Tories face accusation of fuelling Islamophobia

Conservatives argue term is too vague

OTTAWA • Heritage Minister Melanie Joly fired broadsides Thursday at the Conservative party and several of its leadership candidates for fomenting anti-Muslim sentiment, bringing a smouldering online culture war between Liberals and Conservatives on to the floor of the House of Commons.

The issue that sparked Joly’s condemnation was a parliamentary debate about whether or not MPs ought to condemn “Islamophobia.”

Conservatives took issue with that term, arguing that it is vague at best and, at worst, could lead to censure of legitimate discussion about Islam.

For example, Marilyn Gladu, a Conservative MP from Sarnia, Ont., told the Commons she was worried she’d be accused of being “Islamophobic” if she voiced concerns that ISIL terrorists would want to rape and behead her.

Joly was having no such hair-splitting, accusing Conservatives of refusing to acknowledge Islamophobia in Canada even as they whip up anti-Islam sentiment to raise money and generate political support.

“What are they scared of? They’re scared of denouncing Islamophobia and, by not denouncing Islamophobia, they are actually contributing to the problem,” Joly told reporters.

It was the strongest denunciation yet by a senior member of the Trudeau government of the kind of antiMuslim populism that has so riven the political cultures of the United States, Great Britain, and the European Union.

Thursday’s debate came hours after a separate debate Wednesday night on what is known as M-103, a parliamentary motion put forward by Liberal MP Iqra Khalid which, among other things, called on the House to “condemn Islamophobia and all forms of systemic racism and religious discrimination.”

Conservatives pressed the case that their motion, sponsored by Saskatchewan MP David Anderson, free of the phrase “Islamophobia,” was better than Khalid’s M-103.

MPs are expected to vote on the Conservative Islamophobia-free motion next week. Khalid’s motion, M-103 will not come up for a vote until April.