Status of Women committee  I'll be very quick so I can give Saadia some time to speak as well. I think what Amira said before she left would send a huge signal to the Muslim community that the federal government is there to support Muslims and hijab-wearing women. Condemn Bill 21. Honestly, that bill has

Status of Women committee  After talking to different police units in the work that we are doing, one of the biggest barriers in charging someone with a hate crime is the requirement of having Attorney General consent for that to be considered a hate crime. We've asked for some transparency around what is

Status of Women committee  Thank you for that question. One of the really disturbing statistics I have come across is that there are more than 200 white supremacist, extreme right-wing groups in action right now in Canada. The federal government, as mentioned in the previous panel, has the power to disman

Status of Women committee  I think it's very important. We know that a hate crime is not just something that happens in large cities. We've seen on social media that people who have moved into smaller rural towns during the pandemic have faced a lot of hate and racism in those communities. I stand by havin

Status of Women committee  Very quickly, there's one thing I want to point out in terms of the burden on the communities to eradicate the misconceptions. The community feels that it is their responsibility to eradicate those myths, misconceptions and stereotypes, and I really feel that's unfair. We were no

Status of Women committee  I know I've spoken a lot. Do you want to go, Saadia?

Status of Women committee  Thank you for that question, MP Mathyssen. That is very much connected to the anti-racism efforts that we really need to step up on. On employment equity, as you know, during the pandemic we've seen racialized communities being disproportionately impacted by COVID, partly as a r

Status of Women committee  In terms of institutions, we've had a really great relationship with the anti-racism secretariat at the federal level. One of the things we have been discussing with them is working with all departments across the federal government. If there are principles and policies that the

Status of Women committee  Sure. If I were to choose one thing, I would say it would be the online hate legislation. We know that a lot of the radicalization and anti-Muslim hate is spreading online. It's now or never. We really need that legislation, which we've been waiting for for a very long time, to

Status of Women committee  Sure. I think, going back to some of the recommendations that we've made, we actually submitted a list of seven recommendations to the Minister of Justice and Attorney General back in 2020, and I believe we met as well, MP Mathyssen, about those recommendations. Again, first a

Status of Women committee  I'll fill in for Nuzhat. I know she had to leave. Thank you for your question. It's a very important question. We've been talking about diversity within racialized communities. As an organization that serves South Asians, we know first-hand that South Asian communities often a

Status of Women committee  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,

Status of Women committee  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 s