Mona Ismaeil is the owner of Modern Hejab, an online hijab store, and blogs at My Modern Hijab. She is also the director of External Affairs for the Alberta Muslim Public Affairs Council (AMPAC) in Edmonton, Alberta.

Muslim Link interviewed Mona about her experiences being a blogger focused on life as a woman who wears hijab.

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. 

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 Silk Road Institute's Combating Hate, Advancing Inclusion (CHAI) digital video arts competition was funded through the Michaëlle Jean Foundation, with financial support from the Vancouver Foundation, the Edmonton Foundation, the Winnipeg Foundation and the Oakville Community Foundation settlement fund.

Muslim Link interviewed CHAI 2017 winner Aquil Virani about his video, Postering Peace.

The Ontario Premier's Council on Youth Opportunities is recruiting for new members. The deadline to apply is January 19. You can learn more here.

Muslim Link interviewed Somali Canadian Khalid Egeh, a current member of the Premier's Council on Youth Opportunities, about his experience, and why more Muslim youth should get involved.

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.

Muslim Canadian journalist Muhammad Lila from Toronto crowdfunded for a gift for Jake Taylor, an ordinary Canadian who intervened during the violent Islamophobia-motivated assault of a young Muslim woman, Noor Fadel, on the Skytrain in Vancouver in November.

As Noor Fadel stated on her Instagram, "Out of all the passengers he alone stepped in and protected me. He got off the train and comforted me until police paramedics came by. He means the world to me and more than anything I’m honoured to call him a friend."

Members of Edmonton's Al Rashid Youth Club, based in North America's oldest mosque, raised $10,000 for the Bissell Centre's annual New Year's Day Dinner.

Rohingya Canadian youth, many of whom came as refugees to Canada, have been taking the lead in pushing for justice for their people in Myanmar and Bangladesh.

Rallies, fundraisers, and awareness raising events have been organized across Canada, often with young members of Canada's Rohingya community participating as speakers.

Rohingya youth, some members of the team originally involved in creating the play I Am Rohingya, co-founded the Canadian Rohingya Development Initiative, an organization which has been meeting with goverment officials in Canada and abroad to raising awareness about the plight of the Rohingya.