By Harinder Mahil

Islamophobia remains a serious problem in Canada and concrete action is required to reverse the growing tide of hate, says a new report issued by the Canadian Senate last week.

The report, Combatting Hate: Islamophobia and its impact on Muslims in Canada, outlines the Human Rights committee’s findings from its year-long study into the sources of Islamophobia in Canada, incidents of discrimination, physical violence and online hate against Muslims, and the effects of these events on individuals and communities.

The report says anti-Muslim hate needs to be met with the creation of new criminal offences, more education and less bias in federal tax audits.

According to the report, Islamophobia is being spread online, and argues this is contributing to an increase in hate crimes against Canada’s Muslims.

“Islamophobia is an acute threat to Canadian Muslims and urgent action is needed,” said committee chair Sen. Salma Ataullahjan.

“We must commit to building a more inclusive country and to better promoting our Muslim relatives and friends, neighbours and colleagues,” she said at a press conference while releasing the report.

Ataullahjan and her Senate colleagues heard from Muslim communities across the country that have experienced incidents that appear to violate criminal laws but were not prosecuted.

Senator Mobina Jaffer, a member of the Committee said: “Violent incidences of Islamophobia have reached a disturbing and unprecedented level in Canada in recent years. Discrimination and hate-motivated attacks have long-standing and debilitating effects on individuals and communities. Concrete action must be taken to stem the tide of this rise in hate.”

The Senators say they would also like to see ramped-up efforts to weed out bias within the Canada Revenue Agency, following audits of Muslim charities that advocates argued were excessive.

The Committee held 21 public meetings across the country and heard from138 witnesses.  The report said the committee “was disturbed to hear that incidents of Islamophobia are a daily reality for many Muslims, that one in four Canadians do not trust Muslims and that Canada leads the G7 in terms of targeted killings of Muslims motivated by Islamophobia.”

The report found that Muslim women have become the “primary targets when it comes to violence and intimidation” because they are easily recognizable from their dress. As a result, many Muslim women are afraid to leave their homes for work, school or other activities.

The committee said it wants federal human-rights bodies to be able to handle complaints of online hate. It added that a federal hotline should be established so people can report hate-motivated crimes. To do that, Ataullahjan said, the public needs better education, as well as media that do not embolden prejudicial attitudes.

The report makes 13 recommendations for the federal government. Some of significant ones are:

*Ensure mandatory training on Islamophobia for all federal government employees and the judiciary.

*Review national security legislation to ensure it takes Islamophobia into account.

*Modernize the Employment Equity Act to ensure it takes Islamophobia into account.

*Launch a campaign and educational resources on Islamophobia that can be incorporated into classrooms.

*Provide additional funds to address hate-motivated crimes.

*Increase specific Criminal Code offences for hate-motivated crimes.

*Review the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission’s mandate to ensure it reflects the needs, interests and aspirations of racialized communities.

*Introduce legislation to crack down on online hate.

These are important recommendation which must be adopted by the government of Canada. Muslims have been important contributors to Canadian society since before Confederation. They continue to serve communities across Canada in countless ways. Their rich and varied contributions to Canadian society must be appropriately recognized not for their sake alone but for the country. They must not be unfairly vilified and marginalized.

Harinder Mahil is a human rights activist and is president of the West Coast Coalition Against Racism (WACAR).