Recent Coverage
Nine months after mosque killings, Quebec Muslims still waiting for promised change
By Graeme Hamilton
National Post | October 20, 2017
MONTREAL — After a gunman killed six worshippers inside a Quebec City mosque in January, the outpouring of support for the Muslim community was immediate. The attack would be “a turning point” in the strained relationship between Quebec and its Muslim minority, Premier Philippe Couillard promised.
“Let us think about Quebecers of the Muslim faith, our fellow citizens,” Couillard said at a vigil the night after the attack. “It must be said again: We are all Quebecers. The whole world is watching us.”...
Women are tweeting scarf selfies to condemn Quebec’s Bill 62
By Natalie Stechyson
Huffington Post Canada | October 19, 2017
As a new Quebec law that will force Muslim women to uncover their faces before they can ride the bus is being denounced by human rights groups and politicians, a handful of Canadian women are posting pointed selfies to show their own condemnation.
The Quebec government passed Bill 62 Wednesday, which bans Muslim women who wear a niqab or burqa from obtaining government services — including public transportation — without showing their faces. The bill infringes on the religious freedom of Quebecers, ...
Quebec passes bill banning niqab, burka while receiving public services
By Graeme Hamilton
National Post | October 18, 2017
MONTREAL – Niqab-wearing Quebec women who want to ride the bus, visit the library, go for a medical check-up or meet with their child’s teacher are now legally required to uncover their faces while receiving provincial and municipal government services.
Quebec’s National Assembly adopted Bill 62 Wednesday morning, a controversial law that is the Liberal government’s answer to a decade-long debate over the accommodation of religious minorities in the province.
The bill passed despite opposition from the ...
Quebec passes bill requiring citizens to uncover faces while receiving public services
By Ingrid Peritz
The Globe & Mail | October 18, 2017
Quebec has adopted a law forcing people to show their faces when obtaining services such as taking a city bus, pushing through controversial legislation that is being criticized as discriminatory against Muslim Canadians.
Bill 62, which the province's Justice Minister describes as a North American first, requires one's face to be uncovered when giving or receiving public services. The law marks the outcome of a contentious discussion about the place of religious minorities in Quebec.
Details of how the law ...
Quebec assembly to debate bill banning face coverings in public service
By Sonja Puzic
CTV News | October 17, 2017
The Quebec National Assembly will begin debating a controversial bill on Tuesday, that would ban face coverings for public servants and anyone who receives public services.
If passed, Bill 62 would prohibit public workers, including doctors and teachers, from wearing niqabs, burkas or any other face coverings.
Amendments to the bill introduced last summer also extend the ban to people receiving municipal services, including public transit. That could mean a woman wearing a niqab, for example, would not be able to ride a ...
Quebec to vote on bill that would bar face-coverings for those receiving public services
By Allan Woods
Toronto Star | October 16, 2017
MONTREAL — After a decade-long debate about the place of religion in a secular society, Quebec is set to pass a law that would bar public servants from wearing face coverings and oblige ordinary citizens to unveil when seeking access to government services.
The proposed law has been vigorously opposed by Muslim advocacy groups in the province who say that it will unfairly target women who wear Islamic face coverings such as the niqab, which leaves only the eyes uncovered.
“A woman with five children who wears ...
RCMP officers screened border crossers on religion and values
By Michelle Shephard
Toronto Star | October 11, 2017
RCMP officers have been screening Muslim refugee claimants entering from the U.S. at Quebec’s Roxham Rd. crossing, asking how they feel about women who do not wear the hijab, how many times they pray, and their opinion about the Taliban and the Islamic State, a questionnaire obtained by the Star shows.
The 41 questions appear to specifically target Muslims, as no other religious practices are mentioned, nor terrorist groups with non-Muslim members.
Refugee lawyers representing the more than 12,000 men, women ...
Alexandre Bissonnette charges in Quebec mosque shooting do not include terrorism
By Jessica Chin
Huffington Post Canada | October 4, 2017
A Canadian Muslim group says the decision not to charge the suspect in the Quebec City mosque shooting with terrorism highlights a double standard.
"There's no question that if a Muslim had walked into a church or a synagogue and shot up a bunch of people, that person would've been considered a terrorist by the Canadian public," Faisal Bhabha, legal counsel for the National Council of Canadian Muslims (NCCM) told HuffPost Canada on Wednesday.
Earlier this week, Crown prosecutors announced they were bypass...
Suspect in Edmonton attack faces terrorism, attempted murder charges
By Michelle Shephard and Julien Gignac
Toronto Star | October 1, 2017
Police and politicians urged Canadians to be vigilant, but called for calm and unity in the wake of a terrorist attack in Edmonton that injured five and led to the arrest of a 30-year-old suspect who had previously been investigated for espousing extremist views.
It is the second major terrorist attack in Canada this year, following January’s shooting at a mosque in Quebec City that killed six and injured 19.
CBC News identified the Edmonton suspect on Sunday as Abdulahi Hasan Sharif. Police ...
Grand Forks, B.C., mayor apologizes for calling Syrian refugees potential ‘terrorists’
By Chris Walker
CBC News | September 11, 2017
The mayor of Grand Forks, B.C., is apologizing for calling Syrian refugees potential "pedophiles" and "terrorists," but insists he is "not in any way a racist."
He responded after CBC News was shown a video of a public meeting held two years ago.
Mayor Frank Konrad made a series of comments before a vote at a city council meeting on Sept. 14, 2015, during a debate over whether to support Syrian refugees coming to the community.
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The mayor's comments are "discriminatory and disappointing," said Amira ...