Canada: "... whether the Conservatives’ effort to mobilize their nativist base ..."

[pampango]

Some things never change no matter where you are.

Canadian election has become two-way race that will be decided by immigrants

A Canadian election campaign that began amid widespread concern over a faltering economy has turned into a national referendum on the rights of immigrants, with the Conservative government of Stephen Harper, the prime minister, gaining support for its hardline stance against Muslim women who veil their faces in public.

The so-called “niqab issue,” inspired by the ruling party’s legal campaign to prevent one Pakistani immigrant from veiling her face during the ceremony held to formalize her new citizenship, remains powerfully divisive as Canadians prepare to elect a new government on 19 October.

The question is whether the Conservatives’ effort to mobilize their nativist base in the rest of Canada using deliberate expressions of religious intolerance has tarnished their appeal to the immigrant voters about to decide their fate.

Ignoring the niqab controversy that has obsessed the rest of the country, frustrated community leaders are now urging local Muslim parents to punish the Liberals on 19 October. Here, Muslim protest could well lead to the survival of Conservative incumbent John Carmichael, who beat Oliphant by fewer than 1,000 votes in 2011.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/oct/13/canadia-election-immigrants-stephen-harper

Sounds like the Conservatives are playing the Muslim card to retain power. Not that cultural diversity and assimilation are not important issues, but conservatives everywhere know how to play this "multiculturalism" card to win elections with great profit for their sponsors.