Right's poll victory set to redraw map of Canada

JAN 22 - Tomorrow Canadians vote in a federal election that could change the face of the nation. If Thierry St Cyr's party the Bloc Quebecois does well enough, some fear - and others hope - Canada will be on the path to splitting up. In a referendum a decade ago Quebec voted by a razor-thin margin to stay in the federation. For the first time since, separation is back on the agenda, reported The Guardian, UK, through its Montreal based correspondent Paul Harris.

St Cyr's wants the mostly French-speaking province of Quebec to break away from Canada. He wants an independent Quebec with its own government and army. 'It is simple. Those taxes you pay now will just stay in Quebec,' St Cyr told young welders (potential voters) in a factory in Quebec. 'They won't keep going to Canada.'

Quebec nationalism is back on the march, but a breakaway movement has formed in western Canada, eager to capitalize on rich oil discoveries there. And the country is poised to swing to the right by electing a man many see as a Canadian version of President George W Bush.

Conservative Stephen Harper is almost certain to replace Liberal Paul Martin as prime minister. Harper is hawkish on Iraq, skeptical of Kyoto, and wants Canada to co-operate in the US ballistic missile shield. He is also culturally conservative, being critical of gay marriage and abortion rights.

The South Asian community, except for Tamil Canadians as per one news report, have by and large thrown their block support to Harper, even though his immigration and immigrants related track record does not come close to that of the liberals. They have their own reasons though. The Muslims support Harper's opposition to same-sex marriage in Canada. Nearly forty Islamic mosque Imams collectively endorsed him recently. So does the Indians, mostly Catholic who relate with his social and cultural conservatism. Pakistani community's most organized political platform MQM has also endorsed him, again on same-sex issue. The icing on the cake has been Liberals related scandals over the years.

Predictions are that the percentage of immigrant votes will increase. In the last elections, it was merely 18 to 20 percent. If more immigrant votes are cast, it would definitely symbolize show of red card to the incumbent Paul Martin.

The only real question is: how much will conservative Harper win by? His party The Conservatives have been playing to huge rallies across the country. Liberal support has collapsed almost everywhere. The Conservatives are poised to end 13 years of Liberal rule by replacing a party in which an official once called Bush 'a moron', with an ideological bedfellow of the White House.

Meanwhile, the Bloc Quebecois is aiming at a record election performance. More than 50 per cent vote for it in Quebec will be seen as a mandate to push for a new vote on separation. In the last election it got 48 per cent, and is widely expected to better that.

The Bloc has been boosted by a series of scandals, especially revelations that the Liberals illegally funneled cash to a pro-Canada lobbying group during the last referendum on Quebec's future. 'The Liberal scandals have really hurt them, especially as it was about the issue that really matters in Quebec,' said Professor Eric Belanger, a political scientist at McGill University, Montreal.

The Bloc's domestic platform is mostly far to the left of the Conservatives. With a right-wing federal government in place, many Quebec residents are likely to feel more alienated from English-speaking Canada.

Certainly, Quebec already feels like a very different place. In Montreal the language of the streets is overwhelmingly French. The Francophone atmosphere has blossomed as the city has welcomed immigrants. Many young Asian, South Asians and black Quebeckers speak French. At the factory St Cyr toured, most of the workers being trained for new jobs were from immigrant backgrounds. All spoke French.

It is a far cry from the birth of Quebec nationalism back in the Sixties when the main goal was preserving French language and identity. That battle was won. Now the Bloc is aggressively courting the immigrant vote, fielding racially diverse candidates. 'In the Sixties we were talking about saving the future of Francophone Canada. It is so different now,' said Professor Jules Duchastel, a sociologist at the Universite du Quebec in Montreal.

In short, South Asians, by voting the Conservatives and the Bloc in Quebec to power tomorrow, may end up having voted for redrawing of Canada's map. How that will show up on the chessboard of Canadian politics and nationalism is difficult to predict now.

Some think outright independence for Quebec will never happen. Others believe the issue will not go away without a new vote, and expect one within a few years.

That is what St Cyr hopes for. Outside the factory where he addressed a group of young welders, he said 'We are a nation, we just don't have our own country yet.'

(DesPardes Staff)

Related stories:
Part III: In Canada desis have a choice
Part II: The Desi vote machine
Part I: Desis influencing Canada politics

Pakistani-American for TX governorship

NEW JERSEY, JAN 19 - Pakistani American Rashad Jafer, a Texan retail manager who is a pro-choice, gay-friendly Pakistani American and supports the war in Iraq is one of the novice contenders in the state Democratic primaries for governorship.

The party primaries are to be held on March 7 and the general election in November.

The earliest outlook favors Gov. Rick Perry winning another term, but the upcoming special session on school finance (on the heels of two failed regular sessions and three special sessions) could provide a more accurate (and less favorable) gauge for determining Perry's political future, reported The Austin Chronicle.

Meanwhile, the guv has attracted a diverse field of challengers looking to unseat him in the fall. They now include two independent candidates also in addition to Pakistani-American Rashad Jafer.

NJ may soon have office to handle immigrant matters

NEW JERSEY, JAN 19 - As home to the nation's fifth-largest foreign-born population, New Jersey must create a state government office that focuses on the needs and problems of its immigrants, says a report drafted for Governor Corzine by a statewide coalition of immigrants rights groups called NJIPN.

Corzine, a Democrat, was inaugurated on Tuesday. South Asians, traditionally a Democratic votebank, backed his governorship.

Headed by an Indian-American Executive Director Partha Banerjee, The New Jersey Immigration Policy Network (NJIPN) which is a twenty-year old organization had never issued such a policy paper until now. "As far as I know, a position paper did not exist on such an important state matter", Mr Banerjee told despardes.com.

A statewide office that concentrates on immigrants can create policies that will bring them into the social and political fold, he said.

New Jersey counts more than one and a half million foreign-born residents - 20 percent of the state population. Some 50,000 legal immigrants settle in the state each year. An untold number of others who enter the United States illegally, or on a visa that they overstay, also make New Jersey their home every year. Besides, immigrant communities in places such as Union City, Passaic and Palisades Park also have revived local downtowns with mom-and-pop shops and eateries.

Other high-immigration states, such as Florida, California, Illinois and Massachusetts, have a department devoted to immigrant issues, but New Jersey does not have one.

Illinois, which has an immigrant population (1.5m) similar in size to New Jersey's, established an agency focused on immigrants and refugees in 1995.

"There's a huge difference between immigration and immigrants," said Banerjee. "Immigration is a federal matter, an issue to be dealt with by the federal government. Immigrants are real people, living in real communities, with day-to-day problems like unequal access to good education, health insurance and social services that ought to be addressed by local governments and policies."

The position paper submitted to Gov Corzine also advocates legislating affordable in-state college tuition for children of undocumented immigrants. According to the paper, there are nine high immigration population states who have already passed ;legislation. These are: New York, Illinois, California, Florida, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas, Utah and Washington, Mr Banerjee told despardes.com

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