Harper to name Canada’s first religious freedom ambassador
Posted: Feb 16th, 2013, 11:56 am
http://news.nationalpost.com/2013/02/16 ... mbassador/
Prime Minister Stephen Harper to name Canada’s first religious freedom ambassador
Lee Berthiaume, Postmedia News | Feb 16, 2013 1:46 AM ET
Prime Minister Stephen Harper will unveil the government’s long-awaited Office of Religious Freedom on Tuesday.
Grant Black / Postmedia News Files
Prime Minister Stephen Harper will unveil the government’s long-awaited Office of Religious Freedom and name Canada’s first religious freedom ambassador at a Toronto-area Ahmadiyya Muslim community centre on Tuesday.
The announcement at Tahir Hall in the Toronto suburb of Vaughan will fulfil a two-year-old promise that has seen its fair share of controversy since it was first proposed during the 2011 federal election.
The government has pointed to a growing body of literature linking religious freedom with democratic rights and societal well-being to justify making the safeguarding of religious minorities abroad a key tenet of Canadian foreign policy.
But critics have worried about the government picking and choosing which religions the $20-million office defends, and using the institution as a tool for domestic political gain.
The government has not officially confirmed the prime minister’s presence at Tahir Hall, which was opened by the minority Ahmadiyya Muslim community last July and can hold 800 people.
Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird’s spokesman Rick Roth would only say the office “is a priority for our government, and is a part of our principled foreign policy.”
However, numerous organizations have confirmed receiving invitations to the prime minister’s event, which was first reported by Ottawa-based foreign policy newspaper Embassy.
Those interviewed expressed cautious excitement about the religious freedom office’s official launch.
They say the need to protect religious minorities and freedom is as critical now as when the government promised the initiative two years ago.
But the fact the office has taken so long to come together, and that the details remain largely unknown, provides reason enough to temper expectations.
“We will have to see what happens with the office and what the mandate is,” said Gerald Filson of the Baha’i Community of Canada. “We haven’t seen the mandate and we don’t know who the ambassador is.”
The ambassador’s identity could be a key indicator of how the Harper government sees the office functioning, which may explain reports it had a hard time finding someone to take the position.
“It’s probably a difficult appointment, a delicate appointment,” Filson said. “Anything to do with religion is delicate. It’s a very tough appointment.”
Similarly, it remains unclear exactly what the office will do, or how it will fit into Canada’s dealings with the rest of the world.
“The potential (for the office) is great,” said Kathryn White, executive director of the United Nations Association of Canada. “But there remain lots of potential pitfalls in terms of how the office actually conducts its mandate.”
The Conservative government has said it is planning to spend $5 million a year on the initiative over the next four years.
Documents obtained through access to information show $500,000 will go to the office; where the rest will go is unclear.
The government does plan to include Citizenship and Immigration Canada and the Canadian foreign aid agency, CIDA, in the initiative.
This implies visas or refugee settlement as well as money to individuals and community organizations representing religious groups enduring discrimination.
There is precedent for such an office; in 1998, the U.S. administration of President Bill Clinton signed off on a similar initiative, which had been unanimously approved by Congress after nearly two years of fractious debate.
But while boasting successes, the U.S. effort has been accused of bias against Muslims, championing Christianity, and using taxpayer dollars to pursue pet projects.
Similar concerns have been raised over the past two years as the Harper government has moved to create a Canadian office.
Some Muslim groups have complained they were excluded from consultations, while a recent study found a surge in the amount of Canadian foreign aid money channeled through religious groups, many of them Christian.
The government has also defended its decision to channel foreign aid money through an evangelical group, Crossroads Christian Communications, that posted anti-gay messages to its website.
NDP foreign affairs critic Paul Dewar noted the government discussed the office with international religious leaders, such as leaders of the Coptic Orthodox church, that boast a large number of members in key ridings across Canada.
However, the government refused to meet with international human rights groups.
Dewar said this raises concerns the office will simply be an extension of the Harper government’s ongoing effort to court certain ethnic groups.
“There is nothing wrong with the issue of promotion of religious freedom,” Dewar said. “But this seems to be more about domestic politics than about international affairs.”
