London Muslim Community Leaders Respond to the Our London Family Act Not Passing This Session

Written by National Council of Canadian Muslims

Published in News

London - April 20, 2022

Calling for all parties to commit to having the Our London Family Act passed within 100 Days after election in platform.

London Muslim community leaders, although noting the commitment of Minister Calandra to bring back a version of the Our London Act if re-elected, are incredibly disappointed that the Government of Ontario decided not to pass the “Our London Family Act” (Bill 86)—the first piece of model legislation to challenge systemic Islamophobia and racism in Ontario—this session, before the coming election.

The London Muslim community published today a joint letter with the London Muslim Mosque to express our sadness that Premier Doug Ford and his Progressive Conservative government did not pass the Our London Family Act before the spring election.

Promises to prioritize the fight against Islamophobia and racism were made by parties last year after three generations of a Muslim family were murdered in an anti-Muslim terror attack in the streets of London, Ontario.

In our grief, Muslim organizations came together, consulted with one another, and came up with a number of detailed recommendations for all levels of government on combating Islamophobia and hate in Canada in the form of the Our London Family Act.

Our community has shed enough blood for such politicking to get in the way. Not long ago, a volunteer caretaker in Toronto was murdered in cold blood right in the mosque parking lot. Not to mention the now countless attacks on Muslims and various mosques across the country outside of Ontario, including the horrific 2017 Quebec City mosque mass shooting.

We now ask all parties to work in a truly multi-partisan manner to secure the passage of the Our London Family Act within the first 100 days of the next government forming after the spring election - and to commit to doing so in their respective platforms.