Muslim council issues recommendations ahead of summit

The National Council of Canadian Muslims has released a lengthy list of policy recommendations for elected officials ahead of a national summit on Islamophobia this week.

The organization is holding events today in cities that have experienced crimes targeting Muslims in recent years, including Quebec City, the Greater Toronto Area, Edmonton and London, Ont., where last month four members of a family were killed while out for a walk.

Mustafa Farooq, the chief executive officer of the NCCM, told reporters in southwestern Ontario today the recommendations target every level of government and were compiled after talking with members of the community from across the country.

More than half of the recommendations are directed toward the federal government and include the creation of a strategy to fight Islamophobia, both outside and within government, as well as providing resources toward that strategy.

For provinces, the recommendations include teaching about Islamophobia in schools, an accountability system for police hate crimes units and the prohibition of white supremacist rallies.

Farooq says that more Muslims have been killed in targeted hate attacks in Canada than any other G7 country in the past five years.