QUESTION PERIOD — Human Rights
Business of the Committee
December 7, 2022
My question is for the Chair of the Senate Human Rights Committee.
The committee has been undertaking an extensive study of Islamophobia in Canada. It is a really timely study. Research from Statistics Canada released in August of this year indicates that police-reported hate crimes targeting the Muslim community increased by 71% between 2020 and 2021. This figure reflects the troubling trend we’ve witnessed of hate-motivated attacks on Muslims in Canada, notably the heinous shooting at a Quebec City mosque in 2017 and the brutal attack last year on a Muslim family in London, Ontario.
We all agree that Islamophobia is a pressing issue in Canada, and we are all eager to learn from your committee’s study. Can you please update this chamber on the progress of your study and when you are aiming to report back to the chamber?
Thank you for your question.
The committee had 20 meetings totalling over 36 hours. We have heard from 111 witnesses. We travelled to Vancouver; Edmonton; Quebec City, where we visited the mosque where the terrorist attack took place, and Toronto.
We hear the same thing in practically every city we visit. We heard heartbreaking testimony from Muslim Canadians who continue to struggle to feel accepted and safe in their communities. The trauma that many have experienced through physical and verbal assault, hurtful stereotypes in the media — the role the media plays kept coming up — racial profiling and discrimination are also passed down through younger generations as multi-generational trauma.
I would like to add that women, particularly Black Muslim women, experience greater discrimination and harassment, especially if they choose to wear the hijab.
We still have a lot more witnesses to hear from. We are asking the media to appear. Hopefully, by spring of next year, we should finish the study. Thank you.
