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BC Muslim Political Apathy
3-08-2017
Horace Greely once said, “Apathy is sort of living in oblivion.” When it comes to political apathy among Canadian Muslims no other province does it better than the Muslims of British Columbia. Let’s face it, the Muslim community in British Columbia, and by extension in Canada, is totally oblivious on how to make its impact on Canadian political front.
It is high time that the Muslim Communities across Canada put their heads together, either as an individuals on provincial basis or formulate a national strategy to combat the growing tide against Islam and Canadian Muslims in the form of rising tide of Islamophobia, by electing law makers who would be able to voice the concerns of Canadian Muslims where decisions are made. Let’s not bury our heads in the sand and pretend that the problem does not exists, or it will go away. It will not!
The unfortunate part of this all is that the Canadian Muslim Community in Canada is not weak by any measure. In fact the Canadian Muslim community at large, across the nation, can be a force to be reckoned with.
By all measures Canadian Muslims have an edge, over all other minorities, in terms of population, education, wealth, resources, among other factors. The main ingredient which the community lacks is political awareness and resource organization. On how to galvanize the power of the Muslim voters in Canada. It is for this reason alone we continue to be “always a bridesmaid, and never a bride,” when it comes to putting our representatives in provincial legislatures and in the House of Commons.
There is absolutely nothing which the Muslim community could celebrate about the political gains made so far. When it comes to political representation across Canada the Muslim communities across Canada have just been fortunate enough to enjoy a free ride – a windfall of popular electoral waves. We as a community cannot claim as our true victory.
In 2011 Federal Elections, the NDP “Orange Crush” especially in Quebec resulted in four Muslim MP’s in the House of Commons. What happened to them in 2015 Federal Elections? They were crushed and the victory dissipated just as fast as it was harness.
Similarly, in 2015 Federal Elections the “Red Wave” which enveloped the nation netted ten Muslim Liberal MP’s being elected to the House of Commons, mainly from GTA, Ontario, under the Liberal banner. Will these ten Liberal MP’s survive the test of time in 2019 Federal Elections? Will there be another “Red Wave” to sweep them back into the House of Commons? Or will they also just dissipate like others? Only the time will be the judge of that.
Now if we were to reflect back upon the political gains made by the Muslims of BC. There are none!
Although, BC’s Muslim population ranks third, after Ontario and Quebec, but unfortunately, we have yet to make a dent on the political spectrum at any level, Municipal, Provincial, and Federal.
On the contrary, smaller Muslim communities in other provinces, even if it was at the expense of a windfall of “Electoral Waves,” nonetheless, they have been successful in electing a representative. Most recently, Saskatchewan elected its first Muslim MLA. In Alberta, Provincial Elections, the NDP “Orange Crush,” resulted in similar victory. In BC we are still awaiting to make such mark. Why is that?
We are certain if we were to examine these individual victories, we would discover that all these individuals achieved their goals on their own and with, most probably, limited assistance by the community.
Do we lack manpower to effectively organize and carry out a campaign to place and elected representative of our choice? No, according to the Stats Canada 2011 figures, Canadian Muslim population stood at 1,053,945, making us the single largest religious group in Canada, after Christianity, and steadily growing.
Do we lack financial resources? Once again No! Based on the above population figures, and Canada’s Per Capita GDP of $42,610 PPP, amounts to US $33.26 Billion collectively as a community. Ranking us, number 94, at world level, out of 195 countries around the world. Right alongside the rich oil producing Muslim nations, and smaller European nations.
Is there a deficit of young Muslim Canadians, who could be groomed to lead the future generation of Canadian Muslims? Most certainly Not! In fact, according to an article by, Abdul Malik Mujahid and Amerah Egab, “Muslims represent the youngest generation in Canada with a median age of 28.1 years. Compared to the Jewish and Roman Catholic populations whose median age is 41.5 and 37.8 years old, respectively. The median age for the total Canadian population is 37 years old.”
Is there an absence of intellect among Canadian Muslim population to organize coherently a political force, and set the course for the future generation of Canadian Muslim leaders? Definitely Not! Muslims are among the highest educated community in Canada. “Canadian Muslims have excelled in acquiring a Master’s degree with slightly over 6% when compared with the three largest religious sects such as: Roman Catholics, at 2% and United Church, third largest religious sects among Christians, at 2.4%.” There are “6,310 Muslims have a PhD degree.” Most “Probably more Muslim PhDs in Canada than many Muslim countries,” writes Mujahid and Egab.
By no means, Canadian Muslim population is inferior in any sense which could contribute as factor to be left out of the Canadian Political Spectrum. In fact, it is the opposite. We should be leading other communities, exemplifying our successes in the political arena as the one to be followed. Instead, it’s the other way around, where we end up as being the “bridesmaid” in other communities’ victories.
Why is that? How can it be addressed? What is needed to get us out of this quagmire? Why is it that we can never get a candidate of our choice, who would be able to become our voice in the Legislature and House of Commons nominated to run in an election? Why is it that despite having heavy numbers on our side the political parties do not take Canadian Muslim Voters as a force to be reckoned with?
There are many such questions which needed to be answered and it can only happen when we pool our resources together and put it to work in an organized and coherent manner. We need to galvanized the power of Canadian Muslim vote bank or be left out in the dust. The choice is ours to make.
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