Prepared By Azeezah Kanji (JD, LLM; Noor Cultural Centre .

Islamophobia also intersects with anti-Indigenous racism, anti-Black racism, anti-migrantdiscrimination, and economic marginalization. Black Muslims, Indigenous Muslims, and BlackIndigenous Muslims experience the compounding effects of anti-Black racism, anti-Indigenousracism, and Islamophobia. Moreover, counter-terrorism powers expanded based onIslamophobic logic have also been used to target other groups subjected to state violence,including Indigenous land and water defenders.5Given this understanding of Islamophobia as systemic, often state-sponsored racismintertwined with other forms of systemic oppression, anti-Islamophobia should:a) not be premised on the expansion of structurally racist and rights-abusive institutions,such as counter-terrorism and policing, but rather rectify the racism embedded withthem; andb) center the experiences, perspectives, and interests of those most affected by theintersections of Islamophobia with anti-Black racism, anti-Indigenous racism, ableism,anti-migrant discrimination, and/or economic marginalization.The following sections of this report cover: 1) perceptions of Islam and Muslims in Canada; 2)Islamophobia in media; 3) the prevalence of Islamophobic hate incidents; 4) Islamophobia incounter-terrorism laws, policies, and practices; 5) Islamophobia in policing; 6) the impact ofIslamophobic laws on Muslim women; and 7) recommendations for addressing Islamophobia inCanada.1. Public Perceptions of Islam and MuslimsAccording to survey findings: 46% of Canadians have an unfavourable view of Islam – more than for any otherreligious tradition6;fewer than half of Canadians would find it “acceptable” for one of their children tomarry a Muslim – lower than for any other religious illness-and-extremism; Jason Proctor, “RCMP Entrapment of BC Couplein Legislature Bomb Plot was ‘Travesty of Justice,’ Court Rules,” 19 December 2018, a/john-nuttall-amanda-korody-2018-1.4952431; John Lancaster,“Mentally Ill Canadian Convicted in Terror Probe Lands in US Supermaximum Security Prison,” 10 June 2021,CBC, r example, Brett Forester, “Top Spy Agency Tracked Caledonia Land Dispute as Possible Threat to NationalSecurity: Secret Document,” 29 June 2021, APTN, -national-security-secret-document/.6Angus Reid Institute, “Religious Trends: Led by Quebec, Number of Canadians Holding Favourable Views ofVarious Religions Increases,” 4 April 2017, 7

56% of Canadians believe that Islam suppresses women’s rights8;more than half of people living in Ontario feel mainstream Muslim doctrines promoteviolence9;52% of Canadians feel that Muslims can only be trusted “a little” or “not at all”10;42% of Canadians think discrimination against Muslims is “mainly their fault”11;47% of Canadians support banning headscarves in public (compared with 30% ofAmericans)12;51% support government surveillance of mosques (as compared to 46% of Americans)13;31% of Canadians approve of American President Donald Trump’s restrictions ontravellers from Muslim-majority countries14;55% of Canadians think the problem of Islamophobia is “overblown” by politicians andmedia, and only 29% supported a non-binding parliamentary motion (M-103) tocondemn and study Islamophobia.152. MediaMultiple analyses of Canadian and US media have concluded that Islam and Muslims receivedisproportionately negative coverage – both quantitatively (in terms of amounts of coverage)and qualitatively (Muslim perpetrators are more likely to be defined as “terrorists,”represented as having more violent motives, linked in media reports to larger terror networksand broader patterns of ideological violence, and labelled by their religious and ethno-racialidentities).168Bill Graveland, “‘Fear is the Greatest Factor’: Survey Finds Canadians Worry About Rise of Racism,” 16September 2017, Toronto Star, ry-about-rise-of-racism.html.9Nicholas Keung, “Ontario Facing ‘Epidemic of Islamophobia,’ Survey Finds,” 4 July 2016, Toronto vey-finds.html.10Ron Csillag, “Survey Finds Deep Mistrust for Muslims in Canada,” 26 March 2012, Washington a/2012/03/26/gIQAjDCMcS story.html?utm term .86d3e80b7e56.11Ibid.12John Geddes, “On One Issue, Canadians Are A Lot Less Tolerant Than Americans,” 9 February 2017, an-americans/.13Ibid.14Daniel Dale, “Under Trump, a Majority of Canadians Dislike the US for the First Time in 35 Years, Likely MuchLonger,” 26 June 2017, Toronto Star, me-in-35-years-likely-much-longer.html.15Angus Reid, “M-103: If Canadians, Not MPs, Voted in the House, the Motion Condemning Islamophobia Wouldbe Defeated,” March 2017, 17.03.20-M103.pdf.16For example, Erin M Kearns, Allison E Betus and Anthony F Lemieux, “Why Do Some Terrorist Attacks ReceiveMore Media Attention Than Others?” (2019) 36:6 Justice Quarterly 985; Institute for Social Policy andUnderstanding, “Equal Treatment? Measuring the Legal and Media Responses to Ideologically Motivated Violencein the United States,” 2018, https://www.imv-report.org/; Kimberly A Powell, “Framing Islam: An Analysis of US8

For example, a study of the Globe and Mail by communication studies professor Yasmin Jiwanifound sixty-six articles on the Shafia femicide case alone (which was widely represented as an“honour killing”), but only fifty-nine on the “murder of women and domestic violence” ingeneral from 2005 to 2012.17The Quebec mosque shooting (January 2017) received approximately five minutes of airtime onCBC’s flagship news program, The National, the night that it occurred – while the LondonBorough attacks in the UK (June 2017) received several hours of live reportage andcommentary.3. Hate IncidentsThere were 349 police-report hate crimes against Muslims in 2017, 173 in 2018, and 181 in2019, according to the most recent Statistics Canada data available.18 The number of antiMuslim hate crimes more than tripled between 2012 to 2015, even as the overall incidence ofhate crimes declined.19 As compared to other groups targeted by hate, Muslims had the highestpercentage of women victims – 47% – between 2010 and 2019, as compared to 32% for hatecrimes generally.20 Black Muslims are targeted by the intersections of escalating anti-Black andanti-Muslim hate, including a series of verbal and physical attacks against primarily BlackMuslim women in Edmonton since late last year.21It should be noted that official statistics on anti-Muslim hate in Canada are incomplete: first,because only a small proportion (approximately one-third) of hateful acts are reported; andsecond, because hateful incidents not deemed to qualify as hate crimes are not systematicallyrecorded and tracked. Muslims have reported being discouraged by police from reportinghateful incidents – for example, by being warned about the time-consuming process for makinga complaint, or by police discounting the hateful nature of acts like leaving pig parts at amosque.22Media Coverage of Terrorism Since 9/11,” 62:1 Communication Studies 90; Azeezah Kanji, “Framing Muslims inthe ‘War on Terror’: Representations of Ideological Violence in Canadian National News Media,” (2019) Religions.17Yasmin Jiwani, “A Clash of Discourses: Femicides or Honour Killings”? in M Eid and K Karim, eds. ReImagining the Other: Culture, Media, and Wester-Muslim Intersections (Springer, 2014), 122.18Statistics Canada, “Police-Reported Hate Crime in Canada, 2018,” 26 February 2020001/article/00003-eng.htm; Statistics Canada, “Police-ReportedHate Crime, 2019,” 29 March 2021, 0329/dq210329a-eng.htm.19Ibid.20Ibid.21Ibid; Jillian Kestler-D’Amours, “Why are Muslim Women Living ‘In Fear’ in this Canadian City?” 13 July 2021,Al Jazeera English, National Council of Canadian Muslims, “Submission to the United Nations (UN) Committee on the Eliminationof Racial Discrimination (CERD): 93rd Session, July 31 – August 25, 2017,” https://www.nccm.ca/wp-9

There have been three fatal attacks directed against Muslims in Canada in the last five years. InJune 2021, four members of a Muslim family were killed, and one injured, in a van attack inLondon, Ontario. In September 2020, a volunteer was killed outside a Toronto mosque, by aman with social media connections to White supremacist groups.23 And on January 29, 2017, sixMuslims were killed and five were critically injured in a shooting attack on the Islamic CulturalCentre of Quebec; at the time that it occurred, it was the most fatal act of ideology-linkedviolence in Canada since 1989.Individuals and groups inaccurately perceived to be Muslim have also experienced Islamophobicattacks. For example, a Hindu temple in Hamilton, Ontario was destroyed by arson four daysafter 9/11.24 Sikh communities have also been targeted by Islamophobic hate incidents.25Islamophobic hate has also been directed against Palestine solidarity activists (Muslim and nonMuslim). For example, since July 2020 a pro-Palestine restaurant in Toronto, Foodbenders, hasbeen barraged with an ongoing campaign of violently anti-Muslim and anti-Palestinianmessages, including “Allah is Satan” graffitied on the sidewalk outside (which is also in front ofa mosque).264. Counter-TerrorismNational security agencies have refused to heed the Canadian Human Rights Commission’s callto collect and analyze race-disaggregated data on their operations, so that the impacts ofsecurity practices and policies on particular communities can be assessed. “Not only is there noaccountability framework in place, national security organizations are not required to collectand report data on human rights performance in practice,” the Commission observes.27content/uploads/2017/08/NCCM Submission to CERD August32017 93rd Treaty Bodies Session CANADA1.pdf.23Catherine McDonald, “Suspect in Fatal Stabbing at Toronto Mosque Connected to White Supremacist Group,Expert Says,” 22 September 2020, Global News, 4“Arrests in Post 9/11 ‘Hate’ Attack on Hamilton Hindu Temple,” 27 November 2013, CBC temple1.2442098. -1.2442098.25“Confused Americans Are Still Attacking Sikhs Because They Think They’re Muslims,” 29 December 2015,National Post, ll-confuse-sikhs-with-muslims.26Cheryl Gaster and Azeezah Kanji, “Anti-Foodbenders Campaign Shows Political Double Standard on Hate,” 12August 2020, Passage, shows-political-double-standard-onhate/.27Canadian Human Rights Commission, “Human Rights Accountability in National Security Practices: A SpecialReport to Parliament,” (November 2011), online: c-specialreport28112011.pdf .10

The absence of information transparency is exacerbated by the absence of robust oversight,review, and redress mechanisms for victims of rights-abusive national security practices. Therecently-created National Security Intelligence and Review Agency cannot make bindingrecommendations or compel remedies for complainants; lacks a mandate to accept complaintsregarding agencies that play key roles in national security, notably the Canada Border ServicesAgency (CBSA); and members are appointed by the same government whose activities arebeing reviewed.28Even without comprehensive data disclosure from agencies, however, studies by academics andcivil rights organizations have repeatedly documented the disproportionate impact of nationalsecurity measures – including no-fly lists, terrorist entities listings, counter-radicalizationprograms, security agent visitations, mass surveillance, and “terrorism” prosecutions29 – onMuslim communities.Laws that expand state national security powers without adequate transparency and oversight(like the Anti-Terrorism Act, 2015 and the National Security Act, 201730) thereforedisproportionately threaten the fundamental rights and freedoms of Muslims – including therights to privacy and a fair trial, and freedoms of expression, religion, and assembly.Racial Profiling in Defining the “Terrorist Threat”Government reports on national security by Public Safety Canada and the Canadian SecurityIntelligence Service (CSIS) focus predominantly on Muslim individuals and organizations as the28International Civil Liberties Monitoring Group, “Bill C-59: Oversight and Review -and-review-mechanisms/.29Baljit Nagra and Paula Maurutto, “No-Fly Lists, National Security and Race: The Experiences of CanadianMuslims” (2020) 60:3 The British Journal of Criminology 600; Ashley Burke, “Families Share Their ‘No-Fly List’Ordeals with Public Safety Minister Bill Blair,” 20 December 2019, CBC, -kids-meeting-public-safety-minister-1.5403518; “Open Letter to Federal Leaders: Do Not Expand AntiTerrorism Laws in the Name of Anti-Racism,” 22 February 2021, ntities-list/; Jeffrey Monaghan and Adam Molnar, “Radicalisation Theories, Policing Practices, and ‘The Future ofTerrorism?’” (2016) 9:3 Critical Studies on Terrorism; Canadian Council on American-Islamic Relations,“Presumption of Guilt: A National Survey on Security Visitations of Canadian Muslims,” vey.html; ShanifaNasser, “When CSIS Comes Knocking: Amid Reports of Muslim Students Contacted by Spy Agency, Hotline Aimsto Help,” 7 August 2019, CBC, ts-university-muslim-campus1.5229670; Baljit Nagra, “Anti-Muslim Surveillance: Canadian Muslims’ Experiences with CSIS” Paper presentedat Canadian Sociological Association conference, 3 June 2021, sis/; Michael Nesbitt, “An Empirical Study of TerrorismCharges and Terrorism Trials in Canada between September 2001 and September 2018” (2019) Criminal LawQuarterly, https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract id 3325956.30Many of the problems with the Anti-Terrorism Act, 2015, are not adequately addressed by the National SecurityAct, 2017 (popularly known as Bill C-59). See International Civil Liberties Monitoring Group, “Open Letter to theFederal Government on C-59: New National Security Bill Fails to Reverse C-51 and Introduces Serious NewProblems,” 19 September 2017, erse-c-51-and-introduces-serious-new-problems/.11

primary source of terrorism.31 A comprehensive 2019 study of all completed terrorismprosecutions in Canada since 2001 found that 98% were against Muslims or defendants linkedto Muslim groups; the vast majority did not involve any executed act of violence.32 Pre-criminalmeasures imposing behavioural restrictions, such as “terrorism peace bonds,” have also beenoverwhelmingly applied against Muslims.33This disproportionate focus persists despite the fact that extreme right-wing and Whitesupremacist groups have been linked to many times more incidents of violence than individualsand groups connected to Islam34; the number of hate groups active in Canada has tripled since2015 to 300.35Yet state initiatives to address the threat of White supremacism through counter-terrorismmeasures have often been accompanied by further securitization of Muslims – for example,when the Proud Boys and three other right-wing organizations were listed as a “terroristentities” earlier this year, nine more Islamist-identified groups were also added at the sametime.36 The listing mechanism itself raises serious procedural justice concerns, as civil libertiesand human rights organizations and academic experts have long pointed out.37According to the Ontario Human Rights Commission’s 2017 report on racial profiling, youngMuslims have been targeted for monitoring by CSIS or police intelligence because of31See, for example, Public Safety Canada, “Building Resilience Against Terrorism: Canada’s Counter-TerrorismStrategy,” (2012), lnc-gnst-trrrsm/index-en.aspx; Public SafetyCanada, “2013 Public Report on the Terrorist Threat to Canada,” ctns/trrrst-thrt-cnd/index-en.aspx; Public Safety Canada, “2014 PublicReport on the Terrorist Threat to Canada,” (2014), 14-pblc-rprtrrrst-thrt/index-en.aspx; Public Safety Canada, “2016 Public Report on the Terrorist Threat to Canada,” chael Nesbitt, “An Empirical Study of Terrorism Charges and Terrorism Trials in Canada between September2001 and September 2018” (2019) Criminal Law abstract id 3325956.33Fahad Ahmad and Jeffrey Monaghan, “From Probabilities to Possibilities: Terrorism Peace Bonds, Pre-EmptiveSecurity, and Modulations of Criminal Law” (2020) 74 Crime, Law, and Social Change 341.34Canadian Network for Research on Terrorism, Security and Society, “Canadian Incident Database,”http://extremism.ca/; Catherine Solyom, “The Trump Effect and the Normalization of Hate in Quebec,” 15November 2016, Montreal Gazette, ffect-and-thenormalization-of-hate.35Christopher Reynolds, “Singh Calls on Government to Counter Hate Groups, Which Have Tripled Since 2015,”10 November 2020, The Globe and Mail, -have-tripled/.36John Paul Tasker, “Canada Labels the Proud Boys, Neo-Nazi Groups as Terrorists,” 3 February 2021, boys-terrorists-1.5899186.37Kent Roach and Craig Forcese, “Yesterday’s Law: Terrorist Group Listing in Canada” (2018) 30:2 Terrorism andPolitical Violence 259; Kent Roach, “Counterterrorism and the Challenges of Terrorism from the Far Right” (2021)50:1 Common Law World Review 3; “Open Letter to Federal Leaders: Do Not Expand Anti-Terrorism Laws in theName of Anti-Racism,” 22 February 2021, entities-list/12

participation in activism for causes like Palestinian rights.38 Muslim university students, refugeeclaimants, and other vulnerable demographics have reported being aggressively recruited bysecurity agencies to become informants.Two recent, independent reports have documented the discriminatory auditing of Muslimcharities by the Canada Revenue Agency, underpinned by the Muslim-centric conceptualizationof “terrorism.”39 According to the International Civil Liberties Monitoring Group, 75% ofcharitable status revocations by the CRA’s secretive Review and Analysis Division between 2008and 2015 were against Muslim charities – which constitute only 0.47% of charities in Canada.40Convers

Jul 22, 2021 · Dr Ahmed Hegazy MBBCh, MSc, FRCPC, MPH. Assistant Professor, Western University 79. Ida C. Henderson, economist (ret'd), Government of Canada 80. Ria Heynen, Raging Grannies, Justice for Mohamed Harkat Committee . Nuzhat Jafri, Executive Director, Canadian Council of Muslim Women (CCMW) 88. Majed Ja