Montreal, Quebec, Canada – Canada’s Muslim leaders are calling for an end to Islamophobic rhetoric and fear-mongering, as the country prepares to mark nine years. An attack on a mosque In the province of Quebec.
Stephen Brown, CEO of the National Council of Canadian Muslims (NCCM), said Thursday’s anniversary is a reminder that Islamophobia in Canada is “not benign.”
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“It’s something that unfortunately kills people,” Brown told Al Jazeera. “(The anniversary) forces us to remember that hatred has real consequences.”
On January 29, 2017, six Muslim men were killed when a gunman opened fire at the Quebec Islamic Cultural Center in Quebec City. Marking the most deadly attack On a house of worship in Canadian history.
The attack left Quebec City in a tight spot The Muslim community was shakenVigils and protests across Canada highlighted the global rise of anti-Muslim hatred and extremism.
The Canadian government condemned the shooting as a “terrorist attack” on Muslims and vowed to deal with the root problems.
In 2021, it was announced Appointing January 29 As a national day of remembrance for the Quebec City mosque attack and action against Islamophobia.
But Brown said he’s not sure if the lessons learned after what happened in Quebec City are being fully remembered today, nearly a decade later.
“After the Quebec City mosque massacre, there was a real desire in the community to mend some wounds and try to build some bridges,” he said.
“Unfortunately, what many people (now) are seeing – and especially for Muslims living in Quebec – … is a massive return to using Islamophobia and spreading fear of Muslims for political gain.”
Laws and Oratory
Brown pointed to several measures taken by Quebec’s right-wing Coalition Avenir Quebec (CAQ) government that human rights groups say target Muslim Quebecers.
In power since 2018, the CAQ passed a law in 2019 to prohibit some public servants from wearing religious symbols, including the headscarf worn by Muslim women, the Sikh turban and the Jewish yarmulke.
The government supported the law, Known as Bill 21As part of his efforts to protect secularism in the province, he staged a so-called “quiet revolution” in the 1960s to break the influence of the Catholic Church on state institutions.
But rights advocates say Bill 21 discriminates against religious minorities and will have a disproportionately harmful impact on Muslim women in particular.
As the CAQ’s popularity has declined in recent months, more legislation has been passed to strengthen its so-called “state secularization” model ahead of provincial elections later this year.
Most recently, in late November, CAQ A bill was introduced That would ban religious symbols in daycares and private schools, among other places.
Bill 9 prohibits schools from serving meals based solely on religious dietary requirements — such as kosher or halal lunches — and prohibits “collective religious practices, especially prayer” in public places.
“Quebec has adopted its own model of state secularism,” said Provincial Minister responsible for Secularism, Jean-Francois Roberge.
Roberge has rejected the idea that the bill is targeting Muslim or Jewish Quebecers. Telling reporters In a press conference on November 27, he said that “the same rules apply to all”.
But the Canadian Civil Liberties Association (CCLA) — which is involved in a case against Bill 21 that will be heard in the Supreme Court of Canada later this year — called Bill 9 “discrimination that masks secularism.”
“These harmful bans disproportionately target and marginalize religious and ethnic minorities, especially Muslim women,” said Harini Shivalingam, director of CCLA’s Equality Program. A statement.
According to Brown at the NCCM, the Quebec government’s moves “have sent a message to society that there is something inherently dangerous or wrong about being a visible, practicing Muslim”.
He warned that when people in positions of authority try to score political points by using anti-Muslim rhetoric, “that already gives license to these Islamophobic ideas or hateful ideas to be directed at people”.
‘Hateful threats continue’
At the federal level, Amira ElghawabiCanada’s Special Representative for Combating Islamophobia said the Canadian government has shown a continued commitment to combating the problem.
That includes the Action Plan to Counter Hate Launched in 2024, which has dedicated millions of dollars to community groups, antifascism programs and other initiatives.
But Elghawabi told Al Jazeera that Islamophobia continues to rise in Canada, “whether it’s police-reported hate crimes (or) Canadians sharing that they experience discrimination at work (and) at school”.
Accordingly Statistics Canada211 anti-Muslim hate crimes were reported to the police in 2023 – a 102-percent increase on the previous year. There was a slight increase in 2024 – the most recent year for which data is available – with 229 incidents reported.
Elghawabi, whose office was established later Another anti-Muslim attack In 2021, four members of the same family were killed in London, Ontario, the figures underscored that “hatred is putting Canadians at risk”.
“Canada, despite its global reputation as a country that welcomes people from all over the world, is struggling with division, with polarization, with the rise of stories of extremism,” she said, adding that the Quebec City mosque attack was critical to remember.
“(The families of the slain men) don’t want the loss of their loved ones to be in vain. They want Canadians to stand with them, stand against Islamophobia and do their part in their own circles to help promote understanding,” Elghawaby said.
“History may sadly repeat itself if we do not learn from the lessons of the past.”