Madam Speaker, it is with a heavy heart that I pay tribute to Mohamed-Aslim Zafis who was brutally and senselessly murdered, while volunteering to keep people healthy and safe as they went into the mosque to pray.
Mohamed was a good man, a valued community member and someone whom I knew well. He welcomed everyone to the mosque, handed out food hampers, put others before himself and always had treats for the children.
I ask that we remember Mohamed's kindness, his family, the International Muslims Organization of Toronto and Muslim communities across the country. Our caring, resilient community is grieving Mohamed's loss.
I thank the first responders and all those providing care: president Omar Farouk, Imams Taher and Junaid, and Sheikh Abdullah.
The reports that his murder was motivated by neo-Nazism and Islamophobia are deeply concerning. We stand with Muslim communities against such hatred, which has no place in Canada.