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On Thursday, August 1st, residents of the provincial riding of Ottawa-South will be going to the polls. The riding has been held by former Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty since 1990. Ottawa-South is known for its deeply-rooted Liberal patriotism but since the resignation of Dalton McGuinty; there is speculation that the riding could be changing its colour from Liberal Red to Progressive Conservative Blue.

Considering that Ottawa-South has the highest concentration of Muslims in the city, Muslim Link decided to interview candidates Bronwyn Funiciello with the New Democratic Party (NDP), Matt Young with the Progressive Conservative Party (PC), and John Fraser with the Liberal Party to see how they plan to address issues which Muslims in the riding we interviewed identified as priorities.

Bronwyn Funiciello is the New Democratic Party (NDP) provincial candidate running in Ottawa-South. Muslim Link's Suzanne Kanso had an opportunity to interview Bronwyn in her campaign office on Thursday, July 18th.

Muslim Link: Muslim Canadians own many small businesses in Ottawa- South, particularly restaurants, and are facing difficulties with their rising hydro costs. How do you plan to control rising hydro rates?

Abraar School held its annual BBQ & Family Fun Day on June 8th, 2013. Parents got a chance to spend quality time with their kids and actively participated in the Olympiad games (potato sack race, three legged race etc.) and the scavenger hunt.

In an effort to prevent racial profiling, the Ottawa police have begun a controversial two-year project that records the race of drivers during traffic stops.

The Traffic Stop Race Data Collection Project is designed to find out how much race influences the decisions of police officers. As of June 27, officers are required to mark down the perceived racial identity of motorists who are stopped.

Zahide Alaca recently graduated from Carleton University's Bachelor of Social Work Program with a perfect Grade Point Average (GPA). She also won the Governor General's Medal, awarded to students at the head of their graduating class, and the University Medal in Social Work, awarded to students with the highest academic standing in their program. In September, she will start her Master's in Social Work at Carleton.

Muslim Link asked Ms. Alaca to share the secret to her academic success.

Moved by the unending stories of death and destruction in Syria, a group of local high school students were inspired to take action. On June 5th, the Bell Islamic Students Association (BISA) organized a well-attended fundraiser to raise money to support Syrian refugees.

“After seeing the horrifying scenes on TV, the mass murder of innocents, the cruelty of the rapes and destruction, as a young activist, it moved me deep down to help the innocents of Syria in any way,” says Nour El-Nader, former Head Girl of the Bell Islamic Students Association (BISA). “That was my motive that kept me going until the dinner reached its success by funding $500.”

Members of the Somali community, and many supporters, came out to raise money for deserving community projects in late May.

The Somali Youth Support Project (SYSP), a community driven initiative operating out of Pinecrest-Queensway Community Health Centre, held its 8th Annual Fundraiser to raise money for a project of their choosing.

This year, funds were raised for the Somali-Canadian Youth Mentorship Program and a youth-led project in one of the West-End Ottawa Community Housing neighbourhoods.

Shocking details of the US Central Intelligence Agency’s (CIA) secret detention, rendition, and interrogation program, following September 11, 2001, has been revealed in a new publication. The 214 page report, published in February, shows evidence that 54 countries cooperated in the kidnapping, torture, and detention program of hundreds of terrorist suspects that commenced under the President George W Bush Administration.

After Muslim Link's 10 anniversary celebration, I made a decision; I was going to have a spoken word event. At the mosque.

Yes, you heard me right. I asked Sarah Musa, a fellow spoken word artist, to embark on this task with me. I then wrote an event proposal and emailed to a contact from the mosque. Within a few days, I had the approval.

The Multifaith Housing Initiative's Annual Tulipathon raised $32,000 to support the building of more affordable housing in Ottawa. Several Muslim organizations participated in the fundraiser including the Ottawa Muslim Women's Organization (OMWO), the South Nepean Muslim Community (SNMC), Masjid Bilal, Cordova Academy, and the Ottawa Muslim Association (OMA).

Residents of a West-end neighbourhood gathered in late May to discuss the impact of the recent murder of 24-year-old Malik Adjokatcher, an alleged gang member, in the Britannia Woods neighbourhood.

The community forum was held at the Michele Heights Community Centre on May 27 and hosted by Bay Ward City Councillor Mark Taylor who moderated a panel consisting of representatives from the Ottawa Police Service, Crime Prevention Ottawa, Ottawa Community Housing (OCH), Pinecrest-Queensway Community Health Centre, and a tenant of the Michele Heights neighbourhood.

On Friday, May 10th, members of the Carleton University  Afghan Students' Association (ASA) organized a Mother's Day celebration to recognize the efforts of Afghan Canadian female educators who are actively involved within Ottawa's schools, from language school teachers to daycare workers. They also raised over $1000 in proceeds for Mirman Baheer, an Afghan organization that supports women writers and poets.

Over 200 participants turned up for the 36th Montreal Muslim Ball Hockey (MMBH) tournament on May 11 at John Abbott College campus in Montreal.  For the first time since it was founded 21 years ago, the bi-annual tournament featured two tiers, with five elite teams playing in Tier I and the remaining thirteen teams competing in Tier II.

Tier I finals featured perennial favourites Green Army, who were an all-Montreal team save for Ottawa star goaltender Aneel Anwar Nauth, emerging victorious over a team consisting of mainly Toronto-area players.  The first period had Green Army with a slight 2-1 advantage, which they later opened up further and routed their opponents by a score of 7-1.  Green Army captain Sophian Mian, well established as one of the top players in Montreal, incurred an injury during the finals but returned to score a goal in leading his team to their sixth ever championship. 

“Does anyone know why the eagle is so important in Aboriginal culture?” Jason Mullins, dressed in full Cherokee regalia, asked a riveted audience of mostly Muslim community members at Knox Presbyterian Church on April 13.

Mullins, an American-born First Nations cultural interpreter who works with the Ottawa organization Aboriginal Experiences, was one of many Aboriginal artists to offer his time and talent to support the Islam Care Centre's fundraising efforts.

It was an evening of firsts as the Ottawa Main Mosque welcomed US Ambassador David Jacobson on his first official visit on April 8.

Almost 100 people attended the event titled “Strengthening Bridges & Working Together for a Better Future”.  Security was discreet and the question period was uncensored which was unusual for a high-profile guest like the ambassador. But a unique set of circumstances had created the space for this gathering.  As Ambassador Jacobson explained at the beginning of his speech:

Over a hundred spiritual health care workers gathered in an Ottawa hotel last month to explore their role in creating ”˜sacred' and responsive spaces.

Far removed from sterile hospital corridors, bustling with professionals going about methodically with their day to day tasks, members of the Canadian Association for Spiritual Care (CASC) attended workshops and speeches about their special roles in environments often fixated solely on physical pain and physical healing.

In what some critics called an opportunistic move, the Harper government swiftly scheduled debate on, and passed, new anti-terrorism provisions (Bill S-7) in the wake of the Boston Marathon bombing and the subsequent Canadian arrests of two men alleged to be involved in a plot against VIA Rail.

The most controversial of the provisions – involving preventive arrests (detention without charge for up to three days, followed by release under draconian bail conditions) and secretive investigative hearings, both part of the original Anti-Terrorism Act in 2001 – expired after five years due to a sunset clause. The federal Liberals, who joined with other opposition parties to reject an attempt to revive the provisions in 2007, voted in favour of S-7 under leader Justin Trudeau.

Maghrib (sunset) prayer has just concluded, yet well over 40 youth, mostly high schoolers, remain seated as they listen to an elderly gentlemen get up and deliver an Islamic sermon relevant to them. They are not seated on the carpets of a masjid (mosque) floor or the seats of a university lecture hall. Instead, they are in the most unlikely of places; a basketball gym. This has been the regular routine on Sunday nights at the Muslim Basketball League

Over forty people attended the Muslim Link's 10th anniversary celebration held at Saint Paul University on March 31.

While the crowd was small, the sentiments of support were strong from contributors and readers alike. After a short slide show chronicling the paper's evolution from a simple two-page newsletter to the 12-16 page newspaper it is today, a broad panel of contributors and observers discussed the paper's importance as it enters a second decade.

Good news for residents of rental housing in Ottawa. Under a new programme by the City, negligent landlords could receive fines of up to $100,000 for failing to ensure the safety and well-being of their tenants.

The project launched on March 1, with the City of Ottawa making multi-residential inspections in the buildings themselves, and in parking lots and grounds. At a March 5 meeting of ACORN (Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now), Derek Petch, a City of Ottawa by-law officer said he and his team had begun inspecting more than 55 buildings in the Herongate area and would be visit other wards; noting all repair issues whether reported or not by the tenants, and issuing work orders for the landlords of those respective buildings.