Islamophobia spikes in Canada after mosque shooting

By Barry Ellsworth

TRENTON, Ont. (AA) - Canada has seen a spike in reports of discrimination and hate crimes in the past week following a deadly shooting at a Quebec mosque and the instigation of a U.S. travel ban, Canadian media reported Friday.

In the province of Alberta, the number of calls an Islamophobia help hot line for Muslims who face discrimination is up dramatically to three or four per day, Global television news reported.

Before the mosque shooting that left six dead in Quebec City and the ban on travel to the U.S. for those from seven Muslim-majority countries, there were only four to five a week.

Faisal Suri, president of the Alberta Muslim Public Affairs Council that runs the hotline, told Global he could not be specific about what callers endured, but said it ranged from verbal abuse to hateful notes on vehicles.

He said the “significant jump” in calls was a concern.

In Quebec, as a funeral service attended by thousands was held Thursday in Montreal for three of the six shooting victims, a city mosque was vandalized.

A window was smashed and eggs were thrown at the building, reported the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.

Police said the incident is being treated as a hate crime.

Montreal has also seen a spike in the reporting of hate crimes in the two days following the Quebec City mosque shooting.

“We had 14 calls related to hate crimes or hate incidents,” Montreal Police Chef Philippe Pichet told CTV television news. “That’s a lot. I’m very concerned.”

Foudil Selmoune, imam of the Islamic Community Centre in Montreal, echoed the police chief’s words.

“It’s a very big concern to the Muslim community, because we know that all over the world there are people with good intentions and bad intentions,” Selmounde said.

He added that some have portrayed the wrong image of all Muslims. That includes some politicians and some media.

“They try to give the image that Muslim equals terrorism, which isn’t a fact – because we as Canadians, as Quebecers, we live here and we live in peace,” Selmounde said.

Speaking in Quebec City, Martin Coiteux, the province’s public security minister, said police in all Quebec communities have been asked to step up security at mosques, according to CTV.