443 results for author: Kashif Ahmed

Mosque shooting: Relief at the guilty verdict, but the grief remains strong

Montreal Gazette | March 28, 2018 QUEBEC — For the Muslim community in Quebec City and the families of the many victims, Alexandre Bissonnette’s guilty pleas brought a measure of relief Wednesday. . . . “You have to take (his denial of Islamophobia) with a grain of salt, and you have to wonder about that,” said Ihsaan Gardee, executive director of the National Council of Canadian Muslims. “He deliberately chose a mosque, a place of worship, to go in and attack a group of unarmed civilians, essentially shooting them in the back as they were standing in prayer. He admitted to his guilt to several first-degree murder charges as well as ...

Mosque shooting: Relief at the guilty verdict, but the grief remains strong

Montreal Gazette | March 28, 2018 QUEBEC — For the Muslim community in Quebec City and the families of the many victims, Alexandre Bissonnette’s guilty pleas brought a measure of relief Wednesday. . . . “You have to take (his denial of Islamophobia) with a grain of salt, and you have to wonder about that,” said Ihsaan Gardee, executive director of the National Council of Canadian Muslims. “He deliberately chose a mosque, a place of worship, to go in and attack a group of unarmed civilians, essentially shooting them in the back as they were standing in prayer. He admitted to his guilt to several first-degree murder charges as well as ...

Letter: Neither censorship nor hate is acceptable

Vancouver Sun | March 2, 2018 Re: Criticism of religious groups is good for religion, Opinion, Feb. 12. David Haskell’s recent piece misrepresents positions taken by the National Council of Canadian Muslims (NCCM). The NCCM in no way seeks to shield the Islamic faith, or any other belief system, from criticism. Moreover, the NCCM didn’t endorse the initial definition of Islamophobia used by the Toronto District School Board in its educator’s guidebook. In fact, our organization advised that the definition used by the Ontario Human Rights Commission should be adopted, and referenced this very definition in our testimony before the ...

Letter: Neither censorship nor hate is acceptable

Vancouver Sun | March 2, 2018 Re: Criticism of religious groups is good for religion, Opinion, Feb. 12. David Haskell’s recent piece misrepresents positions taken by the National Council of Canadian Muslims (NCCM). The NCCM in no way seeks to shield the Islamic faith, or any other belief system, from criticism. Moreover, the NCCM didn’t endorse the initial definition of Islamophobia used by the Toronto District School Board in its educator’s guidebook. In fact, our organization advised that the definition used by the Ontario Human Rights Commission should be adopted, and referenced this very definition in our testimony before the ...

Parents, Muslim group welcome budget’s $81 million for federal no-fly fixes

By Jim Bronskill The Canadian Press | February 28, 2018 OTTAWA — Parents of young children and a national Muslim group are welcoming a federal budget commitment to address fairness and privacy concerns with Canada’s no-fly list. The budget sets aside $81.4 million over five years, starting in 2018–19, and $14 million a year ongoing, to remake the much-maligned no-fly program. The money will go to the Canada Border Services Agency, Public Safety and Transport Canada. . . . The National Council of Canadian Muslims called the federal plan “a welcome step forward,” noting the council has documented numerous cases of persons wrongly ...

Parents, Muslim group welcome budget’s $81 million for federal no-fly fixes

By Jim Bronskill The Canadian Press | February 28, 2018 OTTAWA — Parents of young children and a national Muslim group are welcoming a federal budget commitment to address fairness and privacy concerns with Canada’s no-fly list. The budget sets aside $81.4 million over five years, starting in 2018–19, and $14 million a year ongoing, to remake the much-maligned no-fly program. The money will go to the Canada Border Services Agency, Public Safety and Transport Canada. . . . The National Council of Canadian Muslims called the federal plan “a welcome step forward,” noting the council has documented numerous cases of persons wrongly ...

Fundraiser for Quebec man paralyzed in mosque shooting reaches $400,000 goal

By Morgan Lowrie The Canadian Press | February 9, 2018 MONTREAL – A fundraiser launched to help finance a new home for a man paralyzed in last year’s Quebec City mosque shooting surpassed its $400,000 goal on Friday. . . . Reached for reaction, the executive director of the National Council of Canadian Muslims said he “couldn’t think of any better news to get on a Friday.” “It has really shown what Canada is really about, and the values of inclusivity and acceptance and standing up to hatred and division,” Ihsaan Gardee said in a phone interview. Read full article.

Fundraiser for Quebec man paralyzed in mosque shooting reaches $400,000 goal

By Morgan Lowrie The Canadian Press | February 9, 2018 MONTREAL – A fundraiser launched to help finance a new home for a man paralyzed in last year’s Quebec City mosque shooting surpassed its $400,000 goal on Friday. . . . Reached for reaction, the executive director of the National Council of Canadian Muslims said he “couldn’t think of any better news to get on a Friday.” “It has really shown what Canada is really about, and the values of inclusivity and acceptance and standing up to hatred and division,” Ihsaan Gardee said in a phone interview. Read full article.

Remembering January 29: Solidarity events with Quebec mosque massacre victims held across Canada

Le texte français suivra -For Immediate Release- (Ottawa - January 29, 2018) The National Council of Canadian Muslims (NCCM), along with community partners and Canadians from coast to coast, today honours the memory of the six Muslim men brutally murdered in the Quebec City mosque attack on January 29, 2017. On this day last year, six Muslim men were killed and nineteen others injured, some gravely, at the Centre Culturel Islamique de Québec when a gunman entered the mosque and opened fire on worshippers during evening prayers. The names of the six victims are: Azzedine Soufiane, Khaled Belkacemi, Aboubaker Thabti, Abdelkrim Hassane, ...

Remembering January 29: Solidarity events with Quebec mosque massacre victims held across Canada

Le texte français suivra -For Immediate Release- (Ottawa - January 29, 2018) The National Council of Canadian Muslims (NCCM), along with community partners and Canadians from coast to coast, today honours the memory of the six Muslim men brutally murdered in the Quebec City mosque attack on January 29, 2017. On this day last year, six Muslim men were killed and nineteen others injured, some gravely, at the Centre Culturel Islamique de Québec when a gunman entered the mosque and opened fire on worshippers during evening prayers. The names of the six victims are: Azzedine Soufiane, Khaled Belkacemi, Aboubaker Thabti, Abdelkrim Hassane, ...