Multiculturalism fails in Canada too, says Muslim leader

A leader of Canada’s Muslim community has commented on David Cameron's "multiculturalism has failed" speech in Munich last week. And guess what? He agrees with the British Prime Minister!

Tarek Fatah, founder of the Muslim Canadian Congress, was quoted in the Toronto Sun to the effect that Cameron was “spot on” when he insisted state-mandated multiculturalism has failed in the UK. And the policy will fail in Canada too, Fatah said, for the same reasons.

Mr. Fatah expressed the view that, like Britain, Canada has been too tolerant in allowing Muslim immigrants to settle into closed communities, some of which preach Islamic values and a hatred toward the West.

"The Canadian multicultural model has failed, as the British model has,” said Fatah. “When first generation (Muslims) are more loyal to Canada than the second generation, then we have sufficient evidence to say that multiculturalism has failed."

He went on to say that Canada’s federal governments -- both Liberal and Conservative -- have pushed a "tolerant, passive form of multiculturalism" as a way of preserving votes. But the result, he said, is that "the newcomer finds solace in his or her own community...and when there is state-sponsored multiculturalism, there are people who make money out of the marginalization of these people."

The Sun also quoted Bernie Farber of the Canadian Jewish Congress, as saying that pockets of younger immigrants -- particularly Muslims -- have been slow to integrate into a Canadian way of life.

"(They) are not moving forward as quickly as we did in generations past," said Farber. He cited the tendency of Muslims to live together in the same geographic area. "They have not yet seemed to be able to break out entirely from that one area and become part of the Canadian fabric," he added.

The Sun did not say if Mr. Farber was speaking from his home in Forest Hill.

Footnote: From my previous post on David Cameron's speech, I left out one piece of wisdom. Mr. Cameron said he thought it would be helpful if all immigrants to Britain were required to learn English. Now there's a novel idea!