Embassy, March 23rd, 2005
FEATURE
By Peter Schneider

What's Going On Here?

Sally Armstrong on the fight against the use of Sharia law in Ontario

Journalist and human-rights advocate Sally Armstrong was in Ottawa on March 16 to receive UNIFEM Canada's honour as its woman of the year for 2005. UNIFEM Canada, the Canadian committee for the United Nations Development Fund for Women, has as its mission the promotion of gender equality and progress for women in developing societies.

Hours before receiving her award, Ms. Armstrong discussed her concerns with the recent development in Ontario to allow the use of traditional religious law in Ontario courts, and this decision's potentially adverse effect on women and girls. "It is difficult for me to express the size of my shock over this," she said. "But to be fair, you have to go back to 1991, when the arbitration act was written. And in the arbitration act it says that family disputes and civil disputes could be settled by arbitration according to religious law. From 1991 until Dec. 2003, nobody questioned the arbitration act. It wasn't until Mumtas Ali insisted that if you can have rabbinical law, that Sharia law be allowed for Muslims. He made a very good point. If it's good enough for one group, why isn't it good enough for another?"

Ms. Armstrong continued to outline her argument, saying "We know Sharia is a very patriarchal law, but again it's fair to say all religious laws are patriarchal. There's not a system of religious law that I know of that's fair to women. So, how are you going to implement Sharia law? This is a law that allows a man to have four wives-- we have polygamy as part of our Criminal Code! This is a law that allows a man to beat his wife. They don't like to use the word 'beat,' they like to say 'a light tap.' Well, a light tap turns into a cleaver through your shoulder. This is a law that allows unilateral divorce action, where only a man can bring about divorce. These are in my opinion apologias for patriarchal law that is not only bad for women in Canada, it is dangerous for women in Canada."

In response to the Mumtas Ali precedent, and the ensuing outcry from women's groups and other organizations, Ontario's premier asked Marion Boyd, who was the attorney-general in 1991, the year the arbitration law was brought in to review Sharia law. Her findings were

released in Sept. 2004. Ms. Armstrong recalled, "To the astonishment of most people, who would represent large groups of citizens in Ontario, Marion Boyd came out in favour of Sharia law. But if you read even the preamble of her report, it says 'Wife assault will increase, therefore we must put in safeguards.' It says, 'Polygamy can be viewed in the phraseology of Ontario in its definition of spouse.' Another apologia. My question is, where the heck are we going?"

For Ms. Armstrong, the tension between freedom of religious expression and the need for one set of laws which protect all citizens equally should be resolved in favour of the secular interests of society. She observed, "This is a secular country. We've fought very, very hard to make this country secular. It's not that there's anything wrong with religious law when it's kept in the church, the synagogue, or the mosque. Keep it there. The laws of Canada are secular, and they belong to all the people. I think we have opened Pandora's Box. Six more provinces have applied for Sharia law."

Although the use of Sharia law to settle civil disputes is optional, and theoretically must be consented to by both parties, critics of its imposition say that there is no way to effectively safeguard against the coercion of women to assent to its use. Ms. Armstrong said, "The argument against using Sharia law is led by the Canadian Council of Muslim Women. The rest of us are following along behind them."

Sally Armstrong is probably best-known to readers in Canada for her work as a journalist and investigative reporter. In 2002, she published her account of the lives of women and girls under the repressive Taliban regime in Afghanistan, Veiled Threat. It was a project that grew out of her reporting. "So many people say to me, 'Why did you go to Afghanistan in the first place, and why did you write Veiled Threat?' " she said. "I went to Afghanistan because when I heard what the Taliban were doing to the women and girls, I couldn't believe my ears. I wanted to know how the women were coping, but I also wanted to know how the Taliban were getting away with it, right under the nose of the international community. Someone had to chart what really happened while the rest of the world decided to look the other way."

Ms. Armstrong had a positive experience with at least one senior Canadian diplomat who decided to help publicize the plight of Afghanistan's women at one of the world's highest-profile lecterns, the United Nations. She recalled, "When I say the world was silent, Lloyd Axworthy was not. We received 9,000 letters at Homemakers after my initial story appeared. Lloyd Axworthy carried those letters to Kofi Annan. And, he agreed to speak, when Canada became president of the Security Council, in April of that year. He agreed to make this Canada's issue. And he did, he was good to his word. And he stood alone."

With the election of the Karzai government, and the dispersal of the Taliban, Ms. Armstrong has seen positive changes inside Afghanistan recently, but noted that there is still much ground to recover. "Eighty-five per cent of women in Afghanistan are illiterate. With the new government, now the schools are open to girls. But adult women want to read and write, so literacy has become the new panacea. I joined their classes from time to time, partly because it was Canadian money funding these classes and I wanted to know what was going on. What I noticed was the women constantly referred to their illiteracy as being blind. So, finally I said, through the translator, 'Whaddaya mean, you were blind?' and she didn't bat an eye. She answered right back, 'Well, yeah, I couldn't read, so I couldn't see what was going on.' And I thought, in less than a dozen words, this woman said it for what it is. The thugs in power keep women illiterate so that they cannot make change. And now women know that, and they're trying to do something about it."

When Sally Armstrong embarks on her popular speaking tours, she frequently uses the theme "The Power Of One," suggesting that it is the moral courage of individuals in civil society which can have the greatest impact on the world, particularly in the search for social justice and healing. She spoke of the power of civil society as the interview session wrapped up. "I think the recent Asian tsunami is the biggest lesson we've ever had, and I think we'll be unpacking reaction to the tsunami for years. It's going to be the topic of PhD dissertations. Civil society spoke before government, they spoke en masse, and with authority. Civil society spoke before the cameras got to those places. The reporters weren't even there yet. They spoke early, loud, and with authority, and they proved that there is enough money in the world to fix what's wrong. Civil society in this case said they wanted accountability, if you were to pick a day on the calendar to do a fundraiser, I doubt you'd choose Boxing Day-- but people took action."

Later that evening, in the penthouse ballroom of a downtown hotel, a number of speakers paid tribute to Sally Armstrong's career and accomplishments. The event's organizer, Judith Szabo, said: "Kofi Annan would've liked to have been here tonight. Instead, he's asked me to read an extract from his women's day speech." In the audience were luminaries such as the Hon. Flora MacDonald; Anton Thalmann, the ambassador of Switzerland; and Norma Walmsley, UNIFEM Canada's founder, who was to turn 85 within the month.

Other speakers included Liberal MP Marlene Catterall, and Zaineb B. Kubba, Third Secretary from the recently-reopened Embassy of Iraq, who noted that earlier in the day, the first freely elected Iraqi Parliament had begun its first session.

Ms. Kubba's brief and eloquent remarks underscored the theme of the evening well, connecting the diverse fields of UNIFEM's endeavours to an emerging reality in the Middle East. Her words were a fitting frame around Sally Armstrong's lifelong fight for equality. Ms. Kubba said, "Iraqi women have challenges ahead. Before, they were unable to live freely and live their dreams. Women didn't hesitate to vote on Jan. 30. They've been waiting for the chance all of their lives. 86 seats were allotted to women on Jan. 30, and 30 seats in the Kurdish national assembly. Iraqi democracy is open to the full participation of women. We desperately need training, and the encouragement of the international community. Stand by our sides, and make our dream of freedom come true."

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Embassy, March 23rd, 2005FEATUREBy Peter Schneider

What's Going On Here?

Sally Armstrong on the fight against the use of Sharia law in Ontario

Embassy, March 23rd, 2005
FEATURE
By Peter Schneider