Islamic History Month was first recognized in the province of Manitoba. It has been recognized federally since 2007 and on October 6, 2016 it was recognized in Ontario, the province with Canada's largest Muslim population. The bill to recognize Islamic History Month in Ontario was introduced by the Provincial NDP. Below are two press releases, one from the Liberal Party of Ontario and one from the NDP of Ontario discussing Islamic History Month in Ontario.

On December 18th members of Ottawa's Pakistani community gathered in front of City Hall to pay their respects to the victims of the attack on the Army Public School for Boys in Peshawar in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan. Over 140 lives were lost, most of them children.

The Ottawa Shia Islamic Association (OSHIA) held its annual Milad-un-Nabi banquet on February 4 at the Ottawa Conference Centre.

The event celebrates the birth anniversary of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) and strives to unite all Muslim communities. For years, the festivities have been organized with the support of the Honorable Senator Mobina Jaffer. This year, the Muslim Coordinating Council also helped coordinate in order to acquaint Muslims and people of other faiths with the noble example of the Prophet (pbuh).

We at Muslim Link strive to make it a non-partisan publication that respects that Ottawa's Muslims support a variety of political parties. However, when we were invited to spend a day with Yasir Naqvi, the Ontario Minister of Labour with the Liberal Party, we jumped on the opportunity to see just what a politician does with his or her time. Our goal is to demystify the work of politicians and encourage citizens to take more of an interest in politicians' work throughout their time in office, not just during elections. This is important in order to keep politicians accountable to their constituents. Along with Muslim Link reporters, 16 year-old Adilah Makrup, a Lisgar High School student and photographer living in Yasir's riding, was invited to join Muslim Link on November 15th for the chance to connect with the man who represents her and her family provincially. We hope that this will become a regular series as more politicians invite us to spend the day with them.

Starting this school year, all school boards will be required to implement strict policies to prevent bullying

On June 5th, the Ontario Legislature passed Bill 13, the Accepting Schools Act, which will allow schools to expel bullies. The bill states that every student has the right to a positive school climate that is inclusive and accepting, regardless of “race, ancestry, place of origin, color, ethnic origin, citizenship, creed, sex, sexual orientation, gender entity, gender expression, age, marital status, family status or disability”.

Sarwat Humayun, chair of the Muslim Coordinating Council of the National Capital Region's email committee, has been honoured for her contributions to the community.

On Mar. 24, she was among 29 women and girls in Ottawa who received the Leading Women/Leading Girls, Building Communities Award from member of the provincial assembly Yasir Naqvi, who presented the award on behalf of Laurel Broten, Ontario's Minister Responsible for Women's Issues.