FUREY: Just how broad is the Laith Marouf problem?

It’s a good thing the Liberal government has admitted a mistake in doling out grants to something called the Community Media Advocacy Centre (CMAC). But now the question becomes how broad of a problem are we dealing with here.

Is the Laith Marouf issue an isolated one, or does it speak to something bigger?

Let’s hope the Liberal government takes this question seriously as they conduct what they’ve described as an “extensive review” of funding of anti-racism programs to make sure that they’re not giving money to, well, groups and people that are themselves purveyors of racism.

This became news a couple of weeks ago when it was revealed that Marouf, the man behind CMAC, had been posting racist and anti-Semitic musings on social media for some time. And yet the reason he had received six-figure grants from the feds was to conduct anti-racism workshops, mostly geared towards media.

During a recent episode of my Postmedia podcast,Full Comment, author Jonathan Kay, who had been an early voice drawing attention to Marouf, said that his impression upon reviewing dozens of similar grant recipients was that Marouf appears to something of an outlier.

That’s reassuring. But perhaps the review should also ask questions about those who knew about this but went along with it, as well as what was known by those who participated in Marouf’s sessions.

Blacklock’s Reporter released a story outlining how Carleton journalism professor Karim Karim spoke at a CMAC event alongside Marouf in Vancouver this past May, where he congratulated the group on its “progressive and forward-thinking activism.” The professor also served as a government advisor when it came to how to roll out the $600-million media subsidies package. (Karim has not responded to questions from Postmedia about his involvement with Marouf.)

It should be noted, though, that during the actual anti-racism sessions, Marouf wasn’t voicing the sort of remarks that saw one of his Twitter accounts suspended earlier this year. Karim and any others who participated may not have been aware of this vitriol.

Here’s where the lines get blurred, though. Because at the same event where Karim spoke, Marouf explained that they’d be tackling “how [mainstream] media upholds white supremacy, genocide and colonialism” across Canada.

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A lot of Canadians probably think this is pretty nutty talk. They probably think anti-racism sessions should be focused on unifying issues like tolerance, respect and inclusion.

That’s increasingly not the case, though. This whole cottage industry has veered towards a politicized agenda full of niche academic talking points that are well removed from real life.

Now we see much more space taken up by divisive ideas like unconscious bias and white fragility. (The whole concept of white fragility is a perfect trap and a rather brilliant scam, because “experts” on the matter will tell you that the very fact I have questions with the use of the term is itself an example of white fragility.)

We know the government could have acted sooner on the Marouf problem. After all, Liberal MP Anthony Housefather says he flagged the issue to Diversity Minister Ahmed Hussen in July. Telecom expert Mark Goldberg has been blogging about Marouf for well over a year, drawing attention to his online history.

Whether it was a bureaucrat recommending a grant or a professor participating in a CMAC event, one only needed to do a little bit of due diligence to see that perhaps it was best to not associate with the group.

A review to root out other grant recipients spewing online vitriol is a no-brainer. That may be the limits of the feds’ inquiries, though.

What Canadians also need to push for is assurances that taxpayer money isn’t going to fund workshops rooted in agendas that further divide.

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