The Importance Of M-103 To Condemn Islamophobia

Islamophobia is defined as the irrational fear of, aversion to, or discrimination against Islam or people who practice Islam. The prominence of Islamophobia increased drastically since the attacks on September 11, 2001 and it has become a concerning matter in many parts of the world. The Canadian Government has introduced a non-binding motion known as M-103 to condemn Islamophobia. This motion was introduced by Mississauga Erin Mills MP Iqra Khalid and is supported extremely by the Liberal and NDP Members of Parliament. The motion “Calls on the government to condemn Islamophobia and all forms of systemic racism and religious discrimination, asks the government to recognize the need to quell the increasing public climate of hate and fear, and
Although it has passed with majority in the house, the motion has grabbed a lot of attention from the public, many of who feel that it is a violation of free speech and gives special treatment to the Islamic community. Despite these allegations, M-103 is a beneficial motion as it addresses that racism and discrimination are not welcome in Canada, it acts as relief from hate crime and its fear and can potentially lower the crime against Muslims due to Islamophobia.

Canada is a country that represents multiculturalism and diversity. It was also the first country to create a policy on multiculturalism. The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms states “Everyone has the following fundamental freedoms: (a) freedom of conscience and religion; (b) freedom of thought, belief,
M-103 is a significant attempt at addressing Islamophobia and decreasing the crime and abuse caused by it. “While the Muslim population grows, acceptance has wavered. A 2013 poll found that more than half (54 per cent) of Canadians viewed Islam ‘unfavourably.’ A 2016 poll also found that 54 per cent of Canadians held an unfavourable opinion of Muslims. Hate crimes against Muslim-Canadians more than doubled over a three-year span, statistics revealed last year.” (Kohut, 2017) Surprisingly, the total number of hate crimes are decreasing but the number of hate crimes against Muslims appears to be increasing continuously. The biggest misconception that leads to hate is that Islam promotes terrorism. The media plays a big role in projecting Muslims as a promoter of terrorism, which leads to intimidation of the whole group. Shortly after the passing of M-103, a Facebook group containing over fourty thousand members known as La Meute planned to protest the motion because they do not support Islam and believe that M-103 is an unacceptable favour for Muslims. However, M-103 will not affect them in any way as it is not a law. Conducting a study on rising Islamophobia may help solve misconceptions about Muslims and m-103 and will indicate that discrimination is intolerable and not welcome in Canada. M-103 states that “The latter would require the heritage committee to collect data on hate crime