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Geoff Russ: Sorry, Carney, but the idea that newcomers don't bring hatreds with them is a fiction

Canada must not allow extremism to take root like it has in the United Kingdom

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“When you come to Canada,” Mark Carney told newcomers in a speech addressing antisemitism, “you bring your faith, your tradition, your language, your story. You leave behind your wars and your animosities.”

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It’s a pleasant, even pleasing fiction for millions of Canadians who imagine that a mythical “blank slate” exists for newcomers. The hard truth is that some peoples’ stories are welded to wars, and many of their traditions are centred on a desire to settle scores.

Geoff Russ: Sorry, Carney, but the idea that newcomers don't bring hatreds with them is a fiction Back to video

Many Canadians are guilty of this through their belief that being anti-American is the only organizing principle of Canadian life. Fortunately, Canadian anti-Americanism is a middle- and upper-class phenomenon that does not manifest in firebombs, machetes and religious extremism. This is not the case with some other nationalities.

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