Status of Women Committee on June 17th, 2021

[The Chair, Conservative, Marilyn Gladu]

Ms. Elghawaby.

[Amira Elghawaby]

Thank you so much, MP Mathyssen, for that question.

I do believe the anti-racism directorate should be entrenched in legislation. I think it's very important to, hopefully, maintain such a part of the government, to ensure that work continues regardless of who is holding power in our government, and to ensure that it is not politicized. I think one of the most difficult things our communities have faced in previous years is the politicization of even the word “Islamophobia”.

I would urge all committee members to think very much about how leaders do talk about our communities, as was mentioned earlier by the witness Mr. Khan. The way we are described in media and in political rhetoric does have a direct impact on our communities, and it is very important that our political leaders use inclusive language. I will tell you from first-hand experience that when we hear our political leaders use inclusive language, with respect for all people who live in Canada and their backgrounds, we really do feel a change in tenor.

On the flip side, when our communities are treated as being under suspicion.... There's a wonderful report by the RCMP called “Words Make Worlds” that talks about, for instance, the way that communities can be scapegoated. This really does have a direct impact not just on us as adults but especially on our children who are deeply impacted and hurt by the way our communities can sometimes be described. Legislation is going to be very important as is an anti-racism directorate, as well as of course the online piece that we have been waiting for.

[The Chair, Conservative, Marilyn Gladu]

Excellent. Very well said.

I think we'll leave it there for this panel.

To all of the witnesses, thank you for what you've said. I also want to let you know, and the rest of the committee, that for the next panel, one of our witnesses is not able to show up. If you want to stay, then at the will of the committee, I would invite you to stay. We would perhaps have an opportunity to ask even more questions.

Yes, Ms. Zahid.

[Salma Zahid, Liberal, Scarborough Centre, ON]

I just want to make a request of the witnesses. I think there was less time, and we had so many things we needed to discuss. If they have some recommendations or suggestions we should look into that they weren't able to discuss today, perhaps they could send us some written submissions so that we can take into consideration their recommendations as we go through this report.

[The Chair, Conservative, Marilyn Gladu]

Absolutely.

[Salma Zahid, Liberal, Scarborough Centre, ON]

I felt that there was less time today, and I had many questions that I wasn't able to ask. It would be good if they could send us some written submissions.

[The Chair, Conservative, Marilyn Gladu]

Yes. I think that would be good. They can direct those to the clerk. I would add that we are also putting up on the web page a call for briefs or one-page summaries from many people across the country.

I will now welcome our new witness, who is Samya Hasan, executive director of the Council of Agencies Serving South Asians.

Samya, we'll give you five minutes to make your opening remarks. Then we'll go into questions.

[Samya Hasan, Executive Director, Council of Agencies Serving South Asians]

Thank you so much for inviting me to be part of this panel today. I really appreciate the timing of this invitation.

As mentioned, my name is Samya Hasan, and I am the executive director of the Council of Agencies Serving South Asians. CASSA is a social justice umbrella agency supporting the well-being of South Asians in Canada.

I’d also like to acknowledge that I am joining you today from the traditional territory of the Mississaugas of the Credit, which is covered by the Williams Treaties, and its colonial name is Durham region.

It's a difficult moment for me to speak today, as the entire Muslim community in Canada grieves the loss of the Afzaal family, as we witness the hate crimes against Black Muslim women in Alberta, as we see videos circulating on social media celebrating the London terrorist attack, and as we hear about the violent threats being made to a number of mosques in the GTA. However, I am here today to support our communities at this difficult time with hopes that the four Muslim Canadian lives lost will be far too many for our political leaders and that urgent action will be taken to reassure the Muslim community once again that we are safe in this country.

The disproportionate impact of Islamophobia on Muslim women has been widely documented in Europe, the United States and Canada. Clearly, Islamophobia is a gendered crisis; it operates according to gendered stereotypes of Muslim men as violent, terrorists and abusive, and of Muslim women as accomplices or oppressed. This is especially true for visibly Muslim women who choose to wear the niqab or the hijab, due to the preconceived notion that Muslim women have been forced to dress this way by patriarchal systems.

In fact, in a survey published by the Toronto Star in 2017, 56% of Canadians believed that Islam suppresses women. On the contrary, there is very little understanding or recognition of the worldwide movement of Muslim women to wear the hijab as a sign of empowerment. These stereotypes of Muslim women in policies, political rhetoric and the media lead to increased Islamophobic incidents against visibly Muslim women. One such policy was the now dismantled barbaric cultural practices act of 2015. Due to the limited time I have today, I'm not going to talk about the online hate component, as I know my colleagues have probably discussed it, and my sister, Amira Elghawaby, has talked about that at length.

For a long time, we shamed France for its anti-hijab and anti-niqab policies, yet we have a province in our own country that passed unconstitutional policies without any evidence of harm to society based on what Muslim women can or cannot wear. In these policies, we see the height of hypocrisy of modern, white feminism, which is led mainly by white women, to the exclusion and detriment of visibly Muslim women and other racialized women who feel empowered by their faith and choose to wear the hijab or the niqab.

On the other hand, widely believed stereotypes of Muslim women as being oppressed in their own communities do not do Muslim women any favours. In fact, it is the state that passed the Islamophobic policies and it is the state that is oppressing Muslim women by limiting their freedom to choose. It is the state that oppresses Muslim women by sitting idly while their human and constitutional rights are being abused and doors to opportunities in this country are closed for them, just because they choose to dress a certain way. This is systemic social and economic exclusion of visibly Muslim women, yet we are silent. Decades of being exposed and victimized by Islamophobia described in detail by my other colleagues today have led many Muslim women to feel unsafe, defensive, distrustful and afraid, afraid that anything that they do or say can be used against their communities by the media.

To address this crisis, I urge this government to work with Muslim women and Muslim-led community groups and organizations to combat Islamophobia with a focus on the gendered impact of this crisis. I urge this government to work with the provinces to mandate a community-informed education curriculum on Islamophobia, among other areas of anti-racism such as anti-Black racism and anti-indigenous racism, especially in public schools, so that our children grow up to respect people of all faiths, cultures and races.

Finally and most importantly, I urge this government to implement restrictions on online hate and legislate penalties now for social media platforms for not shutting down hate content.

I'm going to end with the brilliant words of Dr. Yaser Haddara from Hamilton from an article I read earlier this week:

Our leaders must take the needed hard look in the mirror. They must take responsibility for their own actions and those of their political parties and supporters. They must commit to do better and they absolutely must do better. Hate thrives in the dark. We fight it with transparency, accountability, and equality before the law. No more special laws,—

That's with reference to Bill 21:

—no more secret audits,—

That's with reference to the report from last week showing the CRA unfairly targeting Muslim charities over the last decade:

—no more double standards. Anything less, and I fear we’ll soon stand again in yet another Canadian city to mourn more Canadians lost.

Thank you for your time.

[The Chair, Conservative, Marilyn Gladu]

Thanks so much.

We're going to begin our rounds of questioning, and we'll start with Ms. Sahota for six minutes.

[Jag Sahota, Conservative, Calgary Skyview, AB]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

I'd like to thank the witnesses who appeared on the last panel and this panel as well. Thank you for being here. My heartfelt condolences to the Muslim community. I'm so sorry for what happened.

I come from a family where my mom wore a scarf, and my grandma, who is 87 years old, would not step out of the house, or even be inside the house, without her scarf. I remember my mom in the hospital. She passed away when we were fairly young. The scarf was so important to her. The doctors told us that she was unconscious, but she would grab her scarf and cover her head. I know the importance of it.

My grandpa wore a turban all his life. Dad wears a turban. My brother also wears a turban. As an older sister, I am still very protective towards my brother. He's much older now. He's a physician. I still feel the need to protect him, because the turban is visible.

I'm so sorry this is the Canada we live in right now. We need to change it, and I'm so thankful you guys are here giving your opinions and giving us recommendations, because that's how the change will begin.

I am in agreement that any change that has to happen has to start at a young age. I also believe that even when you talk about gender equality, we need to get younger kids involved in that. Just as they expect their rights to be respected, they need to do the same for others. This all needs to start at a young age.

I'm sorry that I'm getting emotional, but I'm really hurt by what I see. I've gone to the rallies that were held in response to what was happening to Asian Canadians here. I'm hurt that took place.

One of my favourite quotes is, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” I like to believe and live with that in mind.

The questions I'm going to ask have to do with how you feel.

As Muslim women being targeted, what are the effects of this hate crime on you? How do you feel when that happens? In order for us to make any kind of change, we need to first know what it feels like to have to go through that.

Some of us on this committee understand what you go through, but I'd like to hear it from you. What do women feel when they're targeted and the subject of a hate crime? Even when young kids wear a hijab and go to school and they're targeted, can you speak to that? I would appreciate that.

[The Chair, Conservative, Marilyn Gladu]

We'll start with Ms. Hasan, and then we'll go over to Saadia.

[Samya Hasan]

Thank you so much for that question, MP Sahota.

It's very difficult to describe in words how a woman feels when she goes through that, but I can say the entire community is shaken to the core by what happened, and it's not easy at all. I have a seven-year-old daughter as well, and trying to understand how to explain to her that she's not safe is very difficult. People are feeling scared. I've talked to colleagues who are telling their family members not to go out for a walk. People are taking off their hijabs for fear of their safety.

It's not what we want for this country, and it's not why people immigrated to this country. We came here to feel safe, and right now the community does not feel safe.

[The Chair, Conservative, Marilyn Gladu]

Ms. Mahdi.

[Saadia Mahdi]

Yes, just as Ms. Hasan said, and as I mentioned, as Ahmadiyya Muslims, many of us escaped religious persecution in our homelands to come to Canada, to feel safe, and when these types of things happen, it really affects us deeply and personally.

Speaking in reference to children, my daughter was in grade six, and she had started wearing the hijab. On the first day, somebody said, “Oh, are you a terrorist now?” She was so upset because, as a young child, she didn't have that confidence yet. She didn't have that deep understanding, and it made her really upset. The next day, the same boy tried to yank it off of her head. It was handled very well. The principal handled it very well. I'm thankful for that, but the point is that when a child goes through something like this, it makes them question everything.

It doesn't just affect them that this was one person who did one thing, and he apologized and it's all good. It makes them question their identity, their religion, their everything. As they grow up, if they continue to see these things happen, they don't know what their identity is, and it becomes very difficult for them because now they will be in a conflict between what they feel they should be doing and what they feel will keep them safe. It's very important that the schools, the teachers, the educators make sure that those places are safe for our children.

[The Chair, Conservative, Marilyn Gladu]

That's the time on that question.

We'll go next to Ms. Dhillon for six minutes.

[Anju Dhillon, Liberal, Dorval—Lachine—LaSalle, QC]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you to all of our witnesses for being here today.

Our previous panel and this panel have very eloquently stated the harassment, the violence, the discrimination, the hatred they have all faced. It's very difficult for all of you to speak of this, and we are all cognizant of this in this committee. It's very troublesome. The things we hear about are very hurtful to people, visible minorities and those wearing religious symbols.

I'd like to start my questioning, and this may be for everybody, or we could start with Ms. Elghawaby.

Could you please talk to us about intersectionality, Black women who wear hijabs, the treatment, statistically, that was spoken of and what they are subjected to? Please, could you speak to us about the intersectionality of racism and religious discrimination?

[Amira Elghawaby]

I know that Nuzhat is still on the call as well, and the Canadian Council of Muslim Women has done a lot of work on that.

What I can certainly say—and MP Dhillon, thank you so much for the question—is that, absolutely, when we're talking about hate crimes specifically and hate that's targeting our communities, an issue that Nuzhat had raised, which I have seen first-hand in my work with police services, is that when someone reports a hate crime to police, basically police, if you can imagine, have boxes of identities that they have to check off.

For instance, if someone is both Asian and Muslim, and they report a hate incident or a hate crime to the police, the police can only choose one box. Right across the country, it's only one box. That means we are not capturing the intersectional nature of hate in our communities. That's just a very basic example.

As you know, people can be targeted for multiple identities. For instance, if a man with a turban is targeted because he was perceived as being a Muslim, which box will it be? That's the question. These are different things to think about and are examples of how our institutions are still catching up to understanding the intersecting identities that people hold.

Before I cede the rest of the time to Nuzhat to speak more to that, I would also just like to urge the committee—it's why I tried to stay around, and Samya has raised it as well very eloquently. It would be such a powerful statement from this committee for it to condemn Quebec's Act Respecting the Laicity of the State, which is essentially state-sanctioned discrimination against Muslim women, as well as other visible minority communities including Jewish Quebec communities, the Sikh community and anyone who wants to wear a religious piece of clothing and to continue to contribute, as any other Quebecker has the right to do.

When we're telling our children that they can grow up to be whoever they want to be, to participate however they want to, that is true for everyone in Canada, except if you are living in Quebec. It is definitely an erosion of the human rights and freedoms that we all cherish, and it certainly has a disproportionate impact on Muslim women and girls. A statement from this committee would be very welcome.

[Nuzhat Jafri]

Madam Chair, may I address the question?

[Nuzhat Jafri]

MP Dhillon, thank you for that question.

As I mentioned, the intersectionality aspect is very important.

One thing you've probably seen during this panel and you've probably experienced it in your communities is that Muslims are not a monolith. They are extremely diverse, racially, economically, ethnically, and in how they dress. Sometimes you don't know the multiple identities of an individual. That's why this cannot be a straightforward strategy to end or deal with Islamophobia. It has to take into consideration the diversity of Muslims, and then within the diverse communities of Muslims, the specific intersectionalities of Muslim women. That could be anything. It could be whether they have a disability or it could be their race.

I mentioned the stats related to Black Muslim women. You've seen the stats. You've seen the incidents and media reports about the Black Muslim women who have been attacked in Alberta. That happens to those communities in Ontario as well. Therefore, it's not a surprise.

It's the intersection of race, gender and their visibility as Muslims, so Islamophobia is at play, but also the perception that people have about Muslim women as oppressed, weak and unable to take care of themselves and defend themselves. They're targeted because they're perceived to be weak, and nothing can be farther from the truth.

However, the purpose of the terrorist is to terrorize, to inculcate fear in those communities. Yes, you'll start fearing; you'll start being afraid to wear your religious symbol or your hijab on your head, because you can be attacked. That's what we need to fight. That's what we need to counter.

[The Chair, Conservative, Marilyn Gladu]

Absolutely.

[The Chair, Conservative, Marilyn Gladu]

Thank you.

[Amira Elghawaby]

I have to go. I will take my leave.

Again, thank you very much for the opportunity.

[The Chair, Conservative, Marilyn Gladu]

Thank you very much both of you.

It's wonderful to have you.

[Nuzhat Jafri]

Thank you.

[The Chair, Conservative, Marilyn Gladu]

Ms. Normandin now has the floor for six minutes.