Muslim community presses government to turn words into action
A day after thousands held a vigil outside the London Muslim Mosque, expressions of sympathy are being joined with calls for action to end Islamophobia.
After imploring Londoners to become ‘Ambassadors of Love’ during the vigil, Nawaz Tahir describes how people can combat hate.
Tahir explains, “If people see online hate and they feel comfortable confronting it, to confront it. If they can report it, report it.”
He also recommends more educational tools to dispel the underlying ignorance that spawns hate.
Tahir adds that ending Islamophobia is not just the responsibility of Londoners, “London isn’t unique in Canada, that we have a very small segment of the population that wants to divide us.”
In the wake of Sunday’s tragedy, the National Council of Canadian Muslims has launched a petition calling for a ‘National Action Summit on Islamophobia’.
It has already exceeded 25,000 signatures.
On Wednesday morning, London North Centre MP Peter Fragiskatos put the idea of a summit to his fellow MPs and the Prime Minister.
“I think as part of that national summit, I would hope we address the issue of hate more generally,” explains Fragiskatos. “We do need to keep focused on anti-black racism, antisemitism, I also hear from Sikh and Hindu constituents.”
Fragiskatos says the goal of a summit would be to ingrained some of what’s learned directly into federal policy.
Tahir is optimistic.
“We will follow up with them. We heard some positive feedback about a national summit, but we are going to continue to push for that.”
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'They needed people inside Air Canada:' Police announce arrests in Pearson gold heist
Police say one former and one current employee of Air Canada are among the nine suspects that are facing charges in connection with the gold heist at Pearson International Airport last year.
House admonishes ArriveCan contractor in rare parliamentary show of power
MPs enacted an extraordinary, rarely used parliamentary power on Wednesday, summonsing an ArriveCan contractor to appear before the House of Commons where he was admonished publicly and forced to provide answers to the questions MPs said he'd previously evaded.
Leafs star Auston Matthews finishes season with 69 goals
Auston Matthews won't be joining the NHL's 70-goal club this season.
Trump lawyers say Stormy Daniels refused subpoena outside a Brooklyn bar, papers left 'at her feet'
Donald Trump's legal team says it tried serving Stormy Daniels a subpoena as she arrived for an event at a bar in Brooklyn last month, but the porn actor, who is expected to be a witness at the former president's criminal trial, refused to take it and walked away.
Why drivers in Eastern Canada could see big gas price spikes, and other Canadians won't
Drivers in Eastern Canada face a big increase in gas prices because of various factors, especially the higher cost of the summer blend, industry analysts say.
Doug Ford calls on Ontario Speaker to reverse Queen's Park keffiyeh ban
Ontario Premier Doug Ford is calling on Speaker Ted Arnott to reverse a ban on keffiyehs at Queen's Park, describing the move as “needlessly” divisive.
'A living nightmare': Winnipeg woman sentenced following campaign of harassment against man after online date
A Winnipeg woman was sentenced to house arrest after a single date with a man she met online culminated in her harassing him for years, and spurred false allegations which resulted in the innocent man being arrested three times.
Woman who pressured boyfriend to kill his ex in 2000s granted absences from prison
A woman who pressured her boyfriend into killing his teenage ex more than a decade ago will be allowed to leave prison for weeks at a time.
Customers disappointed after email listing $60K Tim Hortons prize sent in error
Several Tim Horton’s customers are feeling great disappointment after being told by the company that an email stating they won a boat worth nearly $60,000 was sent in error.