Statement regarding threats to Toronto mosque and dismantling white supremacy and neo-Nazi groups in Ontario

QUEEN’S PARK - MPP Doly Begum (Scarborough Southwest), MPP Faisal Hassan (York South—Weston) and MPP Rima Berns-McGown (Beaches-East York) released the following statement regarding the recent threats to a Toronto mosque and the imminent need to dismantle white supremacy and neo-Nazi groups in Ontario:

“Over the Thanksgiving weekend, a Toronto mosque was the target of a chilling threat of Islamophobic terror that idealized and invoked the 2019 terrorist attack on a mosque in Christchurch, New Zealand, where a white supremacist killed and injured 91 worshippers.

Shamefully, this cowardly threat is not an isolated incident, but the most recent wave in a rising tide of Islamophobia and white supremacist hate that includes last month’s murder of Mr. Mohammed Aslim-Zafis outside of his place of worship.

We condemn these acts of hate, and stand in solidarity with this Toronto mosque and Muslim communities across the province as they assert their basic right to safety in their communities and places of worship. We must all stand together – as neighbours, Ontarians and Canadians – to call out and push back against this poisonous, deadly hate wherever we see it. But that alone will not fix this systemic problem.

We must take the very real threat of Islamophobia, systemic racism and white supremacy in our province seriously – and then act decisively to address the problem head-on. The provincial government can start by allocating appropriate funding for critical, life-saving anti-racism work, reviving the Anti-Racism Directorate, and passing Bill 83, Day of Remembrance and Action on Islamophobia Act, 2019.

New Democrats are committed to tearing down racism, xenophobia, and bigotry in all its forms. We will continue working alongside our Muslim sisters and brothers to ensure that everyone who calls this province home can practice their faith and worship without fear, knowing they are safe and valued."