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CITY OF HAMILTON SECOND MUNICIPALITY TO PASS MOTION TO SUPPORT CHARTER FOR INCLUSIVE COMMUNITIES
10-04-2016
(Ottawa – September 29, 2016) The National Council of Canadian Muslims (NCCM), a prominent human rights and civil liberties organization, welcomes the City of Hamilton’s endorsement of its Charter for Inclusive Communities.
Thursday, September 28,, Hamilton City Council unanimously passed a motion to support the Charter, previously endorsed by over a hundred local city Mayors, City Councillors, federal and provincial members of parliament, police chiefs and other institutional representatives and individuals from across Canada since it was launched last July. The City of London passed a motion to support the Charter last July.
We welcome the City of Hamilton for being the second municipality to pass this motion and invite other cities to formally do so as well as a signal that hate and bigotry in all its forms have no place in our communities,” says Ihsaan Gardee, NCCM’s Executive Director. “The Hamilton Muslim community should also be commended for working with city council to make this happen. We invite local residents to contact the mayor and city councillors to thank them for this initiative.”
The motion was brought forward by Mayor Fred Eisenberger following the arson on the Ibrahim Jam-e Mosque earlier this month on the 15th anniversary of a firebombing of the Hindu Samaj Temple in Hamilton shortly after the tragic events of 9/11.
“In the wake of the recent arson at the Ibrahim Jam-E Mosque in our city and given our long held belief that ‘an attack on one is an attack on all’, the City of Hamilton Council‘s unanimous endorsement of the Charter was the right thing for us to do,” said the Mayor in a statement.
“This is a step in the right direction,” said Ali Ghouse, president of the Muslim Council of Greater Hamilton (MCGH). “Mayor Eisenberger and the City Council have been loud and clear to denounce Islamophobia in all its forms.”
“This endorsement not only shows that our lawmakers affirm the place of Muslims within the social fabric, but that our community is stronger together,” says Kamran Bhatti, a Hamilton-based NCCM volunteer and a board member of several local community organizations including the North American Spiritual Revival (NASR) and MCGH. “This action stands as a testament to the commitment of Hamilton being an inclusive and safe space for all people. It affirms that the dignity of all people regardless of race, sexual identity, gender or religion, is essential to a healthy and prosperous society.”
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