Thank you, Madam Chair.
I appreciate being given the time at this committee.
I want to get right into the fact that in this conversation about freedom of expression and the protection of it, I think we need to be very careful about the legal limits to the freedom of expression and ensure that it doesn't devolve into hate speech.
Ms. Johnstone, you were very specific and very clear in terms of what's occurred, what you've seen and the dangers that have existed for you because of who you are and how you identify and the dangers that have evolved because of a great deal of extremism and hate speech coming forward. Ms. Al-Azem, you have been an incredible spokesperson in our community after the terrorist attack that happened to our London family. I know that has come with a great consequence in many cases as well because of the dangers and the violence that both of you have seen.
You both mentioned the use of dog whistle politics and politicians using that against people in minorities and vulnerable people. You both mentioned the use of the notwithstanding clause and the dangers of its use by politicians. I'd love to hear both of you talk about the impacts and the dangers of that and either Islamophobia being used for political gain or the attacks on transgender people and LGBTQ2+ folks and what that means for the impacts on both those groups.
Ms. Johnstone, you can go first, and then Ms. Al-Azem.