Canada House of Commons passes anti-Islamophobia Motion M-103

When the Trump administration is issuing executive orders to ban Muslim entry into the US, Canada’s parliament has passed a motion calling on federal politicians to condemn Islamophobia.

The Liberal backbencher’s motion, known as M-103, became a matter of acrimonious debate in Canada, with opponents painting it as a slippery slope towards limiting freedom of speech and even bringing in the Sharia law.

Liberals and Conservatives accused one another of “playing politics with the rising tide of prejudice and hate crimes facing Canadian Muslims.”

Liberal MP Iqra Khalid, who sponsored the motion, was applauded loudly by her Liberal fellows as she stood to vote.

The non-binding motion that calls on the government to “condemn Islamophobia and all forms of systemic racism and religious discrimination,” passed at the House of Commons by a margin of 201-91 on Mar 23.

All the NDP (New Democratic Party) and nearly all Liberal MPs supported the motion. The parliament has 338 members.

The contentious motion, which sparked nationwide demonstrations and protests by both supporters and opponents in early March, also calls on the government to take steps to “quell the increasing public climate of hate and fear.”

The CBC news network reported that the motion had the additional symbolic significance in the emotional aftermath of the Jan 29 mosque shooting in Quebec City, where six Muslim men were killed.

The motion was tabled by Mississauga-Erin Mills Liberal MP Iqra Khalid on Dec 5, 2016. She spoke to reporters after the motion passed on Thursday.

"I'm really happy that the vote today has shown positive support for this motion and I'm looking forward to the committee taking on this study," she said.

Khalid's motion calls on the government to do three things:

·       Condemn Islamophobia and all forms of systemic racism and religious discrimination.

·       Quell the increasing public climate of hate and fear.

·       Compel the Commons heritage committee to develop a government-wide approach to reducing or eliminating systemic racism and religious discrimination, including Islamophobia.

The latter would require the heritage committee to collect data on hate crime reports; conduct needs assessments for affected communities and present findings within eight months.