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Report sheds light on undisclosed racial profiling in Ontario
By Dakshana Bascaramurty
The Globe and Mail | May 3, 2017
Racial profiling in Ontario is rampant across sectors beyond policing, but very little of it is formally reported, the Ontario Human Rights Commission says in a new report.
The findings are based on consultations with almost 1,650 individuals, most of whom participated in an online survey. While most human-rights complaints filed with the province’s tribunal focus on disability and employment, the consultation found there were many who had experienced racial profiling – which would be grounds for a ...
A community divided
Rooted in a very public dispute over the place of religious practice in public schools, disagreement on the fundamental essence of ‘Canadian’ identity and the virtue of tolerance threatens to boil over in Peel.
By Dakshana Bascaramurty and Caroline Alphonso
The Globe and Mail | May 1, 2017
Two large paintings of the Hindu god Krishna are mounted on the wall of Ram Subrahmanian’s living room, but he doesn’t want to be labelled as a Hindu.
What’s his religion? “Canadian!” he says, his eyes lit up behind his glasses, punctuating his pride with a fist ...
‘I just got that sick feeling’: Edmonton man lauded for covering anti-Muslim graffiti
By Jonny Wakefield
Edmonton Journal | April 21, 2017
It only took a couple of minutes for Tyler Johnstone to realize he had to turn around.
Driving on Highway 16 just outside the gates of Jasper National Park on Wednesday morning, the Edmonton resident spotted the word “Mosque” spray-painted in bright yellow on the side of a roadside outhouse.
“I saw it right away; it was really noticeable,” the 28-year-old said Thursday. “I drove maybe two or three minutes down the road and just got that sick feeling.”
Now, Johnstone is earning kudos for his ...
Muslim group wants action from police on anti-Muslim hate activity in Ottawa and Toronto
By Paula McCooey
Ottawa Sun | April 20, 2017
The National Council of Canadian Muslims is calling on police services in Ottawa and Toronto to swiftly bring those targeting Muslims and their institutions to justice.
The Ottawa Muslim Association’s central mosque and the Islam Care Centre had several windows broken last week. A 27-year-old man was charged with two counts of mischief relating to religious property and one count of assaulting a police officer.
On Wednesday night, the centre was targeted again when someone left a hateful note and set fire to the ...
MP hosted event for Christian group whose president says Muslims want to ‘convert all Canadians’
By Zane Schwartz
National Post | April 10, 2017
Liberal MP Ruby Sahota hosted an event last spring with a group whose president recently accused Muslims of wanting to convert all Canadians to their faith and rule the country.
During the United Christian Federation’s Last Supper on the Hill event on Parliament Hill last Easter, Brampton MP Sahota thanked the organization for its “dedication to protecting minority rights around the world.”
The Toronto-based UCF has received less public attention than other controversial groups it sometimes works alongside, ...
Canadians’ religious tolerance changing, but prejudice still exists toward Islam
Survey shows Canadians hold unfavourable views of Islam and Sikhism.
By: Ryan Tumilty
Metro News | April 5, 2017
A new poll on Canadians’ religious tolerance shows the country has work to do in the direction of accepting people of different faiths, especially if that faith is Islam.
The Angus Reid Institute poll, released Tuesday, shows a divergence of opinions on different religions, with 68 per cent of Canadians holding a favourable view of Christianity, but only 33 per cent saying the same of Islam.
. . .
Amira Elghawaby, a spokesperson for the ...
Calgary community leaders tackle radicalization and Islamophobia
By Devin Heroux & Nazim Baksh
CBC News | March 31, 2017
Government and community leaders along with police and youth workers are making a serious push in Calgary to combat what many describe as a rise in Islamophobia and the potential threat of radicalization.
"We're not immune to hatred here in Canada or in Calgary," said Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi.
Nenshi said there is an increase in religious bigotry of all kinds, not only in Calgary but across the country, and the consequences of it can have a devastating effect on any community.
. . .
But Amira ...
Leitch attended ‘troubling’ meeting with group that called for ban on Muslims
By Stewart Bell
National Post | March 29, 2017
TORONTO — Video showing Conservative leadership candidate Kellie Leitch at a meeting with members of a group that protested outside a Toronto mosque last month was called “deeply troubling” on Wednesday.
Leitch can be seen shaking hands with a Rise Canada senior adviser and later responding to his questions at the gathering in Brampton, Ont., on Sunday. Videos of the event were posted on the Rise Canada website.
“Part of the Rise Canada organizing team spoke to Conservative candidate Kellie Leitch at an ...
Ryerson, Essex County schools cancel U.S. trips amid travel ban
By Hina Alam
Toronto Star | March 21, 2017
More schools have joined the growing list of organizations that have cancelled class trips to the U.S. amid travel restrictions imposed by U.S. President Donald Trump’s government.
A school at Ryerson University and the Greater Essex County school board joined the Girl Guides who announced last week that they would be suspending their trips to the U.S.
Permanent residents of Canada who are citizens from one of six Muslim-majority countries — Syria, Sudan, Iran, Somalia, Libya and Yemen — can be denied entry to the ...
Ex-Harper spokesman admits he wrongly suggested Muslim group had terrorist ties
The Canadian Press | March 21, 2017
OTTAWA — Former prime minister Stephen Harper’s one-time communications director admits he was inaccurate when he suggested a Canadian Muslim group had ties to a terrorist organization.
Jason MacDonald makes the admission as part of a settlement in a libel suit launched two years ago by the National Council of Canadian Muslims.
The lawsuit was prompted by comments MacDonald made to the now-defunct Sun News Network after the council complained about a controversial rabbi who accompanied Harper on an official trip to the ...