WATCH — Reporting on Islamophobia in Canada | CBC Kids News

144 anti-Muslim hate crimes reported to police in 2021, report says

Every week, CBC Kids News takes a deep dive into a topic that’s been making headlines. This week we dug into the KN archives to highlight a topic that’s still in the news. Click the video above or below for this week’s KN Explains.

Muslim Canadians face discrimination on a regular basis and that needs to change.

That’s according to a report called Combatting Hate: Islamophobia and its impact on Muslims in Canada, released on Nov. 2.

Islamophobia is the fear of or discrimination against Muslim people.

Eight Canadian senators prepared the report.

Senators are named by the prime minister and serve in the upper house in Canada’s Parliament. 

Over the course of a year, they held 21 public meetings and interviewed 138 witnesses about Islamophobia in Canada. 

What did the report say?

Sen. Salma Ataullahjan, who led the committee that produced the report, said “urgent action” by the federal government is needed to stop the trend of discrimination against Muslims.

Testimonies shared in the report include that:

• More Muslims were killed in targeted hate attacks in Canada than any other G7 country between 2016 and 2021, according to the National Council of Canadian Muslims (NCCM). 
• Muslim women are the most targeted for violence and intimidation, according to Kashif Ahmed, board chairman of the NCCM.
• One in four Canadians don’t trust Muslims, according to a national survey of 1,500 Canadians by Maple Lodge Farms. 

Recommendations

“We must commit to building a more inclusive country and to better protecting our Muslim relatives, friends, neighbours and colleagues,” said Ataullahjan.

The committee made 13 recommendations, including:

• To launch a multimedia campaign and educational resources on Islamophobia that can be incorporated into classrooms.
• To provide additional money to address hate-motivated crimes.
• To increase specific Criminal Code charges for hate-motivated crimes.

Rewind to 2022

In May 2022, CBC Kids News published the video about anti-Muslim hate below.

We were marking one year after four members of a Muslim family in London, Ontario, were killed in a targeted attack.

The man behind that attack was recently found guilty in that case. Read more of that story here:

Watch our video from 2022 to understand what Islamophobia is and some of what’s being done to address it in Canada.

KN Explains: Islamophobia ⬇️⬇️⬇️

Have Your Say

This week’s question is all about what we can do in our own communities to fight back against hatred and discrimination. Share your experiences and opinions in the form below.

You can read the answer to last week’s question here:

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