RIGHTS FIGHT BREWING: CONTROVERSY DOGS MUSEUM
ALTHIA RAJ

Winnipeg Sun
April 17, 2009 Friday
The Toronto Sun

The Canadian Museum for Human Rights is set to tackle the thorny
issue of whose story to include and whose to leave out — a process
that is causing controversy before it’s even begun.

Construction of the $265-million project in Winnipeg is now underway
and the museum will soon announce a cross-country "story gathering
process."

"We will be talking to community groups, individuals, academics and
researchers, to really start identifying what the stories are, and who
the storytellers are as well," said museum spokeswoman Angela Cassie.

But some groups are already raising concerns their stories will
be excluded.

Helen Kennedy, executive director of Egale Canada, was worried gay
and lesbian human rights would be ignored because the group was
"totally omitted" from the museum’s promotional materials.

"To have that totally erased was really disconcerting and alarming,"
said Kennedy.

After meeting with the museum’s chief operating officer, she hopes
the situation will be corrected.

Others such as James Kafieh worry the museum’s tour will be "a public
relations exercise" and will give the Jews’ experience during the
Holocaust disproportionate attention compared to other cases of human
rights abuses.

EQUAL TREATMENT

Kafieh is the executive secretary of Canadians for Genocide Education,
a coalition of 46 ethno-cultural groups including the Canadian Arab
Federation, Armenian National Federation and Federation of Canadian
Turkish Associations.

"It needs to be inclusive and equitable. If it focuses disproportionate
attention to some cases over other cases, then what it is actually
teaching us is that there is a hierarchy of human suffering, and that
some human suffering is more important than other cases of human
suffering; and on that basis, the museum would not be teaching us
anything about human rights, it would be teaching us about racism,"
Kafieh said.

The museum, which is a Crown corporation, is funded primarily through
federal dollars, but has also received provincial, municipal and
private donations.

Chief operating officer Patrick O’Reilly is aware of the concerns
and promised the museum will be independent from its biggest donors,
such as Winnipeg’s prominent Jewish family, the Aspers.

O’Reilly said the museum will be rigorous in its approach, and he
expects controversial and conflicting points of view will be shared
"as long as they are respectful."

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress