DAR AL HARB - CANADA - QUEBEC: MULTI-CULTI ACCOMODATIONS WEAKEN THE FABRIC OF THE WEST

Racism vs. reasonable accommodation of minorities sparks debate in Quebec
By DENE MOORE

MONTREAL (CP) - Men banned from pre-natal classes at a Montreal community health centre so as not to offend Muslim, Sikh or Hindu women.

The windows at a community gym obscured so that boys at the Orthodox synagogue across the street couldn't see the Spandex-clad women inside.

Most recently, a suggestion that it's time to remove a large wooden crucifix from the Quebec national assembly.

Is it political correctness run amok or the natural growing pains of an increasingly multicultural society?

That's the debate in Quebec, where politicians, minority advocates and everyday residents are weighing in on what is "reasonable" accommodation of racial, ethnic and religious minorities in what is an increasingly diverse society.

Mario Dumont, leader of the Action democratique du Quebec, said Quebec should quit bending over backwards to accommodate minorities and, instead, set out in law reasonable compromises to be granted to religious and ethnic groups.

"We must make gestures which reinforce our national identity and protect those values which are so invaluable to us," Dumont wrote in a letter to be sent to Quebecers.

Unpopular with his political opponents, Dumont's position seemed to strike a chord with some Quebecers.

"We're tired of empty political shells who have no firm position," one man wrote to a Montreal newspaper. "For us, Mario Dumont is a breath of fresh air."

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Pertinent Links:

1) Racism vs. reasonable accommodation of minorities sparks debate in Quebec

2) Exclusion of men from Montreal neonatal clinic beyond common sense: Dumont

QUEBEC (CP) - A Montreal community health clinic has come under fire for excluding men from their neonatal classes to accommodate the sensibilities of Muslim, Sihk and Hindu women.

ADQ Leader Mario Dumont said the prohibition exceeds the limits of common sense. He said it's unreasonable that a Quebec taxpayer is barred from joining his pregnant girlfriend at a health clinic because his presence would offend others.

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3) Tribunal to rule on guide dog vs. religion (Islam, not just any religion)

A case potentially pitting rights of the disabled against religious beliefs will be heard by the B.C. Human Rights Tribunal after a blind man from the North Shore who uses a guide dog to get around launched a complaint against North Shore Taxi.

Bruce Gilmour filed the complaint after a cab driver from North Shore Taxi refused to let his guide dog into the cab in January of this year. Gilmour, who says it's not the first time he's been refused service by a taxicab, is complaining that North Shore taxi discriminated against him on the basis of physical disability.

But the taxi driver, Behzad Saidy, is arguing his Muslim religious beliefs will not allow him to take dogs in his taxi, because Muslims can't associate with dogs.

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