Thank you, Madam Chair.

I'd like to thank the witnesses who appeared on the last panel and this panel as well. Thank you for being here. My heartfelt condolences to the Muslim community. I'm so sorry for what happened.

I come from a family where my mom wore a scarf, and my grandma, who is 87 years old, would not step out of the house, or even be inside the house, without her scarf. I remember my mom in the hospital. She passed away when we were fairly young. The scarf was so important to her. The doctors told us that she was unconscious, but she would grab her scarf and cover her head. I know the importance of it.

My grandpa wore a turban all his life. Dad wears a turban. My brother also wears a turban. As an older sister, I am still very protective towards my brother. He's much older now. He's a physician. I still feel the need to protect him, because the turban is visible.

I'm so sorry this is the Canada we live in right now. We need to change it, and I'm so thankful you guys are here giving your opinions and giving us recommendations, because that's how the change will begin.

I am in agreement that any change that has to happen has to start at a young age. I also believe that even when you talk about gender equality, we need to get younger kids involved in that. Just as they expect their rights to be respected, they need to do the same for others. This all needs to start at a young age.

I'm sorry that I'm getting emotional, but I'm really hurt by what I see. I've gone to the rallies that were held in response to what was happening to Asian Canadians here. I'm hurt that took place.

One of my favourite quotes is, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” I like to believe and live with that in mind.

The questions I'm going to ask have to do with how you feel.

As Muslim women being targeted, what are the effects of this hate crime on you? How do you feel when that happens? In order for us to make any kind of change, we need to first know what it feels like to have to go through that.

Some of us on this committee understand what you go through, but I'd like to hear it from you. What do women feel when they're targeted and the subject of a hate crime? Even when young kids wear a hijab and go to school and they're targeted, can you speak to that? I would appreciate that.

Jag Sahota

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