NDP Statement On 1St Anniversary Of Quebec City Mosque Shooting

NDP Parliamentary Leader, Guy Caron, made a speech in the House of Commons on the 1st anniversary of the mosque shooting in Quebec City. “Because of hate, 17 children are now orphans. They are orphans because their fathers were killed simply for being Muslim. On January 29, 2017, Khaled, Azzedine, Aboubaker, Mamadou, Ibrahima, Abdelkrim and others made their way to the Grande mosquée de Québec. It was a winter night like any other. Peaceful. But that night, an act of terrorism changed their lives, and ours, forever. A year ago, Islamophobia changed lives forever in Quebec City, and across Canada. Today, on this day of commemoration, we must ask ourselves: what lessons have we learned? Has the tone of the discussion changed? Has it worsened? The regrettable answer to these questions is that hate crimes have not diminished, especially not online, or on social media. Harassment in the street —especially for Muslim women —continues, including violent acts. Just this summer, the car belonging to the president of the Centre culturel islamique de Québec was set ablaze in front of his home. There is reason for hope. The day after the shooting at the Grande mosquée de Québec, 6,000 people in Québec city and 15,000 people in Montréal joined thousands across the country to stand in solidarity with the families of the victims. They gathered to not only mark the tragedy, but to stand and denounce racism, Islamophobia, and populist hate. Standing in the thousands, candles in hand, enduring freezing temperatures, they showed us the path we all must take — the path of solidarity in the face of division; the path of openness instead of suspicion based on ignorance. As our leader Jagmeet Singh has said: “We must champion a politics of love to fight the growing politics of hate and a politics of courage to fight the politics of fear.”