Canadian lawmakers demand crackdown on Islamophobia, antisemitism

TRENTON, Canada

Lawmakers from the Liberal and New Democrat parties demanded the end of student protests on Canadian university grounds, a ban on emblems to terror groups and the branding of anti-Palestinian discrimination a special type of hate, Canadian media reported Tuesday.

The demands for change are based on two studies that provided 34 recommendations on antisemitism and Islamophobia from the House of Commons Committee on Justice and Human Rights.

After hearing about a Nazi swastika displayed on the grounds of the University of Alberta and dramatic increases in Islamophobia, the committee recommended that the federal government add a new charge of “intimidation” under the Criminal Code, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) reported.

The committee also recommended that Ottawa “provide additional resources to establish and maintain dedicated police hate crime units” in all jurisdictions.

It urged a ban to ensure “encampments are not permitted on university campuses” for safety and define “what the rules are for protests, demonstrations – including hateful speech – and speech that incites and justifies violence.”

In the Islamophobia report, the committee recommended the government “formally recognize discrimination towards Palestinians as a distinct group” and hire more Arab, Muslim and Palestinian university faculty members.

The Liberals and New Democrat committee members endorsed the 34 recommendations, but MPs from the opposition Conservative and Bloc Quebecois parties found fault with some of them.

The Conservatives disagreed with separate recognition of Palestinian racism because “we must first fully understand what (it) entails and ensure it does not conflict with other forms of discrimination recognized in Canadian law,” dissenters wrote, according to the CBC.

The Bloc Quebecois wrote that they could not support university professors “appointed on the basis of their religion or ethnicity, rather than their knowledge and competence.”

The two reports and comments from the committee will now go to Justice Minister Arif Virani’s office for review, CBC reported.