prospering future without islamic and political corruption stepping in the way. -PPC- Mad Max!
Ferd III says
@Mortimer Might help if you could read and comprehend.
Tories are full on retard for Islamophobia. My post.
O Foole and others seem fine with Shariah barbarism. My post.
The Con party is a joke because it is terrified of Pisslam and assassinates potential leaders who are not. My post.
Yes thanks Sherlock, apparently this site is Jihad Watch.
Dean says
There is no safe part of the political spectrum where Islamist propaganda is not being inserted and influenced by money pouring into every political party. Those who pay the piper call the tunes. The tunes are always being played to indoctrinate the public to leftist and Islamist power over society.
The Conservatives in Canada have been overtaken in a very short space of 3-4 years. There is no longer room for discussion. Their platform is indistinguishable in most ways from the Liberal positions.
The CCP corona business has many governments, including Trumps giving out trillions. Follow the money because leftists are directing tonnes towards their favorites and we know the list of favorites very well. At the end of the virus we will have a much different world – one in which the favorites will be calling the shots and urging endless and permanent funding for the next stages of the conquest. The financing is fully in place right across the globe.
OTTER says
Have you noticed how Islam and Muslims divide a country’s pre-existing population on the issue of how to deal with them? They never budge and the rest have to. The familiar fault lines emerge: a small minority ‘gets it’ but runs afoul of the most powerful weapon in the world–the word ‘Islamophobia.’ Nobody wants to define it, especially the Muslims because you can work around definitions and so it remains–dominating our discourse and making all enemies of Islam flounder. Unless we can come up with a word–one word–which has the same catchiness as this word–we are lost. Winning the war of language is all that is to be done these days. He who controls language, controls the world.
Expect the rift over ‘Islamophobia’ to only intensify. I just got off the phone with a friend in Canada and he is disgusted at what’s going on. And he’s a non-Muslim immigrant.
gravenimage says
+1
gravenimage says
Canada: “Islamophobia” accusations and bitter infighting plague Conservative Party’s upcoming leadership convention
…………………
Well, *this* is terribly depressing…
Jayme says
GTA-ottawa-Montreal are done ther eis not hope left however the rest of Canada still can be saved if there is the will to stop the pro islamic agenda.
E T says
Thank you Christine for your patriotism.
Anyone who is running for office in Canada should be required to read Tom Quiggin’s book Submission, Sayyid Qutb’s Milestones and by all means read Syed Abul Ala Maududi.
I have said it numerous times before, some of the followers of this site may have actually memorized it, but it is well worth repeating if just one new person reads and understands how the Islamists operate.
Syed Abul Ala Maududi
“Non-Muslims have ABSOLUTELY NO RIGHT to seize the reins of power in any part of GOD’S EARTH nor to direct the collective affairs of human beings according to their own misconceived doctrines”. If they do,
THE BELIEVERS WOULD BE UNDER AN OBLIGATION TO DO THEIR UTMOST TO DISLODGE THEM FROM POLITICAL POWER AND TO MAKE THEM LIVE IN SUBSERVIENCE TO THE ISLAMIC WAY OF LIFE.
Now let’s reverse this line of thinking and throw all the Muslim MPs out of the Canadian Parliament while Canada is still a democracy.
Dano says
Hey Conservatives, just who are you representing? What percentage of Canadians have islamophobia foremost in their minds. Few care about this non-issue, and even for the ones that do, there are far, far more pressing matters that require addressing now.
E T says
What are they?
gravenimage says
Maybe Muslim violence?
Peter35 says
Another one who has no idea what islam is, or who moslems are; who has no idea of what is happening in Western Europe. But you’re right about Canadians not being interested—–yet.
OLD GUY says
Islamophobia is a false claim used by muslims to get their way. Every time someone points out the facts about islamic practices they yell foul and want to stop freedom of speech and a fair number of our liberal media and politicians jump through hoops to please them. WHY? Sometime the truth hurts so if you don’t want to hear it stop child marriage rape, honor killings, and murdering non muslims just because they don’t agree with your idea of religion.
Nicola Timmerman says
Last leadership race a woman candidate proposed limiting immigration to Canada and was roasted by the media and the other candidates. Islam and immigration are no go zones now in Canadian politics.
gravenimage says
Glad to hear *someone* spoke some sanity.