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Reasons to celebrate for Muslims in Canada
3-22-2016
Canadian Multicultural Mosaic is something all Canadians are proud of and we should all be. When Muslims across the globe are facing increasing Islamophobia, especially to the south of us, Canadian Muslims are able to say proudly that they live in Canada. Although there is increase in Islamophobia in Canada, it is nowhere near what is in United States. It all boils down to leadership and our ability to interact with each other as Canadians without a hyphen.
The four such examples in past few weeks. First, the announcement by Toronto Star, Canada’s most read and distributed dailies’ decision to stop using the term ISIS or Islamic State and addressing them as DAESH. The credit of this agreement of course goes to Canada’s leading Muslim Advocacy Group, NCCM. We are grateful to the Toronto Star for their decision.
The second we commend Toronto Police Chief Mark Saunders, for his professionalism. During the press conference after Ayanle Hassan Ali, who stabbed two military personnel outside a recruitment center while making statement, "Allah told me to do this, Allah told me to come here and kill people," during the attack. Despite that, Chief Saunders remained extremely professional during the Press Conference When Saunders was asked if it was a terror attack, he said, "We're certainly looking into it," but cautioned against jumping to any conclusions. He noted it is too early to say if the accused was radicalized and urged the public against any anti-Islam sentiment in the wake of the attack. Thank you Chief Saunders.
Thirdly The legal community in British Columbia launched the Islamophobia Legal Assistance Hotline which will connect individuals who have experienced discrimination with free, confidential legal advice and information. The number is 604-343-3828
Lastly, this week Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government tabled its first ever budget, critiques may say what they wish, but one thing Muslim Canadians cannot ignore that it is that this is the first time since 9/11 that the lawmakers in Ottawa has taken the issue of homegrown terrorism or the issue of radicalization seriously. That’s putting your money where your mouth is. Thank you Hon. Prime Minister, Trudeau, the Finance Minister, Hon. Mr. Morneau, and of course the Liberal Team.
The statement issued by “The National Council of Canadian Muslims (NCCM), a prominent civil liberties & advocacy organization, welcomes the federal government's creation of a new office to engage with communities on security and counter-radicalization matters, as well as the restoration of federal funding for the Court Challenges Program” sums it all up.
Unlike the previous government which always talked about radicalization, but never did anything to address the issue. The current liberal government has in fact taken the bull by the horn by pledging $35 Million by creating an “office of the Community Outreach and Counter-Radicalization Co-ordinator, to tackle radicalization.
"We welcome the government's creation of an office to better coordinate efforts to counter radicalization towards criminal violence and engage with and support Canadian communities on national security issues," says Kashif A. Ahmed, a lawyer and NCCM Board Chair.
This is simply not enough to celebrate. The rise in Islamophobia may take decades to eliminate or even neutralize. It remains the responsibility of each Canadian Muslim to contribute towards its elimination. There seems to be a constant battle. More recently, this week alone, we have witnessed several terrorists’ attacks. London, England was on high alert, few days before the Brussels attack.
Canadian Muslims need to strengthen the leading advocacy groups so they can employ qualified professionals with a decent wage to advance the advocacy work.
We also need to recognize those who are engaged in protecting the Muslim communities across the country from harmful effects of Islamophobia. We must take few minutes out of our busy schedule and write to them, even email, acknowledging and thanking, individuals, such as Chief Saunders, or organizations, such as Toronto Star, and our lawmakers, for their understanding and commitment towards Canadian Muslims.
We hope that the government will continue their pledge and establish “Anti-Radicalization Centers” similar to the one establish by the City of Montreal, last November. Montreal Mayor, Mr. Dennis Coderre stated, "We are creating a Montreal model by sending a message that to achieve results on anti-radicalization you have to invest in prevention." A center which would employee researchers, and psychologists, and other trained professionals who can detect and work with individuals showing the signs of extremism.
We also hope that the Liberal government will also engage the Muslim Community, unlike the previous government, which apparently was spending money on anti-radicalization, however, it never involved the Muslim Community, or its leaders. If the government expects this office to succeed, it would be imperative to involve Muslim Community across the nation.
No matter how we look at it, one thing is certain we have many reason to be grateful to Allah, one of them is definitely for being a Canadian. It certainly is different than being an American or even European. We must also recognize that we do have responsibilities as Canadian Citizen, that is to ensure that we remain engaged, committed, and contributing citizens; assisting those who are working towards making Canada an inclusive Multicultural Mosaic.
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