The Parti Québécois's recent launching of a false J'accuse at the Quebec Muslim community over halal meat epitomizes a time-tested tactic in the pursuit of political support that Hollywood and citizens alike have long lampooned.
Like the characters in Wag the Dog, a film about a Washington spin doctor who distracts the electorate from a presidential scandal by hiring a Hollywood producer to create a fake war, the PQ finds itself attempting to distract the Quebec public with seemingly parochial issues under the aegis of "values" debates while trying to avoid substantive issues of greater import.
In doing so the PQ leadership, like other politicians around the world, including Nicolas Sarkozy of France, seems to have settled upon Muslim citizens as the easily identifiable "other" when trying to shore up support among the electorate. (Side note: Even Sarkozy has now backed away from his previous position on halal meat and tried to make nice with French Muslims.)
The PQ's alarmist rhetoric over the Muslim halal methodology of ritual animal slaughter reached the absurd when the party declared that it "slams directly against Québécois values." Precisely which values it does not divulge; nor does it give any reason for singling out the Muslim method of halal slaughter vs. the very similar Jewish kosher practice.
When looking into the actual science of both halal and kosher methodologies, one finds that both are, contrary to the misinformation, in fact more humane than the standard industry practice of captive bolt pistol stunning, as demonstrated by an intensive research study at the School of Veterinary Medicine at Hanover University, Germany.
The study found, through the use of an electroencephalograph, that animal slaughter done by the conventional industry method registered pain in the animals, whereas halal and kosher methods resulted in no detected pain.
Leaving the science aside, it is not surprising that the proverbial fear card is being played by the Parti Québécois, which has not missed the opportunity to make anti-immigrant statements and take positions against those deemed as "other." Former PQ leader Jacques Parizeau blamed his party's defeat in the 1995 sovereignty referendum on "ethnic vote," which alienated many of the province's foreign-born population. More recently, PQ MNA Louise Beaudoin hailed the decision to bar Sikhs from entering the National Assembly with their kirpans.
On the face of it, the PQ is arguing that Quebec should interfere with religious freedom - the right of Canadian Muslims to slaughter meat according to their tradition, and by implication, the right of Canadian Jews to do the same. The PQ's bizarre position does not hold water even within the paradigm of laïcité, which holds that religion should be absent from government affairs and government should not be involved in religious matters.
To its credit, the Quebec government has come out strongly against the PQ's public messaging on this issue by bluntly calling it "alarmist." However, neither the provincial government nor the PQ publicly condemned the repeated vandalism of the Gatineau Mosque this past January. If anything, elected officials should denounce that kind of sordid intolerance. But having seen the performance of provincial politicians, Quebec Muslims are not holding their breath.
Despite its capacity for divisive politics, I for one am delighted the PQ is taking such an interest in halal meat. I view it as an opportunity for dialogue and discussion. Perhaps, after the cameras and microphones are shut off in this latest tempest in a teapot, we will get closer again to the realization that we are not as different as some would have us believe.