The Honourable Jason Kenney:

Launch of the “Islam in Britain’ s Green and Pleasant Land” Photo Exhibition at Earnscliffe

Ottawa, Ontario, February 20, 2007

I want to thank the British High Commission for inviting me here today, and on behalf of Canada’ s New Government, I want to welcome Baroness Scotland to Canada.

I’ m very pleased to join her in launching this exhibition.

Anyone familiar with the photography of Peter Sanders will have been struck by the great beauty of his work.

His images stay with you: the intricate details of stone carvings in the Alhambra; the gleaming dome of the Al-Aqsa Mosque; a multitude of pilgrims gathered at the Great Mosque in Makkah; or a solitary figure looking out at the verdant landscape of England.

Through Mr. Sanders’ photographs, we see an aspect of Islam that, too often, is lost in the modern-day portrayal of the rich and vibrant culture that flows from this faith.

That is very fortunate because, at a time when our world is shrinking like never before, too many of us remain uninformed about other peoples and other cultures.

We need more dialogue in this world, more interaction among peoples. But because of geopolitical tensions, instead of gaining a deeper understanding, there is a tendency to oversimplify, to see the world in black and white terms.

That approach short-changes all of us. As Peter Sanders vividly reminds us – the world is actually full of colour.

That this exhibition is possible is due to a large extent to the openness and the cultural diversity of British society.

Like Canada and many other nations, the United Kingdom brings together numerous peoples from a wide variety of backgrounds.

One of the cornerstones of our pluralistic democracies is that all citizens must have the same right to participate as full partners in every aspect of society, regardless of their background.

In Canada, we often refer to the benefits of living in such a society, including the fact that we all have the opportunity to discover new cultures and new ways of thinking.

Peter Sanders personifies that spirit of discovery, as he has fully embraced Islam, its culture, and its distinct way of life. In doing so, and in using his artistic gifts to explore Islam, he has given our world a great gift.

His photographs are a celebration of Islam, one of the world’ s most important faiths, and the fountainhead of so much of the world’s culture.

More importantly, they are a celebration of people; they capture the intimate moments that reflect the universal truths of our shared humanity– the laughter of an elderly Chinese-Muslim man, two Iranian women chatting happily together, or the smiles of Senegalese children.

At a time when our world is feeling the strain of cultural differences, and tensions around the globe seem to divide us into opposite camps, I believe we have a solemn responsibility to remember that we all have so much in common, and focus on those things that unite us as citizens of this small planet.

We can all draw inspiration from Mr. Sanders’ work, and re-dedicate ourselves to fostering intercultural dialogue and greater respect among all peoples.

By doing that, we can help make this world a safer and a better place, for people of every faith and every cultural background.

Thank you very much.

http://www.canadianheritage.gc.ca/pc-ch/minstr/arc_disc-spch/kenney/2007/20070220-eng.cfm

http://ismailimail.wordpress.com/2008/12/08/conservative-minister-jason-kenney-receives-mawlana-hazar-imam-and-noorani-family-at-ottawa-airport-friday-december-5th-2008/

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Oh, right. They encourage it.

Re: “our own history of officially sanctioned anti-Semitism, the most notorious manifestation of which was Canada’s refusal to accept the hundreds of Jewish European refugees aboard the St Louis as it arrived in Halifax harbour in 1938. In fact, one of my predecessors, as that boat arrived in Canadian waters infamously declared with respect to European Jewish refugees that none is too many for Canada to receive.”

No, the most notorious manifestation of official Canadian Jew-hatred is the welcoming of Muslims into Canada. For the Liberals, Conservatives, NDP, BQ, etc etc, (especially the many famously “tolerant” Jewish MPs) there is no such thing as too many Muslims.