Ajax Council calls for National Summit on Islamophobia
Published June 22, 2021 at 2:40 pm
Enough is enough, said Ajax Councillor Ashmeed Khan, who is demanding the federal government strike a National Action Summit on Islamophobia.
A visibly emotional Khan spoke at Council Monday night of the recent hate-killing of a Muslim family out for an evening stroll in London, ON and the Quebec City Mosque shooting in 2017 as more than enough reason for Ottawa to chart an “actionable path” forward to end violence against Muslims.
The motion from Council, which was seconded by Mayor Shaun Collier, also calls on the Province to provide funding to municipalities and community organizations to develop ‘street level’ anti-racism programs to quell all forms of hate, including Islamophobia; and for school boards across the country to embed anti-racism learnings in the school curriculum, making it a fundamental and core element of our education system.
Khan said it is important for all levels of government to “support the call,” especially as previous efforts to end racism against Muslims have been met with “great political and partisan resistance, divisiveness and opposition.”
The motion also asked that Ajax continue to work with the Region of Durham and Durham Regional Police Service to develop concrete actions to address racial and hate inflicted violence and to set a zero-tolerance approach to racism in Durham Region.
“This just has to stop,” said Collier.
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