BILL C-51 – GIVE US THE CANADA WE DESERVE
By Father John Walsh

As a young man in Montreal, I recall the days when we never locked the doors of our home, front or back, or when my father would start his car on a cold winter morning leaving the keys in the car as it warmed up and he would come back to the house for a cup of coffee.  There was a sense of security then that slowly over the years faded away.  Today you would never leave the doors …

BILL C 51 IS AN ANTI-CANADA ACT
By Imam Dr. Zijad Delic

Benjamin Franklin rightly said “Those who trade essential liberty for temporary security deserve neither.”
I chose to live in Canada when I experienced the discrimination my people underwent in Bosnia and Hercegovina.  I personally know the pain and suffering of living under siege of a regime in which “you are guilty, until proven innocent” a system where so-called “preventive arrest” was commonplace.
Canada is a country of vibrant diversity; a land of Aboriginal peoples and immigrants.  20.6 % of Canada’s population were …

THE OFT-FORGOTTEN IDEA OF TRANSCENDENCE
By Father John Walsh

Today people are so enmeshed in the demands of their everyday lives that everything becomes mundane, repetitive, and all-consuming. No time for a time-out. No time to review, assess, and evaluate. The merry-go-round goes round and round. Leadership begins when we respect the following four words: be who you are. Being who you are means that you manage your life; not allowing life to manage you. You lead and life follows your lead. A wise man once reminded me forcefully: you create your …

Canadian Islam – Belonging and Loyalty by Imam Dr. Zijad Delic (Kirtas Publishing. Ottawa. 2014.)
 

Imam Dr. Zijad Delic has recently published Canadian Islam – Belonging and Loyalty.  Many people in the West have posed a series of questions about Muslims and the responses have varied depending on the historical moments in which the questions were posed.  Immediately after the tragedy of 9-11 there were judgements passed about Muslims that resulted in a backlash against Muslims.  Muslims were seen as terrorists and extremists.  The label “clash of civilizations” and the idea …

VIOLENT SPEECH LEADS TO VIOLENT ACTIONS
By Imam Dr. Zijad Delic

Pope Francis, a wise Pope, while on route to the Philippines, was speaking about the Paris attacks and he defended freedom of speech/expression. However, he also said there are limits and that “you can’t make a toy out of the religions of others.” He defended freedom of expression as a fundamental human right and that there was also the duty to speak one’s mind for the sake of the common good, “without offending.” He said that “you cannot provoke and you …