University of Ottawa professor Duff Conacher said he was shocked by what he considers racist implications of the phrase “old stock Canadians” used by Prime Minister Stephen Harper in Thursday’s leadership debate.

Harper used the phrase “old stock Canadians” in response to a question on refugee policy.

The Conservative leader said he would “bring in more” refugees than in past years, but there is a limit, adding that “we do not offer them a better health-care plan than the ordinary Canadian can receive.”

“I think that’s something that new and old stock Canadians can agree with,” Harper said.

That gave a chill to Conacher, the founder of the non-partisan citizen advocacy group Democracy Watch and visiting professor in law and political science at University of Ottawa.

“I was shocked and I think he definitely has to explain what he meant by that,” Conacher said.

On Friday, Harper appeared to elaborate on the phrase, repeating that there is widespread support for the government’s position on refugee health care.

“It’s supported by Canadians who are themselves immigrants, it’s supported by the rest of us — by Canadians who have been the descendants of immigrants for one or more generations,” Harper said on a campaign stop in Calgary.

The Liberal and NDP leaders slammed Harper’s use of the term as divisive on Friday.

Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau said the old-stock comment shows Harper uses “the politics of division.”

NDP Leader Tom Mulcair said “we’re all Canadians” and he doesn’t like dividing people into categories.

Conacher said all of the 36 Fathers of Confederation who drafted the framework for Canada in 1867 were white and privileged.

Those Fathers of Confederation were voted into power by white, privileged males, who then allowed male African-Canadians to vote, he said.

“Only about 10 per cent of people were allowed to vote (in 1867),” Conacher said. “White males. They had to own property or pay a lot of tax. Is that what he meant?”

Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading...

Conacher said Canada has come a long way toward inclusion for residents since 1867, but Harper’s comments seem like a giant step back.

“They (Fathers of Confederation) were elected by only 10 per cent of the population,” Conacher said. “Is he kind of appealing to that 10 per cent? Saying you’re the only legitimate Canadians?”

Conacher called this “ethnic nationalism,” which he described as “just racism by another name.”

Conacher and Robert David, a part-time professor in the School of International Development and Global Studies at the University of Ottawa, said they hadn’t heard the phrase “old stock” referring to a Canadian ethnic group outside of Quebec. Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau used the phrase “old stock” pioneers in reference to the Quebec “nation” in 2007.

“It’s a bit surprising that he used that,” David said, referring to the phrase “old stock Canadians.”

“I don’t think it’s been used before, at least for quite a few decades.”

Conacher and David said Harper’s comment reminded them of former Quebec premier and sovereigntist leader Jacques Parizeau, and his bitter complaint after he lost the 1995 referendum vote for Quebec independence.

Parizeau was the champion of “pure laine” (dyed in the wool) or “de souche” (old-stock Quebecers) and he believed there was a simple reason for why the Quebec independence side lost by just 54,288 votes.

“We are beaten, it is true,” Parizeau said. “But by what, basically? By money and the ethnic vote.”

David said he wonders if “old-stock Canadian” is “a code word,” such as how the phrase “most vulnerable” Syrian refugees might also be translated to “non-Muslim.”

With files from The Canadian Press

Read more about: