Thank you, Mr. Chair and honourable members of this committee, for allowing us an opportunity to make recommendations as part of your pre-budget consultations.
My name is Rizwan Mohammad, and I am joined today by my colleague, Sadaf Ahmed.
Muslims comprise only about 5% of Canada's population, yet violent Islamophobia has resulted in more targeted killings of Muslims than in any other G7 country since 2017. This last year we've seen a massive spike in attacks on our community, including a massive surge of anti-Palestinian racism.
We are encouraged by the commitment—certainly in words—of all major parties to name and to address Islamophobia with the seriousness it deserves. To that end, we are here to recommend common-sense ways in which we can continue to work together to challenge Islamophobia and uphold our commitments to civil liberties and human rights. These will be further expanded upon in a longer brief that will be sent to this committee.