Canadian civility tested

Editorial

When politicians make the right choices – rather than the popular ones – they deserve commendation. The government of Canada is moving in the right direction on two issues that may prove contentious: equal marriage and this country's approach to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

There is some conjecture about the commitment of the federal government to ameliorating the deplorable condemnations to which Israel has been subjected at the United Nations. But the foreign affairs minister and Canada's ambassador to the UN have made the right noises, even if they have so far promised only to oppose three of the nearly two dozen one-sided anti-Zionist (and arguably anti-Semitic) resolutions that come before the international body every year. Given the tenacity of anti-Israel campaigners in Canada, that move should be viewed as what it is: a courageous step in the right direction by a minority government that has to contend with a loud and sometimes violent anti-Zionist movement in Canada.

On the equal marriage front, the government is advancing on the promise inherent in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, approved by the Supreme Court and shepherded by Justice Minister Irwin Cotler, a leader in politics, academia, law and the Jewish and general communities.

Progress on the equal marriage front will cement Canada's reputation as a world leader in treatment of minority populations, an approach that will bode well not only for lesbian and gay people, but for all minority communities and, indeed, all Canadians. In the coming weeks and months, Canada will engage in a national debate about the meaning of marriage, but also about the extent of our tolerance. Though it will appear to be a discussion mainly about the place of sexual minorities in our culture, it will set a tone that is far broader. The way Canadians respond to this issue will reflect the way we approach a broad range of contentious matters. The civility (or lack thereof) surrounding this debate will help define the way Canadians engage in public discourse in future.

Though the foreign affairs portfolio seems to be the one that will most directly affect Jewish Canadians, the broader concepts of Canadian tolerance and pluralism will be addressed most significantly in the debate over equal marriage. And that will have implications for every Canadian, especially we who are members of minority communities. r

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