Proud to call Canada home

These haven’t been easy times for Canadian Muslims. Too many feel the sting of indiscriminate mistrust and hostility linked to Al Qaeda’s attacks 15 years ago, the rise of Daesh jihadists in Iraq and Syria, and a Conservative federal government that was obsessed by snitch lines and women’s clothing.

Yet, for all that, most Muslim Canadians are proud citizens, and feel confident that the country is heading in the right direction. Most embrace Canada’s diversity, cherish its democratic freedoms and feel that it is a good place to live.

That’s the heartening take-away from a valuable survey by the Environics Institute that captures the attitudes of the millionstrong Muslim community and gives the lie to conventional stereotypes and misperceptions.

The survey will be an eye-opener for those who question the community’s attachment to this country.

But it also poses a challenge for policy-makers, especially when it comes to younger Muslims, many of them second-generation.

Younger Muslims are more religiously observant than their elders. And they worry more about high levels of discrimination. Some 35 per cent of Muslims overall say they experienced unfair treatment over their religion or ethnicity, far higher than the general population. Younger Muslims expect things to get worse. And they feel a slightly weaker sense of belonging to the country. That raises a concern that some may become alienated and prey to extremist views.

While the wider Muslim community believes that very few in their faith support violent extremism, it also recognizes the need to confront that concern head on. Most, 79 per cent, believe it’s important to work with government agencies to address radicalization, given the damage extremists can do to the community. At the same time, younger Muslims also deserve the same fair shake as any other group. Anything less is socially corrosive and dangerous. It’s also blinkered.

At root the survey confirmed that the vast majority of Muslims, or 83 per cent, feel “very proud” to be Canadian. That beats out the 73 per cent of non-Muslims who feel the same. Fully 94 per cent said their sense of belonging to Canada was strong. And 84 per cent feel their community is treated better here than in other western countries. These are powerful indicators of a community that has put down deep roots and doesn’t deserve to live under a cloud of suspicion or to be scapegoated for the crimes of others.

The survey confirms that Muslims largely share their neighbours’ deepest values. Canada’s freedom and democracy rank high as the community’s greatest source of pride, followed by multiculturalism and diversity.

At the same time, Muslims see no contradiction in being good Canadians and good Muslims. Not surprisingly, more than 80 per cent say that both their Canadian nationality and their faith figure strongly in their sense of personal identity. That said, 50 per cent say religion plays a bigger role than nationality. Then again, so do 28 per cent of other religious Canadians.

Given that Islam, Christianity and Hinduism are all growth religions, it’s no surprise that attendance at Muslim religious services is up, with 48 per cent now participating once a week or more. Similarly, 48 per cent of women now report wearing the hijab head scarf. The fuller body-covering chador and the face-covering niqab are each worn by 3 per cent.

Younger Muslims in particular are finding identity in their faith. Fully 61 per cent feel that being Muslim is key to their identity, and they are the most likely group to attend mosque. But it doesn’t follow that they are less attached to the nation and its values than are similarly devout Christians, Hindus, Jews and others.

At root, the survey confirms that the values Canadians share run deep and true. That’s something to celebrate in a troubled world.

These survey results are powerful indicators of a community that has put down deep roots and doesn’t deserve to live under a cloud of suspicion