TORONTO – NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh spoke at the National Canadian Council of Muslims Townhall, and announced his plan to replace Liberal rhetoric with real action to address racism in Canada.
“Absolutely no one should be made to feel like they don’t belong, or that they’re not safe – not online, not at school or work, and not in their communities. Too often, though, racialized Canadians still experience discrimination. I’m committed to standing up for people by confronting online hate and Islamophobia,”said Singh. “The Liberals have missed opportunity after opportunity to make Canada more inclusive. Pretty speeches about diversity are no replacement for concrete action.”
Singh will announce NDP commitments to tackle racism, including Islamophobia, with action. They include:
* Making social media platforms responsible for removing hateful and extremist content.
* Boosting enforcement against hate crimes with dedicated hate crimes units.
* Passing a federal law to ban carding.
“The Liberals have left social media giants to voluntarily develop policies around hateful and extremist content, and that’s not working,” said Singh. “It’s time to take on the web giants so we can better protect Canadians — that’s who I’m in it for.”
Singh will also address employment discrimination and other topics, and participate in a panel discussion.
“White supremacy and any group that spreads supremacist views have no place in Canada,” added Singh. “As political leaders, we have to not only pay lip service to diversity and inclusion — we have to be vigilant to stamp out racism.”
The NDP’s New Deal for People proposes several measures to take meaningful action on racism and Islamophobia.
Dr. Barbara Perry, Director of the Centre on Hate, Bias and Extremism at Ontario Tech University, praised Singh for this effort: “We are at a critical point in time. Police reported hate crimes have increased exponentially and over 40% of those reported crimes are motivated by hate of race or ethnicity. Victims of these hate crimes are every day people who deserve to live in safety and with dignity. The growing threat of far-right extremism in Canada is a real risk to not only our democracy, but our national security. Yet, this issue is largely excluded from the public agenda. I am pleased to see Jagmeet Singh and his team prioritize this important issue in their vision for a better Canada.”
