Common fallacies are shot down

Clumsy metaphors and distortions analyzed

Commission BT - le rapport «Fonder l’avenir - Le temps de la conciliation»


How do Quebecers get it wrong? Let the commissioners count the ways.
Here are some common falla-cies they say they heard at the hearings last fall - along with their pithy rebuttals.
English Canada refuses to accommodate French Canadians, so why should French Canadians feel obliged to accommodate minorities in Quebec?

"If an injustice is committed against us, does that give us the authority to do the same toward others?"
Minority religious groups in Quebec are trying to reintroduce religion into our secularized society.
"The right of freedom of religion includes the right to show it. In the end, it's believers themselves, and only them, who are the source of the decline of Catholicism in Quebec."
People who ask to be accommodated aren't loyal to Quebec; they don't support sovereignty.
"There are also Quebecers of French-Canadian origin who don't support the sovereignty project. Should we blame or stigmatize them for that?"
Activist Muslims are using accommodations to impose their brand of fundamentalism on Quebec society.
"The idea that there's a plan for Islamist conquest may have some foundation in Europe, but not in Quebec. Of the 60-odd mosques in Montreal, there are only two or three highly conservative ones that preach non- integration into Quebec society for moral reasons."
Since most foods sold in supermarkets are labelled kosher, that proves orthodox Jews impose their religion on others.
"It has not been proven that kosher certification requires a change in a product's ingredients, nor does it create an excessively heavy burden on all consumers."
Quebec courts and tribunals are biased in favour of demands by people who are religious.
"That's forgetting all the cases where judicial or quasi-judicial bodies rejected demands for religious accommodations (such as prayers at city council meetings and prayer rooms at the École de technologie supérieure)."
Immigrants should be thankful: We've done them a favour by welcoming them here.
"Who's favouring whom? Doesn't our society have a great need for immigration, namely to ensure our demographic vitality, to maintain our economic growth and to enrich ourselves with the boost these cultures bring?"
When a friend invites you to eat at his table, you shouldn't try to impose your own manners.
"The metaphor is seductive but clumsy. The immigrant is not a guest; he's here to stay. He's not a foreigner, either. He's at home here and shares the same rights as everyone."
When in Rome, do as the Romans do.
"Once again, metaphors can be misleading. In this case, it's assumed that the immigrant should get rid of his culture in order to adopt that of the host culture. This is an affirmation of the rule of assimilation, something that (is) no longer admissible, because it goes against the principles of pluralism."
In Saudi Arabia or Iran, they make you follow their customs. Why should we not do the same when they come to live here?
"Again, it's a clumsy metaphor, because it puts Quebec on the same level as two countries that show very little sensitivity to human rights - in the one case, a democracy with solid roots, in the other, regimes that are authoritarian."


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