NDP Statement on recent events targeting the Muslim community

The following statement was issued by Tom Mulcair, Leader of the NDP:

"The events of the last couple days are deeply troubling. Yesterday a bomb threat at Concordia University in Montreal targeted Muslim students, and on Tuesday a suspected arson occurred at an Islamic information centre and mosque in Toronto.

These are acts of violence and they’re aimed at intimidating and terrorizing the student body and Muslim community. The scars that accompany these attacks are not easily overcome.

The massacre in Quebec City was one of the worst mass shootings in our history, and it’s essential to name it for what it was; a terrorist attack perpetrated against the Muslim community. A group of Canadians were gunned down as they gathered to pray, leaving six men dead and nineteen wounded. Fathers, brothers and uncles, lost to hate.

These new threats cannot be taken lightly and must be taken within the context we find ourselves in.

We must confront the increase of Islamophobia these events represent. We must confront thinly veiled language aimed at spreading fear and intolerance. We must call out proposals and policies that target one group or members of any one religion, even if they occur beyond our borders.

As elected Parliamentarians we must stand and be counted in denouncing Islamophobia in all of its forms. Especially so soon after we’ve witnessed just how violent some of those forms can be.

There is simply no place in Canada for hatred or discrimination of any kind."