DawaNet has published its “Summer 2018 Student Employment Opportunities.” Its online publication reads:
We are hiring for the following positions for Summer 2018:
- Youth Program Coordinator
- Special Events Coordinator
- Social Services Coordinator
- Volunteer Management Coordinator
- Education Coordinator
- Content and Marketing Coordinator
DawaNet noted that these jobs “will be funded by the Government of Canada and the duration, start date, and wage is dependant on the approval we will receive from CSJ Program.”
Canada Summer Jobs (CSJ) is an initiative of the Summer Work Experience program. It provides wage subsidies to employers to create employment for secondary and post-secondary students.
CSJ 2018 supports the following:
- Employers who intend to hire youth who are in underrepresented groups, including new immigrant youth/refugees, Indigenous youth, youth with disabilities and visible minorities.
- Small businesses, in recognition of their contribution to the creation of jobs
- Organizations that support opportunities for official language minority communities
- Organizations that provide services and/or supports for the LGBTQ2 community
- Organization that support opportunities in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) and information and communications and technology (ICT), particularly for women.
Organizations that apply for federal funding under Canada Summer Jobs (CSJ) program must sign the following “Attestation”:
I have read and understood the Canada Summer Jobs Articles of Agreement and referred to the Applicant Guide as needed;
The job would not be created without the financial assistance provided under a potential contribution agreement;
Both the job* and my organization’s core mandate* respect individual human rights in Canada, including the values underlying the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms as well as other rights. These include reproductive rights and the right to be free from discrimination on the basis of sex, religion, race, national or ethnic origin, colour, mental or physical disability or sexual orientation, or gender identity or expression;
I have all the necessary authorities, permissions and approvals to submit this application on behalf of myself and the organization.
Faith-based communities protested the federal government’s decision to make the “Attestation” a condition for receiving the summer jobs funding. On March 28, 2018, the National Post reported that “a coalition of Christian, Jewish and Muslim groups says a face-to-face meeting with Employment Minister Patty Hajdu in Ottawa last week ended in disappointment as they were told there will be no compromise — at least for this year — on the Canada Summer jobs attestation on abortion rights.”
A spokesperson for Hajdu told the National Post that “our government remains committed to ensuring that taxpayer funds are never used to work against women’s rights, LGBTQ2 rights, or other human rights.”
DawaNet’s senior board member on implementing Islamic Sharia Law in North America
Taha Ghayyur, the current Executive Director of Islamic Society of North America (ISNA Canada) is also a board member of DawaNet.
In an article originally published in English by the Young Muslims website and entitled “Understanding Punishment in Shariah,” Taha Ghayyur explained the rationale behind the harsh punishments in Islam (execution, stoning, cutting off thieves’ hands, etc.) and argued that the Islamic law (sharia) can be implemented in North America. (Detailed information on Taha Ghayyur’s involvement with North American Muslim organizations is available here.)
The following are excerpts from Ghayyur’s article:
[If o]ne wonders if [sharia] can be practically implemented in our contemporary North American context[,] … [t]he principles of [sharia] are universal and are not bound by the limitations of time and culture.
Ghayyur argues:
It is certainly possible to apply [sharia] in the North American society only if three conditions are fulfilled:
One, when an environment is developed, provisioned with preventative measures, that is conductive to a just and productive lifestyle, which is often not compatible with a consumer lifestyle.
Two, if the [sharia] laws are implemented gradually, accompanied by continuous public education and training on the importance of justice, freedom, and one’s purpose on this [E]arth, the way it was revealed and practiced, as a strategy of pre-crime social reform, over a period of twenty-three years at the time of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) and the first generation of Muslims.
Three, if the punishments in the [sharia] are given their due place, only to be used as a last resort, and not to be practiced in isolation from the other major objectives of the [sharia].
He then clarifies why it is important to introduce these measures gradually:
If a comprehensive approach to [sharia] is not adopted then one may expect to witness horrific images of extremist, selective, and literal application of the Islamic text, the likes of which we have witnessed in recent times.