By Stephen Vance, Editor
Once again our Bruce-Grey-Owen Sound MP is in the news for all the wrong reasons, and this time he has rankled the feathers of more than a few Canadians with comments he made on a local radio show.
“People who come to Canada and don’t want to show their face at immigration or citizenship ceremonies should stay the hell where you came from,” said our illustrious Member of Parliament after being asked about the recent niqab controversy that began earlier this year after the Federal Court of Canada struck down a law that banned the wearing of face coverings while taking the oath of citizenship, a ruling that doesn’t sit well with Miller’s conservative government.
Miller suggested that most Canadians feel the same way he does on this issue. Mr. Miller, it’s bad enough that you speak for me in our parliament, please don’t drag me or the rest of Canada into your world of ignorant bigotry.
This nation has been built on the idea of inclusion, of acceptance, and of embracing cultures and religions from around the planet. Canada is commonly referred to as a ‘melting pot’, a reference that makes many of us Canadians proud. Canada is known around the world for this – as anyone who has spent time in foreign countries is most certainly aware.
Not MP Larry Miller though. If people want to come to this country, Miller thinks they should fall in line and Canadianize themselves. Leave your culture at the door.
That Miller holds such beliefs isn’t surprising, as he is the same man who compared the long gun registry to Hitler and the Nazis a few years ago. This is the same man who suggested that Canada discontinue its membership in the United Nations after the UN was critical of Canada’s treatment of war criminals, and changes that had been made to our refugee system.
This is a man who has been elected to represent all residents in this riding, and by extension all Canadians. For him to suggest that those coming to Canada from cultures that want to wear their traditional attire for taking the oath of citizenship should “stay the hell where they came from” is a clear sign that he does not represent all residents in his riding, and certainly not the country.
Miller issued a feeble apology this morning that contained a whopping 46 words.
“Yesterday I made comments on a radio show that I recognize were inappropriate. I stand by my view that anyone being sworn in as a new citizen of our country must uncover their face. However, I apologize for and retract my comments that went beyond this,” said Miller in his brief press release.
As my member of parliament, if you are going to hold archaic bigoted views, and if you feel the need to express those views publicly, how about you stay the hell where you came from? I’m sure the rock can’t be hard to find.
