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Report on M-103 does disservice to Canadian Muslims by not addressing the core concerns
2-07-2018
January 29 was the first anniversary of one of the worst terrorist attacks in Canadian history, targeting Muslim worshippers at a mosque in Quebec.
The previous Conservative government policies, Bill C-5, Niqab Ban at Citizenship ceremonies, and the perpetuation of anti-Muslim rhetoric, such as “Barbaric Cultural Practices” under former Prime Minister Stephen Harper can be said contributed to the rise of Islamophobia in Canada. This perpetuation took an ugly turn on January 29, 2017, when a young man walked into a mosque in Quebec and open fired on worshippers, killing six, and injuring others. Even though Hon. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called it an act of terror, it was not prosecuted as a terrorist attack.
Canadians from all levels of society from coast to coast to coast came out strongly standing in solidarity with the Canadian Muslims. Many thought this would be the turning point in Canadian history where Canadian Muslims would no longer be marginalized and considered as equal citizens of Canada.
Then, post Quebec mosque attack, Liberal MP, Iqra Khalid brought forward a motion to the House of Commons, supported by her Liberal colleagues, M-103 to find the causes of rise in Islamophobia. As expected the Conservative MP’s reignited the torch of Harperism. They were outrage over this motion, putting great opposition. Thus, a middle ground was reached by rewording the motion as, “Taking Action Against Systemic Racism and Religious Discrimination Including Islamophobia.”
“The motion called on the government to “condemn Islamophobia and all forms of systemic racism and religious discrimination,” and tasked the aforementioned Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage to study the extent of the problem and how it might be addressed. M-103 was not a piece of legislation, and nowhere did it propose any new laws or changes to existing laws.”
However, across the nation conspiracy theories imploded, calling it stifling free speech, imposition of Sharia Law, threat to Canadian democracy, etc. few Canadians took to the streets, protesting against M-103 Liberal MP, Iqra Khalid started to receive threats. Mainstream Canadians who were standing shoulder to shoulder with Canadian Muslims in their hour of grief were sidelined by a fringe group of conspiracy theorists. The entire narrative of reconciliation and acceptance was once again lost as conspiracy theorists advanced the virtues of Harperism.
On February 1st, 2018, the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage's released its report responding to parliamentary motion M-103, "Systemic racism and religious discrimination." It makes thirty recommendations. Only ONE – YES ONLY ONE RECOMMEMENDATION – RELATED TO ISLAMOPHOBIA.
We say “related” because its neither a solution nor an action plan to address the rise of the worst form of racism and discrimination in Canada which led to an act of terrorism on Canadian soil. The report merely recommends that Jan. 29 “be designated as a National Day of Remembrance and Action on Islamophobia, and other forms of religious discrimination.”
Every Canadian has a reason to be outrage, and especially Canadian Muslims who are not only hearing rather experiencing daily the rise in Islamophobia across the country and our parliamentarians do not seem to be concerned about it and have chosen to ignore an ever-expanding problem which may affect all Canadians.
The only reason this token suggestion even made it to the report was because six Muslim organizations, led by National Council of Canadian Muslims (NCCM) had been asking for it. So, we can’t even say that the House of Commons Standing Committee came up with this brilliant idea on their own.
In short, besides one token recommendation or mention of Islamophobia, the rest of the twenty none recommendations just skate around the real essence why M-103 was originally tabled before the House of Commons. The report, “addressed a sweeping range of issues related to the discrimination facing Canadians from all kinds of backgrounds, religions and cultures but also specifically flagged concerns raised by witnesses about the spread of misinformation about the motion.
Not one of the 30 recommendations contains any mention of Islam, Islamophobia or Muslim Canadians, though one calls on the government to “develop an education campaign to promote media literacy.” The recommendations focused on improving the way the government understands, responds to and compiles data on systemic racism and discrimination in Canada,” reported Amanda Connolly of Global News.
“Among them, the report recommends the government: Implements more equitable hiring practices for the federal public service. Reviews all legislation and ensure all new legislation complies with the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People. Creates a task force to assess how education and credentials obtained by professionals outside of Canada compare to those obtained within Canada. Creates a national database to retain and analyze hate crime incidents.
It also recommends that the government reinstates the Canadian Action Plan Against Racism, a five-year plan created in 2005 which got $53.6 million in funding to create federal programs aimed at combating racism and discrimination.”
A supplementary report included by the NDP touched on similar concerns. “Misinformation was rampant regarding M-103 itself,” the supplementary report states. “Much of this was a result of editorials and an online campaign of misinformation that was initiated by sources that would describe themselves not as journalists, but as pundits, or commentators, despite the look and feel of journalism.”
In essence, countless hours, and thousands of dollars wasted by the Standing Committee to produce a report, which talks about everything which most of the Canadians are already aware of, and does disservice to Canadian Muslims by not addressing the core concerns behind the motion M-103.
However, one thing is certain, ever since the motion M-103 was introduced a year ago and how parliamentarians have managed to skate around it is that Islamophobia is alive and kicking in Canada. It took more than a decade for Islamophobia to establish its firm roots in Canadian society with Anti-Muslim bigotry, and it may take several decades to eradicate it. However, if the politicians continue to act and behave in a manner they have thus far, it doesn’t seem it will in near future.
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