Hooray for Ujjal Dosanjh

95% of the time, Liberal MP Ujjal Dosanjh drives me crazy.

Just to name one example, the former Communist organizer has been on a six-month campaign to smear our Canadian Forces in Afghanistan as war criminals. It really is gross to watch.

But then, every once in a while, Dosanjh speaks out against Sikh radicalism in a way that is so honest and so personally courageous, it makes me realize that he can be more than just a partisan leftist -- he can be a very brave man.

Here's an item from today's Globe and Mail; here are some excerpts:

Ujjal Dosanjh, a former Liberal cabinet minister and onetime B.C. premier, says Sikh extremism is on the rise in some parts of the country, and blamed, in part, “politically correct” Canadians who let it happen in the name of diversity.

Mr. Dosanjh, who was savagely beaten in Vancouver in 1985 after speaking out against religious violence, said Canadian multiculturalism has allowed extremism to take root in Sikh and other ethnic communities.

...Mr. Dosanjh’s comments shocked some Sikh organizations, including the influential World Sikh Organization of Canada.

...Meanwhile, Mr. Dosanjh blamed what he described as Canada’s polite brand of multiculturalism for giving extremists the space to nurture old grudges brought from their homelands. At the same time, Canada has failed to instill its own values on new immigrants.

“I think what we are doing to this country is that this idea of multiculturalism has been completely distorted, turned on its head to essentially claim that anything anyone believes – no matter how ridiculous and outrageous it might be – is okay and acceptable in the name of diversity.

“Where we have gone wrong in this pursuit of multiculturalism is that there is no adherence to core values, the core Canadian values, which [are]: That you don’t threaten people who differ with you; you don’t go attack them personally; you don’t terrorize the populace.”

...“I think Canadians need to engage in this cultural diversity debate,” he said. “And we actually have to say to each other: ‘Hey what you’re doing is wrong. What you’re doing here is right.’ We should stop being politically correct and have a debate.”