QUESTION PERIOD — Public Safety
Combatting Islamophobia
March 29, 2023
Senator Gold, last evening our colleague Senator Mohamed Ravalia hosted us for a magnificent community celebration of Ramadan. Unfortunately, a recent Angus Reid Institute study found that 39% of Canadians hold a negative — or very negative — view of Islam, and that Canadians are more negative toward Islam than any other faith. It also found that half of Canadians believe that Canada does not have a problem with Islamophobia, with those who view Islam negatively being the most likely to say that there is no problem.
Globally, many Muslim communities are the targets of state-sanctioned discrimination, as we know is the case with the genocide of the Uyghurs in China and the Rohingya of Myanmar.
As we know, our Senate Human Rights Committee is currently studying Islamophobia in Canada. Last week, Senator Greenwood and I attended the first in-person parliamentary briefings on the occasion of the United Nations’ first International Day to Combat Islamophobia — we heard the disturbing statistics and personal stories.
Senator Gold, what is the Government of Canada doing to combat Islamophobia, and ensure that Muslim people in Canada feel — and are — safe and welcome?
Thank you for your question.
Tragically, and regrettably, Canada has seen an alarming increase in hate crimes and other examples of Islamophobia. In this country, it is the position of the government, which it has stated publicly, that Islamophobia is real and is a troubling fact that needs to be addressed.
To address it, the government has taken very concrete actions. They include the hosting of a National Summit on Islamophobia, the appointment of Canada’s first ever Special Representative on Combatting Islamophobia, officially recognizing January 29 as a National Day of Remembrance of the Québec City Mosque Attack and Action against Islamophobia and, in concrete terms, investing $5.6 million over five years with $1.2 million ongoing to support the new Special Representative on Combatting Islamophobia.
The government will continue to support organizations and community organizations that work in this area, and we’ll work closely with the many Muslim communities in the country to end — as is our hope — Islamophobia in this country.
Honourable senators, the time for Question Period has expired.
