Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, October 2021, pp. 48-49
Canada Calling
By Candice Bodnaruk
AT TWO VIRTUAL SUMMITS held just days apart this past summer, one on Islamophobia and the other on anti-Semitism, Canada’s Liberal Government pledged to dismantle White supremacist groups, monitor hate groups and engage with Muslim and Jewish communities on the government’s next Anti-Racism Action Plan.
At the Emergency Summit on Islamophobia, on July 22, the government pledged to spend $6 million on 150 projects to support communities at risk of hate crimes. Part of the funding focuses on the Security Infrastructure Program (SIP), which will allow communities at risk to apply for funding to install alarm systems and lighting as well as to complete renovations in community centers. The federal government also announced eight specific projects that address Islamophobia.
In June, Members of Parliament (MPs) from all parties gave their unanimous consent to a New Democratic Party (NDP) motion, in the House of Commons, for an Emergency Summit on Islamophobia, after three generations of the Afzaal family, who were originally from Pakistan, were killed in a brazen hit and run in London, Ontario.
Talat Afzaal, 74, her son Salman Afzaal, 46, his wife Madiha Salman, 44, as well as the couple’s 15-year-old daughter Yumna, were killed at an intersection in London. The family had been out for an evening walk at the time of the attack. The only survivor was a 9-year-old boy.
Nathaniel Veltman, 20, was charged with first-degree murder, attempted murder and associated terrorism charges.
It was an NDP MP for London, Lindsay Mathyssen, who originally proposed the summit, saying that the Federal Liberal government needs to go beyond just expressing condolences when Islamophobic attacks happen in Canada. Mathyssen stressed the Liberal government needs to do more.
“The Muslim leaders in my community have insisted that we must address all forms of hate and we must insist that we confront all forms of racism with substantial change,” Mathyssen said in an emailed statement. She came to focus on Islamophobia specifically in her role as the NDP critic for Diversity, Inclusion and Youth.
“This was brought to me by my very strong and vocal Muslim organizations and constituents and of course I have built relationships with incredible folks in my community,” she said.
Meanwhile, the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA) had been demanding an emergency summit about anti-Semitism, after former Green Party MP, Jenica Atwin, left the party in the spring to join the governing Liberals. Atwin has been a strong critic of Israel and has recently challenged Green leader Annamie Paul’s position on Palestine.
CIJA and other Israel supporters have been critical of the Liberal government’s decision to welcome Atwin, who has denounced Israel as an apartheid state.
CANADIAN MUSLIMS HAVE BEEN SOUNDING AN ALARM SINCE 9/11
Canadian Muslims wonder what kind of long-term impact the Islamophobia summit will have. Shahina Siddiqui, the voluntary director with Islamic Social Services Association (ISSA) in Winnipeg, said she wished the warnings that she and others were raising after 9/11 had been heard and taken seriously, but they were not. She said it was avoidance and indifference that kept escalating the level of Islamophobia, until it became mainstream and acceptable, which has now led to deadly violence.
“I am heartbroken to say we will not see the end of these attacks any time soon, if no concrete actions are taken,” she said.
Siddiqui acknowledged Islamophobia is not only growing in Canada, but it is also becoming more violent, brazen and deadly. “The demonization of Islam continues and so does the dehumanization of Muslims,” she asserted.
She explained that xenophobic language and characterizations fuel Islamophobia. She said the government has acknowledged that Islamophobia is real but what is not being acknowledged is that it is here to stay.
Siddiqui commented that Canada has a history of learning nothing from the past. People had come to believe that anti-Asian discrimination in Canada had been defeated and then “suddenly,” in 2020, COVID-19 came along, and it is rampant again.
She explained that her organization, ISSA, does not waste its time on those who choose hate, and who are funding hate groups for their own political, economic or ideological interests. “Our focus is on the majority of Canadians who are asking to know about Muslims and help,” she said, adding that the young people who join hate groups are also victims that need help as well.
Speaking in the days leading up to the Emergency Summit on Islamophobia, Hassan Guillet, an imam who is also a retired lawyer and engineer, said the June hit-and-run in London was a terrorist attack on innocent people, as was the 2017 mosque attack in Quebec City.
“For me, it’s like seeing a horror movie for the second time. For many Canadians, it’s the same feeling as it was after Quebec City. It’s tragic for sure; it’s painful,” he said.
Guillet said that, after the mosque attack everybody believed it was an isolated act. “We had all these excuses, and here we are seeing it again and it is not isolated,” he said, noting that Canadian Muslims have endured other attacks, including when a man was killed in front of a mosque in Toronto in September 2020.
Guillet said the proposal to hold the summit was a “good thing,” but that people must stop playing politics with Islamophobia which, he said, is playing politics with people’s lives. He added that having the motion adopted unanimously in the House of Commons, to hold the summit, is encouraging. “I hope this summit will be meaningful, it should be fruitful,” he said.
He recalled that, after the 2017 mosque attack, it took the government four years to declare Jan. 29 a National Day of Remembrance and Action Against Islamophobia.
Guillet pointed out that Canadians are now hearing the same words they heard in January 2017. “We want to see these words transformed into actions,” he said, adding that he hopes the summit brings progress and stops the cycle of violence and murder.
He added that action is not only required at the federal government level, but that all levels of government, including provincial and municipal, should be involved.
He remarked that London Mayor, Ed Holder, came out right after the attack and was quick to label the London hit and run as an Islamophobic attack. “I wish and I hope that other politicians on all levels follow his example,” Guillet said.
JEWISH CANADIANS REGRET ANTI-SEMITISM SUMMIT WAS A PLATFORM FOR PRO-ISRAEL AGENDA
Meanwhile, Corey Balsam, national coordinator for Independent Jewish Voices Canada, called the July 21 National Summit on Anti-Semitism “a missed opportunity.” He went on to say that such a gathering could have been a chance to engage in an open discussion about anti-Semitism in Canada and how it might be addressed.
“Sadly, the federal government allowed it to be used as a platform for pro-Israel lobby groups to advance their agenda of equating criticism and protest of Israel and Zionism with anti-Semitism, and for advancing the IHRA (International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance) definition of anti-Semitism,” Balsam said.
He added that IJV was initially invited to take part in the summit by a friendly Liberal MP but that the actual invitation never materialized. He pointed out that the government organizers of the summit explicitly sought to exclude IJV representatives and others who hold critical views of Canadian government policy, including the IHRA definition of anti-Semitism. Over 1,500 people emailed the federal government to insist that IJV be given a seat at the table.
He said that Bardish Chagger, the federal minister who oversees the federal Diversity and Inclusion portfolio, pledged to use the IHRA definition of anti-Semitism as a tool to enhance policies and laws around regulation of anti-Semitic hate crimes. The IHRA definition also proposes that criticism of Israel should be labelled anti-Semitic.
In a press release, the Government of Canada stated that part of its work to combat anti-Semitism does include adopting the IHRA into Canada’s Anti-Racism Strategy 2019-2022.
Balsam said the government “really shouldn’t have bothered” with the summit, adding that it was just a performative exercise to win votes and please powerful lobby groups. “People see through it—that it’s not genuine,” he said.
Despite the disappointment in the two virtual conferences and skepticism of any tangible action, for NDP MP Mathyssen, it is vital that Canada examine its institutions, laws, behaviors and actions when addressing hate crimes. “Of course, Canadians need to be on board for this to be successful, but if we come together, we can truly move forward in a collective way, respectful of everyone and to the benefit of everyone,” she said.
Considering how many commissions, inquiries and summits Canada has already held to address colonial brutality inflicted on Canada’s Indigenous Nations, there is reason for skepticism. However, as Siddiqui concluded, “We must atone for our past and then dream for a future that we all aspire for—indigenous, settlers, newcomers, refugees and immigrants, coming together with shared values and mutual respect to work together for a more just nation.”
Candice Bodnaruk has been involved in Palestinian issues for the past 14 years through organizations such as the Canadian BDS Coalition and Peace Alliance Winnipeg. Her political action started with feminism and continued with the peace movement, first with the No War on Iraq Coalition in 2003 in Winnipeg.
