WSO Lauds Launch Of The Office of Religious Freedom
By R. Paul Dhillon
OTTAWA – Liberal Foreign Affairs critic Dominic LeBlanc said the Conservative government’s announcement of its new Office of Religious Freedoms must be about substance and not just empty symbolism.
“After systematically diminishing Canada’s international presence and engagement, cutting our democratic development programs focused on human rights, and ignoring and marginalizing Canada’s knowledgeable and experienced diplomatic corps, the Conservatives are establishing an office with limited scope and resources to do what those programs and people did so effectively. Rather than pursuing substantive results in the area of religious freedoms, they are opting for symbolism, posturing, self-righteous sermonizing and domestic politicking,” LeBlanc said.
The World Sikh Organization of Canada commended the Federal Government on the launch of Canada’s Office of Religious Freedom, which Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced at the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jama’at Canada in Maple, Ontario.
This Muslim sect is highly prosecuted in Pakistan along with other minority non-Muslim religions and Harper addressed this fact at the announcement.
“In Pakistan, Ahmadiyya Muslims, Shiites Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, and Hindus are vulnerable to persecution and violence,” Harper said.
The Office of Religious Freedom, which will be an arm of the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, has been announced as an attempt to make protection of religious freedoms, particularly of vulnerable minorities, a key pillar of Canada’s foreign policy.
WSO Senior Policy Advisor Gian Singh Sandhu said, “Canada has historically been a leader in the field of human rights and it is certainly laudable that the Canadian government has created the Office of Religious Freedom to advocate for freedom of religion internationally. As Canadians who enjoy great freedoms here in Canada, it is our duty to stand up for the rights of all oppressed people across the world.”
WSO President Prem Singh Vinning said, “a key teaching of the Sikh faith is that all persons must be guaranteed freedom of religion and conscience. Millions of people across the world today face persecution solely because of their religion. The Sikh community is sadly all too familiar with religious persecution and the infringement of religious rights, whether it is the sad legacy of violence against Sikhs in India in 1984 and after, the ban on the Sikh turban in French schools, or current issues faced by Pakistan’s Sikh community. We are hopeful that the Office of Religious Freedom will have a positive impact.”
The World Sikh Organization of Canada (WSO) is a non-profit organization with a mandate to promote and protect the interests of Canadian Sikhs, as well as to promote and advocate for the protection of human rights for all individuals, irrespective of race, religion, gender, ethnicity, and social and economic status
LeBlanc said this new Office of Religious Freedoms must take a balanced and comprehensive approach that fully represents Canada’s religious diversity. Furthermore, in regions where this office is likely to be active, religion often conflicts with our understanding of other important human rights – including LGBTTQ and women’s rights. This government must explain how it will guarantee that it does not feed a perception that religious rights are supreme.
