(CBC) For the second time this week, the Quebec government has been forced to distance itself from a supporter of its secularism bill who made incendiary remarks about Islam at a legislative hearing. The bill proposes barring some civil servants — including public […]
(CBC) It wasn’t until late on the second day of hearings into Quebec’s secularism bill that lawmakers heard from someone who wears one of the religious symbols targeted by the legislation. But by the time Samira Laouni wrapped up her testimony, the committee was […]
(CBC) After spending all day hearing from defenders of his secularism bill, Quebec Immigration Minister Simon Jolin-Barrette was confronted Tuesday evening with a challenge from a wispy-haired, 87-year-old philosopher. “We are still waiting for an explanation about why this is necessary,” Charles Taylor told Jolin-Barrette at legislative hearing […]
(CBC) Legislative hearings into Quebec’s controversial secularism bill began Tuesday amid concerns that religious groups have largely been excluded from the process. Premier François Legault remains insistent that Bill 21, which was tabled in late March, will be passed before the National […]
(CBC) Racha Cheaib, a particle physicist, often helps organize an annual event at a Muslim community centre in Montreal to celebrate girls who decide to wear the hijab. Last year, far-right groups sought to disrupt the event, and twice succeeded in getting […]
(CBC) The hospital in Fort McMurray has become the first in Alberta’s north zone to offer halal meal options. The Northern Lights Regional Health Centre phased in the food in November, and has since served about 100 halal meals to patients. “This […]
(CBC) Ramadan begins one week from today. This means observing Muslims are getting ready to fast from dawn to dusk and abstain from other temptations for one month. It’s an important time for those who follow Islam as they dedicate 30 days […]
(CBC) Inside a packed room at the Ukrainian Labour Temple in Winnipeg’s North End Friday night, Palestinian-American activist Linda Sarsour began by addressing the controversy surrounding her appearance there. “It is I — I am the drama that you heard about before you got here. This is it,” […]
(CBC) In an era when demagogues flourish on social media, reason gives way to rhetoric and opinion masquerades as fact, it’s easy to understand how ordinary, decent people have grown weary and wary of all sorts of political and cultural debates. The Israeli-Palestinian conflict […]
(CBC) Quebec’s largest school board has come out against the province’s plan to ban teachers from wearing religious symbols in the classroom, saying it runs contrary to the school board’s mission and would be difficult to enforce. The Commission scolaire de Montréal (CSDM) outlined […]
(CBC) Mayor Brian Bowman is calling for the removal of U.S. activist Linda Sarsour from a speaking engagement planned for Winnipeg on Friday. The Social Planning Council of Winnipeg and the Canadian Muslim Women’s Institute had booked Sarsour, one of the co-chairs […]
(CBC) When Canadians go to the polls in October, a non-partisan group hopes Muslim voter turnout will be higher than ever — and seized one of the year’s most-attended days of prayer to mobilize the community with a single message: every ballot […]
(CBC) Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante has been the target of an escalating series of violent threats, apparently sparked by her staunch opposition to the provincial government’s secularism bill. Plante spoke publicly last month about receiving hateful comments after she first criticized Bill […]
(CBC) The minister responsible for Quebec’s proposed secularism law says there will be no exemption for Montreal, a day after city council unanimously denounced Bill 21. Immigration Minister Simon Jolin-Barrette said he welcomes the City of Montreal’s input as hearings begin on the […]
(CBC) Montreal city councillors have unanimously adopted a declaration against the Quebec government’s secularism bill, put forward by the mayor and leader of the opposition. The bipartisan declaration, signed by Mayor Valérie Plante and Ensemble Montréal interim leader Lionel Perez, presents a […]
(CBC) Montrealers took to the streets to protest Quebec’s proposed religious neutrality bill at two separate rallies on Sunday, in Côte Saint-Luc and in downtown Montreal. If adopted, Bill 21 would prevent public employees — including teachers, police officers and judges — […]
(CBC) Ameni Ben Ammar lays out a spread of Tunisian hospitality on the coffee table of her small apartment in downtown Montreal. Traditional pastries, a homemade cheese chicken pie and Tunisian wine. Despite having left six years ago, the bond with her […]
(CBC) Hampstead Mayor William Steinberg is facing growing pressure to apologize for saying Quebec’s proposed religious symbol ban amounts to “ethnic cleansing.” But instead of apologizing, on Tuesday he opted to clarify his comments, referring to the ban’s effect as a “peaceful ethnic cleansing.” […]
(CBC) Thousands of protesters gathered in downtown Montreal on Sunday afternoon to protest the Quebec government’s Bill 21 — proposed legislation that would ban some public employees from wearing symbols of their faith. “Quebec is not France, long live the difference!” protesters chanted […]
(CBC) A Calgary NDP candidate has apologized for posting a meme about jihadists and crusaders several years ago. Joe Pimlott, who is running in Calgary-Peigan, posted on Twitter that he made a social media post that had “Islamophobic and anti-Semitic connotations” of which […]
(CBC) A week after tabling the legislation, opposition to the Coalition Avenir Québec government’s plan to ban certain public workers from wearing religious symbols is growing more organized — and more vitriolic. Politicians in Montreal’s west end at the federal, provincial and municipal level came […]
(CBC) The mayor of Montreal calls it “very concerning.” Religious groups say it’s discriminatory. And civil liberties groups have vowed to fight. But what legal options do these groups have in the face of the Coalition Avenir Québec government’s secularism bill, and what […]
(CBC) Civil rights activists in the National Capital Region say they will challenge Quebec’s secularism bill introduced Thursday by the Coalition Avenir Québec government. The legislation bans public workers from wearing religious symbols such as the kippa or hijab. This includes judges, crown prosecutors, teachers and principals, although the bill […]
(CBC) The Coalition Avenir Québec government is proposing a new law that would prohibit public workers in positions of authority from wearing religious symbols such as a hijab, kippa or turban. The stated aim of the bill, titled, “An act respecting the laicity of […]
(CBC) As the Quebec government prepares to table its secularism bill, constitutional experts are raising concerns about Premier François Legault’s reported plans to pre-emptively invoke the notwithstanding clause to ensure public workers in positions of authority are banned from wearing religious symbols. Robert Leckey, dean of McGill […]
(CBC) Quebec public schools teachers and school principals will be prohibited from wearing religious symbols such as the hijab or kippa, under a bill likely to be tabled later this week in the provincial legislature. The long-awaited legislation from the Coaltion Avenir […]
(CBC) An ex-Muslim who is now an atheist and secular activist says Mount Royal University is overreacting by canceling his talk that was planned on campus for Thursday. Armin Navabi, who lives in British Columbia, was being brought in by the Atheist Society of Calgary to share […]
(CBC) A Conservative MP has cancelled an event with a keynote speaker accused of sympathizing with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in the wake of mosque shootings in New Zealand which left at least 49 people dead. As CTV first reported, Conservative MPs Garnett Genuis and Kelly Block […]
(CBC) A Tecumseh restaurant is under fire on social media — but not for the quality of the food or customer service. Instead, the negative reviews are because only halal meat is offered. Tabouli by Eddy’s has been open for just a few […]
(CBC) Some Muslim women in Quebec City are hoping to demystify the hijab by talking openly about their reasons for putting on the religious garment. About a dozen people gathered Saturday in Quebec City to discuss the significance of the headscarf at an […]
(CBC) A Gatineau city councillor is apologizing for remarks she made last week about Islamophobia in Quebec, but maintains she’s been unfairly judged. In a French-language newspaper interview last week, Coun. Nathalie Lemieux said she didn’t believe Islamophobia exists in the province, and […]
(CBC) Quebec Premier François Legault has clarified his controversial comments about Islamophobia, now saying such discrimination exists but that it is not widespread. In a statement Friday, the premier’s office said Legault meant to say that there isn’t an “undercurrent” of Islamophobia in Quebec. “Quebecers are open […]
(CBC) The mayor of Gatineau, Que., wants one of his councillors out of her post as deputy mayor after she said Islamophobia doesn’t exist and said Muslim immigrants have failed to integrate into society. In the newspaper Le Droit, Gatineau Coun. Nathalie […]
(CBC) Premier François Legault says there’s no need for a day devoted to action against Islamophobia — because Islamophobia isn’t a problem in the province. Legault made the comments two days after the second anniversary of the Quebec City mosque attack, when the deputy premier, Geneviève Guilbault, said the […]
(CBC) The head of an Alberta organization for refugees is under fire after publicly suggesting 15 months ago that Muslim women should not fully cover their faces in public. Frank Bauer, executive director of the Red Deer-based Central Alberta Refugee Effort (CARE) […]
(CBC) Quebec’s Education Ministry is trying to find out how many people its plan to ban teachers from wearing religious symbols will affect. The ministry has asked school boards whether they have a record of how many staff wear a religious symbol […]
(CBC) The city of Kingston, Ont., is still reeling after a young person was charged with terrorism-related offences following thousands of hours of investigation by multiple police agencies and raids on two homes. Here is what we know (and much of what […]
(CBC) Community leaders are working to calm fears and find ways to prevent an anti-Muslim, anti-immigrant backlash in the wake of two arrests related to an alleged terrorist plot in Kingston, Ont. — yet the probe already has touched off a political […]
(CBC) The RCMP’s national security team has arrested and charged an Ontario youth with a terrorism-related offence, the police force said Friday following an investigation in Kingston, Ont. Police have laid two charges against the young person, who is accused of knowingly facilitating a […]
(CBC) The RCMP have arrested two people following raids on two homes in Kingston, Ont., in what officials are calling a national security investigation involving multiple police forces. CBC News has learned the arrests included a minor and involved both Kingston police and […]
(CBC) Western University’s Student Recreation Centre is offering women a segregated fitness and recreation space to ensure they feel “safe and included” accessing the gym on campus. The pilot project, which launches Tuesday, was initiated after some women shared concerns with the […]
(CBC) Zaib’s life began to unravel with an unexpected phone call from her husband in early 2018. He told her he had married a second wife, an announcement that took the Toronto woman by surprise. “I went into shock mode. I was […]
(CBC) Muslim women and children fleeing abuse could soon have access to a specialized shelter catering to their cultural and religious needs. While there are many organizations in Calgary offering services for Muslim women escaping domestic violence, there are no specialized shelters. […]
(CBC) A Quebec judge has failed in her bid to halt disciplinary proceedings against her after she refused to hear the case of a woman wearing a hijab. In February 2015, Quebec court Judge Eliana Marengo refused to hear a routine traffic […]
(CBC) At the Québec Solidaire national council this weekend in Montreal, two camps emerged on the issue of religious symbols: one of secularism and one of inclusion. While the party already supports the banning of religious symbols worn by police officers, judges, […]
(CBC) A man accused of misappropriating millions of dollars after his Shariah mortgage lending company went into receivership testified in his own defence in a Toronto courtroom, saying everything he’s done has always been “above board.” Omar Kalair, the former president and […]
(CBC) The head of a national Muslim group based in Ottawa says he’s not surprised to learn the number of hate crimes reported to police in Ontario and Quebec jumped dramatically last year. According to Statistics Canada, there was a 47 per […]
(CBC) Fatima Ahmad has been dreaming about becoming a teacher since she was a little girl. At age six, she wrote down the aspiration in her diary, along with two other options: doctor and artist. Ultimately, she chose teaching. “I love kids, […]
(CBC) Most Quebecers are in favour of banning public-sector workers from wearing religious symbols, according to a CROP poll released ahead of the first legislative session under a Coalition Avenir Québec government. But a separate survey by Vox Pop Labs, conducted following […]
(CBC) More young Muslims in Calgary are picking up brushes, pens, cameras and microphones, and creating their own arts scene. A new generation is expressing themselves while honouring their religion in many different ways, including everything from traditional Islamic patterns and geometric […]
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