—From three prorogations of Parliament, to the firing or harassment of public watchdogs and officials, to the demise of the long-form census, Harper has placed our democratic institutions in great peril. He also continues to place narrow ideology ahead of Canada’s broad democratic values and traditions.

 Join the Hon. Ujjal Dosanjh, your Member of Parliament for Vancouver South, for a Special Town Hall meeting on these issues and more at the Sunset Community Centre on October 12th (full details above).

 As a community, let’s stand up for Canadian democracy!

 >> Space is limited! RSVP to DosanU1@parl.gc.ca or call 604.775.5323

Statement by the Hon. Ujjal Dosanjh, P.C., Q.C.

DOSANJH CONDEMNS ROMA EXPULSIONS FROM FRANCE

August 20, 2010  

VANCOUVER – Vancouver South Member of Parliament Ujjal Dosanjh today condemned the French government’s campaign of expulsion of the Roma community. Over 700 Roma have been ordered deported and more than 260 additional camps are expected to be cleared in the coming months.

“In a country which defines its character with the core values of liberty, equality, and fraternity (Liberté, égalité, fraternité), singling out one ethnic group for expulsion without the case-by-case assessments demanded by European law represents an alarming breach of basic human rights and decency,” said Dosanjh. “As former American comedian Jack Paar said, ‘Immigration is the sincerest form of flattery’. This is especially true for immigration of a minority to whom so many nations have historically closed their doors – and yet much of Europe is deciding to close its doors once more instead of opening their hearts to those seeking freedom from discrimination and oppression.”

As has been reported in media outlets throughout the world, the Roma have faced threats, violent attacks, segregation and deportation in and from a variety of European countries. The Canadian government in 2009 imposed additional visa requirements on the Czech Republic in order to prevent Roma refugees from finding a safe haven in Canada.

“Canada and the United Nations must speak strongly and with one voice: ethnic persecution and discrimination will never be tolerated,” added Dosanjh. “Those who seek security and freedom from persecution must be aided – not ignored, and never left alone to be targeted.”

“I strongly urge the French government to cease its Roma deportations, and Canada must speak with a louder and clearer voice to ensure the Roma of Europe are not deprived of their rights to freedom, fairness, and dignity.”

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For more information and to contact Mr. Dosanjh: 

Braeden Caley

Office of the Hon. Ujjal Dosanjh, P.C., Q.C.

604.809.9951 – Braeden.Caley@gmail.com

I’m hosting a Special Roundtable on National Security and Public Safety on July 27th with MP Mark Holland, Public Safety Critic for the Official Opposition. Topics could include terrorism, the mission in Afghanistan, organized crime, law enforcement and intelligence matters regarding the RCMP or CSIS, and others.

 I hope you will join us there for this important discussion.

 Thanks and see you there,

 Ujjal Dosanjh – Member of Parliament for Vancouver South  -  ujjaldosanjh.ca 

—

SPECIAL ROUNDTABLE ON SECURITY & PUBLIC SAFETY

Tuesday July 27^th, 2010

12:30^PM TO 2:OO^PM - Room 202 -Killarney Community Centre – 6260 Killarney St., Vancouver BC

  ——-   Text UJJAL to 393939 for exclusive updates

Ujjal Dosanjh & Michael Ignatieff meet Chinese President Hu Jintao (Credit: Jean-Marc Carisse)

Early in June, I was very pleased to announce that Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff and I would be visiting China together in July.

The Liberal Opposition views the Canada-China relationship as a top priority, but the Harper government initially neglected it, and only recently recognized it. As Canada’s second-largest trading partner and a country with which Canada shares tremendous cultural and economic connections, we know it’s time for a New Partnership with China.

We also want your ideas for the general goals of this critical new partnership. That’s why I have created a website exclusively for you to feed in your suggestions – by email, on Facebook, onTwitter, and by posting comments directly.

 www.newpartnership.ca 

As we move forward with developing a new plan for the Canada-China relationship, I hope you will use the tools on this website to participate and make your voice heard. Together, we can build a new partnership within which both of our countries can learn, grow, and prosper. 

Thank you for your involvement. 

Sincerely, 

The Hon. Ujjal Dosanjh  – MP for Vancouver South – ਉੱਜਲ ਦੋਸਾਂਝ | 杜 新 志

“The key to jobs and our future prosperity will be building global networks with the new giants of the world, like China,” said Mr. Ignatieff.  “Stephen Harper spent four years neglecting Canada’s relationship with China.  I want to show Canadians – long before the next election – that a Liberal government will be serious and aggressive about re-establishing a vital Canadian presence in China and internationally.”

Mr. Ignatieff will visit Beijing and Shanghai on the trip.  He will be joined by Liberal International Trade Critic Scott Brison and Vancouver MP Ujjal Dosanjh.

“China represents the greatest growth opportunity in the world,” said Mr. Brison. “Strong leadership from the federal government in building partnerships within China would help businesses across Canada penetrate the Chinese market and create significant job opportunities in our country.”

“Today’s innovative entrepreneurs will need to become as familiar with China as their predecessors were with the United States,” said Mr. Dosanjh. “Likewise, our government must develop an understanding of China’s needs, trends, diverse regions, people, customs, history, culture, niche markets, and of course its language.”

Between 1990 and 2004, China’s GDP grew at an average rate of 10 percent a year; no other country came close to matching that growth.  China is expected to become the world’s second largest economy this year, vaulting past Japan.  

Meanwhile, Canada represents only a 1.15 percent share of the huge Chinese market, and the proportion of Chinese citizens seeing Canada as a positive influence in the world has fallen from 75 percent to 54 percent in the last year, according to a poll by GlobeScan and the BBC World Service.

“Canada enjoys special advantages in our relations with China – but the Harper government has failed to capitalize on them,” said Mr. Ignatieff.   “Canada was one of the first countries in the industrialized world to diplomatically recognize China.  Over one million Canadians speak Chinese as their mother tongue – a number that will only grow.  We must harness these advantages to deepen the relationship between our countries if Canada is to prosper.”

More details about their itinerary in China will be made available in the coming weeks.

by Ujjal Dosanjh - Special to the National Post

Nothing better describes the motivation for the dishonourable crime of honour killing than the words of Aqsa Parvez’s killer, her father: “My community will say you have not been able to control your daughter. This is my insult. She is making me naked.” The whole notion of “honour” is tied to male control of a female’s life, including her sexuality.

In 2000, the United Nations estimated that 5,000 women and girls are murdered every year in honour killings, a term that masks the brutality of the crime it describes. In some cases, women are even killed because they have been raped. While such murders are particularly prevalent in the countries of the Indian sub-continent, the Middle East and parts of Africa, as we are seeing, they also happen in the Western world.

In Britain, it’s estimated that a dozen women are killed every year in the name of “honour.” And Aqsa’s murder was not the first such crime in Canada. Amandeep Atwal, 17, was stabbed to death in 2003 by her father. Many suspect similar motives lie behind the deaths of the Shafi sisters — Zainab, 19, Sahar, 17 and Geeti, 13 — who drowned in a car in Kingston, Ont., last year. Their parents and brother face murder charges. Johra Kaleki of Dorval, Que., faces attempted murder charges for attacking her daughter with a kitchen knife last weekend — allegedly after she stayed out all night.

There is a huge misconception that these crimes occur because of certain religious beliefs. There is no religion that condones the murder of women. It’s the feudal/patriarchal culture of male dominance and control that’s the culprit. For example, in the Indian sub-continent, and in the Indian diaspora, such killings happen among people of many different faiths. The irrationality surrounding the notion of “family honour” provides cover for brutality and inhumanity.

In countries such as Canada, Britain, and the United States, the lack of courage to offend, if necessary and appropriate, prevents us from examining why and how this evil persists. As Aisha Gill, a professor of criminology at Roehampton University in London, asserts, “There is an assumption that sensitivity to cultural diversity requires certain actions to pass uncontested, even when they are in conflict with fundamental human rights.” In other words, political correctness prevents us from demanding that the cultural norms that justify such heinous practices as honour killings have no place anywhere in the world. We must never be too sensitive to call a spade a spade.

While no particular faith condones honour killings, very little is being done by any faith to use the pulpit to denounce and challenge this horrible phenomenon. Every other day you hear edicts being issued by different faiths over one aspect or another of the adherents’ lives. Why not edicts against honour killings? All of us in positions of leadership, secular or religious, are complicit in the deafening silence on this issue. We have failed Canadians by not expressing robust denunciation of each of these crimes.

Attitudes and values must and do change. Only our silence stands in the way.