The Canadian Government has made moves to combat religious and racial discrimination, passing an Anti-Islamophobia motion in the House of Commons on Thursday.
The house voted 201 in favour of M-103 and 91 against on March 23rd.
Iqra Khalid, the Liberal MP for Mississauga-Erin Mills in Ontario, tabled M-103.
Thank you! #M103 pic.twitter.com/SOZko7a1xZ
— Iqra Khalid (@iamIqraKhalid) March 23, 2017
The motion states the following:
“In the opinion of the House, the government should: (a) recognize the need to quell the increasing public climate of hate and fear; (b) condemn Islamophobia and all forms of systemic racism and religious discrimination and take note of House of Commons’ petition e-411 and the issues raise by it;” (Source: Parliament of Canada)
The motion expresses how to ensure a community-centred focus and to collect data to contextualize hate crime reports.
Critics of the motion are calling M-103 an attack on free speech.
Conservative Party's Maxime Bernier, attempted to calm his online followers by stating that M-103 is a non-binding motion, and therefore the bill will not impact the country’s laws.
However, the Conservative leader has tweeted and stated on his Facebook page that he will remain against the motion unless the phrase Islamaphobia is amended.
I will vote against #M103 unless it is amended to remove the word “islamophobia." Read more: https://t.co/FQwLg3Yw23 #cdnpoli
— Maxime Bernier 🇨🇦 (@MaximeBernier) February 12, 2017
Other critics stated they would vote for the motion if it included other religions, but not if it solely focused on Islamaphobia.
This motion comes less than two months after the mass shooting where six people were killed and 19 injured at the Islamic Cultural Centre in Quebec City on January 29th, 2017.
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