By Tonda MacCharlesOttawa Bureau Raisa Patel Ottawa Bureau
(THE STAR) OTTAWA — Political words of sympathy and solidarity after the deadly attack on a London, Ont. family of five were not enough for many Muslim Canadians after the House of Commons observed a minute of sorrowful silence Tuesday.
The speeches by the three main party leaders — Justin Trudeau, Erin O’Toole and Jagmeet Singh — labelling it an act of “terror,” even in the absence of any terrorism charge against the accused driver, were welcomed but failed to quell real fears anti-Muslim hate is on the rise.
Many individuals, Muslim Canadian community groups and lawyers said the Trudeau government and opposition politicians have not done nearly enough to eradicate hate. They said the federal government should put more money and resources into concrete actions,
and lead the court fight against Quebec’s secularism law that bans the wearing of religious symbols by those who deliver public services. Fareed Khan, of Canadians United Against Hate, which organized an Ottawa vigil for the victims of the London attack, called on the federal government “to undertake aggressive efforts to combat not just Islamophobia, but hate.”
Ottawa put $50 million toward various efforts and “left it up to local community organizations to do it, but this needs a national response,” Khan said. “What we had called for was a nationally led anti-racism, anti-hate strategy led by the federal government in the same way that the federal government has been dealing with the pandemic,” he said.
“Racism and hate is a pandemic. I mean, for God’s sake, how many more people have to be killed?”
