Montreal, Quebec, Canada – Canadian Muslim leaders are calling for an end to Islamophobic rhetoric and fearmongering, as the country prepares to mark the nine-year anniversary of a deadly attack on a mosque in the province of Quebec.Stephen Brown, CEO of the National Council of Canadian Muslims (NCCM), said Thursday’s anniversary is a reminder that Islamophobia in Canada “is not benign”.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of list“It’s something that unfortunately kills people,” Brown told Al Jazeera. “[The anniversary] forces us to remember that there’s real consequences to hatred.”Six Muslim men were killed when a gunman opened fire at the Quebec Islamic Cultural Centre in Quebec City on January 29, 2017, marking the deadliest attack on a house of worship in Canadian history.The assault left Quebec City’s tight-knit Muslim community deeply shaken, spurred vigils and condemnation across Canada, and shone a spotlight on a global rise in anti-Muslim hate and radicalisation.The Canadian government denounced the shooting as a “terrorist attack” against Muslims and pledged to tackle the underlying issues.In 2021, it announced it was designating January 29 as the National Day of Remembrance of the Quebec City Mosque Attack and Action against Islamophobia.But Brown said he was not sure whether the lessons learned after what happened in Quebec City were being fully remembered today, nearly a decade later.“Right after the Quebec City mosque massacre, there really was a desire in society to try to mend some of the wounds and build some bridges,” he said. Advertisement “Unfortunately, what a lot of people are seeing [now] – and especially for Muslims that live in Quebec – … is a massive return to using Islamophobia and spreading fear of Muslims for political gain.” [Al Jazeera]Laws and rhetoric …
