National Day of Action Against Hate and Intolerance needed

In 2015 CFSC and Canadian Yearly Meeting issued a joint statement Quakers appalled at growing Islamophobia. It has been one of the most read and shared documents on our website, indicating that a great many people share these concerns.

Sadly, the situation may be getting worse. The most recent data from Statistics Canada highlights a dramatic 151% increase in Islamophobic incidents across Canada in 2017—and those are just the ones that were reported. Jewish and black people were among the groups also facing increased hate crimes. This pattern is being fueled in part by specific media, think tanks, and politicians, and we urgently need to raise awareness and change this destructive trajectory.

For this reason, CFSC whole-heartedly supports the National Council of Canadian Muslims’ call to make January 29—the day of the 2017 massacre at the Islamic Cultural Centre of Quebec City—a National Day of Action against Hate and Intolerance. If you feel so led, you can let your MP know why this issue matters to you. Write your own message or use the NCCM’s prewritten email (enter your postal code at the side of the page to get started).

Also, be on the lookout for a book CFSC has been working on for the past two years—Are We Done Fighting? Building Understanding in a World of Hate and Division. It shares stories and cutting-edge research that will help us address hatred head on with the greatest chance of success. The book is scheduled to be released in June 2019 and right now it’s available for pre-order at a discount. We look forward to sharing more with you about the book once it’s published.