Public Safety committee  The NCCM's mandate is to protect the human rights and civil liberties of Canadian Muslims, advocate for their public interests, build mutual understanding, and challenge discrimination and Islamophobia. We work to achieve this mission through our work in four primary areas: community education and outreach, media engagement, anti-discrimination action, and public advocacy. The NCCM has a long-standing and robust public record of participating in major public inquiries, intervening in landmark cases before the Supreme Court of Canada, and providing advice to security agencies on engaging communities and promoting public safety.

Canadian Heritage committee  Are you concerned—and you've already heard from other colleagues, so it's not something new—that there's a large percentage of people in Canada who are concerned that their speech would be stifled if something like “Islamophobia” wasn't really defined? I'm wondering if you have any concerns in that regard, and I wonder what your definition of Islamophobia is.

Business of Supply  Speaker, the Conservative Party learned nothing from the last election and the lessons Canadians taught them. They ran an election on snitch lines against Muslims, they ran an election on Islamophobia and division, and still they play the same games, trying to scare Canadians. The fact is we always focus on the security of Canadians, and we always will. They play the politics of fear, and Canadians reject that.

Canadian Heritage committee  I'll just say something on this racism versus religious discrimination piece, because I think that we can't generalize for all religions. For Muslims, and when talking about Islamophobia, it really is the intersection of religious discrimination and racism, whereas that might not be the issue for other cases of religious discrimination, for example. I know many Christian groups are concerned about incursions on the various churches' freedoms.

Public Safety  Speaker, the Conservative Party learned nothing from the last election and the lessons Canadians taught them. They ran an election on snitch lines against Muslims, they ran an election on Islamophobia and division, and still they play the same games, trying to scare Canadians. The fact is we always focus on the security of Canadians, and we always will. They play the politics of fear, and Canadians reject that.

Canadian Heritage committee  Yes, debate is a healthy thing, especially in the climate we are living in today, as far as Muslims are concerned. The term “Islamophobia” obviously deals with Muslims. We are living in very turbulent times, when there needs to be discussion and debate, which is where the Muslim community is coming into the picture as well.

Canadian Heritage committee  So it's all forms. Islamophobia is one form, but it's not all the different forms. Also, on the issue around systemic discrimination, because in your presentation you talked about it in the context of, I think, Islamophobia, but from my perspective when we talk about systemic discrimination, a big focus for me is also the indigenous peoples and the systemic discrimination they have experienced.

Canadian Heritage committee  I have a number of concerns coming out of your testimony, but I want to ask specifically about Islamophobia. You know, the only term I know of for religious persecution is “anti-Semitism”. Anti-Semitism has been around for over 150 years. Would it be a stretch to say....? I'm really asking you to judge my words in the House, whether they're right or wrong.

Canadian Heritage committee  Create within a national action plan the ability to have an overall framework and then priorities, perhaps corrections as a priority, employment as a priority, Islamophobia as a priority, hate crimes as a priority. In the work that's being done in Ontario specifically, four pillars have been identified: Islamophobia, anti-black racism, racism within the indigenous community, and anti-Semitism.

Canadian Heritage committee  Thank you to our witnesses for being with us today. I want to follow up on Ms. Dhillon's line of questioning. When you're talking about Islamophobia, I think this is the sixth definition of it we've had and you've talked about things like hyperbolic fear, anti-Muslim expression, ideology and those kinds of things involved in your expression.

Canadian Heritage committee  I think that racism and religious discrimination are distinct concepts for some people, but I think when you're talking Islamophobia, often the manifestation of race is what people react to. I've faced Islamophobia. I'm not Muslim, but people are reacting to my race. I think that's why these terms get considered together.

Canadian Heritage committee  Isn't your presence here today proof in and of itself that we are embarking upon a study that is promoting discussion about all forms of racism and discrimination, including Islamophobia, as opposed to stifling it?

Canadian Heritage committee  Your recommendations should recognize the right of a Muslim to publicly challenge what is rotten in Islamdom and to fight authority in the tradition of Martin Luther and Erasmus and before them, like the 10th century Persian Muslim saint, Mansur Al-Hallaj who was beheaded in Baghdad on charges of Islamophobia by mullahs of that time. The day you criminalize Islamophobia, let me assure you, I will publicly defy that law, mock it, and happily be arrested [Inaudible—Editor] in the best traditions of my leader, Mahatma Gandhi.

Canadian Heritage committee  Your motion includes the following: (a) recognize the need to quell the increasing climate of public hate and fear; (b) condemn Islamophobia and all forms of systemic racism and religious discrimination and... (i) develop a whole-of-government approach to reducing or eliminating systemic racism and religious discrimination including Islamophobia.

Canadian Heritage committee  First, I want to compliment you on your courage in bringing this forward and your leadership in penning your motion and having this important discussion. Are you aware that the Canadian Race Relations Foundation defined Islamophobia as “expressions of fear and negative stereotypes, bias, or acts of hostility towards the religion of Islam and individual Muslims”? In addition, the Ontario Human Rights Commission describes Islamophobia as “stereotypes, bias or acts of hostility towards individual Muslims or followers of Islam in general”.