Azerbaijan  On Saturday, I participated in an event, raising the Azerbaijan flag on Parliament Hill grounds. Azerbaijan became the first democracy in the entire Muslim world, and it is also one of the first nations in the world to grant women the right to vote. Religious minorities, including Jews and Hindus, have equal rights to practice their faith in this Muslim-majority country, and they enjoy state support too.

Justice committee  I will be accused of propagating hatred, completely misunderstanding or distorting where those boundaries are. As I said, I've worked with members of the Muslim community. I've been involved in Muslim-Jewish dialogue. That distortion is contributing to the inhibition to prosecute legitimate cases.

Justice committee  In 2022, we implemented an initiative on Islamophobia and antisemitism. To do that, we engaged in extensive consultations, especially with our Muslim and Jewish communities. Based on those consultations, we made a number of recommendations, which have already been implemented. Of course, we did that study because we recognized that Islamophobia and antisemitism existed in our community.

Justice committee  Less than two years ago, we developed McGill's initiative against Islamophobia and anti-Semitism. This was done through meaningful consultations with McGill's Jewish and Muslim communities over several months. This resulted in 21 action items, all of which are either fully implemented or are in the process of being implemented. The aim is to help address, prevent and raise awareness on anti-Semitism and Islamophobia.

Justice committee  We are proud of our Jewish community, which has shaped Concordia's identity and achievements throughout its history. We are also proud of our Palestinian, Arab and Muslim communities. They also contribute to Concordia's character and its many successes. The horrific attacks by Hamas on Israel and the subsequent war in Gaza have exposed divisions in Canadian society, which are also reflected at Concordia.

Justice committee  This was built upon an initiative that was started by the University of Ottawa faculty of law's Muslim and Jewish law associations. I built on that, and we've created a national respectful dialogue initiative that 2,500 members of the legal community have signed on to. The idea is that we're now operationalizing that, so we will have respectful dialogues on our campuses.

Justice committee  In 2023, there were increases in reported hate crime in the following victimized categories. Anti-Semitic occurrences increased from 65 in 2022 to 135 occurrences in 2023. Anti-Muslim, anti-Palestinian and anti-Arab occurrences increased from 12 in 2022 to 36 in 2023. Anti-2SLGBTQ+ reported hate crimes increased from 40 in 2022 to 65 occurrences in 2023. There was a 32% increase in the number of reported hate crimes after October 7 during the months of October, November and December in 2023 compared to the same time period in 2022.

Business of Supply  Speaker, the Leader of the Opposition, when he was in government, launched a snitch line and launched a full frontal attack against Muslims in this country. What confidence should Muslim Canadians have that, if given the opportunity, the Leader of the Opposition would indeed go after Muslims and attack their rights again?

Srebrenica Remembrance Day  Speaker, yesterday the UN voted to establish the International Day of Reflection and Commemoration of the 1995 Genocide in Srebrenica, when 8,000 Bosnian Muslim men and boys were taken by Serb forces from a UN safe zone, shot and buried in mass graves. After years of painstaking documentation, in 2004 and 2007 international courts ruled that the crimes committed in Srebrenica constitute genocide.

Business of Supply  Bill C-63 is critical for the safety of the Jewish community, as it is critical for many vulnerable groups, including Muslims and Arabs in the LGBTQ community, the Black community and the indigenous community. That is what we need to stand for as Canadians. That is what the opposition leader is standing against.

Business of Supply  It is very unfortunate that Canada ranks number one in the G7 for the number of deaths of Muslims in the last seven years, 11 in total, due to Islamophobic acts of hate. What I would say, with respect to this bill, is that we are looking at it closely. I would also reiterate for the member's edification that we amended the hate propaganda provisions to include Holocaust denialism and willful promotion of anti-Semitism within the fold of sections 318 and 319, the hate propaganda offences.

Information & Ethics committee  Specifically, I would highlight that a motion was brought forward in the House for a vote. There was an opportunity to condemn the genocide of Uyghur Muslims, a minority group in China that has been persecuted relentlessly, with forced abortions, sterilizations and slave-type labour. We're talking the worst of the worst possible circumstances.

Canadian Heritage committee  We know all forms of extremism impact all communities, including the Black community, indigenous people and religious minorities like the Jewish community and the Muslim community. It's our job as politicians to call these things out. The only way extreme hate and extremism on the far right grows is when we're silent on these issues. This was a very simple motion.

Canadian Heritage committee  Of that number, 296 were incidents targeting the Jewish people. I want to be clear: Whether you're targeting a Sikh, a Muslim or a Jew, an attack on one faith is an attack on all Canadians. Of those incidents, 296 were targeting the Jewish population. That represented a decrease from incidents in 2018, so, as I said, progress was being made.

Canadian Heritage committee  Quite frankly, I think my comments are constructive, and I would actually welcome the conversation of whether we should include directly, in this proposed study, Islamophobia, because I believe that to be a scourge. Certainly, in talking to many of my Muslim friends, they have also commented to me that they don't necessarily feel safe. Mr. Noormohamed, in this very committee, recounted his own experience growing up that he often felt like he was judged just because of his faith.