Muslim Link interviewed Arab Canadian political science student Sara Elhawash about her experience studying Political Science at York University.

Breaking the Silence in Mugeza is a non-profit organization aimed at supplying hearing aid equipment to children in Mugeza, Tanzania. Inspired during a volunteering stint in the summer of 2012 with CanAid Africa, Ahmed Kotb and Mohammed Rashid came upon the Mugeza Primary School while touring nearby villages. Rihan Kanso, Hiba Abdul-Fattah, and Zuzanna Kucharski joined in to create an organization focused on international development and health, and helping vulnerable populations.

Being asked to cover the Ottawa-South provincial by-election for Muslim Link was a wakeup call and reality check for me as a Lebanese Muslim Canadian. Because I live in the riding, I had to think about how provincial politics affect my life and the lives of my friends and family.

But what I often hear when the topic comes up is: “I hate politics!” or “ Please let's not talk about politics”.

Automatically, the door is shut upon this topic and the conversation shifts to what seems more important ”“ the latest goings on Facebook.

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?

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.