Canadian Heritage Committee on Oct. 23rd, 2017

[David Anderson, Conservative, Cypress Hills—Grasslands, SK]

It's because Ms. Kwan said she did not initiate it, and I wondered if she would clarify that.

[The Chair, Liberal, Hedy Fry]

All right. Could we have a very quick answer, please? We have to move on.

[Jenny Kwan, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

As I outlined earlier in my seven minutes, Madam Chair, at a community event at Frog Hollow we were discussing the rise of discriminatory activities in our community. The audience said they would love to do some work around that, and I said we could work to see how we could collaborate on this issue.

As it happens, we were studying M-103, so why didn't we host a round table on that? To that end, I said to Frog Hollow that we should do something like that. They then took the initiative and engaged other community groups, such as the Kiwassa Neighbourhood House, among others, and then we had this round table. That's how it came to be.

[The Chair, Liberal, Hedy Fry]

Thank you.

Does that answer your question, Mr. Anderson?

I would like to thank the witnesses for taking the time to come, and I would like us to go in camera for five minutes. That means that anyone who is not a member of the committee or staff of a member of the committee may not be in the room.

Thank you.

[Proceedings continue in camera]

[The Chair, Liberal, Hedy Fry]

The meeting will come to order, please.

Thank you.

I think these are who we have here, and if Mr. Singh comes in, we'll bring him in at that point in time.

I'll introduce the Manitoba Islamic Association.

You do not have names, so I don't know who you are. Who is here from the Manitoba Islamic Association?

[Dr. Idris Elbakri, Past President, Manitoba Islamic Association]

This is Idris Elbakri, the past president of the Manitoba Islamic Association.

[Osaed Khan, President, Manitoba Islamic Association]

My name is Osaed Khan, the current president of the Manitoba Islamic Association.

[The Chair, Liberal, Hedy Fry]

You're both from the Manitoba Islamic Association.

You have 10 minutes to present, and I'll give you a two-minute warning at eight minutes so you know that you can end, and then we'll go to a question-and-answer session.

You can take five minutes each or you can decide who will be the spokesperson.

Thank you. Go ahead for 10 minutes, please.

[Dr. Idris Elbakri]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Honourable members, thank you for the invitation to contribute to this important discussion on behalf of the Manitoba Islamic Association, or MIA.

My name is Idris Elbakri. I am the past president of the MIA. My colleague is Mr. Osaed Khan, the current president of the MIA. We are honoured to be here to present a perspective based on our experience and work as a grassroots community organization. We thank the committee for listening to the many community voices throughout the country, as it is a very important part of this process.

There are approximately 20,000 Muslims in Manitoba. The majority live in Winnipeg. We have communities in Brandon, Thompson, Winkler, and Altona.

Our organization, the MIA, was formally founded in 1969. The MIA is a grassroots organization that serves Manitobans, including Muslims, through three mosques and a community centre that is a cultural, recreational, and educational hub in Winnipeg.

In our presentation today, we would like to share with you why we are concerned about racism, discrimination, anti-Semitism, Islamophobia, and all forms of discrimination. We will share with you how, as a community, we have responded, how we have collaborated with diverse communities, and what more can be done to combat the disturbing trend of increased bigotry.

While I will speak from the perspective of a Canadian Muslim, I do so with the knowledge that indigenous Canadians suffer most from racism, and that racism affects us and hurts us all.

According to Statistics Canada, hate crimes against Muslims have increased by 253% between 2012 and 2015. In 2015, the most targeted racial group was the black community. That same year, the most targeted group was the Jewish community. From 2014 to 2015, there was an 86% increase in hate crimes targeting gay and lesbian Canadians.

We will share with you a few incidents that have occurred in our communities.

Imagine coming home on New Year's Eve to find a gift box at your doorstep. In it is a rock painted with the words “Die, Jew”.

Imagine being a newcomer family just starting the long path towards settlement and integration, still learning the language, only to find graffiti on your fence telling you, “Go back to your country”.

Imagine taking a leisurely stroll in a public park and finding graffiti proclaiming “White Power” or lamenting “The lost white civilization”.

Imagine your mosque employee going through the day's mail only to find that someone mailed you a strip of bacon to express their disdain for your faith and your community.

When we as a community sought a minor rezoning permit, we were met with virulent comments online, such as “We need to put our foot down and stop appeasing to this Islam”.

In the spring of this year, the photo of a Muslim family from Manitoba was featured as part of a promotional campaign for the Canadian Museum for Human Rights. Online trolls posted comments like these, and I quote: “This is an oxymoron as the people pictured in this ad do not believe in equal human rights”; “Muslims funded this place through the UN, Muslim Brotherhood, Hamas. Canada is lost. Canada needs to boot Islam out before it is too late”; and “They are illegally invading our country and that is who you put as your cover”.

We are concerned. We know that there will always be racism; however, what I have just shared with you is a sampling of incidents that have occurred in the past two years only. We are experiencing a palpable increase in incidents that raise serious concerns in our communities, whether they be Muslim, Jewish, people of colour, or others.

We are also concerned about those fringe racists who mostly spread their message online or spray graffiti under the cover of night. We are worried that they are going to attempt to claim public space and normalize their message as part of our nation's discourse. Recent attempts by the so-called Worldwide Coalition Against Islam to hold several rallies are an example of that.

Recent polls indicate that Canadians far and wide are also concerned. In March 2017, an Angus Reid poll showed that 66% of Canadians believed that the Quebec City shooting was a sign of deeper problems. In the same poll, 61% of Canadians believed that Canadian Muslims face a lot of discrimination in their daily lives. Roughly 40% of Canadians said, “Lots of people I know are distrustful of Canadian Muslims.” A provincial breakdown of these results is also available.

Earlier last month, a poll by Think for Actions found that 72% of Canadians believe there is an increasing climate of hatred and fear towards Muslims in Canada and that it will get worse.

[Osaed Khan]

Manitobans by and large have responded to these incidents of hatred with an outpouring of love and support for one another. We understand our responsibility as citizens to stand in solidarity with each other and not let any community shoulder this burden alone.

On the day that worshippers were killed in Quebec City, our mosque was filled with thousands of friends and neighbours who came to express sympathy and love. Communities that suffer from racism and discrimination have come closer and are working together more than ever before. All levels of government in Manitoba have unequivocally spoken against instances of hatred and discrimination. In Winnipeg, the attempt to hold a rally by the Worldwide Coalition Against Islam failed because the community mobilized a counter-rally in a show of unity and love.

As a Muslim community, we have intensified our efforts to educate fellow Canadians who wish to have a better understanding about who we are. Our mosque and organizations offer many opportunities: interfaith dialogue, open houses, seminars, classes, tours, and guest speakers. Also, internally within our community, we emphasize the importance of respecting the diversity of our nation. For example, for two years in a row, we have run summer day camps emphasizing diversity and multiculturalism.

[Dr. Idris Elbakri]

Governments can play an important role in supporting initiatives and projects that create understanding between Canadians of all walks of life. Education, in addition to our existing hate laws, is our best defence, and offence, in dealing with racism and hatred. We need to empower our communities to continue the work they do, to partner with one another and to work with school divisions, law enforcement, and social services to create the awareness and understanding needed to support the victims of hatred and racism. Government can also play an important role in creating a better and deeper understanding of the phenomenon of racism and discrimination as they re-emerge in different forms and target different victims.

Finally, I'd like to end by saying that it is critical that our elected officials exercise moral leadership when it comes to racism and discrimination. We need to hear it loud and clear from all political parties and all elected officials that in Canada people will receive respect based on simple human dignity, regardless of creed, colour, gender identity, or sexual orientation. We expect our elected leaders to uphold this principle and to be an example to us all.

Thank you, Madam Chair.

[The Chair, Liberal, Hedy Fry]

Thank you very much.

Now, from the Muslim Association of Newfoundland and Labrador, we have Mansoor Pirzada, Ayse Akinturk, and Haseen Khan.

Again, the same rules apply. It is 10 minutes for your group, and you can decide who's going to speak.

We can begin now.

[Dr. Mansoor Pirzada, President, Muslim Association of Newfoundland and Labrador]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

I greet you with this Islamic greeting: [Witness speaks in Arabic]. May peace, mercy, and the blessings of God be upon you all.

My name is Mansoor Pirzada. I'm a dermatologist by profession, currently practising in St. John's. I'm the president of MANAL, the Muslim Association of Newfoundland and Labrador. We are a charitable non-profit organization managed by volunteers who have their own professional careers. We are engaged in religious, educational, and outreach activities, as well as close partnerships with other faith groups. Our mission is to contribute to the well-being of our members, the larger community of our province, and our fellow Canadians.

The Muslim population in Newfoundland and Labrador is over 2,000. We had a recent boost with the arrival of around 200 Syrian refugees. Madam Chair, probably to the surprise of many, the experience of Muslims living in our province has historically been more positive than negative. The credit is shared among various stakeholders, and I would like to begin with the greatest one, and that is the people of our province.

Our weather in Newfoundland and Labrador can be tough, but we are blessed with a mild human climate. Our people are famous for their hospitality, kindness, and welcoming attitude. Their great human qualities are best documented through the most recent Broadway musical Come from Away. In a nutshell, it is the story of a small community that welcomed passengers on 9/11 flights diverted to rural Newfoundland and Labrador. What is not documented is how the same people treated their Muslim friends and neighbours in the aftermath of this tragedy. With their great wisdom, they realized that Muslims were the indirect victims.

They always supported us whenever the beautiful name and the teachings of our religion were hijacked as a pretext for cruel atrocities. In the aftermath of the tragic incident in Quebec City, our political and religious leaders came together to attend our Friday service to demonstrate their solidarity. While we were praying inside, over 1,500 Newfoundlanders and Labradorians from all walks of life formed a symbolic, yet very powerful, human shield around our mosque.

Madam Chair, the second stakeholder to be credited for our unique positive experience is our own Muslim community. We truly consider our province as our homeland. We embrace and practise the same great human qualities as our fellow Newfoundlanders and Labradorians. Our Muslim community is diverse, yet very inclusive. We contribute to the prosperity of our province, not only as hard-working, tax-paying, and law-abiding citizens, but as culturally interesting and friendly neighbours.

Muslim international students and faculty members bring in world-class educational and research experience. Muslim professionals work in various sectors, ranging from health to the oil and gas industry. Muslim entrepreneurs run small and large businesses. Our children and youth boost the aging demographic of our province. Even our mosque is unique in Atlantic Canada, because it is the only one that was built as a mosque right from scratch. This is the only mosque in North America that was built by the collective efforts of the followers of two major sects of Islam, Sunnis and Shias. As of today, this is the only mosque in North America where Sunnis and Shias pray together. Madam Chair, this is our example and message of inclusiveness to all Canadians and the world.

The third stakeholder feeding into our mild human climate is the unique nature of leadership in our province. Historically, our political and religious leaders have always been constructive. They have helped in promoting a safe and welcoming environment for the residents, including Muslims. While visible minorities in parts of the country have been victims of hate crimes, peace and tranquillity prevail in our province.

Madam Chair, I also would like to acknowledge the positive role of our media. Most recently, on May 25, CBC's Here and Now played a special edition on Islam from our local mosque. The program was greatly appreciated by viewers for its educational nature. I recall one social media commentator who wrote that the program positively changed his previously held negative perception about Muslims.

Madam Chair, haters exist everywhere, and even our province is not completely immune to hatred. So far our experience of Islamophobia in our province has been limited to hate speech in virtual platforms, as well as indirect and subtle interventions in public spaces.

However, more recently we've started observing a worrying change. In a community consultation we attended a few weeks ago, representatives of our provincial human rights commission pointed out that the number of Islamophobia-related complaints they receive has recently increased. What is equally alarming is that these complaints are now more about everyday encounters in public spaces, such as shopping malls, grocery stores, and so on.

More recently, during the Thanksgiving holiday, our community woke up to the news of lslamophobic posters all over the Memorial University campus. The trend is now considered alarming enough to warrant addressing Islamophobia consultations among community and university stakeholders. Their priority is to find ways to increase institutional capacities of service providers to address the Islamophobia in our province.

Although our experience has historically been positive, we are still worried about the future. Our main question is, for how long will our unique positive experience continue? Will it prevail as a role model for the rest of Canada, or are we going to lose it to the pervasiveness of hatred?

Madam Chair, I know there is ongoing debate about the exclusive use of Islamophobia in motion M-103, and some lack of consensus about its merit, meaning, and implications. I don't want to waste our time by reproducing this debate. However, I must say that the notion of Islamophobia has a strong conceptual merit in capturing the complexity of the problem we are dealing with, and it offers significant insight into the root cause. It reminds us that Muslims experience racism and discrimination because of their religious affiliation with Islam. It captures the mutually reinforcing processes of demonizing Islam and dehumanizing Muslims. It exposes that it is due to their affiliation with Islam that Muslims are categorically perceived as one single race that is inferior, uncivilized, and deserving of hostile treatment. This is why non-Muslims sometimes end up being targeted when they are perceived as Muslims.

Our national unemployment statistics and research data comparing our poverty rates with other developed countries suggest that Islamophobia is not a new phenomenon in Canada. For instance, according to 2001 Statistics Canada data, Muslims in Canada have the highest unemployment rate by religious group. Similarly, in 2007 Canada had the largest gap between Muslim and non-Muslim poverty rates in comparison to the U.S., France, Germany, Spain, and Britain.

Therefore, we have every reason to argue that Islamophobia really stands out in our age as one of the most pervasive manifestations of racial and religious discrimination. This is why it deserves specific acknowledgement. Moreover, it is in the context of the Quebec city tragedy that Muslim Canadians are entitled to expect your committee to unanimously acknowledge and thoroughly address Islamophobia.

Madam Chair, the elephant is already in our Canadian store. It has already caused irrevocable damage, not only to Canadian Muslims but to all Canadians who are collectively woven into the beautiful fabric of our society. Now is not the time to play around words and politics. It is time to be united to minimize and ultimately eliminate this serious threat.

As a community leader, I am concerned with the rise in lslamophobic incidents in our province and their negative impact on Muslim women and youth especially. I consider women and youth as the future of the country. As Canadians, we cannot and shall not discriminate against them. Otherwise, we would be defying not only our own core Canadian values but also Canada's demographic and economic interests.

If we want to continue to move forward on the path of past economic and social success, we must tap the unrealized human talent and skill sets that reside in our visible minorities. We must together work as Canadians to eliminate this cancer of systemic racism, religious discrimination, and Islamophobia once and for all. It is only then that we can all call ourselves Canadians without any qualifier of race, colour, language, or religion.

Our recommendations are as follows. I will shorten them a bit. Number one is creating a national registry. The second is to introduce awareness and training programs. Third, develop and introduce programs to support victims of Islamophobia and protect vulnerable ones. Fourth is to introduce and implement appropriate tools that would promote equity and inclusion and eliminate racial and religious barriers to employment. In that context we need to use an equity lens to undertake diversity and equity analysis in our budget preparation.

We hope that the work of the honourable committee members will lead to the development of appropriate strategy to support equity, justice, tolerance, and inclusion in our beloved country. Canadian Muslims are ready to present themselves as agents of positive change. They only need to be reassured about their safety as well as their inherent and acquired dignity in Canadian society.

Thank you. God bless Canada. Long live Canada.

[The Chair, Liberal, Hedy Fry]

Thank you very much. That was a really rapid ending there. We could have given you an extra few seconds to finish off, but thank you very much.

Now we'll go to the question-and-answer period. The question-and-answer segment consists of questions by committee members, and that includes the questions and the answers.

I will begin by recognizing Dan Vandal for the Liberals. You have seven minutes.

[Dan Vandal, Liberal, Saint Boniface—Saint Vital, MB]

First of all, thank you to both groups for your very thoughtful and passionate presentations.

I'm going to go first to the Manitoba Islamic Association.

Welcome.

I know that you began your presentation by speaking about statistics. It was very quick. Could you repeat very quickly some of the stats that you referenced to begin your presentation?

[Dr. Idris Elbakri]

Yes, for sure.

Some of the statistics we referenced were from the Statistics Canada study, which showed that hate crimes against Canadian Muslims increased by 253% between 2012 and 2015, that the most targeted racial group was the black community, that the most targeted group of all was the Jewish community, and that there was an 86% increase in hate crimes targeting gay and lesbian Canadians.

[Dan Vandal, Liberal, Saint Boniface—Saint Vital, MB]

Do you have statistics that are exclusively for Manitoba?

[Dr. Idris Elbakri]

No, these are Canadian statistics.

[Dan Vandal, Liberal, Saint Boniface—Saint Vital, MB]

Okay. You don't have any stats for our province.

[Dr. Idris Elbakri]

From the Winnipeg Police Service we know that in 2015 there were 19 confirmed cases of hate crimes and two suspected cases of hate crimes. They don't have data more recent than that at this point.

[Dan Vandal, Liberal, Saint Boniface—Saint Vital, MB]

Based on your experiences and your communication with some of your members, do you get the sense that hate crimes are on the rise? Are they on the rise against the Muslim community in Manitoba, are they the same, or are they going down?

[Dr. Idris Elbakri]

Obviously, we are reporting anecdotal evidence from media reports and from community members, but I think we're confident in saying that we have seen a spike over the past couple of years in the number of incidents—against Muslims and members of other communities, but definitely against Muslims—that have come to light to us as a community, as well as in the media.

There are things that we haven't seen in the past that we're seeing now. In the past, every few years there would be an act of vandalism or graffiti on the walls of the mosque, but now we're getting hate mail. Again, bacon is mailed to us. We had a member of the community who had bacon left on his windshield, which was very concerning, because his car was in a public parking lot, so someone was targeting him specifically. We can confidently say that based on the anecdotes that we have, there has been a spike, an increase, in the incidents targeting Muslims.

[Dan Vandal, Liberal, Saint Boniface—Saint Vital, MB]

Thank you.

Could you speak a little bit about what role the spread of misinformation contributes to the climate of increased hate crimes and general fear? Speak a little bit about the role of the misinformation that's out there in our communities and in our cities.

I would like both groups to answer that.

[Dr. Idris Elbakri]

We do a lot of outreach. We have speakers go to visit churches, schools, and other institutions. We get a lot of questions that are just flat out the result of misinformation. People are receiving misinformation that creates fears of things like sharia law and certain cultural practices that exist in some parts of the world, and they think that these things are going to come to Canada. I think this is the environment that leads people to have a lot of suspicion, and that can fuel those who can take the suspicion all the way to actually targeting someone about it.

[Dan Vandal, Liberal, Saint Boniface—Saint Vital, MB]

Thank you.

Perhaps the Muslim Association of Newfoundland and Labrador can address that question.