Honourable senators, last night, hundreds of people from coast to coast to coast came together to commemorate the victims of the shooting that happened on January 29, 2017, at the great mosque in Quebec City. Over the past few days, the victims’ widows and friends and the survivors have launched a resounding and commendable call for unity.

One year ago, six of our fellow Canadians lost their lives because of ignorance, intolerance and hatred. All of them were actively involved in their community and contributed to our society in various ways. They included a university professor, a grocer and businessman, an accountant, a meat plant supervisor, and two computer technicians. Some of them were fathers who left behind very young children.

I am from Quebec City, and this tragedy struck close to home for me, as for us all. I feel directly affected by the fallout from this tragic event. These six men had chosen to make this country their new home, hoping to find a better life of prosperity, tolerance and openness here. They had left their native lands to live in harmony with our shared values, in a country that guarantees and promotes individual and collective rights and freedoms.

As parliamentarians who get to speak in a public forum, we have a responsibility to promote inclusiveness and unity, to give every individual a real opportunity to make a positive contribution to Canadian society. Our message must encourage equality, regardless of colour, religion, political belief, language, or ethnic or national origin. We must also stand guard against and vigorously condemn racist and xenophobic comments and insinuations. Allowing such ideas to spread unchecked creates fertile ground for hate crimes.

May the Centre culturel islamique de Québec shooting go down in history as a tipping point toward greater respect for all forms of diversity. We must build lasting bridges between all our communities if we are to prevent such a tragedy from ever happening again.