Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has renewed his government’s pledge to continue to fight Islamophobia and all other forms of hatred.
On Saturday, Trudeau issued a statement on the National Day of Remembrance of the Quebec City Mosque Attack and Action against Islamophobia.
Trudeau said the national day of remembrance of the Quebec City Mosque attack is an opportunity to pay tribute to victims, survivors, and people who acted swiftly following the terrorist attack.
The incident took place on the evening of January 29, 2017, when 27-year old Alexandre Bissonnette carried out the terrorist attack that killed six people and injured 19 others.
Condemning Islamophobia, Trudeau argued that the Canadian people remembers the six people who lost their lives and the 19 others who were seriously injured during the terrorist attack.
“Today, we pay tribute to the victims of this hateful act of terror, who were senselessly killed at the hands of bigotry, Islamophobia, and racism,” he said.
The Canadian PM also expressed solidarity with the survivors owho were injured in the attack, as well as with families and friends who lost people during the terrorist attack.
“This cowardly attack sought to instill fear and divide us. Instead, Canadians came together and united around shared values of diversity, peace, and respect. They showed their support to Muslim communities in Quebec City and across Canada by fighting discrimination, intolerance, and hatred in all its forms,” Trudeau said.
He emphasized that his government condemns Islamophobia and all of its forms of racism and discimnation as part of Canada’s Anti-Racism policy.
The PM also vowed to continue efforts to tackle racism and anti-Islam hatred in Canada.
Several reports suggest that Islamophobia is on the rise in Canada. In recent years, reports from Canadian media spoke of different kinds of Islamophobia, discrimination, and hatred.
In June 2021, a man deliverately drove over a Muslim family in the city of London, 200 kilometers southwest of Toronto, killing four people.
“There is evidence that this was a planned, premeditated act, motivated by hate,” Detective Superintendent Paul Weight of the London Police Department said after the attack.
The victims were from Pakistan.
Some in the international media landscape described the attack as the worst of its kind against Canadian Muslims since the Quebec City mosque attack in 2017.
Commenting on the attack, Trudeau said he was “horrified by the news.”
In a 2020 survey, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) said that 46% of Canadians “have an unfavorable view of Islam.”
According to the survey, “fewer than half” of Canada’s populations would find it “acceptable for one of their children to marry a Muslim.”
