Thank you, Madam Chair.

Good morning, Madam Chair and honourable members.

Thank you for the invitation to appear before this committee.

I begin by suggesting that we had originally stated on the record that we were not going to participate in the committee. That's because certain members of the committee who sat here have been complicit in furthering the problem of Islamophobia.

For example, a Liberal member shared content from the past leader of the Jewish Defense League, which is a terrorist organization listed by the FBI and a group linked to the Kahanists, which is a listed terrorist entity here in Canada. This member is well aware that he trafficked this content and has never apologized for doing so. Our hope is that the committee recommendations include, in part, the recognition that some committee members themselves have hurt, not helped, the struggle against Islamophobia.

Indeed, Islamophobia is a dangerous form of hate that has led to the murder of Canadian Muslims. More Muslims have been killed in targeted hate attacks in Canada than in any other G7 country in the past seven years because of Islamophobia. For example, there was the Quebec City mosque attack that took the lives of six worshippers in January 2017.

This month we honour and remember the victims of the London terror attack, in which a terrorist, motivated by hate for Muslims, mowed down with his truck a family on a walk, murdering four beloved community members and leaving a young boy orphaned on June 6, 2021.

In our sacred places of worship and in public spaces, Muslims in Canada are not safe from violent Islamophobia. This is to say nothing of the many recent attacks that have happened across Canada that could have easily resulted in fatalities.

Apart from violent Islamophobia which has terrorized this country for almost a decade now, the Muslim community, specifically in Quebec, faces blatant systemic Islamophobia enshrined in Quebec law.

Let me be clear. Since 2019, the Quebec government has been legislating discrimination. The impact of Bill 21, the state secularism law, has caused psychological distress to countless Muslim women, who must now choose between their faith and living in Quebec, a place many call home.

As noted in the report by the Senate Standing Committee on Human Rights on the impact of Bill 21, while the direct consequences of this legislation are troubling, the committee was disturbed to hear that it has also indirectly emboldened racist fringe groups and individuals.

In the last few months, there has been a drastic rise in Islamophobia and anti-Palestinian racism across Canada. In Q4 of last year, the number of such hate incidents across Canada reported to us increased by 1,300%.

Our communities are experiencing unprecedented levels of hate and violence from every level of society, including but not limited to professionals losing their employment or receiving disciplinary actions after calling for a ceasefire in Gaza, Muslim women with hijabs attacked and harassed in public spaces, children intimidated at school by staff for standing in solidarity for Palestinian human rights, and peaceful protesters labelled as supporters of terrorism.

Unfortunately, the response that the Muslim community in Canada has been receiving for months from our elected leaders has been duplicitous: One says they care about our concerns, and the other immediately turns around, further spreads misinformation and makes a deliberate attempt to villainize an entire community as hateful and intolerant people.

Simply stated, it's time to face the music: Islamophobia is real. It has killed and will continue to kill if this study is not taken seriously.

We believe this committee has the power and capability to adopt these recommendations before the end of the 2024 parliamentary session.

I would like to put forward three key recommendations.

The first is for this committee to call loudly for their colleagues to stand boldly against Islamophobia and anti-Palestinian racism and reiterate the need to protect civil liberties in the House of Commons, including the ability to critique foreign governments.

The second is for this committee adopt the Senate recommendations on Islamophobia, and the third is for this committee to move swiftly to recommend that this government incorporate an action plan on Islamophobia specifically as an addendum to Canada's anti-racism action program, one that has a timeline on the Senate recommendations on Islamophobia.

Thank you.