Mr. Speaker, in London, Ontario, there is a nine-year-old boy lying in a hospital bed. If he is awake, he may already know that his family will never be the same.
Just before 8:40 p.m. on a tranquil Sunday evening, as his family went out for a walk together, they were struck down by a brutal act of terror, as a family went for a walk on a Sunday evening on a street in Canada.
Right now, there is a nine-year-old by in a hospital in London, Ontario. If he is awake, he already knows that his family will never be the same. Just before 8:40 p.m. on Sunday, his family members were struck down by a horrific act as they were walking around their neighbourhood.
We grieve for his family. We grieve for the Muslim community in London and across the country, because this is a pain they have known before.
Despite our sorrow and pain, we must find a solution.
There is a nine-year-old boy lying in a hospital bed, and we have to strive to learn and be better. The Canada of his future needs to be better than the Canada of Sunday evening. He deserves a Canada where his family can go for a walk on a tranquil Sunday evening. He deserves a Canada where he can go to a mosque and not worry about his safety. He deserves a Canada where Muslim women of faith can wear a hijab without fear of being accosted or harassed in public.
He deserves a country that is free and without fear, a country where people can go for a walk in total safety.
Over the last year, we have become more separated from one another. Police services have warned of a dramatic increase in hate crimes, violent extremism, Islamophobia and other signs of intolerance for one part of our country to another. It feels like we are having conversations in grief and fighting intolerance more and more. As hard as that is, it is important for us to shine light collectively to fight against the darkness.
It is important that we measure the distance between the Canada that we have and the Canada that we want, but it is more important for us to not just recognize the distance between those Canadas, but to conquer the distance.
When we talk about a society in which all people are free to practise their faith, to speak openly and to go wherever they like, let us remember that five people in London, Ontario, could not even go for a walk.
Someone else's hatred of their faith is the only reason why.
The Canada we have is one where four of these people are never going home. The Canada we want is the one that we owe to that nine-year-old in a hospital bed.
The Muslim community has known a lot of sorrow and much of it is all too recent. In the hours since learning of this attack, I found myself thinking of my many Muslim friends and their young families, people I have known for decades, children I have watched grow up. It frustrates and indeed terrifies me that they have to live with the fear that this could have been them on a walk with their children, children who do not yet know or understand the hatred that far too often lives in this world.
Freedom to worship cannot exist without freedom from fear and every Canadian has a right to that. That is a basic promise of this country. It is something that comes from just putting one's feet on the ground here. It has felt like a bit of a false promise lately to Muslim Canadians and a horrible attack like this shows us why. This country has always said that it can do better, but today we must pledge that it will do better.
Today, to my Muslim friends and to those grieving across the country, I am reminded of the universal message contained in chapter 41 of the Quran: Good and evil are not equal. Repel evil with good and be patient.
While Muslim faith asks them to be patient in the face of evil and adversity, our first duty as political leaders is to ensure the security of our citizens and to ensure that Canadians can be free to live, work and pray as they wish. Muslims' patience in the light of this horrific attack will transform our resolve to stand with them and fight against intolerance and evil.
Tonight, as the people of London hold a vigil for the family lost to this horrific attack of terror, let us resolve to do more than just grieve. Many Canadians, including one nine-year-old lying in a London hospital bed, need us to do that more than ever.