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Results: 61 - 75 of 120
View Andréanne Larouche Profile
BQ (QC)
In your opinion, could the federal government help prevent crime in any other ways? You mentioned an institution.
How can the government be more supportive of the various communities across the country so that they can take their place? Most importantly, how can it continue to address hate crimes, Islamophobic crimes, and crimes against Asian communities?
Besides the secretariat, do you see any other solutions that would involve the federal government?
Samya Hasan
View Samya Hasan Profile
Samya Hasan
2021-06-17 12:27
Sure.
If I were to choose one thing, I would say it would be the online hate legislation. We know that a lot of the radicalization and anti-Muslim hate is spreading online. It's now or never. We really need that legislation, which we've been waiting for for a very long time, to mandate social media platforms to shut down hate. If they don't, penalties should be assigned to them.
Definitely, the online hate legislation is the biggest ask from me and I know from a lot of the panellists as well.
View Lindsay Mathyssen Profile
NDP (ON)
Thank you, Madam Chair.
I know, Ms. Hasan, that you were listening, but you weren't necessarily as active in the first hour when I asked all the witnesses to comment on that national action summit. I asked what recommendations, what actions, they wanted to see from that summit. I would like to ask you, understanding, of course, that it can be extremely complicated. You talked about the diversity within communities but that being community-led... If you could provide some other recommendations that you would like to see come out of that summit, I would appreciate that.
Samya Hasan
View Samya Hasan Profile
Samya Hasan
2021-06-17 12:28
Sure.
I think, going back to some of the recommendations that we've made, we actually submitted a list of seven recommendations to the Minister of Justice and Attorney General back in 2020, and I believe we met as well, MP Mathyssen, about those recommendations.
Again, first and foremost, the online hate legislation is paramount, and it's critical and urgent for that to be implemented. I know that Amira spoke a little bit about the victimization portion of the general social survey and having that implemented annually so that we can collect better data on what is going on around hate crimes, hate speech and hate incidents so that we can create better policies to combat them.
We had that discussion at length this morning around mandating curriculum in schools, working with the provinces—I know it is within the jurisdiction of the provinces—to ensure that we have anti-racism curricula. It's not just diversity, inclusion and multiculturalism, which are great—and it happens across the board in Canada where we celebrate different faiths and celebrate differences—but actual anti-racism, anti-oppressive approaches. Some of the witnesses this morning mentioned that it starts in the school system. I grew up in the public school system as well, and I can't count on my fingers the number of times that I had Islamophobic incidents and hate and physical violence against me as a visibly Muslim student.
Those are definitely things that we, as CASSA, have been asking for. We're also part of a larger group called the Anti-Hate Community Leaders' Group. It's a group of over 40 organizations and individuals across Canada that have been pushing for anti-hate legislation and anti-hate policies. We need to send a strong message through this summit—I know it was mentioned this morning as well—from all leaders in this country that Islamophobia will not be tolerated. We've seen on social media that there have been some individuals who have been celebrating the London terrorist attack. There needs to be strong condemnation of those individuals. We need to see that those individuals face consequences for spreading that hate, because that's where it starts. It starts online. It starts in schools.
View Lindsay Mathyssen Profile
NDP (ON)
Yes, unfortunately, and it was mentioned, as well, that when those leaders come out and are racist, it gives permission almost. I've certainly heard that. My office has heard that, unfortunately. We are trying to report that as much as possible. I think it was stated by my leader that hate is like a fire. If you don't extinguish it quickly, it does spread far too quickly.
I want to expand on some of those pieces of legislation that we were talking about before and that you just mentioned. One of the things that we often hear about, too, is the Employment Equity Act. We know that women are still paid a great deal less, but it's even more so when you are a racialized woman. Could you talk about the strengthening of the federal Employment Equity Act and attaching equity measures to all federal investments and recovery programs that we're seeing coming out of COVID to ensure that racialized groups and other under-represented groups have that equality and access to employment, as well as to those resources?
Samya Hasan
View Samya Hasan Profile
Samya Hasan
2021-06-17 12:32
Thank you for that question, MP Mathyssen.
That is very much connected to the anti-racism efforts that we really need to step up on. On employment equity, as you know, during the pandemic we've seen racialized communities being disproportionately impacted by COVID, partly as a result of their being overrepresented in front-line precarious labour. CASSA did a study over the last three years on South Asian immigrants in Toronto and their trying to secure decent employment. One thing we found was that despite having amazing credentials, having a great education either from here or from back home, they're still struggling to secure decent employment. I'm talking about even something that is above minimum wage, so it's very difficult.
You are right about the gendered aspect of employment equity. Women face even more barriers, especially women who have language barriers, women who are not as fluent in English or who are at home for a long time to take care of household responsibilities and then want to go back into the workforce. There are not a lot of training opportunities for women who have scheduling conflicts. There are a lot of barriers that racialized women face. I think that should be an important part of the employment equity legislation, and there's also working with the province on employment equity legislation.
We know that at the federal level it will only cover a certain portion of the Canadian public. It won't cover all of the population. Work with the provinces as well to push for employment equity legislation on that front.
View Alice Wong Profile
CPC (BC)
Thank you, Madam Chair.
I'd like to move on with something we have already touched on, and that is about cyber-violence and cyber-bullying. Because of COVID, a lot of us are online and doing Zoom, and also a lot of our children, young people and people of all ages spend a lot of time online. Definitely that is one consequence of COVID.
Does the persistence of cyber-violence and cyber-bullying contribute to other forms of violence or hate crimes in Canada? If you think so, how? That's for both our witnesses, please.
Saadia Mahdi
View Saadia Mahdi Profile
Saadia Mahdi
2021-06-17 12:35
Yes, thank you.
Definitely the cyber-bullying aspect is very real. With the past year, the pandemic has moved a lot of our kids online. I think that reporting tools would be needed. Not every child is going to go to their parents and open up and tell them what is going on. Like Ms. Hasan mentioned, many parents might not have that language to then go and speak to the educators about it.
For these types of incidents, cyber-bullying, as well as the others we were speaking of before, the reporting has to be something that is accessible, something whereby anything that happens is communicated to the children, to the students, to the educators. Why is such a small percentage of these hate crimes being reported? It needs to be a safe place. People should be able to express what is happening, and they should have the confidence that it will be taken care of and addressed.
I know in our school board, the York Region District School Board, there is a button on the main page of their website called ”Report It”. Unfortunately, many kids joke that nothing's going to happen and say they don't want to use this button and maybe put themselves in a situation where they are vulnerable and now they've made this claim and nothing's going to be done about it. It falls back onto those in leadership positions to tell the children, the students, that they are going to do something about it and they will address their concerns.
On the policing aspect, if the police are trained with all of these issues we've been talking about—intersectionality and the different types of Muslims, the different types of faces of Muslims—and if they are being told that they need to change their approach, the way they're dealing with these communities because they aren't feeling safe and they are reporting these hateful incidents, I think that would be a good first step. Then it will trickle down to the community.
View Alice Wong Profile
CPC (BC)
Thank you for that insight. That leads to my next question.
If adults feel that there's no use in reporting these hate crimes, especially those against women, that's why they are under-reported. Even the police tell them, “Well, sorry, just stay away from them, and if they come your way, just go away.” This doesn't send a good message to those who are under such pressure.
What would you suggest that the justice system should really look into to make sure that no crime is a small crime, that no hate is a small hate? It also helps to prevent what's going to happen to marginalized women and, especially, in our study right now, women of the Muslim faith.
Again, I open this question to both our witnesses.
Saadia Mahdi
View Saadia Mahdi Profile
Saadia Mahdi
2021-06-17 12:39
Thank you.
I'm thinking of the program that we have in Ontario. I don't know if it's in other places, but there's a VIP program that the police conduct in schools. It's about drugs and influences. The acronym stands for “values, influences and peers”. The reason it came to my mind is that when a policeman walks into a classroom—especially of sixth graders, let's say—they can create a big impact with what they say. If they go and speak to each classroom and talk about hate crimes and Islamophobia or anti-Black racism, it's going to have a great impact on those young minds.
When we see resources being used for specific areas, we can see the effects. I can see how much that impacted my children and even me as a child in listening to those police officers and talking about making the right choices. If we see that nationally this has become a very big problem, maybe those types of programs need to be done, and they need to be done in a very small one-on-one type of classroom setting. Leaders such as police officers can really make a big difference if they come in and speak about what actually is a hate crime and what would happen if someone felt that way if they were targeted at a young age, and what types of effects that would have on them or, vice versa, on the person who was doing the hate or the cyber-bullying—what would happen to them.
I think it could have a really big impact.
View Sonia Sidhu Profile
Lib. (ON)
Yes, I'm starting. Thank you, Madam Chair.
As we know, our Muslim community has not even had a chance to recover from the hateful act of terror in London, Ontario. Last week, a Muslim sister wearing her hijab was assaulted in Edmonton. Earlier this week, Baitul Hadi Mosque in Edmonton was vandalized. All these horrible incidents have no place in Canada, and my heart breaks for all victims of these recent attacks. I know that many Canadians are feeling the same.
To all our witnesses today, we know that our marginalized and racialized communities are looking for allies in government, and they are looking for a solution. You shouldn't feel unsafe on the streets in Canada if you are wearing a turban, kippah, hijab, indigenous regalia or any other religious cultural symbol. We need to stand up to reject racism and terror and work together.
The goal of this study in our committee is to find those solutions.
My question is for Ms. Mahdi. Anyone else who wants to can contribute.
I know that your organization advocates for peace, tolerance, love and understanding among followers of different faiths. It is important to understand the root causes of hate. What are some of the differences in experiences with hate crimes when it comes to socio-economic status? You talked about schoolkids. How can we empower them, educate them and give them awareness so that they are empowered to speak up?
Saadia Mahdi
View Saadia Mahdi Profile
Saadia Mahdi
2021-06-17 12:43
I think education is key. Spreading information is key, removing myths and misconceptions. As you mentioned, our community holds a lot of public events in which we try to address those misconceptions and try to remove those barriers. However, again, that would be on our platform. It needs to be done on a larger platform. Seeing the House of Commons committee doing this great work is actually very encouraging to us, because definitely you can reach a larger audience within the Canadian community.
It's very important that we understand that the hate comes from a place of ignorance. Unfortunately, going back to the online web pages, Facebook groups or whatever, they're free to express those horrific thoughts, and that's where the radicalization happens. The London, Ontario, attacker being 19 or 20 years old shows that young minds are the ones being influenced the most. Perhaps they have never met a Muslim and haven't actually asked those questions, like, “Oh, I heard this; could you clear it up for me?”
Also, going back to the Quebec mosque shooting, yes, it was addressed. Prime Minister Trudeau addressed it. It was in the media. However, what happened after that? It fell back on the communities to step up their security. We were very scared to go back to the mosque after that, thinking, is that going to happen when our children are attending prayer services? It can't be something that just dies down because the media coverage has died down. It has to be a continuous actual increase in the good, so that we can decrease the bad.
Samya Hasan
View Samya Hasan Profile
Samya Hasan
2021-06-17 12:45
Very quickly, there's one thing I want to point out in terms of the burden on the communities to eradicate the misconceptions. The community feels that it is their responsibility to eradicate those myths, misconceptions and stereotypes, and I really feel that's unfair. We were not the ones who created those misconceptions in the first place, so why should we be responsible for telling people that we're not terrorists? It should come from the top down. It should really come from a campaign from the federal government to show that our communities are welcoming, that we are nice people and we are good citizens of this country. That burden shouldn't fall on the communities themselves.
The other thing I want to point out very quickly is in terms of the previous question on cyber-hate and hate crime reporting. One project we're doing here at CASSA is to work with four different police units across Ontario to see how their hate crime reporting system works at present, where the gaps exist, how the community envisions those programs to be and what would be an accessible way for communities to report hate crimes.
As we know, two-thirds of hate crimes across the country are unreported. How do we change that? We're a small organization. We can only do so much and work with certain police services across the province. Is there a way for the federal government to take that initiative to work with police units across the country to have a streamlined approach for people to report hate crimes? The second part of it is public education about how to report on hate crimes.
We had an experience a couple of weeks ago where we had an event. There were two people who Zoom-bombed the event with profanities against the speakers. One of them was a South Asian woman. We had a very difficult time trying to find out how to report that to the police. It was a hate incident. It was hate speech, but we were pushed from one department to another department, from one police unit to another police unit. As an organization, we have the resources to assign staff to do that, but as individuals, people don't have the time or the energy to invest hours on end in trying to report the crime, so it's left unreported.
We're really working with the police to see how we can make this system more community friendly and accessible.
View Andréanne Larouche Profile
BQ (QC)
Thank you very much, Madam Chair.
I'd like to thank the witnesses for their testimony.
I'd like to come back to online hate, of which they spoke. In Quebec, people are talking a lot about it right now. I'd also like to underscore the situation of women in politics. When we talk about education or changing cultures, we often say we need a diversity of faces in politics as well. Some women will not be running in the next municipal campaign in Quebec because they have been victims of online hate. Could any of the witnesses speak to the importance of this legislation, which is overdue at the federal level?
Recently the Standing Committee on Public Safety and National Security discussed radicalization. Here at the Standing Committee on the Status of Women, we found that people were spending more time on the Internet during the pandemic.
The witnesses mentioned that people could write anything and everything on social media. I'd like to hear their thoughts about the connection between this time spent online and the importance of legislating on the issue.
Saadia Mahdi
View Saadia Mahdi Profile
Saadia Mahdi
2021-06-17 12:49
Thank you for the question.
As I mentioned earlier, representation matters. As a Muslim woman, when I see the wonderful MPs who are now serving Canada who are women of colour, who are Muslims, who wear a hijab, I really feel good about our country and our government. However, when we hear they're being threatened, they're being attacked and they are having to leave their posts, it doesn't bode well for encouraging others to follow in their footsteps. If we see that they are being protected, that those attacks are being taken seriously and the perpetrators are being removed, then we will see more people stepping into those leadership roles and wanting to represent their communities. When we see greater representation among our politicians, we will automatically see a very different face on the leadership of this community.
Already we've done so well, but it needs to be addressed in the future. We can definitely encourage our younger generation to step up and fill those roles.
Results: 61 - 75 of 120 | Page: 5 of 8

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