News

Anti-Muslim incidents constitute largest segment of hate crimes in Peel Region.

The National Council of Canadian Muslims (NCCM), a prominent civil liberties and advocacy organization, is deeply concerned by a new report submitted to the Peel Police Services Board on hate-motivated crime today. The report reveals a 168% increase in police-reported hate crimes from 2016 to 2017, the majority of which were motivated by anti-religious bigotry.

Muslim Welfare Centre will be at Parliament Hill on Monday, April 23rd to build food baskets for those in need within the Ottawa community.

This event is part of our Feed Canada initiative that is intended to help raise awareness about food insecurity in Canada.

The Project Ramadan initiative was created under Muslim Welfare Centre of Toronto almost 10 years ago by a group of young adults who found themselves concerned about the food disparity within their local community.

This Sunday, April 22nd, they are coming to Ottawa to volunteer at the Ottawa Food Bank and raise awareness about food insecurity in Canada and they hope you wil join them.

Osman Naqvi was recently awarded Ottawa's City Builder Award.

Muslim Link interviewed Osman about his work in the community.

Alexandre Bissonnette, who killed 6 men at the Islamic Cultural Centre of Quebec on January 29th, 2017, has pled guilty to six counts of first degree murder.

Superior Court Justice François Huot read the names of those who were killed by Bissonnette, who plead guilty to first degree murder for their deaths: Azzeddine Soufiane, Khaled Belkacemi, Ibrahima Barry, Mamadou Tanou Barry, Abdelkrim Hassane and Boubaker Thabti.

Justice Hout then read the names of those who survived being shot by Bissonnette, Aymen Derbali, Said Akjour, Said El Amari, Nizar Ghali and Mohamed Khabar. Bissonette plead guilty to the attempted murder of these men.

Justice Hout then read the names of 35 other people, including four children, who were present in the mosque at the time. Bissonette admitted that it was his intention to murder all of those present at the mosque that night.

Being ME Toronto is an annual conference for Muslim women. This year the conference takes place on Saturday, March 31st. Being ME Toronto is trying to gather Muslim women from across Southern Ontario by organizing buses to the conference in several cities. 

Muslim Link interviewed the team behind Being ME Toronto about this year's conference. 

Abdoul Abdi came to Canada as a refugee when he was six years old and is now facing deportation to Somalia, a country he has never lived in. Why?

After the gruesome death of Abdirahman Abdi, our community could not stand idle. In August 2016, the Justice for Abdirahman Coalition was born. With the support of so many local and national organizations and grass roots love, our Coalition has been able to achieve so much. See our work here.

Muslim Link would love to know what your Muslim organization is doing for Black History Month. Be it your MSA, your mosque, your women's group, your Islamic school, your civic engagement group, your anti-Islamophobia group?

What are you doing?

Muslim Link partnered with Inspirit Foundation, a national, grant-making organization that supports young people aged 18 to 30 in building a more inclusive and pluralist Canada, to commemorate the first anniversary of the Quebec Mosque attack by bringing together young Muslims from across Canada to share short reflections on Muslim idenity in Canada and/or how they are working to resist Islamophobia.

Listen to what they have to say.

On January 29th, 2017, six Muslims were murdered and nineteen injured at the Islamic Cultural Centre of Quebec City, a mosque in the Sainte-Foy neighbourhood of Quebec City, Canada.

A year later, Canadians found a variety of ways to commemorate this tragedy.

Liberal MPP Dr. Shafiq Qaadri (Etobicoke North) intends to file a motion on the first day of the Legislature’s spring sitting on February 20th, 2018, to proclaim January 29th a Day of Remembrance and Action against Islamophobia in the province of Ontario.

During January's City Council meeting, Councillor Neethan Shan will introduce a motion declaring January 29 as a Day of Remembrance and Action on Islamophobia in the City of Toronto.

Hamilton City Council has officially recognized January 29th as the Day of Remembrance and Action on Islamophobia, commemorating the attack on the Centre Culturel Islamique de Québec in Quebec City in 2017 that left six men dead and several injured. This follows a call from the National Council of Canadian Muslims (NCCM) to have this day recognized at the national level.

The motion to recognize the day was put forward by City Councillor Matthew Green at the January 24th council meeting and was passed unanimously. 

Update: Muslim Link was informed on November 4, 2019 that Dr. Fuad Sahin has passed away.

Dr. Fuad Sahin was named to the Order of Canada by Governor General Julie Payette on December 29, 2017. 

On January 29th, 2017, six Muslims were murdered at the Islamic Cultural Centre of Quebec City, a mosque in the Sainte-Foy neighbourhood of Quebec City, Canada.

Six people were killed including Ibrahima Barry (aged 39), Mamadou Tanou Barry (aged 42), Khaled Belkacemi (aged 60), Aboubaker Thabti (aged 44), Abdelkrim Hassane (aged 41) and Azzedine Soufiane (aged 57)

The federal government rejected an Ottawa Muslim centre’s application for money to improve the security of its property, one year after it was the target of a hate crime.

The Ottawa police investigated a hate crime in April 2016 at a local Islamic school which was spray-painted with hateful messages. After the incident, the Ahlul-Bayt Centre which runs the private elementary school requested federal funding to upgrade the school’s fence, gates, and doors for better security. But their request was declined.

The Canadian Rohingya Development Initiative (CRDI) is a registered non-profit organization established by young members of the Rohingya community across Canada. CRDI works with prominent Canadians from different communities and organizations to advocate for the cause of Rohingya in Canada and abroad. 

They are currently crowdfunding on LaunchGood so they can purchase winter blankets for Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh.

The Carleton University Somali Students Association (SSA) is organizing a Somali Night on Saturday, January 20th in Ottawa. Tickets are $25.

Muslim Link interviewed the organizers to explore how this is an ideal event to connect Somali students, young professionals, and non-Somalis who want to learn more about the Somali community.

On November 25th, the Muslim Coordinating Council of the National Capital Region (MCC-NCR) organized a Unity Dinner at Sir John A. Macdonald Building for the leaders of Muslim community organizations. Over 310 Muslim leaders, people of diverse faiths, academics, government leaders and the media who attended the first joint dinner of Muslim organizations on Parliament Hill.