Geoff Russ argues that Mark Carney's assertion that newcomers leave behind their wars and animosities is a fiction, warning that Canada must not allow extremism to take root as it has in the United Kingdom.
The Fiction of the Blank Slate
In a speech addressing antisemitism, Mark Carney told newcomers, "When you come to Canada, you bring your faith, your tradition, your language, your story. You leave behind your wars and your animosities." Russ contends this is a pleasing fiction for millions of Canadians who imagine a mythical "blank slate" exists for newcomers. The hard truth, he writes, is that some peoples' stories are welded to wars, and many of their traditions are centered on a desire to settle scores.
Lessons from the United Kingdom
Russ points to the United Kingdom as a preview of what Canada may face. The U.K. produces high-profile figures who are not foreign-born but have fully embraced ancestral grievances. He cites Ash Sarkar, a London-born intellectual who proudly describes her great-great-aunt, who fought colonial rule in British India, as a "terrorist." Similarly, Bushra Shaikh, a British-Pakistani media personality, argues that descendants of those harmed by the British Empire should examine their place in modern Britain, while reportedly maintaining ties with Iranian regime officials.
The infamous Anjem Choudary, born in London to Punjabi Muslim parents, transformed from a university student into one of the U.K.'s most virulent Islamist extremists. In 2024, he was convicted of directing a domestic terror organization and jailed for life.
Post-Colonial Grievances
Russ warns against underestimating long-simmering grievances of diasporas. Even among more palatable voices, like Oxford-educated liberal Mehdi Hasan, there are calls for Britain to pay reparations to former colonies. In Canada, NDP MLA Rohini Arora invoked her family's history of empire when pushing decolonization, stating that "India and Pakistan … share the same colonizer" as Canada.
Russ concludes that birthplace alone does not define allegiances. Cultural inheritance of migrants' children and grandchildren includes shared collective memories that are not easily forgotten. Canada must be vigilant to prevent extremism from taking root.
